All Else is Commentary: A Podcast of Jewish Ideas

We're taking a break this week, but here's a trailer to let you know all the exciting things coming up on All Else is Commentary. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook page, and we're also on Bluesky , so please head over there to give us a follow as...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. We promised an episode looking at Wicked through a Jewish lens - but we didn't have the chance to do it in time for Chanukah. But here it is today! Elliott is joined by Rabbi Hannah Kingston to talk about all the Jewish themes they identified in the musical and the film. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with u...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. In this special Thursday episode, Elliott speaks to Rabbi Daniel Lichman and Professor Gavin Schaffer as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the first book written by Rabbi Lionel Blue: To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees . You can find out more about the book (and buy it) here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heaven-Scribes-Pharisee...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. Following Chanukah, we return to our regular weekly episodes coming out on Mondays. This week we return to our ocassional series of Progressive Sermons from the last 50 years. Elliott speaks to Rabbi Hannah Kingston (Alyth) about a sermon she gave in 2018 inspired by the #metoo movement. To read along with Rabbi Hannah's sermon, click here: http...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The final of our Chanukah specials. For this episode, Elliott is joined by Mike Mendoza (of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) to talk about the Plant of the Apes franchise. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The seventh of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. For this episode, Elliott is joined by the Alyth Youth and Education Hub Team past and present: Abi Brunner, Phoebe Decker, Izzie Marcuson-Stafford and Ezster Toth. They talk about Shrek through a Jewish lens. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The sixth of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. This episode is a continuation of the conversation about the Neflix hit, Nobody Wants This - for which Elliott is joined by Rabbis Deborah Blausten (Finchley Reform Synagogue) and Jordan Helfman (Oaks Lane Synagogue). As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The fifth of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. This episode is about the Neflix hit, Nobody Wants This - for which Elliott is joined by Rabbis Deborah Blausten (Finchley Reform Synagogue) and Jordan Helfman (Oaks Lane Synagogue). As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.o...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The fourth of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. This is the second of two episodes on Lord of the Rings, for which Elliott is joined by Rabbi DY Stern (Radlett Reform Synagogue). Here is the article Elliott mentions: https://share.google/90rsWDhSKwtrBjnoW As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch wi...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The third of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. This is the first of two episodes on Lord of the Rings, for which Elliott is joined by Rabbi DY Stern (Radlett Reform Synagogue). As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The second of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. This is the second of two episodes on Harry Potter, for which Elliott is joined by Student Rabbi Yael Tischler. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversa...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. The first of 8 Chanukah specials - one for each night of Chanukah. To kick off, two episodes on Harry Potter, for which Elliott is joined by Student Rabbi Yael Tischler. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on ou...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. This week, Elliott reads Barren Metal by Naomi Jacob, the story of the rise and fall of Meyer Pardo, the Jewish tailor who becomes filthy rich - but at what cost? Coming up for Chanukah: We bring you 8 little podcast presents - Elliott is joined by guests to read and watch different cultural phenmena through a Jewish lens, starting with Harry Po...

All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas. This week, Elliott reads Reuben Sachs by the Victorian poet and novelist, Amy Levy. We see how this novel responds to George Eliot's Daniel Deronda , but also holds its own place in the history of writing by Jews and about Jews. You can buy Reuben Sachs here: https://persephonebooks.co.uk/products/reuben-sachs Or read it for free here: https://w...

The second part in Elliott's lecture on George Eliot's Daniel Deronda . Next week: Elliott finally gets to the novel he aimed to start with: Ruben Sachs by Amy Levy. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook page, and we're also on Bluesky , so please he...

This week, we finally come to our first Jewish novel: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. There was too much to talk about in just one episode, so this discussion will be split into two parts. Look out for part 2 on Thursday. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on our...

This week, Elliott begins a new series on Jewish novels. He begins this week with a discussion of why he is choosing to look at novels, and why he has made the particular selection he has. There are a couple of good articles on Harry Kemelman's Rabbi/Detective series. From the Los Angeles Review of Books (https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/rabbi-knew-much/) and the Jewish Journal (https://jewishj...

This week, Elliott speaks to Dr Jeremy Smilg about his research into the Jews of England during the time of the French Revolution (1789-1815). You can find out more about Jeremy's book here . Next week, we are finally beginning our series on Jewish novels, and to begin with Elliott is taking some time to explain why he wanted to talk about novels – why novels have something to tell us in particula...

This week, Elliott concludes his series of 3 episodes looking at the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam - the repairing of the world. This week we reach the Lurianic tradition and Elliott brings us fully up-to-date, even thinking about tikkun olam of the future. Next week: A recording of a conversation Elliott had recently with historian Dr Jeremy Smilg about the Jews in England at the time of the Fren...

This week, Elliott continues his series of 3 episodes looking at the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam - the repairing of the world. You can read the Jewish sources Elliott talks about here . You can read Avi Shafran's piece in the Jerusalem Post here , and Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed in the New York Times here . Next week: Elliott finishes the series by considering the idea of tikkun olam we find in Luri...

This week, Elliott begins a series of 3 episodes looking at the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam - the repairing of the world. You can read the transcript of Obama's full speech at AIPAC here . To listen to the BBC World Service Programme about Tikkun Olam, click here . To read the section of the Mishnah that Elliott is talking about, you can visit Sefaria: https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Gittin.4.2?...

This week we are releasing two special episodes which are very different to usual. Elliott has collected sermons from among his colleagues in Progressive congregations across the UK. Today we release a collection from Yom Kippur. Rabbi Josh Levy is Chief Executive of the Movement for Reform Judaism, Co-Lead of the new Movement for Progressive Judaism, and Rabbi Emeritus at Alyth. Rabbi Alexandra W...

This week we are releasing two special episodes which are very different to usual. Elliott has collected sermons from among his colleagues in Progressive congregations across the UK. Today we release a collection from Rosh Hashanah, and on Thursday a collection from Yom Kippur. Rabbi Colin is Rabbi Emeritus at Sha'arei Tsedek in London, and now works part-time at Alyth Synagogue. You can read his...

This week Elliott is joined by Irit Burkeman to discuss Hebrew poems that have been written in the wake of the 7 October attacks. You can find a handout with the poems they talk about here: https://www.alyth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Poetry-for-7-Oct.pdf Next week: Elliott has been busy collecting High Holy Day sermons from Progressive clergy colleagues across the UK - he'll be introducing...

This week a special episode for Kol Nidrei. Elliott sits down with Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah to talk about a sermon she gave on Kol Nidrei 1996 - a sermon that proved to be controversial because of it's mention of Same-Sex Marriage. Elliott and Elli reflect on the context of the sermon and how it fits into the story of LGBTQ+ rights in the UK, what would have been different about the sermon today, a...