Ask a Jew

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason, the libertarian magazine of "free minds and free markets," and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie , he’s also our favorite libertarian!   In this episode we talk about: Hollywood’s portrayal of Israel (we all agree that Paul Newman is the perfect looking Jew) Exodus by Leon Uris (the book!) Get the Book Exodus (the movie!) Watch the mov...

This week on Ask A Jew, the girls sit down with their colleague at the top of the podcasting charts Mike Pesca, who just returned from his first ever reporting trip to Israel. We discuss the war with Hamas, growing up Italian and Jewish, and attempt to answer some of the nation’s most divisive questions like - does ketchup belong on a bagel? Should the voting age be raised to 45? And what kind of...

Join the discussion on Susbtack askajew.substack.com Follow, review and rate Ask A Jew five stars us on Apple podcasts, it helps us grow!     Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com Email us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com   ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like...

This week we are re-airing one of our favorite episodes,  "All I want for Christmas is Jews", from December 2022. In this episode we interview Rabbi David Komerofsky, an expert on Christmas music. I know, right?? If Rabbi K's name sounds familiar, it's because his congregation in Canton, Ohio was just the target of a shooting plot by a 13-year-old. Such are the times.  But first - Chaya Leah is ba...

Thank you to everyone who showed up at the Hanukkah Party! It was lots of fun, we had donuts, drinks, home made hamentaschen (why not!) and more laughs than awkward introductions. Lets do it again sometime! Pics here. This week: Pray for the social media manager The IDF is gay, ew/The IDF isn’t gay enough Would you take a bullet for your Twitter friends? Sweet Chabad kids What it's like in Israel...

SEE YOU WEDNESDAY, DEC 13 Hanukkah Bash - 3 sheets bar, 134 West 3rd street, 6pm. RSVP More info on askajew.substack.com In a nice catch-up episode we discuss this non-fun rollercoaster of emotions, turn our rage to all different directions (this was before the congressional hearing on Antisemitism featuring your favorite  Ivy Leage presidents), discuss masterpieces like "Gremlins 2" and "Untamed...

As part of our ongoing therapy, we welcomed Jonathan Rauch , senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Jonathan is one of our favorite authors, and his books “ Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Though t” and “The Constitution of Knowledge -  A Defense of Truth” are heavily earmarked in both our bookshelves.  We ask Jonathan to help us hold on to our values and ideals in the face of Oct...

~~Save the Date - December 13th Hannukah party in NYC ~~ Follow substack   for more info: askajew.substack.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sam Harris is amazing.   Me too, unless you’re a jew WHO? Unicef? UNHRC? GTFO Ilhan "some of my best friends are Jewish" Omar  For the soul - Escaping Twin Flames on Netflix    Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substa...

We welcome young journalist and activist Blake Flayton, fresh off a ground invasion into academia. He tries to explain to us what is wrong with the kids today, what TikTok and peer pressure has to do with it, and why we need different kinds of Jews on campus. Stay in touch - sign up for our substack Blake’s NY Times piece about antisemitism on campus Follow Blake on Twitter Make Zionism Sexy Again...

In honor of Islamophobia month, we detained Mujahed Kobbe and Siraj Hashmi , otherwise knows as the Habibi Bros , hosts of the Habibi Power Hour."  Seriously, this is the most fun we’ve had all month - and that's before we strip searched them. Follow their show and socials if you don't believe us! We heard these boys are safe and funny, but when Mujahed showed up to our video call with a backgroun...

The girls use their guest Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Hartman Institute, as a free therapist. Warning: This episode gets funny and lighthearted at times, some might even say optimistic. We talk: Israeli music is so….Israeli. Why is Yossi doing a bit better? Hamas really messed up by making us stop hating each other. Our leaders don’t deserve us Moral failures What the hell does Hashem...

On October 6th, we sat down for a lovely conversation with journalist  Mary Katharine Ham, who you may know from CNN, The Federalist, and as the co-host of wonderful podcast " Getting Hammered".  I'd like to say that back 3 weeks ago when we recorded this we didn't have any problems, but we did, just at a much smaller scale. We discuss a lot of the things that were on our minds then and now like I...

12 Days of War - with IDF Col. (Res.) Miri Eisen We are joined by IDF Colonel (Res.) Miri Eisen, formerly a senior intelligence officer and now the head of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University.  We discuss Hamas's endgame, future escalation, and the enviable strength of the people of Israel. If you are a new listener, our episodes are usually a lot funnier. Stick...

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com Email us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com   ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Elon Musk goes to Auschwitz, Chaya Leah goes to spin class. Are you a holocaust denier? Then why aren't you following u s on Substack ?? https://askajew.substack.com/ Please rate and review us five stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ on Spotify/Apple - it helps us grow! Also:  How do you say Jew in sign language? 🔔 Holocaust bell rings around 10  minutes in... 🔔 Why does Oprah love her dog more than she loves...

Saudi Arabia, you up? Bibi and Elon, sitting in a tree A beautiful tradition or antisemitic blood libel? Why not both? Non binary silverware Yael asks Chaya Leah about a  Yom Kippur tradition involving Jews paying Arabs The weird chicken thing that Orthodox Jews do Tradition! 🔔 Holocaust bell rings at 26 minutes 🔔 We talk about Lauren Boebert, Bari Weiss, and Palestinians antisemites at UPenn, b...

Democracy Hipster - With Yascha Mounk Oh look, Yascha Mounk wrote another book. " The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time" is really great (just like all the others), so we invited Yascha on to talk about democracy around the world in 2023, why identity politics is bad for everyone, post-liberalism on the right and left, Germany and Israel being BFFs, Donald Trump , social media,...

As a Rosh Hashana gift to ourselves (and our listeners) we spent an hour with the Beyonce of Rabbis, the honey to our apple, the horseradish to our Gefilte - Rabbi David Wolpe!  He joins us from Cambridge where he is a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School (ohh-la-la), though you may remember him from such rabbinical masterpieces as “Most Influential Rabbi in America” (Newsweek), and “50 Mos...

Why did G_d forsake the people of Israel at Burning Man? Did Abraham work in a gift shop? You’re so not invited to my Bat Mitzvah (J/k please come) Would you read your angsty teenage diary on stage? These people did and its hilarious. Hot 12 year old boys Our traumatic stories from 6th grade Marraige is good, I guess Esther Perel on artificial intamacy 🔔Holocaust Bell rings late! 42:42 🔔 A Holoc...

Remember when diversity wasn’t an annoying word that makes you think of 5 hour office HR power point presentations? Our guest today is diverse in the coolest way possible - not just his background, but his experience and work as well. Yirmiyahu Danzig tells us all about his upbringing as a Carribean/American/Israeli Jew, his military service in the heart of the conflict alongside Israeli soldiers...

The Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk of Jewish podcasting are back this week, talking about the latest tragedy to befall the Jewish people, prosthetic noses. We learn that this is the Jewish month of self reflection , debate whether israel should have a Sunday, and answer listener questions about autopay on Shabbat.  For your Qs, our email is askajewpod@gmail.com .  Next stop - the Tel Aviv light rai...

The girls welcome Israeli author and co-founder of the Tel Aviv, institute Hen Mazzig. Hen, who identifies as a Queer, Mizrahi Zionist, has a huge online footprint, where he shares stories about Israel that people may not have seen before. We talk about everything from his family's Jewish roots in North Africa and Iraq, American Jews and Israel, being a Mizrahi or Sephardi Jew, progressive politic...

Chaya Leah is back from Italy and France The hazards of kosher fine-dining in Europe Harvard loves dead Nazis Yael is traumatized by classic Europe Americans love standing in line The Jewish ethics of having an affair You don’t *have* to love thy neighbor in America A solemn yet insightful conversation about Israel Is hatred of the religious people in Israel out of control? Save us, Eurovision! Ba...

Yael is stuck in Texas, so Chaya Leah and her father, Rabbi Aba Abba Perelmuter, take to the stage for some light Torah studies.  They were left with explicit instructions to answer listener questions, but you know, these people...instead they have an enlightening conversation about the Talmudic interpretations of the Russia/Ukraine conflict,  honoring thy father and thy mother (complete with loop...

This week we are joined by author and journalist Matti Friedman , who recently penned " Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai " (you can hear him discuss it with Bari Weiss here ) and before that the incredible " Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel " about the founding of the Mossad and the nation. A former AP correspondent, Matti blew the lid on what the media gets wrong ab...