edJEWcation

What are you doing on December 16th at 8PM (aside from lighting your second Menorah candle)? Well, now you have plans…join us for our first listener Zoom call. We’d love to chat with you. What do Vegas slot machines, King Solomon’s thousand wives, and Elijah’s world-class trash-talking have in common? Apparently… everything. In this week’s episode, ChayaLeah returns from her very spiritual pilgrim...

In this pre-pre-PRE-Hanukkah special (because we refuse to let Christmas music win), the crew breaks down the real Hanukkah story: the oil, the civil war, the Hellenists, the hammer, and the heroic home court advantage , while also inventing a brand-new Hanukkah tradition involving sword fights and presents hidden in a makeshift Temple. Along the way, we tackle assimilation, Jewish identity, why n...

We’re running on zero sleep, too much Friendsgiving, and a very inflated sense of our own importance, so naturally, it’s time for… a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT. This week, Jay and ChayaLeah unveil edJEWcation’s brand-new Substack subscription levels which include monthly Zoom hangs, one-on-one sessions, and why none of this means we’re going behind a paywall. (Relax. Don’t throw things.) Plus: why Substack...

🚨 ALERT! Have you ever wanted to Zoom with the three of us? Or maybe even have some one-on-one time? Well, the world is now your oyster because we’ve officially launched several subscription tiers , with our first Zoom taking place sometime after Thanksgiving! These will just be the starting points (we have a lot of goodies cooking), so keep your eyes peeled — and don’t worry, we’ll also personal...

ALERT - Have you ever wanted to Zoom with the three of us? Or maybe even have one-on-one time? The world is now your oyster, as we have officially launched several subscription tiers, with our first Zoom taking place sometime after Thanksgiving. These will just be starting points, as we have a bunch of additional goodies planned, so be on the lookout (but we’ll also, of course, annoy you to make s...

🚨 ALERT! Have you ever wanted to Zoom with the three of us? Or maybe even have some one-on-one time? Well, the world is now your oyster because we’ve officially launched several subscription tiers , with our first Zoom taking place sometime after Thanksgiving! These will just be the starting points (we have a lot of goodies cooking), so keep your eyes peeled — and don’t worry, we’ll also personal...

This week, Jay and ChayaLeah sit down with Professor Jeffrey Veidlinger of the University of Michigan — historian, author of In the Midst of Civilized Europe , and director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute — for a hauntingly relevant conversation about the pogroms that swept through Ukraine between 1918 and 1921. They explore how ordinary neighbors became murderers, why humiliation often cuts dee...

This week on edJEWcation , we go full wandering-Jew with an episode that starts in the December Project (a book about preparing for death) and somehow winds its way through Hemingway, Dostoevsky, Hasidic storytelling, Masada, Jonathan Sacks, the Nakba, Judge Caprio, and why your neighbor’s sukkah is basically Jewish Home Depot cosplay. In between, we wrestle with: Why fiction can sometimes tell th...

This week on edJEWcation , we sit down with William Mehrvarz, whose story takes us from the streets of Tehran to the Shabbat tables of New York. Born into a devout Shia Muslim family in Iran, William’s path veered when a camp roommate handed him a Bible written in Farsi. What followed was years of secret study, political upheaval, and dangerous choices, culminating in his escape from Iran, asylum...

In this episode, Jay contemplates changing his Hebrew name, which leads ChayaLeah and the Rabbi into a conversation about identity, the mystical energy of names, and how prayer has become the least-popular Jewish pastime (sorry, Pew survey). Along the way, we talk about why Jews often find davening uninspiring, how Hasidic meditation works (hint: it’s not sitting cross-legged with Sam Harris), and...

As the High Holidays come into focus, we take a step back to reflect on prayer, community, and the meaning behind the words we say in shul. From the powerful sound of the shofar to the quiet struggles with Hebrew versus English prayer, we share honest conversations about connection, detachment, and what it really means to stand before G-d. Along the way, we discuss Tashlich by the lagoon, the chal...

This week on edJEWcation , we dive into a nearly forgotten chapter of Jewish history: the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry of 1946. Born out of the Harrison Report (which we discussed previously) and Truman’s pressure to open the gates of Palestine, this joint British-American commission investigated the plight of Holocaust survivors, Arab opposition, and the realities on the ground in Mandator...

In this week’s episode, we pause from our usual lighthearted approach to reflect on a tragedy shaking the Jewish and wider American communities: the assassination of Charlie Kirk. However one viewed his politics, Charlie was a forceful supporter of Israel and a vocal opponent of antisemitism, unafraid to confront hostile audiences on college campuses and beyond. His final, unfinished work on the i...

This week on edJEWcation , the saga of King David gets darker, messier, and more painfully human. Forget the Sunday-school highlight reel, we’re diving into the tragedy of Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom. It’s a story of lust, betrayal, revenge, and rebellion: a prince consumed by desire, a sister left broken and silenced, a brother plotting justice with the patience of a viper, and a father-king paraly...

This week on edJEWcation, Jay and ChayaLeah sit down with Dr. Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, professor at the University of Pittsburgh and head of the Center for Governance and Markets, for a conversation that bounces from Uzbekistan to Squirrel Hill, from Hasidic wedding songs to Taliban tribal law. We explore: Why minhag Yisroel Torah hi (“Jewish custom is Torah”) resonates far beyond Jewish life...

This week on edJEWcation, we dive into one of the most famous and scandalous stories in the entire Bible: King David, Bathsheba, and Uriah. Was David guilty of adultery, deception, and murder? Or was he fulfilling a divine destiny with Bathsheba? The Rabbi breaks down the clash between text, commentary, and morality, while Jay and ChayaLeah wrestle with the very human side of the story. We cover:...

This week on edJEWcation , we’ve doubled the rabbis and turned up the volume. ChayaLeah invites her friend Rabbi Daniel Levine to go head-to-head (in the nicest, most Jewishly passive-aggressive way possible) with her father. The topic? What’s gone wrong with Jewish education and how to fix it, without losing our kids to boredom, bagels-only Judaism, or anti-Israel campus mobs. We cover: Why Hebre...

This week on edJEWcation , Jay and ChayaLeah kick the Rabbi off the mic and dive deep into a little-known but wildly important post-Holocaust document: the Harrison Report. After hearing disturbing rumors that Jewish survivors were being kept behind barbed wire alongside former Nazis (yes, really), President Truman sent Earl Harrison: lawyer, non-Jew, and moral compass, to investigate. What he fou...

This week on edJEWcation, we return to the Book of Samueland things are getting biblical in the worst way. Saul’s kingship is off to a promising start: he wins battles, his son Jonathan shows promise, and even the livestock is plentiful. What could go wrong? Everything. We dive into Saul’s fateful mistakes impatience, misplaced piety, and a tragic inability to just do what he’s told . Rabbi breaks...

This week on edJEWcation, we’re going full Nine Days mode, which means no meat, no music, no manicures, and absolutely no Martha Stewart-level Shabbat table décor. ChayaLeah and Jay kick things off with a discussion on Bob Dylan’s Orthodox daughter, Paul McCartney’s politics (or lack thereof), and why Regina Spektor just became the patron saint of Jewish pride at concerts. But don’t worry it’s not...

In this week’s edJEWcation bonus episode, Jay ditches Montreal, loses his tefillin (almost), and gains a crash course in the most Hamish transit option known to mankind: Hyman’s bus. We then pivot—seamlessly, obviously—from gefilte-fish-scented buses to one of the most dramatic political moments in Tanakh: the Israelites demanding a king. Why did God get so cranky about the request for a king when...

This week on edJEWcation , we dive into the opening chapters of the Book of Samuel—because nothing says Jewish tradition like a barren woman, a holy ark, and a plague of hemorrhoids. Before we get biblical, we briefly address our deep concern over Brad Pitt's Zionism (verdict: our gut says yes) and tackle a listener question about antisemitism. Rabbi’s answer? Retreat is never the answer. Jewish p...

This week on edJEWcation, ChayaLeah returns from an impromptu war-zone detour with 40 Birthright students, a cruise ship, and a newfound appreciation for bomb shelters. What started as a sunny student trip to Israel turned into a harrowing 12-day ordeal as Iran launched a massive missile attack, Ben-Gurion shut down, and Birthright scrambled to evacuate thousands. We unpack her experience taking s...

With ChayaLeah on her reverse Exodus from Israel and an interview that fell through this week, we are re-running our episode about the Jewish perspective on happiness from a few months ago, because we couldn't all use that right now? However, this one comes with an extended director's cut that includes Jay's commentary on current events in Israel. What more could you ask for at the mom...

This week on edJEWcation , we conclude our epic journey through the Book of Judges—and let's just say, we didn’t exactly end on a high note. Join us as we unpack two of the wildest, most uncomfortable stories you (probably) never learned in Hebrew school: the idol of Micah and the tragedy of the concubine in Givah. Along the way, we uncover shocking details like why Moses’ own grandson ends up run...