Judaism Unbound

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg continue their conversation about Elul, the final month of the Jewish year -- which serves as an "on-ramp" into the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They explore what the sports terminology of "home field advantage" has to do with Judaism, extend previous conversations about space and time, and consider the impact of blasting a Shofar in public....

Alicia Jo Rabins -- a writer, composer, performer, and Torah teacher -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to talk about her new book, entitled Even God Had Bad Parenting Days .  To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound , please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

Jennie Rosenn , the founder and CEO of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action , joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the urgency of our collective work -- across boundaries of religious difference, and across generational divides -- to combat climate change. They explore particular roles that Jewish individuals, communities, and institutions can play in this effort, along...

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be a time to think about Jews in space! No, this bonus episode is not about that clip at the end of Mel Brooks's History of the World Part I, entitled Jews in Space. It's not about outer space at all! Instead, it's about inner space, along with the physical spaces/locations that...

One year ago, right before the once-every-7-year observance of Shmita began (Shmita is a year-long Jewish observance where land is given a chance to rest and debts are remitted), we spoke with Nigel Savage in a bonus episode . Savage, the founder of Hazon: The Jewish Lab for Sustainability , returns to Judaism Unbound to speak with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg about what it might look like to tra...

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be spicy! They argue that this spiciness should apply every year, but it should be especially in play in a year like this one -- where Elul is serving as a bridge between Shmita (a year-long, once-every-7-year observance of release, renewal, and recalibration) and the six "norma...

Jay Michaelson , a political columnist, author, and teacher in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva (!), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss his most recent book, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth . In their conversation, Michaelson dives into the wild world that was Jacob Frank's life, connects Frank's 18th century ideas to the present-day, and professes his lov...

Diane Tickton Schuster , the editor of a new book entitled Portraits of Adult Jewish Learning: Making Meaning at Many Tables , joins Dan and Lex to ask what "Jewish education" means, and why it doesn't serve us when think of it only (or primarily), as something that children experience. Also, Banksy makes an appearance (he says cryptically...)!  To access full shownotes for this episode, click her...

Shawn Harris , author of The Red Door: A Dark Fairy Tale Told In Poems , thinks that Jews would benefit from having a little less reverence for Judaism -- and a lot more chutzpah. Harris, who is also the creative mind behind Project Tzimtzum: Play, Learn, Make , joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the Jewish present and future. They hop from, and to, a wide variety of topics, including lite...

Janet Krasner Aronson , the Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University, is one of the leading sociologists of American Judaism. She directs local Jewish-population studies in cities all around the country, and most recently led a study that looked at greater Los Angeles (to take a look at the findings of this stu...

Dan and Lex have some questions: What counts as a "Jewish space?" What should be counted as a "Jewish space?" What would be different about Judaism if we sought to build more creative forms of Jewish space? What about "Jewifying" spaces that are not specifically-Jewish? What's different about Jewish spaces that are indoors versus those that are outside?  In this conversation, they explore all thes...

Kesha Dorsey Spoor , Adam McCurdy , and Sharone Oren are three members of the team at Coastal Roots Farm — a nonprofit community-farm in Encinitas, California, anchored in Jewish traditions. They join Dan and Lex for a conversation about how Judaism and farming are rooted (get it??) in shared values. This is the 3rd episode in a three-part mini-series, recorded on location at  Leichtag Commons  --...

Jim Farley and Charlene Seidle are the CEO and Executive Vice-President, respectively, of the Leichtag Foundation . In this 2nd episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Farley and Seidle, on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, California and operated by the Leichtag Foundation. The conversat...

Jenny Camhi and Jessica Kort are the Chief Talent Officer and Director of Communications and Strategy, respectively, of The Leichtag Foundation . In this 1st episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Camhi and Kort, on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, California and operated by the Leichta...

Dan and Lex have been thinking a lot about art lately. In this conversation, they reflect on recent podcast episodes exploring Jewish art from a variety of angles, revisit their notion Judaism itself might be best understood as a medium of art, and play around with what the words "mosaic" and "Mosaic" might mean for the future of Judaism (yes, you did not misread, it's the same spelling for both!)...

New Voices Magazine , a Jewish and justice-focused magazine by and for Jews ages 18-24, recently published an investigation -- written by Julia Hegele -- entitled "How Jewish Summer Camps Are Damaging LGBTQ+ Youth."   The investigation, which you can read here , shines a light on the experiences of LGBTQ+ campers -- now LGBTQ+ camp alumni -- who have for decades faced exclusion, emotional conflict...

This bonus episode of Judaism Unbound is presented in partnership with Theatre Dybbuk . Once a month, their podcast -- called The Dybbukast -- releases a new episode, and we are proud to feature their second season's eighth episode as a bonus episode here on Judaism Unbound's feed. In each episode, they bring poems, plays, and other creative texts from throughout history to life, all while reveali...

Allison Silverman is an Executive Producer for the Netflix series Russian Doll . She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that covers a ton of ground: the many and intersecting Jewish layers of the show, a behind-the-scenes look at how a series like this is created, and even whether TV shows like Russian Doll could be a potential source for new Jewish rituals and practices. If you're a Netflix sub...

Kendell Pinkney is a theatre-artist, creative producer, and rabbi. He serves as the Artistic Director of The Workshop , a newly launched arts and culture fellowship for professional JOCISM (Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, Sephardi, and Mizrahi) artists. Pinkney joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring big-picture questions of Jewish art, along with specific questions about...

Liora Ostroff and Naomi Rose Weintraub are the curator-in-residence and artist-in-residence, respectively, for The Jewish Museum of Maryland (JMM). They explore, in conversation with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, a recent exhibition that they helped to install at JMM, entitled A Fence Around the Torah: Safety and Unsafety in Jewish Life .  We encourage to explore the exhibition yourself, before y...

Andrew Tobolowsky , author of a new book entitled  The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel , joins Dan and Lex to talk about what the Twelve Tribes of Israel myth is, and why it matters. They explore the ways in which groups have mobilized it -- all around the world -- for a few thousand years, and how that conversation across the millennia can help us better understand how people (and communities...

Marques Hollie is a Philadelphia-based theatre artist, ritual leader, operatically-trained vocalist, and -- most importantly for this episode -- an ordained Maggid! What's a Maggid, you ask? That's a great question. It's so great that we devoted much of this episode to exploring it! Listen in to learn what a Maggid has been in the past, what it is today, and what it could become in the future. Mar...

Stephen Daniel Arnoff , author of a new book entitled About Man & God & Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan (and host of a similarly-titled podcast ), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that's a little bit about Bob Dylan -- but largely about his influence on others, including American Jews. Between Passover and Shavuot, Judaism Unbound is offering several different 3-week "mini-courses" that...

In recent days, it has become clear that the future of reproductive justice in the United States is at risk. With the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, many organizations are speaking out publicly, to ensure continued access to safe abortions around the country. Among Jewish organizations, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has been a leader in this regard. Two years ago, two o...

Deborah Newbrun , co-founder of SVARA's Queer Talmud Camp , and the beloved former-director of Camp Tawonga , is launching a new initiative, entitled Divorce and Discovery: A Jewish Healing Retreat . She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss her vision for the first-ever Jewish retreat that will be crafted, specifically, to provide participants the chance to heal from divorce. The inaugur...