The Jewish Lens Podcast

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with award-winning writer, and podcaster, Sally Wiener Grotta! Sally discusses her books, her photography, and The American Hands project, her podcast, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the founder of Ketubah.com, Michael Shapiro! Michael discusses Ketubah.com, the history of the ketubah, his book Ketubah Renaissance, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the director and star of the documentary, Parting the Waters, Michele Kuvin Kupfer! Michele discusses Parting the Waters, its inclusion in the Miami Jewish Film Festival on January 15th, swimming for the Israeli Olympic Team in 1980, and not getting to compete due to the boycott of the Soviet Games, winning in the 1981 Maccabiah Games, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the author of I Will Protect You, Danica Davidson! Danica discusses her Middle Grade book I Will Protect You, which is based on the life of Eva Mozes Kor, who, along with her sister, Miriam, were selected to be the subjects of Mengele's experiments. 

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the Queen of Jewish Romance, Jean Meltzer! Jean discusses winning a Daytime Emmy, her Jewish romance books, including The Matzah Ball, her organization Jewish Joy, which is having its first convention in March of 2026 in Florida, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the author of Out From the Shadows, Willie Handler! Willie discusses his books, growing up as a child of Holocaust survivors, the programs at the Toronto Holocaust Museum, antisemitism in Toronto, and much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the author of A Novel Crime, Deborah Levison! Deborah discusses her books, being the daughter of Holocaust survivors, the real-life crime embroiling her family, which led to her book The Crate, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the author of Hands of Gold, Roni Robbins! Roni discusses the book based on her family, Hands of Gold, her career in journalism, and interviewing people such as Hank Aaron, her family having a Blacksmith business when she was growing up, and much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the author of Your Roots Cast a Shadow, Caroline Topperman! Caroline discusses her book, Your Roots Cast a Shadow, owning a Pilates studio with celebrity clients, tracing back her roots in Poland, and much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with The Accidental Talmudist, Sal Litvak! Sal discusses his path to becoming The Accidental Talmudist, his new movie Guns & Moses, his book Let My People Laugh, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the publisher of Green Bean Books, Michael Leventhal! Michael discusses what he looks for when acquiring books, his own books Jews in Britain, The Chocolate King, and others, the Jewish food charity he had put together, GefilteFest, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the author of Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers, Yaron Weitzman! Yaron discusses the history of LeBron on the Lakers and the decision-making on the team, the behind-the-scenes storylines involving the Buss family, how early in his career, he was responsible for bringing Cheez Doodles for Stephen A Smith, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the writers of the fun time travel classic, Peggy Sue Got Married, Arlene Sarner and Jerry Liechtling! Arlene and Jerry discuss the making of the Peggy Sue Got Married, the behind-the-scenes casting and director choices, their film Blue Sky with Tommy Lee Jones and Jessica Lange, the Peggy Sue musical, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the organizer of the Jewish Authors Summit, Jennifer Rubin! Jennifer discusses her work at 70 Faces Media, the upcoming Jewish Authors Summit that she organized, the issues that Jews face in publishing, and much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the author of Rewriting the Rules, Danna Zeiger! Danna discusses her book Rewriting the Rules about the life of Dr. Kathleen Friel, being a Biology professor at Fisher College, how her father had been a political prisoner in the Soviet Union, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with multimedia journalist Sharon Geltner! Sharon discusses her career in journalism,  her interactive marketing firm Froogle PR, her book Charity Bashed, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the author of The Night Sparrow, Shelly Sanders! Shelly discusses her book The Night Sparrow, discovering she was Jewish as a teen, visiting Latvia and finding out that she had ancestors murdered in the Holocaust, being on the Board of Artists Against Antisemitism, and much more.

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the Executive Director at Chabad of Coral Springs, Rabbi Avraham Friedman! Rabbi Friedman discusses growing up in Brooklyn in a Chabad household, fighting antisemitism in a post-October 7th world, his podcast Sunday Morning Torah & Coffee, & much more! 

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the author of My Other Half, David Isaacson! David discusses the story behind his book, doing film reviews, antisemitism in London, and much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the CEO of the Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, Hava Holzhauer! Hava discusses growing up as the descendant of Holocaust survivors, the work she does for the community as the President and CEO of Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, her past responsibilities as the Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the president of the Yiddish Book Center, Susan Bronson! Susan discusses the history of the Yiddish Book Center, the different collections they have, upcoming exhibits, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the lead singer of Ottowan, Esther de Bijl-Langen! Esther discusses being part of Ottowan and having hits with Hands Up and D.I.S.C.O., discovering her Jewish roots, how her grandfather helped rescue Jews from the Nazis, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen, as he chats with the editor of The Practicing Writer Newsletter, Erika Dreifus! Erika discusses her popular newsletter, her books, Birthright: Poems, and Quiet Americans: Stories, being a board member of Artists Against Antisemitism & The Leo Baeck Institute, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with award-winning author Barbara Bottner! Barbara discusses her writing career, the time she spent writing scripts for Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories and other TV shows, having lunch with Jim Henson and writing a song for a Sesame Street album, & much more!

Join author Jonathan Rosen as he chats with the author of Chai Noon, Jonathan Friedmann! Jonathan discusses his book about Jews in Westerns, Chai Noon, his podcast, Amusing Jews, the Jewish Museum of the American West, & much more!