The Orthonomics Podcast

Henry Kopel is a retired federal prosecutor with over 30 years' experience involving national security matters, domestic terrorism, and violent crimes. He most recently authored the extremely ambitious and informative book "War on Hate," which, as one reviewer (Ayaan Hirsi Ali) notes, "raises important questions about how free societies in the West can best be defended from the challenge of Islami...

Ari Schaffer is a Young Israel shul member and board member, founder of CT for Israel, a grassroots group advocating for Israel and opposing antisemitism throughout Connecticut. He is also on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Hartford. For his day job, Ari is the Communications Director at the Buckley Institute, which is dedicated to promoting intellectual diversity an...

Viva Hammer is a fifth generation Australian who moved to New York after finishing law school. She served as a lawyer in the private sector and then at the US Treasury and in the US Congress. She is a partner in a DC law firm and holds academic positions at Brandeis University and the Australian National University.   She has been interviewing Orthodox parents of large families for 20 years in the...

Mindy Schaper is a unique personality. Not only did she volunteer a kidney to save the life of a young man whom she did not know, but she also volunteered as a surrogate mother, carrying the child of an Orthodox couple full-term … and she did this twice! So now you understand the title of this podcast. Mindy Schaper grew up Chassidic in Boro Park, Brooklyn and now identifies as Modern Orthodox. Sh...

In this episode we discuss the recent surge in Jewish conversions and the reasons for this surge, especially in Israel. Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva of the Ohr Torah Stone network in Israel. It comprises 32 educational institutions, leadership development initiatives, outreach programs, women's empowerment initiatives across Israel and internationally. Rabbi Brande...

Our guest is Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, a well-known Orthodox Jewish writer and activist whose work focuses on women's rights in Orthodox Judaism and the visibility of women in religious life. Born and raised in Lakewood, New Jersey, she moved to Israel with her family, where she has become a prominent voice challenging religious extremism, the erasure of women from public and communal spaces, and b...

In this episode we discuss aliyah with Shifra Gewurtz, reflecting realistically on the challenges, the realities, and the successes. We talk about her long-term goal of making aliyah, the decision-making process, the many logistics involved, family issues (lots of teenagers involved), housing, taxes and income, tuition and health costs, what surprised her, and more. Shifra is passionate and honest...

In this episode we discuss with Rabbi Dr. Michael J. Broyde the evolution, especially in the past half century, of communal standards for tzniut in dress, particularly among women; whether laws of tzniut over the millennia have been objective and fixed, or subject within bounds to changing societal norms; possible U.S. societal changes that might affect tzniut in the Orthodox community; the positi...

In this episode, we continue our discussion of health, including some references to our recent survey of the community, with Dr. Sharon Galper Grossman. Dr. Grossman is a Harvard-trained physician (MD) with a Master of Public Health degree (MPH), a radiation oncologist, public-health scholar, and a Jewish law ( halacha ) scholar and educator, known for bridging modern medicine and Jewish ethics an...

In this episode, we discuss with Dr. Jennie Berkovich the results of our recent survey of over 1,100 Orthodox Jews, relating to their health concerns and issues. Dr. Berkovich is a board-certified pediatrician focused on improving access to care for children, while also educating communities about pediatric health. She is also the Director of Education of JOWMA – The Jewish Orthodox Women's Medica...

Harry Weller is extremely knowledgeable on the topic of how we as Jews can defend ourselves, be prepared for and able to respond to threats. In this episode we discuss the need for, and resources available for Jews to learn self-defense, preparedness, how to deal with potential threats, and even the topic of gun ownership. Harry Weller is a long-time Connecticut attorney who served for decades as...

Rabbi Steven Greenberg is an Orthodox rabbi and author. Ordained at Yeshiva University, he has spent years teaching, writing, and speaking across the Jewish world about tradition, ethics, and religious change. Specifically, as co-founder of the group Eshel, he was one of the earliest voices calling for inclusion of LGBTQ individuals – gay people – within Orthodox Judaism. How do we do that? On the...

In this episode we discuss the cost of Orthodox / frum life. What factors affect it, and how? We discuss overall finances (how many are doing OK; how many are not doing OK?); the impact of children's education costs; housing costs in Orthodox neighborhoods; kosher food prices; competitiveness and "showiness"; whether and how incomes are keeping up; is the Orthodox situation getting worse, includin...

Audrey Lichter is a long-time Jewish educator and community leader, and the founding Executive Director of the Chai Mitzvah program. Audrey has worked in Jewish education for over 30 years, including as the founding principal of Yachad, the community high school in Greater Hartford, Connecticut. She has been active as a lay leader, received community awards, and has been involved locally and natio...

Miriam Moster has a PhD sociology, she is a Mellon Humanities Public Fellow and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Her research explores Jewish communities, education, and the experiences of individuals navigating the boundaries of insular religious worlds. "Navigating the boundaries" means moving from one sector of Judaism and observance to another sector and lifestyle; and she has published widely on the...

Thanks to the Halacha Headlines podcast and Dovid Lichtenstein for allowing us to share this important episode with the Orthonomics audience. Halacha Headlines is an excellent podcast, primarily aimed at the Yeshivish community but with important insights for all Orthodox Jews. It is available at all podcast platforms. For further information about the issues discussed, go to http://amudim.org . T...

Harry Maryles is the author behind the blog Emes Ve-Emunah (which is now also released as a Substack publication). For many years he has written extensively and prolifically on issues of Halacha (Jewish law), hashkafa (Jewish philosophy), and contemporary matters affecting Orthodoxy. He does not shy away from sensitive or controversial issues, and his columns are just excellent. I've very much enj...

Elissa Felder is a: •   Renowned speaker • Author of the book " From One Life to the Next Life " • The Coordinator of Core's Communities of Practice Elissa also mentioned Chai Mitzvah and the excellent Sourcebook and Materials they have prepared for follow-up discussion of the topics she raises.

Esther Eisner is the founder of AfterForever.org, an online support community for Jewish divorcees. As a divorcee herself, Esther has experienced firsthand some of the challenges of rebuilding – both one's home and ones' self – post-divorce. She started After Forever to help others get back on their feet and to assist in navigating the path to starting over. This is the fourth and final episode of...

David Wolpaw reacts to the top health issues that Orthodox Jews recently told us are most important to them, including how their priorities compare with those of the general population. We also have a wide-ranging conversation covering such topics as attitudes toward vaccines, trust in medical authority and government, social media, Israel, and a little bit of politics.

Rocky Bochner is a data analyst and behavioral neuroscientist … and also both a certified personal trainer and a certified nutrition coach in the New York City Orthodox community. It is the latter – exercise and diet – that bring him to this program, in connection with our upcoming health survey. While his practice – RockFitnessNYC.com – provides personal training and classes for men, the issues w...

This episode continues our series on divorce, with our guest Deborah Chames, a highly respected partner at a Miami law firm. Deborah represents family law clients at Kluger, Kaplan, a Southeast Florida firm with clients nationwide. She handles high-net-worth divorces and high-conflict divorces. Guided by 42 years of experience, Chames crafts a strategy that advocates for clients while remaining se...

We did a recent divorce survey and discussed the findings in episode 37. This episode is the first of several follow-ups on that topic. The Beth Din of America serves as a national rabbinical court, affiliated with the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union. It addresses a broad spectrum of issues and is likely the busiest beth din in the country. (This here are many in the US and ex...

Dr. Berel Leib (Zachary) Epstein lives in Baltimore with his wife and children. He learns at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel. He also is a theoretical physicist and a Senior Staff Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he engages in advanced research aimed at supporting the United States' technological edge in defense applications. He came to my attention when I received...

In this episode, we interview Esther Eisner and David Sheril, two of the members of our Community Advisory Group that helped to develop this study. We discuss a wide range of findings among Modern Orthodox and Haredi Jews, including the causes of divorce and the factors that help to create a lasting marriage. The full report   ("A Survey of Orthodox Jewish Family Life, Marriage & Divorce") may be...