Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews

July 31, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 60 - All Nerds Think About Is Sects …with Special Guest Melissa Raub Judaism is divided into sects or branches, but they all share a few core beliefs. We agree that they don’t sit on a spectrum, but perhaps they live in some kind of venn diagram? But, reviewing the sects of Judaism isn’t enough for us, we also explore the sects of Nerda...

July 17, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 59 - The Messiah Element Not the first element, hydrogen. Not the second, the third, or even the fourth element. No, this episode is about the Fifth Element, and it’s just… perfect. Grab a flying taxi and head to the (for some reason) garbage filled airport because you won two tickets aboard the Flohston Paradise cruise ship! Is it poss...

July 3, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 58 - X-Men Again Again …with Guest Host Joel Swedlove In this episode, our guest host, Joel Swedlove, leads our team through a quote quote from a rabbi with a funny name name. We discuss the ever popular X-Men ‘97 animated series that recently completed and explore the similarities and differences in how we watched it. Not just because i...

June 19, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 57 - To Everything There Is A Bluey…with Special Guest Cantor Emily Simkin This week’s episode of Bluey is called… Torah Smash! Sometimes special episodes come into our lives, this is one of those episodes. For real life! We talk about our feelings around the Heeler’s “moving” episode and all the advice that we’ve learned from a cartoon...

June 5, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 56 - 2nd Anniversary Special - Paraders of the Blessed Ark - Part Two The second part of this year’s epic adventure to celebrate our podcast’s two years of being Jewish and nerdy. Can our heroes defeat this mysterious giant? Can they complete their mission? What happens to Tirza’s cat rock? Find out the answers to these questions and mor...

May 22, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 55 - 2nd Anniversary Special - Paraders of the Blessed Ark - Part 1 To celebrate two years of being Jewish and Nerdy, we invited some of our previous guests from the past year back to the show for a Torah Smashed version of Dungeons & Dragons. Each player chose a biblical character to portray (character descriptions below) and worked...

May 8, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 54 - Very Special Episodes …with Guest Host Rabbi Alan Cook This week’s episode will talk about something very special. Since we want it to be extra memorable, we’ll bring in a special guest. That should help ensure that the purpose and topic stick out in your mind. Did that work for you growing up with the very special episodes of your f...

April 24, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 53 - Destiny Report You’re going to listen to this episode. How do I know? Because it’s destined to happen. The fact that you’re reading this now already tells me that this episode is in your feed. Just because you're reading this doesn’t change the fact that it’s going to happen. You see the dilemma right? If you listen, then our...

April 10, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 52 - Moses and the Justice League Passover is around the corner, so of course, we will look at the hero who, to avoid the destruction of his people, was sent by his parents to eventually grow up to be the hero we all look up to. I’ll give you a hint, they’re a member of the Justice League. …Wait, who were you thinking of? 00:00:38 Bara...

March 27, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 51 - You Are So Not Invited To My Borg Mitzvah Star Date: April 5, 2063. Earth has finally made contact with other intelligent life in the universe, so we better ask them all the important questions: Do lobster people keep kosher? How many people attend a Borg’s b’nai mitzvah service? And why does Ethan think Star Trek: First Contact c...

March 13, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 50 - Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish …with Special Guest Fabrice Sapolsky Purim is around the corner (some may say it’s around three corners) and throughout the holiday we disguise who we really are. Together with comic creator and publisher, Fabrice Sapolsky, we explore some comic heroes who hide in plain sight and we discuss how these d...

February 28, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 49 - Hogwarts School of Judaism and Wizardry…With Special Guest Rabbi Emma Gottlieb Filled with decades of knowledge, halls filled with history, and helping to teach the young ones the history, culture, and practices of their people. As we explore the starting point for the wizarding youth attending Hogwarts, joined by Rabbi Emma Go...

February 14, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 48 - What If Creation Wasn’t The Beginning?…With Special Guest Roy Schwartz Judaism encourages us to ask questions. In this episode, we try to answer Marvel’s biggest question of What If…? We discuss the most recent animated addition to the MCU and debate how the question could be used to change our view of our own Jewish history. 0...

January 31, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 47 - Echo of Resilience Our Jewish history has been passed down through the generations and some experts may say that has made us more resilient. Superheroes learn about their ancestors’ ups and downs, but one in particular has shown the impact those stories can have when you fully embrace your past. L’dor vador. 00:00:38 Shoutout to...

January 17, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 46 - The Incredible Samson You may have grown up hearing the story of Samson, whose strength was connected to his hair. Did you know that it was also tied to one of his emotions? RDY gently guides us on a comparative look of how Samson’s love of Delilah and his destructive anger ties him to certain gamma based characters in Marvel co...

January 3, 2024 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 45 - Our Heroes and Transformative Grief Ethan returns and shares about his brief hiatus from the show due to the loss of a loved one. In this episode, we celebrate the life of Kiya, we each discuss how our grief has shaped us, and the difficult personal experiences and choices that can come from losing someone dear to us. 00:00:48 Fi...

December 20, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 44 - Loki and the Whale…With Special Guest Joshua Edelglass In this episode, we timeslip between Loki, the TVA, and Nineveh with our guest, Josh Edelglass. We go back in time to talk about Loki season 2 and his learned compassion for others, just like Jonah who gained compassion for his fellow man (and many beasts as well). So pull...

December 6, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 43 - Love, Jews + Robots …With Guest Host Joshua Sky Our guest host this week, Joshua Sky, is not only a writer for popular properties like He-Man , Heavy Metal Illustrated, and Ben10, but he is also a massive Sci-Fi fan. He gives us an in depth look at how the era of Science Fiction started as well as the multitude of Jewish influen...

November 22, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 42 - Treehouse of Talmud …With Guest Host Rabbi Benjamin Sharff This week, guest host Rabbi Benjamin Sharff crashes into our living room couch and teaches us about the Jewish connections from the longest running sitcom in television history, The Simpsons. The incredible discoveries made here will have you saying “ay, caramba!” 00:02...

November 8, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 41 - Ahsoka Tano, RJE In this episode, Ethan teaches us what makes Ahsoka and her Star Wars Rebels teammates different from those who came before them. Is it how they were taught? Or how they were teaching others? And which of the series’ characters are the most Jewish? Jump on a intergalactic traveling purrgil and let’s find out tog...

October 25, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 40 - Top 5 Jewish Characters ...With Special Guest Isaac Brynjegard Bialik We welcome back Isaac to the show in this exploratory look at Jews in pop culture. We count down each of our top five favorite Jewish characters in pop-culture. We may have had some overlap in our choices, but were there any that we forgot? 00:02:15 Coming thi...

October 11, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 39 - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Beshert Jock! Start the podcast! This episode we explore the most recent installment to the Indiana Jones franchise and the titular character’s entanglement with destiny. We also ask why everything belongs in a museum? And why did it have to be snakes? We don’t know. We’re making this up as we go. J...

September 27, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 38 - The Latest Last of Us …With Guest Host Rabbi Eric Linder This episode’s guest host, Rabbi Eric Linder, reintroduces us to the recent HBO drama The Last of Us and its artful history. We’re not playing games when we explore the connections between this retelling of the Playstation hit to a few poignant biblical texts. 00:04:38 T...

September 13, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 37 - Jews in Space? …With Special Guest Dr. Miriam Mora The Co-Creator of JewCE (the Jewish Comics Experience), Dr. Miriam Mora, joins us as we explore strange Jew worlds, seek out Jew life and Jew civilizations, and boldly discuss which of the numerous Star Trek species are Jewish. You may find some of our conclusions highly illog...

August 30, 2023 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 36 - Cobra Chai …With Special Guest Dr. Betsy Stone Torah Smash has special guest Dr. Betsy Stone to help us as we prepare ourselves for the High Holy Days. We always tend to take a look inward and think of all the people to which we may have done wrong, because every year even though sometimes our heart knows, our head forgets. So we...