Judaism Unbound
545 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 387 ratingsListen in as Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg analyze pressing issues for 21st century American Judaism. Mixing their own analysis with interviews of leading thinkers, practitioners, and even "regular Jews," Dan and Lex look to push past the bounds of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.
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Episodes
Episode 426: Sephardi and Mizrachi Identities - Beyond Ashkenormativity - Hadar Cohen
April 12, 2024 05:30 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBHadar Cohen is an Arab Jewish scholar, mystic and artist. She teaches spirituality and Jewish mysticism at Malchut, a mystical school teaching direct experience of God, creates art focused on shifting societal narratives, such as Prostrations and The Selichot Project, and writes about Judaism through the lens of intersectional feminism, as seen in her Feminism All Night project. She joins Lex Rofeberg for a conversation conversation about her upcoming UnYeshiva class, which delves into the c...
Episode 425: Passover 2024 - Miriam, Dan, and Lex
April 05, 2024 05:30 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBJudaism Unbound’s executive director Miriam Terlinchamp, senior Jewish educator Lex Rofeberg, and senior fellow Dan Libenson take a close look at Passover, discussing everything from matzah scultpures to individual vs. collective liberation. ---------------------------------------------------- There are some amazing mini-course offerings beginning at the end of April in the UnYeshiva. Check out these classes at www.judaismunbound.com/classes! Access full shownotes for this episode via thi...
Episode 424: The Superpowers of Blind Rabbis - Lauren Tuchman
March 29, 2024 05:30 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MBLauren Tuchman is a sought-after spiritual leader and educator whose work focuses on disability access and inclusion. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, she is, as far as she is aware, the first blind woman in the world to enter the rabbinate. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the nexus between visual impairment, inclusion, and Jewish tradition. This episode is the second in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring Disability To...
Episode 423: Disability Torah - Julia Watts Belser
March 22, 2024 05:30 - 57 minutes - 52.3 MBJulia Watts Belser is a rabbi, scholar, and longtime disability and queer activist. She currently serves as a professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, and core faculty in Georgetown's Disability Studies Program. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about her latest book, Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole, which won a National Jewish Book Awa...
Episode 422: Purim 2024 - Miriam, Dan, and Lex
March 15, 2024 05:30 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBJudaism Unbound’s executive director Miriam Terlinchamp, senior Jewish educator Lex Rofeberg, and senior fellow Dan Libenson dig into all things Purim: the darkness of the book of Esther, the yonic nature of hamantaschen, and the appropriate ratio of comedy to tragedy when it comes to honoring the holiday. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. In honor of our 8-year anniversary, if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthl...
Episode 421: Radically Jewish Time - Ariana Katz, Jessica Rosenberg
March 08, 2024 06:30 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBAriana Katz, founder of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl, sees rooted ritual and radical organizing as her Jewish legacy. Jessica Rosenberg, author of Introduction to Trauma, Healing and Resilience for Rabbis, Jewish Educators and Organizers, is a teacher on integrating trauma-informed pedagogy into Jewish education, ritual and organizing. The two are co-authors of a new book entitled For Times Such as These: A Radical Guide to the Jewish Year, and they join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeber...
Episode 420: Jewtina y Co. - Analucía Lopezrevoredo
March 01, 2024 06:30 - 46 minutes - 42.1 MBAnalucía Lopezrevoredo is the founder of Latin Jewish cultural and educational organization Jewtina y Co, as well as an award-winning activist and sociologist known for her work on human migration, immigrant identity development and global Jewish communities. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Latin Jewish diaspora, diversity, and emerging creative movements. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please he...
Episode 419: Jewish Portal-Makers - Eleyna Fugman
February 23, 2024 06:30 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBEleyna Fugman is a Jewish community-builder focused on populations that have been historically marginalized. She is the co-founder of the leadership development organization, TischPDX, and the alternative grassroots Jewish community, The Alberta Shul, both based on the Eastside of Portland, Oregon. She joins Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson for a conversation about crafting Jewish community outside of the mainstream as a tikkun (a healing process) for organized Judaism. It’s not too late to re...
Episode 418: Prophetic Judaism - Nate DeGroot
February 16, 2024 06:30 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBNate DeGroot is a Jewish experiential educator and activist, and currently serves as the Associate Director for The Shalom Center. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Judaism as a prompt for making the world a better place. It’s not too late to register for our full-semester spring courses in the UnYeshiva! We’ve got Biblical animals, Jewish apocrypha, mythic approaches to climate change, and beyond! Visit JudaismUnbound.com/classes to learn more and register. A...
Episode 417: Jewish Learning for Climate Crisis - Laura Duhan-Kaplan, Yosef Rosen
February 09, 2024 06:30 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBYosef Rosen is a historian of Kabbalah and Jewish magic, a creative Jewish educator, and an immersive ritual designer. Laura Duhan-Kaplan is an award-winning author, teacher, and spiritual leader serving as Rabbi Emerita of Or Shalom Synagogue in Vancouver and Professor Emerita of Philosophy at UNC Charlotte. The two thinkers join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about their upcoming UnYeshiva classes (sign up here!), which both use Jewish history and tradition to grapple wit...
Episode 416: Loaves of Torah - Vanessa Harper
February 02, 2024 06:30 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBVanessa Harper is the Senior Director of Adult Jewish Living at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA and as the Reform Rabbi-in-Residence at Gann Academy in Waltham, MA. She bakes challah that interprets the Torah portion each week in what was originally an Instagram-based educational project, then a kinetic midrash class, and now a book: Loaves of Torah: Exploring the Jewish Year Through Challah. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about living in creative relationship to Judaism, and c...
Episode 415: Rebbe Nachman's Lost Princess - Jessica Tamar Deutsch
January 26, 2024 06:30 - 44 minutes - 41 MBJessica Tamar Deutsch is an artist whose work explores the connections between ancient Jewish tradition and contemporary creative culture and expression. Her newest visual story, Rebbe Nachman’s The Lost Princess, will be released in February and is available for pre-order through Ayin Press. In this episode, Deutsch joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about Hasidism, the creative process, and art’s potential to open up Jewish text. Check out our upcoming full semester classes in the UnYe...
Episode 414: The Torah of Dreams - Jill Hammer
January 19, 2024 06:30 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBJill Hammer – award-winning author, scholar, ritualist, poet, dreamworker and midrashist – is co-founder of Beit Kohenet and of the Kohenet movement, and currently serves as the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion. She joins Dan Liebenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about dreaming as a medium for communal connection, Jewish meaning-making, and divine revelation. Check out our upcoming full semester classes in the UnYeshiva by heading to www.judaismunbo...
Bonus Episode: The Dybbukast, Season 4 Episode 1 - The Merchant of Venice: Ghetto
January 16, 2024 06:30 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBThis bonus episode of Judaism Unbound is presented in partnership with Theatre Dybbuk. We are proud to feature their fourth season's first 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 revealing their relationships to issues still present today. Subscribe to The Dybbukast on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else that podcasts are found. --------------------------------------...
Episode 413: Jews Across the Americas - Adriana Brodsky, Laura Leibman
January 12, 2024 06:30 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBLaura Leibman is an award-winning author and scholar of religion in the early Americas and currently serves as the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Adriana Brodsky is an award-winning author and scholar of Sephardic Jews in Argentina and currently serves as Professor of History at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The two thinkers join Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson for a conversation about their newly-published book, Jews Across the ...
Episode 412: Digital Jewish Citizenship - Miriam, Dan, and Lex
January 05, 2024 06:30 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBDigital Judaism is the geography in which Judaism Unbound operates! In this conversation Dan, Lex, and Miriam reflect upon the digital Jewish past, present, and future, and consider Judaism Unbound’s continued role as a leader in — and lover of — the digital Jewish landscape. This episode is the 7th and final episode in a series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism. Registration for the UnYeshiva’s new mini-courses is now open! We’ve got conversion, bodies, mishnah, and mor...
Bonus Episode: Queer, Jewish Creativity - Reed Love
January 04, 2024 00:03 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBLGBTQIA+ folks are among the most creative people on this planet, creating realities and reimagining a world from the inside out—not of how things are but to how things could be. Queer creativity is visionary. In what has been a time of isolation for so many people, Reed Love is teaching a mini-course in the UnYeshiva, called Cosmic Bodies: Celebrating Queer & Jewish Creativity, that will serve as a space to connect – to community, to oneself, and to creative curiosity. In this bonus episo...
Episode 411: Jewish Counter-History - David Biale
December 29, 2023 06:30 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBDavid Biale is the Emanuel Ringelblum Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Jewish History at the University of California, Davis and the the award-winning author/co-author of seven books on Jewish history. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about counterculture, secularism, and reaching for our roots, all in the context of understanding the Jewish past and present. New 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva begin soon! Learn more about them by heading to www.judaismunbou...
Episode 410: The Golem of Brooklyn - Adam Mansbach
December 22, 2023 06:30 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBAdam Mansbach is a best-selling author, screenwriter, cultural critic and humorist. His newest novel, The Golem of Brooklyn, tells the fictional story of a stoned Brooklyn art teacher who accidentally creates the Golem, a Jewish folkloric creature. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a discussion of the book and its broader explorations of race, faith, healing, and humor. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us ke...
Episode 409: American Jewish History's History - Hasia Diner
December 15, 2023 06:30 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MBHasia Diner is the Director of the Goren-Goldstein Center for American Jewish History at New York University, and the award-winning author of over twenty books, many of which focus on the history of American-Jewish minority communities. She joins Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson for a conversation about questioning tradition, raising up long-quieted voices, and turning towards under-represented individuals instead of mainstream institutions when writing and re-writing the American Jewish histor...
Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2023 #4 - Apocrypha Now
December 13, 2023 06:30 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBIn this 4th and final episode of a four-episode Hanukkah mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized...When we talk about Apocrypha, people tend to presume that we are focused on ancient books. Texts that were written a couple thousand years ago, but which did not make it into the Jewish Biblical canon. That’s…true, usually, even in our Apocry-Fest initiative! But we also are interested in diving into what “apocrypha” might mean for texts (and art) created in the 21st century i...
Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2023 #3 - Tobit
December 10, 2023 06:30 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this 3rd of a four-episode Hanukkah mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized...Have you ever thought “Dang, there aren’t enough demons in Jewish text. Especially demons with a hobby of killing potential husbands on their wedding nights.” No? That probably reflects well on you. But if, after hearing that question, you’re intrigued…wowee is the book of Tobit going to be exciting for you! Also, this book contains angels disguised as humans and fish guts, if you need any othe...
Episode 408: Jewish Artificial Intelligence - David Zvi Kalman
December 08, 2023 06:30 - 56 minutes - 51.3 MBDavid Zvi Kalman, owner of the independent publishing house Print-O-Craft Press, is a scholar, writer, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of technology, religion, and art. Kalman joins Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson for a conversation about the present and future relationships between Judaism and artificial intelligence (AI). This episode is the sixth in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. ...
Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2023 #2 - Esther's Editions, Esther's Additions
December 07, 2023 06:30 - 23 minutes - 22 MBIn this 2nd of a four-episode Hanukkah mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized, Lex and Liana want you to know that the book of Esther isn’t (just) what you think it is. It’s even BIGGER! And it’s in GREEK, not just Hebrew. Lex and Liana dive into expansions of the book of Esther — expansions that came along long after the original book was written — and they explore what those editorial choices (and additions) have to teach us. You can sign up for Apocry-Fest by heading t...
Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2023 #1 - Apocry-Fest 2.0
December 05, 2023 06:30 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBIn this 1st of a four-episode Hanukkah mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized, Lex Rofeberg and Liana Wertman (from Judaism Unbound and The Torah Studio, respectively) open up the second annual edition of Apocry-Fest: the greatest Hanukkah initiative this side of the Mississippi. And Lex and Liana are located on different sides of the Mississippi River, so that actually encompasses everywhere! Dive into questions of canon which are ancient, modern, and future-facing. You...
Episode 407: Spiritual Hardware - Brett Lockspeiser
December 01, 2023 06:30 - 1 hour - 60 MBBrett Lockspeiser, product designer, mosaic artist, co-founder of Sefaria, and now the co-founder of Spiritual Hardware Labs, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the intersection between accessible technology and meaningful ritual. This episode is the fifth in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a ...
Episode 406: Talmud TikTok - Miriam Anzovin
November 24, 2023 06:30 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBMiriam Anzovin is a visual artist, writer, content creator, and massive Jewish nerd, exploring the juxtaposition of pop culture, nerd culture, and Jewish culture. Through her #DafReactions, an ongoing video series where she shares her reactions to the daily Talmud page on TikTok, she has become one of the world's best-known commentators on the Talmud -- though despite that, she hesitates to call herself a "teacher" of Talmud. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about #...
Episode 405: Jewish Demons - Olivia Devorah Tucker
November 17, 2023 06:30 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBOlivia Devorah Tucker is a demonologist, Talmud educator, and artist teaching a course called Developing a Demon: Ashmodai Through the Ages in the UnYeshiva this fall. They join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the world of Jewish demons and its radical, imaginative potential. This episode is the third in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unboun...
Bonus Episode: Jewish Feminist Comedy - Jonathan Branfman
November 15, 2023 20:09 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBJonathan Branfman, the Eli Reinhard Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies at Stanford University, researches and teaches about Jewish identity in U.S. popular culture -- focusing on the way that Jewish stars perform race, gender, and sexuality. He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about his upcoming mini-course in the UnYeshiva, Rude, Lewd, and Fabulous: 21st-Century Jewish Feminist Comedy, from Haddish to Glazer to Bloom. What is this course about, why is it just as important as classes ...
Episode 404: Jewish Instagram - Samantha Frank, Rena Singer
November 10, 2023 06:30 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBRena Singer and Samantha Frank are the masterminds behind the viral Jewish Instagram account, Modern Ritual. When they aren’t crafting innovative Jewish social media content, Singer serves as a rabbi at Temple Sholom of Chicago, and Frank works at Sanctuary, the 92nd Y, and is a Rabbinic Fellow and DC’s Temple Micah. In this episode, they join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Jewish engagement, accessibility, and fun in the digital age. This episode is the second in an ...
Episode 403: Hey Alma - Molly Tolsky
November 03, 2023 05:30 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBMolly Tolsky is the founding editor of Hey Alma, and the editor of Kveller. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about digital Judaism, pop culture as Torah, and finding humor in dark spaces. Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels, by clicking here! It starts in just a few days (November 5, 2023), as this episode is released! Learn more about other upcoming UnYeshiva mini-courses, beginning in late November, by head...
Episode 402: In the Wilderness - Jory Hanselman Mayschak
October 27, 2023 05:30 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBJory Handelsman Mayschak is the founder and CEO of BaMidbar, the nation’s first Jewish wilderness therapy program. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about community-oriented approaches to youth mental health and wellness, all through a distinctly Jewish lens. Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels, by clicking here! Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, plea...
Episode 401: Expanding the Jewish Canon - Hayley Finn, Zachariah Ezer
October 20, 2023 05:30 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBExpanding the Canon is an initiative from the Washington DC-based Theater J, which has commissioned seven racially and ethnically diverse Jewish writers to create new full-length plays. These plays will thematically and visually center diverse Jewish narratives in order to correct and broaden the historically limited portrayals of Jewishness on stages in the United States and around the world. Hayley Finn, Theater J's artistic director, and Zachariah Ezer, one of the seven playwrights that c...
Episode 400: Becoming Jewish, Building Judaism Together - Dan and Lex
October 13, 2023 05:30 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBConversion to Judaism is a process dating back to roughly the 2nd century BCE, but even with this long history, mainstream Jewish institutions often fail to wholly welcome these individuals into their communities. In this conversation, Dan and Lex discuss attitudes towards conversion and explore the future of integrating the beauty and brilliance that people who convert bring to the Jewish community and beyond. This episode is the 10th and final episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring co...
Episode 399: God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes? - Tamar Kamionkowski
October 06, 2023 05:30 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBTamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the wide range of understandings of God in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history, and how those understandings open up new Jewish possibilities today. Kamionkowski is also teaching an UnYeshiva course this fall called God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes?: Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible – don’t miss it! Tamar Kamionkowski is ...
Episode 398: Jewish Ritual Craft - Rachel Rose Reid
September 29, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBWhat are the purposes of ritual in our lives? What are the ingredients that go into a successful ritual? Rachel Rose Reid, a ritualist and storyteller who was the first British person to be ordained by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about crafting Jewish ritual. Rachel Rose Reid is teaching a course in the UnYeshiva this Fall entitled Crafting Jewishly-Rooted Ritual. You can register for it (and explore our other Fall 2023 courses as well) by h...
Bonus Episode: Your Body is a Sukkah - Yoshi Silverstein
September 26, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBYoshi Silverstein is the founder and executive director of Mitsui Collective, an organization that seeks to "build resilient community, through embodied Jewish practice and somatic antiracism." Register for the course he is teaching in the UnYeshiva, beginning in early October, via this link! To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. Learn more about current and upcoming courses in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva -- a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- by headin...
Episode 397: Yom Kippur -- Repentance and Repair - Danya Ruttenberg
September 22, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBDanya Ruttenberg, the Scholar-in-Residence for the National Council of Jewish Women -- and also (unofficially) the "Rabbi of Twitter" according to many -- joins Dan and Lex for a special Yom Kippur episode of Judaism Unbound! Together they explore her book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, considering what it has to teach us about the process of making amends, and asking how its lessons could help us create deeper and more meaningful forms of Yom Kippur exper...
Episode 396: Becoming Jewish...But Not a "Jew-By-Choice" - Amelia Dornbush
September 15, 2023 05:30 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MBSome people become Jewish at some point in life after they are born. Typically, they're referred to as either "Jews-by-choice" (in contrast to "Jews-by-birth") or as "converts" to Judaism. Amelia Dornbush, who underwent a conversion to Judaism during college, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about why she would not describe herself as a "Jew-by-choice," and why that term may create more problems than it solves. This episode is the 9th in an ongoing Judaism Unbound mini-series exploring c...
Elul Unbound Bonus Episode #21: Second Chances
September 11, 2023 05:30 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBElul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this fourth and final bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the topic of second chances, through ancient Jewish stories and contemporary life. This Elul bonus episode is the fourth of four that has been released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes...
Episode 395: Becoming a Jewish Kind of Person - Benay Lappe
September 08, 2023 05:30 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBBenay Lappe, the founder of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva -- and, way back in Judaism Unbound's earliest days, the first guest on our podcast -- joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about conversion to Judaism in the Talmud. As it turns out, the process of becoming Jewish was a lot simpler for the early rabbis than it is today. But just how much simpler? To find out, listen in to this episode, the 8th in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism. Access full shownotes...
Elul Unbound Bonus Episode #20 - Spiraling Out
September 04, 2023 05:30 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBElul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this third bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore ways in which spirals might connect to the month of Elul, and the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This Elul bonus episode is the third of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st E...
Episode 394: Becoming Jewish -- Integration - Tivona Reith, Holly Smith
September 01, 2023 05:30 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MBTivona Reith and Holly Smith are two of Judaism Unbound’s most dedicated and longstanding listeners. They join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about becoming Jewish as adults, and whether we might benefit from shifting our terminology from “conversion” to “integration.” This episode is the 7th in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And a reminder: Elul Unbound is back! Our annual exploration of the f...
Elul Unbound Bonus Episode #19 - Bet On It
August 28, 2023 05:30 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBElul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this second bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the power of the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet -- Bet! This Elul bonus episode is the second of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). For a 3-session Elul ...
Episode 393: Israelism...What's That? - Eric Axelman, Sam Eilertsen
August 25, 2023 05:30 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBIsrael has played a central role in American-Jewish life for quite some time. Eric Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, co-directors of a new documentary film entitled Israelism, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about their film, which explores a movement of young American Jews fighting to redefine Judaism’s relationship to Israel-Palestine. Learn more about Israelism by heading to IsraelismFilm.com. The film debuted at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, won Best Documentary at the Arizona In...
Elul Unbound Bonus Episode #18: Every Second Counts
August 21, 2023 05:30 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBElul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this first bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg, Wendie Bernstein Lash, and Micah Sandman launch their month-long exploration of the power of twos/seconds! This Elul bonus episode is the first of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). For a 3-ses...
Episode 392: Converting to Judaism -- Becoming Jewish, Then Becoming a Rabbi - Lisa Rappaport
August 18, 2023 05:30 - 56 minutes - 52 MBLisa Rappaport is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel, in Chico, California, and in just a few months (January 2024) she will be ordained as a rabbi! She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for the 6th episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And a reminder: Elul Unbound is back! Our annual exploration of the final month of the Jewish year, which serves as an on-ramp into Rosh Hashanah, is here. Re...
Episode 391: Converting to Judaism - Jewish-Adjacent - Chris Bartlett
August 11, 2023 05:30 - 56 minutes - 52 MBChris Bartlett, the Executive Director at the William Way LGBT Community Center in Philadelphia, isn't Jewish. But...he's attended Queer Talmud camp, hosts Shabbat gatherings at his organization's building, attends many Jewish holiday gatherings, and has Jewish friends of all ages! He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about notions of "Jewish-adjacent" and "Ger Toshav" -- two terms in different languages that refer to folks who are not Jewish, but/and are absolutely part of the Jewish com...
Episode 390: Converting to Judaism - Thanks Madonna! - Marques Hollie
August 04, 2023 05:30 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MBMarques Hollie (he/they) is a theatre artist, storyteller, classically trained musician, and ritualist. They join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about how Madonna, along with the book Judaism for Dummies, combined forces to catalyze a journey from "regular at a Nebraskan Pentecostal church" to "studying to become a rabbi." This episode is the fourth in an ongoing Judaism Unbound mini-series, exploring conversion to Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this l...
Episode 389: Jewish Sunday Schools, Then and Now - Laura Yares
July 28, 2023 05:30 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBLaura Yares is the author of a brand-new book, entitled Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about her book -- in some ways about Sunday Schools, to be sure, but in other ways a chance to explore the broader question, "What even is religion?" , through the history of Sunday Schools in the 19th century. They also ask what the book can help us learn, today, about our 21st century Jewish landscape. Ac...