This episode of Season 2 of 'A Dram and a Drash' departs from the normal format as we take some time with members of my family (my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) who both do remarkable work in Israel. In this episode we start with the 'drash' and reflect on the experience inside Israel since October 7, 2023. This episode was recorded on Friday, December 22, shortly before Shabbat in Israel. And so we ended with the 'dram' - a L'Chaim  with a hope and a prayer for better times ahead.

Read Shlomo's blog at https://timnovate.com/
Find Shlomo's Jerusalem Report articles at https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report

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In the first episode of Season 2 of A Dram and a Drash, Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz is joined by Joshua Mann, founder of Jews and Booze - an online whiskey and single barrel picks community - and co-founder of a new venture, The First Cut Barrel Company, making single barrel whiskey creation available to a wider audience. Learn about Joshua's journey into whiskey and what he has learned along the way.
Learn more about Jews and Booze
Learn more about The First Cut Barrel Company

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We're talking Auchentoshen three wood as our dram this month with Dr. Hal Lewis.
https://www.auchentoshan.com/whiskies/three-wood-single-malt-scotch-whisky

Hal has extensive experience as a leader of Jewish organizations and has shared that expertise through the lectures and courses he has given on the topic of Jewish leadership. Come and take a masterclass in what's 'Jewish' about 'Jewish leadership'.
Learn more about Hal and his consulting work at https://leadershipforimpact.com/about/

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This month our dram is an Old Fashioned and we're talking cocktails.

Rabbi Jen Gubitz lives and works in the Boston area and specializes in working with young adults. She runs  Modern JewISH Couples which supports committed partners on the pathway to marriage and beyond through essential conversations and couples retreats.

Jen is the co-host of the OMfG Podcast: Jewish Wisdom for Unprecedented Times and her writing appears in the Boston Globe, OnBeing, Jewish Daily Forward, and Lilith Magazine.

You can learn more about Rabbi Gubitz at http://www.jengubitz.com/

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This month, A Dram and a Drash was recorded on location at the M&H distillery in Tel Aviv. Just a few weeks ago, M&H won the best single malt world whisky award and a double gold at the San Francisco whisky awards for its Elements Sherry cask expression. We got to taste that, and a whole lot more at our tasting and tour during our congregational trip to Israel.
More information about M&H Whiskey at:
https://mh-distillery.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mh.distillery/

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We're back after a winter hiatus. This episode launched at the end of Pesach, so if you are celebrating with a dram, then enjoy it with the guidance of whiskey reviewer and tasting seminar leader, Jeff Schwartz, aka the Whiskeyfellow! This episode is all about whiskey. We kick off with a detailed analysis of all the ways to encounter whiskey to taste and notice all aspects of your dram. Later we get into the story behind the 'Bottled in Bond' category and the Jewish connections to Evan Williams and the Heaven Hill distillery. We also get to taste not 1 but 3 whiskies, as Jeff teaches us to #respectthebottomshelf and #drinkcurious.
You can find Jeff at: https://reviews.whiskeyfellow.net/
https://www.instagram.com/whiskeyfellow/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/TheWhiskeyfellow/

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Rabbi Dr. Denise Handlarski is Rabbi of the online Humanistic Judaism community, Secular Synagogue
Last year she convened a conference called Gathering to bring together the best research and practical examples of how Jewish community engagement can better address the loneliness epidemic.
You can learn more about Denise here
In this episode, our dram is Laphroaig (Quarter cask and 10 year). In our drash, Denise introduces us to Humanistic Judaism and the way that she has created genuine connection and a sense of belonging with her online community. She has wisdom to share for community leaders, and for all those who are looking for that sense of belonging within Jewish community.

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This month we are talking about Makers Mark with Rabbi Charles Arian.
https://www.makersmark.com/

Rabbi Arian is a bourbon and whiskey enthusiast who has even tried his hand at barrel aging whiskey at home: https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/rabbi-arian-shares-the-spirit-of-bourbon/

He is the Rabbi of Kehilat Shalom in Gaithersburg, MD. You can learn more about him at https://www.kehilatshalom.org/rabbi 

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This month I welcome Rabbi Drew Kaplan, whose podcast 'The Jewish Drinking Show' covers all aspects of drinking and all genres of alcoholic beverages in his podcast which has now aired over 110 episodes over the past 4 years.
Drew's dram is Ardbeg's 'Wee Beastie'
His podcast and website are found at The Jewish Drinking Show
During the podcast he references some Jewish texts in the Torah where drinking is a theme. I've listed the source texts here:
The stubborn and rebellious son: Deuteronomy 21:18-21
The Nazir: Numbers 6:1-21
The Sotah: Numbers 5:11-31

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This month my guest is Joshua Hatton.
He is founder of Single Cask Nation https://singlecasknation.com/
His podcast is One Nation Under Whisky https://onenationunderwhisky.com/
He is a National Sales Director for IMPEX Beverages https://impexbev.com/
Our dram is M&H single cask nation peated whisky. In our drash, we'll learn about Joshua's journey into the world of whisky, whisky festivals, and what it means to be an independent bottler of whisky.

Due to technical challenges with an interface we were previously using, this episode was recorded on zoom. I've now switched to Riverside.fm moving forward, so expect higher quality audio in future episodes. But Joshua was wonderful, so just enjoy the episode!

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