Bad Jew Weekly

Incredibly behind on everything, Jenna shares her thoughts on the past two weeks of Torah—with lots of Torah Airhorn.

Watch the music video for Hillel Tigay/Ikar’s beautiful musical version of Psalm 150 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=askDN2NR_dc

As Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend draws to a close, Jenna reflects on the admonishment by our Jewish sages that we reflect on our people’s Exodus from slavery in Egypt not just once a year, but every day. What does the Torah say a free society looks like, and what role are we commanded to play in building it?

As we start the book of Shemot--the Book of Exodus--Jenna looks at the misogyny in present-day America and how it is and is not like the structural misogyny present in the Torah and the history of Jewish intellectual thought.  In her reading of Parshat Shemot, she studies the unsung heroes of the Exodus: Shifrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives; Pharaoh’s Daughter, and Zipporah, Moses’s wife.

Nineteen years ago last Shabbat, Jenna had her Bat Mitzvah, which is crazy. In anticipation of starting the Book of Shemot this Shabbat, she wraps up last week’s parshah, and the book of Bereshit.

Jenna gives a special shout-out to all Jews who have family celebrating Christmas and honors the memory of her late Catholic great-aunt. Jenna also spits fire at Jared Kushner and the idiocy of moving the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Torah portion from this past Shabbat offers some good tips on how to reconcile after a family feud.

A very special Mini-Episode! After a scary brush with anaphylaxis, Jenna reflects on what Judaism to say about the sanctity of the human body and what it means to be thankful for one's health. Also, Jenna doesn't know why her mics still sound weird.

After weeks of relying on the midrash to make sense of the weekly parshah, Jenna investigates the history of midrash and the role it plays in Judaism today. She then interviews Israeli educator, storyteller and tour guide Michael Bauer about exploring Israel, why hearing multiple version of a story is a positive thing, and what makes a place holy.

This week, Jenna grapples with being overwhelmed and wondering whether she likes the Torah at all. This past week's parshah was a doozy.

In honor of Halloween, Jenna explores the appearances of Satan, demons, ghosts and monsters in Judaism, and then tells a Jewish ghost story of her own. In this past week’s parshah, we learn about everyone’s favorite body-altering covenant.

It’s Season 2 of Bad Jew Weekly! Jenna grapples with her overbooked schedule, Harvey Weinstein’s pathological sexual harassment finally coming to light, and how the lessons of this can be applied to Judaism (yes, really). In the Torah this week, we read the story of Noah.