Chosen People Problems

The girls welcome Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue for a very serious conversation about faith and Jewish identity in 2024, Anti-Zionist Jews, compassion, and what the future may hold for America's Jews.

* The Interview beings 31 minutes in, after we catch up on Yael's meditation retreat and other spiritual adventures.

Park Avenue Synagogue

Rabbi Cosgrove's Sermons

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

0:00 - 47:00: the girls catch up on their week for the first part of the episode, talking about the joys of meditation (kind of), the miracle of procastination (with a touch of divine intervention), and a Eurovision recap.

47:00: In the second part of the episode, we talk to Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, creators of the October 7 play - yes, this is a off-broadway show made entirely of testimonies of real survivors, portrayed by an amazing cast of actors. It’s playing now in NYC and we highly recommend it. We talk about why two non-Jewish Irish people decided to travel to Israel in November 2023 (for the first time ever!) to tell these stories, how they prepared to stage it, the reactions, and of course - what the hell is wrong with Ireland? 

October 7 website

Trailer for the play 

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Review from the NY Post

Kevin Spacey trial podcast

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

This week we are delighted to welcome newly-minted Jew, our number one draft pick for the Tribe this season, the Caitlin Clark of Judaism - Nellie Bowles! Nellie is the Chief Stratgy Officer at The Free Press, formerly of The NY Times, and author of the wonderful new book “Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History” which you should absolutely buy and read (don’t check it out of the library, pay up!).

We talk about converting to Judaism, how if you're going to be a lesbian you may as well marry Bari Weiss, why free dental dams are a 👏 human 👏 right (don't google what those are) and why we're spreading a rumor that Timothée Chalamet was just spotted at an IDF recruitment office...

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Glory to the Gays! This week we are joined by Ben Appel, author of the upcoming “Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic” AND a graduate of the Popular People's University Formerly Known As Columbia.

In this struggle session we cover the liberation of the Columbia campus, why Jews and Gays should unite against the world, and why your hairdresser probably hates you.

Check out Ben's work at www.benappelwrites.com, as well as on Twitter and Substack.

Show notes:

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Forget college campuses, the real culture war will take place next week in Malmo, Sweden, where the Eurovision Song Contest (otherwise known as the "gay olympics") takes place. We are joined by sports journalist and Eurovision rainman Sharon Davidovitch to talk about how Israel will fare this year in the glitter soaked battlefield - even if you know nothing of what is as big as the Superbowl across the pond, this episode offers fascinating takes about the Intersection between gepolotics and culture.  We talk about why Israel had to change the name of it's song this year or risk being kicked out, how Dana International blew the world's mind in 1998 as the first transgender winner (from Israel!), why the 1983 outfits of the Israeli team were a big F U to Germany, how we determine who is antisemitic based on how they vote, and a little about what it's like to play and cover sports on behalf of Israel abroad. Come for the music, stay for the weird insights into Scandanavian incestuous voting habits.

Show notes:

Israel's banger 2024 entry, Hurricane by Eden Golan (previously titled "October rain")

Israeli contestant warned to stay in her hotel room in Sweden

Israels' first win, A-Ba-Ni-Bi (Paris, 1978)

Israel's second win, Hallelujah (Jerusalem, 1979)

Israel's third win, Diva (Birminghamm 1998)

Israel's fourth win, Toy (Lisbon, 2018)

Honorary mention - "Chai" (Munich, 1983)

Spotify playlist of Israeli Eurovision entries

Sharon's Twitter

Sharon's website (Hebrew)

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Sarah Rose Siskind is a science comedy writer and psychedelic comedian. she came by to tell us about how she hosted a psychedelic Shiva after October 7th, which she also wrote about for Psychology Today. We also discuss how drugs may have influenced Nova festival survivors, why Chaya Leah and Yael need to go on a “trip” to Auschwitz, and proposing to her fiancé at Burning Man.

More about Sarah

Sarah's Twitter

When a Modern Psychedelic Meets an Ancient Ritual of Grief

Jews Who Toke Instagram

I Got Engaged in the Mud at Burning Man - The Free Press

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Remember when OJ died?? That's what we were talking about a few days ago when we recorded this, and all was calm in the world. Coincidentaly this blissfully unaware episode is also number 100 for us! Thank you for that, Chaya Leah is petitioning to the Rabbis to make it a holiday as we speak (100 days of fasting? Need to workshop).

We did have a lovely chat with our friend Jay of the Habibi Bros about Iran, which you can find on our Instagram, @askajewpod. 

Links:

Follow Kim Goldman, Ron Goldman's sister

Why Meadow Died The People and Policies That Created The Parkland Shooter and Endanger America's Students

EdJewcation - the new podcast!

The president of Pomona College is done playing

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Tom Aharon is an Israeli standup comedian, and co-host of Israel's top commercial daily radio morning show, New Morning. 

We discuss doing stand up for IDF soliders after Oct 7, Hezbollah's VP of Global Marketing and Natan Sharansky's underwear.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Notes:

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, former Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the Secretary of State. Naturally we talk about princess Kate. But we also cover additction to technology, the growing tensions between secular and religious Israelis, and the bad and worse options in Gaza.

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode we cover a failed meditation, a succesful trip to Israel (it's all fine now), and the moral confusion about rapes that aren't planned but just kind of happen. Also: a listener creates a fun game: who said it white nationalist or left wing antisemite? Our apologies to Princess Kate for making fun of her, clearly we recorded this hours before she shared the news of her diagnoses.

Also:

Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com

Email us your questions [email protected]

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

askajew.substack.com/subscribe