This week on edJEWcation, we dive headfirst into one of the messiest, bloodiest, most binge-worthy books of the Bible — Judges. It’s like Game of Thrones, if Game of Thrones had more sand, tent pegs, and spiritual backsliding.

Join the Rabbi, ChayaLeah, and Jayas as they unpack the chaotic post-Joshua era where tribal leaders ruled — part military commander, part prophet, part "please stop worshipping idols for the love of God" counselor. We explore:

🌀 The addictive allure of idolatry (spoiler: ancient people may have been worshipping their version of an iPhone)
👑 Why this book proves the Bible wasn’t ghostwritten by a PR firm
⚔️ D’vorah: prophetess, general, poetic diss queen
🔨 Yael: the most metal tent-dweller in biblical history
🔥 Whether Barack was a romantic or just really needed a chaperone
🪵 And why Shamgar still isn’t getting the love he deserves

We also draw some striking parallels between ancient tribal leadership struggles and modern geopolitics, and wrestle with the question: what’s worse — idol worship or spiritual apathy?

Grab your milk skein, your mallet, and your marginal Hebrew translations — we’re going to war.

Jay shares the most tragic fact of his birthday (spoiler: it involves Candace Owens), and then we welcome back our most honored recurring guest: Shalom Lamm, the mensch behind Operation Benjamin.

From Normandy to Arlington, Italy to Jerusalem, Shalom walks us through the sacred mission of correcting history — one headstone at a time. We talk about:

🪖 How a Jewish soldier ended up in a German mass grave… and how Shalom found him
🌟 The 102-year-old niece who stole the show (and our hearts) at Arlington
🕊️ What it means to say Kaddish for someone who waited 80 years to be remembered
✡️ Why a German brigadier general started something called “Operation Levi”
💔 And how love letters from a fallen soldier might soon become a book

Plus: we take a hard detour into cemetery trauma, ChayaLeah guilts Jay (again), and we learn why every Jewish parent should probably just send their kid to YU already.

Also featured are CBS giving Shalom smicha, Jay praying for billions, and Shalom reminding us what real Jewish nonprofit work looks like.

This week on edJEWcation, we crack open the Book of Joshua — swords, spies, shofars, and all — to kick off our brand-new series on the books of the Hebrew Bible beyond the Torah.

Jay, ChayaLeah, and the Rabbi break down how Joshua, Moses’ humble sidekick-turned-general, led the Israelites into the land of Israel with nothing but faith, grit, and some serious divine backup. From the walls of Jericho crumbling to the sun standing still mid-battle, Joshua’s story isn’t just ancient history — it’s a masterclass in courage, community, and the art of not messing up the inheritance paperwork.

We dig into:

⚔️ Why Joshua’s real superpower wasn’t military genius — it was courage (and trust in God)

📜 What Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute-turned-heroine, teaches us about redemption and surprises

🌅 The day the sun stood still — and why God actually listened

🏘️ How dividing up the land of Israel turned into the Bible’s version of a family estate drama

✡️ Why the message of Joshua feels surprisingly current — especially in moments of Jewish vulnerability today

Join us for a lively conversation on faith, leadership, and the messy, miraculous business of building a nation. And yes, we even squeeze in a beeper-Mossad reference, because why not?

This week on edJEWcation, we sit down with Jay Sanderson — former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, professional disruptor, accidental chef, and self-described “tail Jew” — to unpack the past, present, and precarious future of Jewish life in America.

From a near-death experience as a teen to a life-changing blessing from David Ben-Gurion, Jay takes us on a journey through his unexpected path to Jewish leadership. We tackle everything from gefilte fish trauma to why Hollywood still can’t figure out TikTok — and why that matters for the Jewish community.

Jay’s latest project, the 2050 Institute at American Jewish University, aims to shake up Jewish institutions, move beyond “1950s Judaism,” and ensure that the next generation doesn’t need a secret decoder ring to care about Jewish life.

Highlights include:

• 🕍 Why the East Coast still thinks it’s the center of Jewish life — and why L.A. begs to differ

• 🐟 Gefilte fish: nostalgic treasure or cultural relic?

• 📲 How the Jewish community can survive (and thrive) in the TikTok age

• 💡 The pitch: How to get CEOs, scientists, and thinkers at the Jewish table — without turning it into a Hollywood afterparty

• 🕎 The problem with episodic Judaism and why Birthright is only the beginning

Join us for a lively, honest conversation about leadership, legacy, and the sometimes-chaotic beauty of Jewish community — plus, why it’s time to double the size of the word Jewish in more than just logos.

In this soul-poking, faith-fueled, wildly entertaining episode of edJEWcation, we dive deep into C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters—that brilliantly British, devilishly clever tale of temptation and bureaucracy in Hell (which could be confused with your last Zoom meeting).

Jay returns from Passover in full carb-rebound mode, ChayaLeah defends the honor of Jewish moms everywhere, and Dan—our resident Christian theologian—joins the pod to confess his love for Lewis, loathe for Narnia, and struggles with joy, forgiveness, and judgment (so basically, Tuesday).

Whether you’re a Jew, a Christian, an atheist with literary taste, or someone who enjoys hearing Dan get politely steamrolled by rabbinic firepower—this one’s got something for you.✡️🔥 Main discussion points:

• C.S. Lewis 101: Irish-born, WWI vet, former atheist, Tolkien’s BFF, and surprise: he married a Jewish woman.

• Joy vs. Happiness: Is joy divine? Is happiness just sugar water? We break it down with references to theology and Simchat Torah dance.

• Judaism vs. Christianity: Satan's job title, the nature of free will, and whether you can be forgiven too easily.

• Free Will & The Daily Grind: Why even small decisions (like cutting your tithing in half) may be inching you toward idolatry.

• The Devil’s Playbook: Temptation isn’t always about pitchforks. Sometimes it’s just a nudge during prayer or a loud chewer at synagogue.

• Destination Addiction: Why living for “someday” is the devil’s best trick—and how we forget to notice the water we're swimming in.

• Radical Forgiveness: Can you forgive a Nazi guard? And should you? (Spoiler: This got heated.)

• Religious Hypocrisy: Being judgmental ≠ being devout. And yes, Screwtape might be subtweeting your frum neighbor.

• C.S. Lewis’s Mic Drop: “There are no ordinary people.” We end with a gorgeous quote that’ll haunt your next supermarket interaction.

🕍👼✨ It’s spiritual, spicy, and might get you to (re)read The Screwtape Letters—or at least stop judging your pew-mate’s outfit.

While ChayaLeah was literally wrapping her kitchen in tin foil to survive Pesach, we invited Dr. Tanya White, a Senior lecturer at Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies and lecturer in Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, to join us to discuss the philosophy of the world-renowned Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and her podcast, Books & Beyond, which discusses some of his most prominent works.

• Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Explained. Why the late Chief Rabbi can be quoted in a Chabad farbrengen, a Reform sermon, and a Hartman colloquium—sometimes on the same Shabbat.

• Fate → Faith → Fridge Cleaning. Tanya walks us through Rabbi Sacks’ move “from fate to faith,” his “letter in the scroll” metaphor, and what it means for every Jew who’s ever asked, “Do I really matter?” (Yes, even you.)

• Invisible Strings & Horizontal Hugs. Meet the vertical string to Heaven (halacha) and the horizontal string across Am Yisrael—plus how both strings got yanked on 7 October.

• Sacks, Soloveitchik & the Lubavitcher Rebbe Walk into a Bar. How an existentialist, a Hasidic visionary, and the world’s politest Brit forged a Judaism that both debates Richard Dawkins and comforts nervous college freshmen.

• Bonus Material. Burnt ovens, Pharaoh slander, avocado farming on a Yemeni moshav, and the time a rebbetzin tried to cancel Rabbi Sacks in the middle of a shiur (spoiler: it did not go well).

Now that we’re all eating Chametz again, grab a piece of toast, and enjoy our interview with the outstanding Tanya White. Make sure to check out her podcast and the rest of her work at www.tanyawhite.org.

This was one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy!

As promised earlier in the week, here is the edJEWcation Rewind of our second Passover episode from last year.

If you’ve made it this far without the Chametz, it’s all downhill from here!

Talk to you all next week!

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Chag Sameach everyone! We were so excited about our first Passover episode we decided to do it again!

We start out this episode answering a few listener questions like what are some good books about Israel and Judaism, go further into the matchmaking marriage process Chabad uses to marry off their kids, and what the heck made the Rabbi want to become a Rabbi in the first place?

Then, we get into the parts of the Passover Seder we didn’t get a chance to discuss last week. Why do car detailing businesses love Passover almost as much as Jews do, the ten plagues, how the Greeks influenced the Seder, and why we still end every Seder with the phrase “Next Year in Jerusalem” when, well, Jews can actually do that now!

Since this is such a hectic time for the Perelmuter/Sufrin family (and of course I mean for the Rabbi…ChayaLeah gets to just lounge around this time of year), I’ve decided to do the kind thing and give them the week off.

But so as not to leave our devout listeners with nothing to tide them over until next week, and since our listenership has also grown substantially since last Pesach (I guess people really like me), we decided to do an edJEWcation Rewind and repost our two Passover episodes from last year.

Enjoy, everyone. We hope you’re having a wonderful holiday and avoiding the chametz. Two days down, six to go until I can have my Captain Crunch again!

Sing along with me…it’s the most wonderful time of the year…oh wait, wrong song, wrong holiday. However, I think most Jews would agree with the sentiment. Many OG’s (original gentiles) think that Jews’ favorite holiday is Hanukkah because of the gifts (awesome) and the gelt (disgusting), but au contraire, in our expert opinion, the titleholder and reigning champion for favorite Jewish holiday is Passover.

After all, who doesn’t like five-hour dinners where you lament the enslavement of your civilization? Sounds like the quintessential Jewish holiday to me!

But in all seriousness, for this episode, we decided to take a break from our regularly scheduled programming and talk about Passover, specifically one element of Passover: the Seder.

What is a Seder? Why is it so regimented? The importance of storytelling, the one plate, the five rabbis, the four sons, and a partridge in a pear tree. We cover it all on the episode*

If you have any questions, drop us an e-mail at [email protected] or leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to leave us a five-star review, share this with your friends, and do all the other stuff those other heathen podcasts ask you to do.

*Ok, I lied. We didn’t quite get through it all on this episode, so there will be a part two next week. Good thing Yom Kippur is only about six months away!

We’re back — and we’ve got feelings. Well, one of us does. Right out the gate, the Rabbi had to get something off his chest. Apparently, he’s been “dumped.” And by that, he means he wasn’t in a couple of episodes. (No actual dumping occurred. No hearts were broken. Unless you count his.)

So, naturally, we spent the first few minutes of this week’s episode addressing The Great Podcast Snub of 2025.

To paraphrase: Without me, it’s just not the same, he said. And according to a definitely real and not made-up person on the street, the show without him was teetering on — brace yourself — boring. 😱

Don’t worry, folks. The Rabbi’s back, his ego has been gently re-inflated, and we’re stronger than ever.

The rest of the episode followed suit and went, well, somewhere. Including discussions around:

• Campus Protests and Antisemitism

• The Role of Jewish Identity in Education

• Divisions Within the Jewish Community

• The Importance of Jewish Education

• Challenges in Secular Education

• Navigating Jewish Identity in Secular Spaces

• Defining Hillel's Mission

• The Role of Activism in Jewish History

• The Rabbi’s Meeting with Meir Kahane

• The Controversy of Power in Jewish Identity

• The Reality of Antisemitism Today

• The Future of Jewish Identity and Israel

It occurred to us that Passover will be the first holiday we have covered twice during the podcast, so we had to come up with a new angle for discussion this year (the two Passover episodes we did last year are below).

So, this year, we decided to delve into how the concept of freedom is discussed in the Bible. First, Jay discusses a funny encounter he had in the airport during his recent business trip.

We discuss the nuances of free speech in the context of Jewish values and contemporary issues and explore various themes related to Jewish identity, the concept of the Messiah, and the challenges American Jews might face in accepting a new Messiah.

Then we move on to the historical experiences of Jews in Egypt, the impact of faith versus evidence in understanding Jewish history, controversial aspects of the Haggadah, particularly the call for retribution, and the ongoing debate surrounding the consumption of kitniyot during Passover.

Have a great Passover, everyone! Chag Sameach!