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Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
Anne Frank is one of the most famous Jewish voices in history, but the story behind her diary is far more complex than many realize. June 12 marks Anne Frank’s birthday, and it was on her 13th birthday that she received the diary that would later become one of the most widely read books in the world. Explore Anne Frank’s life, her family’s journey from Germany to Amsterdam, the hidden history of the Secret Annex, how her diary was edited and published, and why her legacy remains both powerful and controversial. In this episode of Jewish History Nerds, Schwab and Yael provide a deeper look at memory, the Holocaust, survival, and the enduring impact of one extraordinary young writer.
This episode is sponsored by Jewish Lives, a prize-winning series of biographies from Yale University Press. To learn more about Anne Frank’s life, identity, and legacy, you should check out The Many Lives of Anne Frank by Ruth Franklin at www.jewishlives.org and you can use the special promo code FRANKPOD to get 30% off.
Watch Jonathan Schwab interview his grandfather, Holocaust survivor, Ernest Rubinstein, born in Nitra in Slovakia, recorded on Yom Hashoah at Yeshiva University.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq2V0C90xMc&feature=youtu.be
Here are some of sources discussed in the episode.
The Diary of Anne Frank: The Revised Critical Edition by Anne Frank
The Book of Tales from the Secret Annex by Anne Frank (her short stories written in hiding)
People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
A Small Light
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
Most people know King David as the shepherd who defeated Goliath. But that story is only the beginning. In this special bonus episode of Jewish History Nerds, Yael Steiner and Jonathan Schwab explore David's rise from shepherd to king, his relationships with Jonathan and Bathsheba, his triumphs and failures, and the complicated legacy that made him one of the most enduring figures in Jewish history. Was David a hero, a sinner, or something far more human?
This episode is sponsored by Jewish Lives, a prize-winning series of biographies from Yale University Press. To learn more about King David's life, identity, and legacy, you should check out David: The Divided Heart by David Wolpe at www.jewishlives.org and you can use the special promo code DAVIDPOD to get 30% off.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen was released in 1984 on the album Various Positions, copyrighted and published through Sony Music / ATV Music Publishing and Stranger Music.
Note: Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah places Bathsheba on the roof. But in the Book of Samuel, King David is on the roof when he spots her bathing below.
And write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you. Check out Jewish History Nerds now on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgPaAFlsq_5O5LUa1VdshRsUonWjKk1ZK
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and Unpacked on youtube.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a Signal Awards finalist. Vote for us in Listener's Choice by Thu 15 Oct: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/individual-episodes/genre/history
Yael and Schwab are back — and this season, they're diving into the history of Jews in the Americas, just in time for the US's 250th birthday. But first: special episodes sponsored by The Jewish Lives Series.
Catch up on past episodes, subscribe wherever you listen.
If you like this show, please rate and write a review. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
Yael and Schwab revisit the remarkable story of the Oneg Shabbos archive from the Warsaw Ghetto in honor of Yom HaShoah.
The tins held the second of three caches of the Oneg Shabbos archives: a collection by ordinary people turned archivists who risked their lives to preserve the darkest moment of Jewish history. Among the photographs and diary entries, concert tickets and poems, lay the collected sermons of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, also known as the Piaseczno Rebbe. In this episode, Yael and Schwab ask, what can we learn from Rabbi Shapira's works? And what debt do we owe to the brave Oneg Shabbos archivists?
Be in touch. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
For more on the Aish Kodesh and this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UPT1ADfGLblgPOaViGeyquYRE6l8V0Rvutxlk3CTgE8/edit?usp=sharing
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
-------------------
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
The Passover Haggadah is one of the most widely used Jewish texts, yet it isn’t a straightforward story. Built from fragments of debates, rituals, and traditions, it evolved over centuries after the destruction of the Temple. From ancient storytelling to medieval manuscripts to modern editions, the Seder became a living, changing experience. Yael and Schwab explore how a commandment to tell a story turned into one of Judaism’s most enduring rituals. And how did 60 million free copies end up tucked inside a can of Maxwell House coffee?
Be in touch. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
Pictures of the Sarajevo Haggadah:
https://anumuseum.org.il/blog/sarajevo-haggadah/
The Maxwell House Haggadah:
https://www.josephjacobsadvertising.com/maxwell-house-haggadah
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube and check out the video of this episode.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a Signal Awards finalist. Vote for us in Listener's Choice by Thu 15 Oct: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/individual-episodes/genre/history
In part 2, Schwab and Yael explore Einstein's fight with Nazism, his views on Zionism, and his complicated connection to Israel reveal a side of Einstein most people never hear about. Einstein wasn’t just a scientific genius. As Nazi power rose, he became a target, a refugee, and a more outspoken Jewish figure.
Listen to Part 1: https://unpacked.media/albert-einstein-rebel-reject-genius-part-1/
Watch Part 1 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qr4zrGhf0cE?si=QiJysAvyXC09NCBJ
Be in touch. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
Sources on Einstein and Zionism:
Einstein, His Space and Times, by Steven Gimbel
Einstein on Israel and Zionism by Fred Jerome
Einstein Before Israel: Zionist Icon or Iconoclast? By Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Link to learn more about the history of Einstein and Yeshiva University
Here is a summary:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fjLz8yoDfeIwoJ3Ce09Bxq2jJlwBx-5aXjItaCJtPdc/edit?usp=sharing
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube and check out the video of this episode.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
In part 1, Schwab and Yael explore the lesser-known Einstein, from failure and fame to Jewish identity, assimilation, and the world that pushed him to see himself differently. Albert Einstein is one of the most famous people in history, but the real story is far more surprising. Before he became a global icon, he was a struggling patent clerk, an outsider, and a Jew trying to figure out where he belonged.
Please continue with Part 2 on Einstein's Jewish identity, his complicated relationship with Zionism, and the question the Nazis asked loudly: was his science Jewish?
Listen here: https://unpacked.media/albert-einstein-was-he-a-zionist-part-2/
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVI8IuNsKEc&list=PLgPaAFlsq_5O5LUa1VdshRsUonWjKk1ZK&index=17
Be in touch. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
Sources and Summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1glzkac4zuorw5VTvs_ewMnj77A7xayJVZlmf61rEkM0/edit?usp=sharing
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube and check out the video of this episode.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
-------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
Long before women were ordained as rabbis, Ray Frank was already doing something almost unthinkable: speaking from the Jewish pulpit, drawing huge crowds, and changing the future of American Jewish life. In this episode of Jewish History Nerds, Schwab and Yael explore the remarkable story of the woman known as the “Girl Rabbi of the Golden West” and the complicated legacy she left behind.
Here is a photo of Ray Frank from 1890:
https://jwa.org/media/ray-frank
Sources and summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v2WzLQvSagiMdKQMP_mqNoz4HqCDHWktsVD80sDPRQE/edit?usp=sharing
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube. Write to us at [email protected]. We really want to hear from you.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season.
Rabbi Leone de Modena was one of the most fascinating figures of Renaissance Jewish history: a prodigy, prolific writer, celebrity preacher in the Venetian ghetto, and a lifelong gambling addict. In this episode of Jewish History Nerds, Yael and Schwab explore his dramatic life in 17th-century Venice, his debates about Jewish law and gambling, and his surprising influence on both Jews and Christians. His story is brilliant, tragic, and deeply relevant in today’s age of sports betting and online gambling.
Be in touch. Write to us at [email protected].
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube:
Sources and summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1InrXhFPXoVLetO1XWExJhu1h_hkiCZ_EVhHulLvtwXc/edit?usp=sharing
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
We're a finalist for a Signal Award in the history category. If you enjoy this show, please comment wherever you get your podcasts. We will be back soon with a brand new season.
What happens when a Jewish community lives through mass trauma and turns inward in search of meaning? The Hasidei Ashkenaz were a radical medieval movement known for extreme piety, fasting, penance, and mystical teachings about sin, suffering, and the will of God. Their ideas were controversial, sometimes disturbing, and unexpectedly influential. Jonathan Schwab introduces Yael Steiner to one of the strangest and most fascinating stories in Jewish history.
Sources and summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eNcEJ28D5CcnwsFWSti-9EIibk2q-lKJ8wsrgTmbPfM/edit?usp=sharing
Watch Yael and Schwab on YouTube. And be in touch. Write to us at [email protected].
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out Unpacked on youtube.
-------------------
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
------------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
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