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In what could be the first parent-child sex talk on record, Rav Hisda gives his daughters advice about how to increase their husband’s desire during sex. Or is it the benefits of being modest? We discuss the different interpretations of this cryptic text and the continued relevance of its lessons.

This month on the podcast we’re talking with Rebecca Kirzner the HIAS Campaigns Director of Community Engagement, about the work HIAS does and how it has been dealing with the wake of the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue. We also talked about how synagogues can and should deal with security, and about the play Observance, […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking with Rebecca Kirzner the HIAS Campaigns Director of Community Engagement, about the work HIAS does and how it has been dealing with the wake of the shooting at Tree of Life synagogue. We also talked about how synagogues can and should deal with security, and about the play Observance, […]

Welcome back to The Joy of Text! We’re kicking off Season 4 with a fact or fiction quickfire round: Is sex really a “double mitzvah” on Shabbat? Is daytime sex verboten? And what is up with the “hole in the sheet?” We clear up these and other common myths and misconceptions — or are they? […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking about the High Holiday season. We’re just off a solid month of holidays, and we thought it might be a good time to reflect on what makes the chagim, or holidays, successful and/or meaningful to us. And we’re talking about the matriarchs. How do we feel about the […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking about #MeToo in the Jewish world and about Spike Lee’s new film, Blackkklansmen, which follows a black detective in Colorado Springs as he and a Jewish colleague infiltrate the local chapter of the KKK. Further reading #MeToo in the Jewish community My personal and professional reckoning with Steven […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking about the Ashkenazi Jewish food renaissance with Liz Alpern, entrepreneur and co-founder of the Gefilteria, and co-author of the Gefilte Manifesto. And for our second segment we’re talking about the new film Neshikot B’Ivrit, or Hebrew Kisses, by filmmaker Manya Lozovskaya. Further reading Ashkenazi Jewish food renaissance The Gefilte Manifesto: […]

On the Season 3 Finale we interview a Jewish woman who made the decision to be a surrogate and carry a child for someone else, with the support of her husband and their three young children. Carrie and Jamie Bornstein share personally and poignantly about what it means to help another couple become parents, and […]

Can I bow down to the elders during my Karate class? Does Jewish law treat all bowing and salutes - whether part of a traditional class ceremony or directed toward a civic leader - the same?

Words, words, words. In this mini text episode, our hosts discuss a curious Talmudic passage (Nedarim 91a & b) about when a woman’s admission of adultery is believed, or not, emphasizing the power of words to create legal realities with real-world consequences.