Judaism Unbound

The Torah of Reality TV: Jumping the Fence, Jewishly - Catherine Horowitz

Catherine Horowitz, the 2022-23 New Voices Magazine/Judaism Unbound fellow, joins Lex Rofeberg for a conversation on how TV, and the way we watch it, creates ritual. They also discuss how we can use TV to further shape our religious practices ...

Episode 371: Loving Jewish Agitation - Isaac Ostrow, Sophie Raskin

The Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) is a Gen Z-led movement dedicated to combating climate change and environmental injustice from a Jewish lens. Two of its activists, Isaac Ostrow and Sophie Raskin, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a ...

Episode 369: Jewish Mysticism - Ariel Mayse

Ariel Mayse serves as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, and is the co-author of the two-volume A New Hasidism: Roots and A New Hasidism: Branches, with Arthur Green. Mayse joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a ...

Episode 367: Let My People Sing

Let My People Sing is a cultural project expanding the ancient and transformative practice of Jewish communal singing. Let My People Sing gathers in multi-racial, multicultural and genderful Jewish community, uplifting songs and leaders historically and ongoingly pushed to the ...

Episode 365: Spiritual But Not Religious - Alec Gewirtz

Alec Gewirtz is a community-builder and writer who co-founded The Nearness -- a community platform to nurture people in their spiritual lives. The Nearness offers 6-week journeys (the next journey begins in April 2023), where participants gather digitally, in regular ...

Episode 363: Dissolving Your Self - Dan and Lex

Dan and Lex, in the 6th episode in an ongoing series on Jewish spirituality, want to soak in some of the lessons they've taken from their previous conversations in this unit. They explore how spirituality ties to questions of self, ...

Episode 361: Spiritual Abundance - Ariana Katz

Ariana Katz, the founding rabbi of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl ("Shtiebl" refers to an intimate, cozy space where prayer and study meet), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for the 4th episode in an ongoing series on Jewish spirituality. ...

Episode 359: Spiritual Direction - Wendie Bernstein Lash

Wendie Bernstein Lash, a longtime friend and collaborator of Judaism Unbound who co-facilitates our Elul Unbound initiative every year -- as an on-ramp to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg in the 2nd episode ...

Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2022 #4 - Judith

In this 4th of a five-episode mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized, Dan Libenson, Lex Rofeberg, and Liana Wertman celebrate the book of Judith. One of the better-known books of the apocrypha, there’s actually a great deal of historical precedent ...

Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2022 #3 - Jubilees

In this 3rd of a five-episode mini-series, Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized, Dan Libenson, Lex Rofeberg, and Liana Wertman dive into an apocryphal book called Jubilees. While not traditionally tied to the festival of Hanukkah, the three hosts argue that ...

Bonus Episode: Hanukkah 2022 #1 - Apocry-Fest

In this first bonus episode of Apocry-Fest: Hanukkah Unbound & Un-Canonized, Dan Libenson, Lex Rofeberg, and Liana Wertman introduce why Hanukkah is a perfect time to engage with books of the Apocrypha (a category of ancient works of literature that ...

Bonus Episode: Breaking the Glass - Reflections on Interfaith Relationships

We are thrilled to feature an episode of a new podcast in the Jewish pod-o-sphere, as a bonus episode on our podcast feed! This episode is the third in a new series called Breaking the Glass: Reflections on Interfaith Relationships. ...

Episode 355: What if Artists Ran the Show? -- Ayin Press - Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, Tom Haviv, Eden Pearlstein

Episode 353: The Torah of Creativity - Adina Allen

Adina Allen, co-founder and creative director of The Jewish Studio Project, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explore what Torah is, what creativity is, and what her framework -- a Torah of Creativity -- has to teach the world. ...

Episode 352: Bad Jews-- a History - Emily Tamkin

Emily Tamkin is the senior editor, US at The New Statesman and author of a new book entitled Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explore how the phrase ...

Episode 350: God as a Woman - Liana Finck

Liana Finck, a cartoonist and author whose most recent book is entitled Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about this work -- a graphic novel that reimagines the story ...

Episode 348: Jewish Gathering - Rachel Gildiner

Rachel Gildiner, the CEO of Gather, Inc., a nonprofit that is committed to reorienting how Jewish professionals and organizations define success, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what it means to prioritize people, over programs, in ...

Episode 346: Yom Kippur -- The Power of Regret - Daniel H. Pink

Daniel H. Pink, a New York Times-bestselling author who recently wrote The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the positive sides of regret -- and how an ...

Episode 344: Rosh Hashanah...No Big Deal - Dan and Lex

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg are here to say that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are solid -- as warm-up holidays. In this episode they look ahead to the festival of Sukkot, which comes after the two observances we call ...

Episode 343: God's Bad Parenting Days - Alicia Jo Rabins

Alicia Jo Rabins, a writer, composer, performer, and Torah teacher, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to talk about her new book, entitled Even God Had Bad Parenting Days.

Bonus Episode: Elul #16 - Jews in Space

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be a time to think about Jews in space! No, this bonus episode is not about that clip at ...

Bonus Episode: Elul #15 - Elul Should be Spicy

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be spicy! They argue that this spiciness should apply every year, but it should be especially in play in ...

Episode 339: Ed-Jew-Cation -- Learning, Not Literacy - Diane Tickton Schuster

Diane Tickton Schuster, the editor of a new book entitled Portraits of Adult Jewish Learning: Making Meaning at Many Tables, joins Dan and Lex to ask what "Jewish education" means, and why it doesn't serve us when think of it ...

Episode 337: Let's End "Good Jew"/"Bad Jew" - Janet Krasner Aronson

Janet Krasner Aronson, the Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University, is one of the leading sociologists of American Judaism. She directs local Jewish-population studies in cities all around ...

Episode 335: Jewishly Rooted - Kesha Dorsey Spoor, Adam McCurdy, Sharone Oren

Kesha Dorsey Spoor, Adam McCurdy, and Sharone Oren are three members of the team at Coastal Roots farm — a nonprofit community-farm in Encinitas, California, anchored in Jewish traditions. They join Dan and Lex for a conversation about how Judaism ...