Journalist, researcher, explorer, author and…memory champion? Joshua Foer has seemingly done it all!

Whether it’s co-creating a site digitizing thousands of years—and pages—of Jewish text, exploring some of the most fascinating and least-known places on the planet or entering the U.S. Memory Championship and accidentally winning the title, Foer’s broad array of expertise makes him a must-listen.

In this episode, we discuss how Sefaria, the website he co-founded, has contributed to democratizing Jewish learning, as well as his tips for the strangest destinations on earth through Atlas Obscura. And, of course, how you can build your own “memory palace” to recall vast amounts of information.

Find more information:

https://twitter.com/joshuafoer

https://www.sefaria.org

https://www.atlasobscura.com

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

When Vincent Petryk opened J.P. Licks in 1981, he wanted to make people happy through the power and comfort of ice cream. Today, the award-winning ice cream shop has 17 locations in and around Greater Boston, all of which are certified kosher. 

Petryk, who is not Jewish, has made it his mission to connect with the people who live in the eclectic neighborhoods that house his stores. From experimenting with pad thai ice cream to offering home-roasted coffee grounds for composting to donating thousands of dollars to countless charities, J.P. Licks continues to support the community. 

Petryk was joined by Adele Traub, J.P. Licks’s marketing manager, to discuss their new hamantaschen, catering to the tastes of Boston’s ethnically diverse community, their mutual love of kugel and, of course, ice cream.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

For our third-ever live podcast, we went big—a big crowd and a big-time Hollywood celebrity.

A live audience of more than 450 people joined hosts Miriam and Dan at CJP’s annual Chai in the Hub celebration as they interviewed Alicia Silverstone, “Clueless” star, animal rights activist, author and entrepreneur.

In between her appearances at New York Fashion Week and the Oscars, Silverstone shared her views on Jewish values and parenting, kindness on a global scale, the importance of plant-based diets and the healing power of food.

Learn more about Chai in the Hub at cjp.org/chai-in-the-hub-2020.

Learn more about Silverstone at thekindlife.com.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Warning: This episode will make you hungry! JewishBoston, Jewish Arts Collaborative and four celebrated Boston chefs teamed up for a live podcast recording about the history and evolution of Israeli food.

Live from a packed but cozy Mamaleh’s Delicatessen after hours comes a fascinating discussion about the creation of Taste of Israel Restaurant Week, how raisins do not belong in kugel (prove us wrong!), exciting food trends from Israel and the secret to baking Israel-level pita in Greater Boston.

Featuring:

Michael Leviton, eight-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee, chair of Taste of Israel Restaurant Week and co-founder of Craigie Burger

Rachel Sundet, owner and pastry chef at Mamaleh’s Delicatessen

Avi Shemtov, owner and chef at The Chubby Chickpea and Simcha

Ilan Barniv, owner and chef at BONAPITA Mediterranean Bakery & Grill

This live recording was part of Taste of Israel Restaurant Week 2020.

See photos from the event here: http://bit.ly/2Of5mr7

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Lior Lev Sercarz is a chef, author, IDF veteran and royalty, of a sort. Well, at least he’s titled that way. With a globally acclaimed expertise in creating incredible flavors, Sercarz has become known as “The Spice King of New York,” no easy feat in one of the world’s top food cities.

At his store, La Boîte, Sercarz and his team create hundreds of spice blends used in kitchens ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to that apartment down the hall that always smells amazing.

We caught up with Sercarz to discuss his new venture, the Galilee Culinary Institute by the Jewish National Fund; his new cookbook, “Mastering Spice: Recipes and Techniques to Transform Your Everyday Cooking”; and how he keeps the spice throne through mind-blowing flavor combinations.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

This episode is deeply personal and touches upon an experience that many people have dealt with: divorce.

Join Miriam Anzovin and Kali Foxman as they share their own experiences of getting divorced in the Jewish tradition. With the help of two experts, they demystify the Jewish divorce process, including the get (Jewish divorce document), and what it means as a woman to receive one—or not—both in the United States and in Israel.

Our guests on this episode are Layah Lipsker, a Jewish educator and director of the Boston Agunah Taskforce, which is devoted to research, education and advocacy for fairness in the Jewish divorce process, and Dr. Susan Weiss, founder of the Center for Women’s Justice, which is leading the legal battle for women’s equality, dignity and justice under Jewish law in Israel.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

In need of help and resources in Boston? The Boston Agunah Task Force can help (brandeis.edu/hbi/research-projects/gcrl/boston-agunah-taskforce/help.html). To learn more about the get process and send your questions to a consultant, visit getyourget.com.

Find information for divorcing couples and their attorneys at getyourget.com/home-2.

To learn more about the halachic prenuptial agreement and download the Center for Women’s Justice “Agreement for a Just and Fair Marriage,” visit cwj.org.il/en/568.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Join Dan and Miriam as they speak with the inspiring Rabbi Susan Abramson of Temple Shalom Emeth in Burlington. Abramson—the longest-serving female rabbi in Massachusetts—is co-founder of Burlington Area Clergy for Justice, an interfaith group of clergy and supporters who stand for immigrant rights and protest a local ICE facility each month.

Abramson also hosts “Spiritually Speaking,” a YouTube series in which she highlights the faith traditions and houses of worship in and around Burlington. She is also the author of the “Rabbi Rocketpower” series of Jewish children’s books.

Tune in to hear about the importance of learning about different faith traditions and why taking action is the best way to protect your mental and emotional health when it sometimes feels like the world is going to hell in a hand-basket.

Learn more:

https://shalom-emeth.org/category/cbe/about-us/our-clergy

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BAC4J

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbv7N6fny5oJJHftEa_Sngw

http://www.rabbirocketpower.com

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Cooking a brisket in under two hours is nothing compared to an eight-hour TV binge! Are you verklempt over the new season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”? The Vibe of the Tribe gets you more than Lenny Bruce gets Midge. We watched Season 3 as quickly as we could to give you our takes on the most popular fictitious Jewish comedienne of mid-century America.

Are Midge and Joel going to be a thing again? Can Susie manage the unmanageable Sophie Lennon? How crazy will the Maisels drive the Weissmans this season? Will anyone notice those children? Ever?!

Tune in for our spoiler-laden conversation about the occasionally marvelous but usually meshuggah Mrs. Maisel!

Find more related content at jewishboston.com/package/the-marvelous-mrs-maisel.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Rachael Cerrotti had a close relationship with her grandmother, Hana. She knew Hana was a Holocaust survivor who evaded Nazi capture numerous times, and she savored her time with the family matriarch, hearing her tell stories about her past and reading her writing.

After Hana’s death in 2010, Rachael began to explore her story in more depth. She decided to take an incredible journey in which she followed her grandmother’s footsteps more than 70 years later, connecting with descendants of families that saved Hana’s life in Denmark and Sweden.

Throughout her travels, Rachael used her camera, podcasting equipment and journals to capture the story she tells on the multimedia website “We Share the Same Sky,” presented by USC Shoah Foundation. At its center is a riveting and moving seven-episode podcast series—the first produced by the foundation—that brings the past into the present through Rachael’s decade-long journey to retrace her grandmother’s story of survival. The episodes use history and current events to help listeners grasp themes, including discrimination and dehumanization, the impact of physical and metaphorical walls, and how to find hope and redemption in tragic circumstances.

On this episode of The Vibe of the Tribe, Rachael joins Dan and Miriam to talk about her unique project, how she reimagined the ways in which testimony can be used to tell stories and how “We Share the Same Sky” offers a compelling tool for Holocaust educators.

“We Share the Same Sky is produced by Rachael Cerrotti and co-produced by Erika Lantz. You can find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and other podcast apps. Learn more at http://sharethesamesky.com.

Edited by Jesse Ulrich, with music by Ryan J. Sullivan.

Spread among the nearly 150,000 square miles of pastures, snow-capped mountains and lakes of Montana is a small Jewish community. Rabbi Chaim Bruk—of the Chabad Lubavitch movement—relocated from Brooklyn with his wife, Chavie, and their adopted children with the ambitious goal of affixing a mezuzah to the door of every Jew in the Big Sky state.

Bruk’s endeavor drew the attention of two Boston-area filmmakers, Amy Geller and Gerald Peary, who followed him on his journey and discovered a story much larger and more complex than just the tale of a man doing a mitzvah. Their new documentary film, “The Rabbi Goes West,” will premiere in New England at the Boston Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, Nov. 17. The film is a thoughtful, compelling look at the joys and challenges of Jewish life in rural America.

Amy and Gerald join us on this episode to talk interdenominational cooperation and competition, growing anti-Semitism, the Jews of Whitefish (yes, that’s a real place!) and the resilient Jewish community they found in Montana.

Learn more about the film: https://www.therabbigoeswest.com

Buy tickets to the New England premiere: http://bit.ly/32jJLSD