Judaism Unbound

Michael Lerner -- a theologian, activist, rabbi, and psychotherapist -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation looking back at over 50 years of justice work, drawing on Jewish wisdom and in partnership with progressives from other spiritual traditions. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Learn more about Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva -- a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- by heading to www.unyeshiva.com.

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 of Genesis, with God as a woman.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, in two recent conversations with Ron Wolfson and Rachel Gildiner, explored what it meant for Judaism to be "relational." In this follow-up episode, they map that question, of what it means for Judaism to be relational, onto digital Jewish experiences in particular. They reflect on recent Judaism Unbound developments, including Yom Kippur and Hakhel, in considering what it would like for digital gatherings to center relationships -- and not just programming.Register now to take one of our amazing Fall courses in the UnYeshiva -- the deadline is just a few days away! Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our different options -- financial aid is available to anyone who needs it.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here.  

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 Jewish life.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store. 

Ron Wolfson, author of Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community (and many other awesome books -- that's just the one most central to this conversation!), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the ways in which Judaism might be more powerful, if Jewish communities prioritized relationships over programs. He also offers some strategies for how we might take positive steps in that direction.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

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 exploration of regret could help us reimagine the holiday of Yom Kippur.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

Ketzirah Lesser is an ordained kohenet (Jewish priestess) who creates "magickal judaica, art, and ceremonies inspired by Jewish history and traditions." Her creations range from amulets and shrines, to Haggadot (guidebooks to the Passover seder), to AI art based on Yiddish folklore. If you're reading all this and thinking..."Wait, I thought amulets and shrines were considered idolatrous" or "I'm confused, why is 'magickal' spelled with a 'k'," then this episode is for you! Lesser joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about why Judaism should absolutely be full of magic(k)al experiences -- and how one can most effectively facilitate sacred Jewish witchcraft.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

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 "The High Holidays," but historically may have been the biggest festival of them all! They ask why Sukkot, despite its initial glory, became a second-tier holiday over time -- and they consider whether, in our own time, there may be good reason to re-elevate it.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg continue their conversation about Elul, the final month of the Jewish year -- which serves as an "on-ramp" into the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They explore what the sports terminology of "home field advantage" has to do with Judaism, extend previous conversations about space and time, and consider the impact of blasting a Shofar in public.This “mini-episode” is the third and final episode, of three, that are being released as part of Elul Unbound 2022 (our 15th-17th Elul episodes overall). To listen to all of our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past four years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2022, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (September 2nd), where we will be exploring Elul in real time with friends, by clicking here.

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. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

Jennie Rosenn, the founder and CEO of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the urgency of our collective work -- across boundaries of religious difference, and across generational divides -- to combat climate change. They explore particular roles that Jewish individuals, communities, and institutions can play in this effort, along with the imperative that they (we!) be in coalition with other communities, as we all seek to give humanity a fighting chance in the face of existential crisis.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. Register for one or more of our 3-week mini-courses, in the UnYeshiva, by clicking here! If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

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 the end of Mel Brooks's History of the World Part I, entitled Jews in Space. It's not about outer space at all! Instead, it's about inner space, along with the physical spaces/locations that we inhabit, and how we might make them sacred.This “mini-episode” is the second of three that are being released as part of Elul Unbound 2022 (our 15th-17th Elul episodes overall). To listen to all of our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past four years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2022, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (September 2nd), where we will be exploring Elul in real time with friends, by clicking here.

One year ago, right before the once-every-7-year observance of Shmita began (Shmita is a year-long Jewish observance where land is given a chance to rest and debts are remitted), we spoke with Nigel Savage in a bonus episode. Savage, the founder of Hazon: The Jewish Lab for Sustainability, returns to Judaism Unbound to speak with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg about what it might look like to transition out of one 7-year Shmita cycle, and into the next.Register for one or more of our 3-week mini-courses, in the UnYeshiva, by clicking here! To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! 

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 a year like this one -- where Elul is serving as a bridge between Shmita (a year-long, once-every-7-year observance of release, renewal, and recalibration) and the six "normal" years that will follow. This “mini-episode” is the first of three that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2022 (our 15th-17th Elul episodes overall). To listen to all of our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past four years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2022, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (September 2nd), where we will be exploring Elul in real time with friends, by clicking here.

Jay Michaelson, a political columnist, author, and teacher in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva (!), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss his most recent book, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth. In their conversation, Michaelson dives into the wild world that was Jacob Frank's life, connects Frank's 18th century ideas to the present-day, and professes his love for Netflix's The Sandman. Register for Michaelson's 3-week mini-course in the UnYeshiva, entitled "UnTeshuva: The Heresy of Jacob Frank," by clicking here!To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

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 only (or primarily), as something that children experience. Also, Banksy makes an appearance (he says cryptically...)! To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. To sign up for one of our 3-week UnYeshiva mini-courses, beginning in September, click here!If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

Shawn Harris, author of The Red Door: A Dark Fairy Tale Told In Poems, thinks that Jews would benefit from having a little less reverence for Judaism -- and a lot more chutzpah. Harris, who is also the creative mind behind Project Tzimtzum: Play, Learn, Make, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the Jewish present and future. They hop from, and to, a wide variety of topics, including literature, fandom, Dungeons & Dragons, and darkness.Pre-order The Red Door by clicking here! To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

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 the country, and most recently led a study that looked at greater Los Angeles (to take a look at the findings of this study, head to StudyOfJewishLA.org). Krasner Aronson joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about her most recent study, what makes it different from many other studies, and why any of these studies matter in the first place!To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

Dan and Lex have some questions: What counts as a "Jewish space?" What should be counted as a "Jewish space?" What would be different about Judaism if we sought to build more creative forms of Jewish space? What about "Jewifying" spaces that are not specifically-Jewish? What's different about Jewish spaces that are indoors versus those that are outside? In this conversation, they explore all these questions and more, as they reflect on the 3-episode mini-series -- recorded on-location at Leichtag Commons -- that concluded last week.To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

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 and farming are rooted (get it??) in shared values. This is the 3rd episode in a three-part mini-series, recorded on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, California and operated by the Leichtag Foundation. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.