Judaism Unbound

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.

Jim Farley and Charlene Seidle are the CEO and Executive Vice-President, respectively, of the Leichtag Foundation. In this 2nd episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Farley and Seidle, 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. The conversation hones in on the principles that drive the Leichtag Foundation -- in both its grantmaking and in its broader work, philanthropically and programmatically.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.

Jenny Camhi and Jessica Kort are the Chief Talent Officer and Director of Communications and Strategy, respectively, of The Leichtag Foundation. In this 1st episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Camhi and Kort, 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. The two guests provide a window into the programming that takes place at Leichtag Commons, along with an exploration of "The Hive," a collaborative co-working space that fosters a space of creativity, collaboration, and connection, for employees of Jewish and secular non-profits.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.

Dan and Lex have been thinking a lot about art lately. In this conversation, they reflect on recent podcast episodes exploring Jewish art from a variety of angles, revisit their notion Judaism itself might be best understood as a medium of art, and play around with what the words "mosaic" and "Mosaic" might mean for the future of Judaism (yes, you did not misread, it's the same spelling for both!).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.

New Voices Magazine, a Jewish and justice-focused magazine by and for Jews ages 18-24, recently published an investigation -- written by Julia Hegele -- entitled "How Jewish Summer Camps Are Damaging LGBTQ+ Youth." The investigation, which you can read here, shines a light on the experiences of LGBTQ+ campers -- now LGBTQ+ camp alumni -- who have for decades faced exclusion, emotional conflict, pressure, and trauma at their Jewish summer camps. It includes voices from a wide range of Jewish camps -- different geographic regions, Jewish denominations, and affiliations -- and also offers up potential strategies for reparative work moving forward.In this episode of Judaism Unbound, Hegele -- along with New Voices' editor-in-chief, Rena Yehuda Newman -- join Dan and Lex to discuss this investigation.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!

This bonus episode of Judaism Unbound is presented in partnership with Theatre Dybbuk. Once a month, their podcast -- called The Dybbukast -- releases a new episode, and we are proud to feature their second season's eighth episode as a bonus episode here on Judaism Unbound's feed. In each episode, they bring poems, plays, and other creative texts from throughout history to life, all while revealing their relationships to issues still present today. Subscribe to The Dybbukast on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else that podcasts are found.The Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian is the earliest documented Jewish play, thought to have been written in Alexandria, Egypt in the second century BCE.  From the fragments that remain, we know that it tells the biblical Exodus narrative in the style of a Greek tragedy. In 2016, theatre dybbuk combined the extant 269 lines with modern-day stories of refugees, immigrants, and other voices from the American experience to form a new adaptation, titled exagoge, that relates the anci

Allison Silverman is an Executive Producer for the Netflix series Russian Doll. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that covers a ton of ground: the many and intersecting Jewish layers of the show, a behind-the-scenes look at how a series like this is created, and even whether TV shows like Russian Doll could be a potential source for new Jewish rituals and practices.If you're a Netflix subscriber, you can view Russian Doll for yourself 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.

Kendell Pinkney is a theatre-artist, creative producer, and rabbi. He serves as the Artistic Director of The Workshop, a newly launched arts and culture fellowship for professional JOCISM (Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, Sephardi, and Mizrahi) artists. Pinkney joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring big-picture questions of Jewish art, along with specific questions about The Workshop in particular.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.

Liora Ostroff and Naomi Rose Weintraub are the curator-in-residence and artist-in-residence, respectively, for The Jewish Museum of Maryland (JMM). They explore, in conversation with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, a recent exhibition that they helped to install at JMM, entitled A Fence Around the Torah: Safety and Unsafety in Jewish Life. We encourage to explore the exhibition yourself, before you listen to this episode, or as you listen to it, via AFenceAroundTheTorah.com.  To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. These include visuals of the exhibition, which will greatly enhance your experience of this podcast.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.