Judaism Unbound

Andrew Tobolowsky, author of a new book entitled The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, joins Dan and Lex to talk about what the Twelve Tribes of Israel myth is, and why it matters. They explore the ways in which groups have mobilized it -- all around the world -- for a few thousand years, and how that conversation across the millennia can help us better understand how people (and communities) continually construct and reinvent their identities. To access shownotes for this episode, click here. ALSO, if you'd like to purchase The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, be sure to head to the Cambridge University Press website and enter the promo code TMTTI2022 at checkout, for a 20% discount!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.

Marques Hollie is a Philadelphia-based theatre artist, ritual leader, operatically-trained vocalist, and -- most importantly for this episode -- an ordained Maggid! What's a Maggid, you ask? That's a great question. It's so great that we devoted much of this episode to exploring it! Listen in to learn what a Maggid has been in the past, what it is today, and what it could become in the future.Marques Hollie is one of our teachers in The UnYeshiva, Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. You can sign up for his course, Whose Canon is it Anyway? (just like this episode!), by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/whosecanon.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.

Stephen Daniel Arnoff, author of a new book entitled About Man & God & Law: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan (and host of a similarly-titled podcast), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that's a little bit about Bob Dylan -- but largely about his influence on others, including American Jews.Between Passover and Shavuot, Judaism Unbound is offering several different 3-week "mini-courses" that you can take through the UnYeshiva -- our digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. Learn more about these UnYeshiva mini-courses, and/or register for them, 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! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much more!) by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/store.

In recent days, it has become clear that the future of reproductive justice in the United States is at risk. With the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, many organizations are speaking out publicly, to ensure continued access to safe abortions around the country. Among Jewish organizations, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has been a leader in this regard.Two years ago, two of NCJW's leaders -- Sheila Katz and Danya Ruttenberg -- joined Dan and Lex in a conversation that explored the history of their organization, but also shone a light specifically on questions of abortion access through Jewish lenses. We are re-releasing this episode, because we believe it is as relevant as ever.Learn more about NCJW, and participate in its work, by heading to www.NCJW.org/act.

Deborah Newbrun, co-founder of SVARA's Queer Talmud Camp, and the beloved former-director of Camp Tawonga, is launching a new initiative, entitled Divorce and Discovery: A Jewish Healing Retreat. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss her vision for the first-ever Jewish retreat that will be crafted, specifically, to provide participants the chance to heal from divorce. The inaugural Divorce and Discovery retreat will take place October 27-30, 2022, and you can learn more about it here.Between Passover and Shavuot, Judaism Unbound is offering several different 3-week "mini-courses" that you can take through the UnYeshiva -- our digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. Learn more about these UnYeshiva mini-courses, and/or register for them, 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! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! So much

Dan Libenson talks to Gil Kidron, of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions, about the podcast’s first season. They explore Gil’s ideas of who might have been responsible for writing some of Genesis's, most prominent stories -- and for putting the final edit together. In doing so, they ask what political and spiritual interests the book of Genesis might have served, before it was combined with the rest of the books into what we now know as the Torah. The second season of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions begins next week, examining The Book of Exodus.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.

Natan Margalit is the founder and president of an organization called Organic Torah. He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about his new book, entitled The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom, Ecological Thinking, and Healing in a Fragmented World.This conversation is the latest in a recurring Judaism Unbound series, where once a month we have been exploring Shmita (the year of release) with a wide variety of different thinkers, activists, and artists. To access shownotes for this episode, click here. Between Passover and Shavuot, we are offering several different 3-week "mini-courses" that you can take through the UnYeshiva -- our digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. Learn more about these UnYeshiva mini-courses, and/or register for them, 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! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs!

Dan and Lex have a PSA: Passover, in the bible, is two holidays! Not one. You've been conned! Or...ya know...Jewish history is interesting and one of the holidays in a sense "swallowed" the other over time. But also, maybe you've been CONNED. (See this article, by Michael Satlow, for a more in-depth explanation). In any event, Dan and Lex are curious what we might create, if we conceived of the holiday(s) of Passover and Chag HaMatzot ("Matzah Festival") as potentially two different things (as they initially were in the Bible). How might this help us find meaning in the latter days of the holiday(s), which do not contain a seder or organized ritual?  To access shownotes for this episode, click here. Between Passover and Shavuot, we are offering several different 3-week "mini-courses" that you can take through the UnYeshiva -- our digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning. Learn more about these mini-courses, and/or register for them, by clicking here!If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg schmooze in the 6th episode in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides. In this conversation, they hone in specifically on what the distinctions are between "Jewish Eating" and "Kosher Eating," and why those distinctions are important to consider.To access 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.

Arthur Waskow, a visionary Jewish activist and teacher, joins Judaism Unbound for a special mid-week bonus episode. In it, Waskow reflects on two key pieces of his life's work: the creation of The Freedom Seder, over 50 years ago, and his founding of The Exodus Alliance this year. The Exodus Alliance is a multifaith campaign to heal earth & humankind from carbon pharaohs and their climate plagues, and you can learn more about it at www.exodusalliance.org. For another Judaism Unbound episode featuring some of the other organizers of the Exodus Alliance, see Episode 320: Seders in the Streets - Madeline Canfield, Nate DeGroot.

The Exodus Alliance is a group of multifaith organizations, faith leaders, and everyday people taking action for climate justice. On Passover, they plan to organize Passover street seders in front of Chase banks all across the country -- the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels -- to challenge the financial underpinnings of this "Carbon Pharaoh." Nate DeGroot, national organizer for The Shalom Center, and Madeline Canfield, organizing coordinator for the Jewish Youth Climate Movement, represent two of the projects that are collaborating on the Exodus Alliance, along with Dayenu. They join Dan and Lex for a conversation about "carbon pharaohs," non-violent direct action, and activism across generations.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.To access shownotes for

Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, professor of religion at Wheaton College Massachusetts, is the author of Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what that book's title argues. In other words, how is Jewish food, and how are Jewish eating practices, "midrash" -- forms of interpretation that play with, and expand, the bounds of Jewish tradition?This episode is the 5th in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides. To access 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.

Rob Nipe and Nora Rubel, the team behind Grass Fed -- Rochester, New York's vegan and kosher butcher shop -- join Dan and Lex for a conversation about what makes something count as "really" meat, and how that relates to Jewish eating.This episode is the 4th in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides. To access 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. 

Sara Eifler, Program Director for Jewish Veg, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the spiritual practice that is....eating! Together they look at some ancient Jewish texts, some contemporary Jewish rituals, and play around with some puns. Jewish Veg is an organization that inspires and assists Jews to embrace plant-based diets, as an expression of Jewish values. This episode is the 3rd in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides. To access 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.

Nir Levy, Atlanta Field Manager for OneTable (an organization that empowers folks to find, share, and enjoy Shabbat dinners), and Annie Prusky, OneTable's Manager of Development and Research, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about one of the most beloved Jewish rituals: Shabbat dinner. You can learn more about OneTable, and sign up to either host or attend a Shabbat dinner near you, at OneTable.org.This episode is the 2nd in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides. To access 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.

Elaine Goodfriend, a lecturer at California State University, Northridge, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about one of her specialties -- food in the Hebrew Bible. This episode is the 1st in an ongoing mini-series, exploring what Jewish food has been in the past, what Jewish food is today, what it could be in the future, and who decides.To access 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.

Harry Freedman, author of Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius, The Murderous History of Bible Translations, and a variety of other books with equally-sensational titles, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation that explores Leonard Cohen's contributions to Judaism -- and potentially to Judaisms of the future. They also connect Cohen's musical creations to other Jewish figures, including Louis Jacobs and Miriam Anzovin (if you're thinking "is she the one from Tiktok" -- yes!).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.To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

The UnYeshiva -- Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- is launching its spring 2022 semester! In this episode, you get to sit in on the very first "Faculty Meeting" (we promise, it's not as boring as most meetings), and hear about the four courses that will be offered this semester. You can also hear about the grander vision of the UnYeshiva, from all four of its current teachers -- Dan and Lex (co-hosts of this podcast), along with Tova Birnbaum and Keshira haLev Fife!Learn more about the UnYeshiva by heading to www.unyeshiva.com, and register for our spring 2022 "UnYeshiva Sneak Preview" (live in Zoom, featuring all four teachers) 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! You can also buy Judaism Unbound merch (hoodies! stickers! mugs! so much more!) by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/store.To access shownotes for this episode, click her

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 fourth episode as a bonus episode here on Judaism Unbound's channel. 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 in Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else that podcasts are found.In this episode, presented in collaboration with The Mervis Chair, Borns Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University Bloomington, the Dybbukast explores a series of letters which document a moment in the late 1860s when opposing viewpoints caused a split in the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas.Dr. Laura Leibman, Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College shares about the history of Jews in the Caribbean, and Dr. Judah Cohen, the Lou and Sybil Mervis Professor in the S

Lisa Grafstein, creator of the Shmita Debt Release Campaign -- through the organization RIP Medical Debt -- joins Dan and Lex to talk about debt relief, its centrality to the Biblical Shmita year (year of release), disability justice, and how all of those topics tie to her campaign for public office in North Carolina.The Shmita Debt Release Campaign has already raised over 5,300 dollars this year, which will help to forgive 530,000 dollars (!!!!!!) of medical debt. Contribute toward this campaign reaching its goal of 10,000 dollars (and 1 MILLION dollars of medical debt forgiven) 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.To access shownotes for this episode, click here.