Judaism Unbound

James Kahn, an ordained rabbi who works as the National Outreach Director for Holistic Industries (one of the largest privately-held cannabis operators in the United States) joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to talk about the relationship between cannabis and Judaism.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Casper ter Kuile, co-founder of Sacred Design Lab and author of the book The Power of Ritual (coming out June 23rd -- pre-order here), joins Dan and Lex to talk about what rituals are, even, and why they can potentially be powerful in our lives.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Nati Passow, an Assistant Professor of sustainable food systems at Temple University and past executive director of the Jewish Farm School (of blessed memory), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about biblical frameworks of sabbatical and jubilee. Together they explore what these ideas might have to teach us in the 21st century about how Judaism and food justice intertwine.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Zac Kamenetz, an educator, rabbi, and aspiring healer who enrolled in a clinical study to give clergy members high doses of psilocybin (a psychedelic compound), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about mysticism, entheogens (psychedelic substances), and the future of Judaism. 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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan and Lex, in a conversation released one day early as prep for the festival of Shavuot, use that holiday as a jumping-off point into an exploration of how we might go about building new Judaism(s) in 2020 and beyond.Check out a wide variety of digital Shavuot opportunities, including ShavuotLIVE (from our jewishLIVE initiaitve), at jewishlive.org/shavuot.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Beccs Lubow, the 2020 Judaism Unbound and New Voices fellow, opens up a conversation that connects a variety of seemingly distant topics: mutual aid networks, synagogue accessibility, and an unusual Kaddish prayer. At the heart of this episode is a unifying question: Who does Judaism belong to?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!

Sandy Cardin and Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, of the Our Common Destiny initiative, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring the topic of Jewish unity.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Joshua Lesser, who serves as rabbi of Congregation Bet Haverim in Atlanta, Georgia, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about Jewish life through the lens of caterpillars, butterflies, and the chrysalis transitioning the former into the latter. 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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Sisters Michal Birnbaum, a cast member from the hit Netflix series Unorthodox, and Tova Birnbaum, Director of Jewish Content at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation reflecting on what Unorthodox can teach us. Topics include what it was like for the Birnbaums to grow up in an Ultra-Orthodox community, their journeys to other forms of Jewish community, and their migrations to the United States.Watch Unorthodox on Netflix by clicking here. And tweet your thoughts about the show via the hashtag #UnorthodoxNetflix.If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, head to jewishLIVE.org -- and stay in the loop by giving our Facebook page a like. 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!

Steven Windmueller, the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Service at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation that dives into the past couple centuries of American-Jewish institutional evolution, along with a look forward into what the next century or two might hold.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg are excited to talk about dinosaurs, mammals, and what they have to teach us about the evolutions of 21st century Judaism(s). If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, head to jewishLIVE.org -- and stay in the loop by giving our Facebook page a like. 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!

Lila Corwin Berman, director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History and author of the upcoming book The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion Dollar Institution, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation looking at the history of Jewish philanthropy, along with an exploration of how Jewish philanthropists are responding to COVID-19.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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here. 

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg explore a not-so-hypothetical question: "If 13 million Jews (and billions of others) built a new planet from scratch, what Jewish institutions would (and should) we create?"If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, head to jewishLIVE.org -- and stay in the loop by giving our Facebook page a like. 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!

Amichai Lau-Lavie, the founding spiritual leader of Lab/Shul and creator of Storahtelling, joins Dan and Lex to consider what spiritual tools, learned during this COVID-19 pandemic, we can preserve for “the after.”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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg look at digital Judaism through two main ideas: that our current Jewish reality is comparable to a "migration," and that the digital Jewish ecosystem is analogous to a brand-new Jewish city, of 13,000,000 people, being founded from scratch.If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, head to jewishLIVE.org -- and stay in the loop by giving our Facebook page a like. 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!

Barbara Thiede, Teaching Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Dean of the Faculty for the ALEPH Ordination Program, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the Book of Jubilees, why it matters, and what we can learn from it — along with other Jewish books that didn’t make it into the Bible.If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, which is seeking to meet some important needs of communal gathering at this time of physical distancing, head to jewishLIVE.org. You can also join the jewishLIVE Connect facebook group 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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan and Lex, in a bonus episode initially livestreamed via jewishLIVE, glean lessons from observing Shabbos (Shabbat) under physical distancing.If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, head to jewishLIVE.org -- and stay in the loop by giving our Facebook page a like. 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!

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg reflect on the digital Jewish ecosystem that has arisen rapidly in this moment of COVID-19 and social distancing, and ask what it could mean for the future of Judaism. In particular, they shine a light on a project they just launched, called jewishLIVE, which is serving as a digital hub for livestreaming Jewish programming.If you would like to learn more about jewishLIVE, which is seeking to meet some important needs of communal gathering at this time of physical distancing, head to jewishLIVE.org. You can also join the jewishLIVE Connect facebook group 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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe take a look squarely at Passover under COVID-19, in our moment of social distancing. What challenges arise for those celebrating this holiday via digital platforms, and what opportunities arise?Dan mentions a new initiative, jewishLIVE, which is seeking to meet some important needs of communal gathering at this time of physical distancing. Visit jewishLIVE.org to learn more, and join the jewishLIVE facebook group 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!To access shownotes for this episode, click here.

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg wrap up their series on creative approaches to Passover by invoking some of their recent guests and brainstorming their own ideas for experimental new forms of Passover observance.At the top of the episode, Dan mentions a new initiative, jewishLIVE, which is seeking to meet some important needs of communal gathering at this time of physical distancing. Visit jewishLIVE.org to learn more, and join the jewishLIVE facebook group by clicking here.This episode is the seventh and final episode in an ongoing series exploring new, old, and new-old approaches to the holiday of Passover. 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!To access full shownotes for this episode, click here.