Judaism Unbound

Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, joins Dan and Lex for an urgent conversation on the family separation crisis at the US borders. Cotler calls on American Jews to speak out against those who would callously separate children from their families, and she connects these recent events to the broader context of Donald Trump's administration and to Jewish values and historical experiences.  Sign onto Bend the Arc's Declaration of a State of Moral Emergency by clicking here. Plug into organizations that are part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, working to resist the Trump administration, by clicking here.

Looking back at the first part of our series on American Jews and Israel, Dan and Lex discuss various topics, including the past, present, and potential meanings of Zionism and the "red lines" that some Jewish institutions have established, which put certain ideas (such as advocacy for boycotts of Israel) and people outside of their "big tents." Dan and Lex explore whether many American Jews relate to Israel in a fashion that is very analogous to "religious." 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.

To get a sense of the Israel conversation from the point of view of a congregational rabbi, Dan and Lex are joined by Sharon Kleinbaum, Spiritual Leader of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST), in New York City. In their conversation, they discuss topics including the varied and evolving perspectives on Israel in Jewish-and-LGBTQ spaces, the consequences of institutional red-lines around Israel discourse, and the importance of interfaith bridge-building. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, for the 5th episode in Judaism Unbound's series on the relationship of American Jews and Israel. In their conversation, Kurtzer questions ideas of Judaism as a "family," puts forth a case for why American Jews should care about Israel in the first place, and provides ideas for new frameworks of Israel education. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Melissa Weintraub, Founder and Co-Executive Director of Resetting the Table. 1 In their conversation they examine ways in which conversations about Israel in Jewish communal life can often become toxic, along with ideas for how to do better. 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!

To help us better understand and think about the role that Israel might play in the future of American Jews, Dan and Lex are joined by Professor Noam Pianko of the University of Washington, author of the books Zionism and the Roads Not Taken and Jewish Peoplehood: An American Innovation. The conversation explores the origins and evolution of Zionism, its many early variations, the changing nature of American Zionism, and the ever-shifting place of Israel in the minds of American Jews. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs, and Israel Studies at Northeastern Universityand author of the book Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict Over Israel. The conversation explores the debates, tensions, and divides over Israel and Palestine within the American Jewish community, and we discuss why a topic that once unified American Jews now divides them. 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!

As we launch a new series considering the role that Israel might or might not play in the future of American Judaism, Dan and Lex are joined by writer and commentator Peter Beinart, Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. 1 Beinart is also a contributing editor for The Atlantic and a senior columnist for The Forward. His 2010 article in The New York Review of Books predicted a widening gap between Israel and young American Jews, and his framing has shaped the American Jewish community's discussion ever since. In this episode, we explore generational differences in Jewish life, denominational differences within generations, and the ever-present tension between universalism and particularism. 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!

Dan and Lex look back at their recent episodes, featuring guests that are part of Clal's Glean Incubator for spiritual innovators. They reflect on the ways in which fundamentalist practitioners of religion (Judaism and Christianity most prominently) have channeled their zeal and passion into the work they do with great success, and they focus on passion as the potential key to analogous successes in the landscape of Jewish innovation. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Sara and Isaac Luria, founders of Beloved, a home-based spiritual community in Brooklyn. Their conversation covers a wide variety of topics, all revolving around their work to infuse the world with deeper forms of community, love, and justice. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Geoffrey Mitelman, the Founding Director of Sinai & Synapses. Together they discuss the realms of science & religion, perceived by many as entirely separate, and the ways in which Mitelman blends them together every day of his professional life. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Miriam Terlinchamp, the spiritual leader of Temple Sholom in Cincinnati. In their conversation, they explore the radical re-visioning process of her congregation, which included selling their building, using the proceeds to experiment with new ways of "doing synagogue," embracing social justice as a core Jewish commitment, and investing 10% of their budget in communications, including fostering a vibrant culture of digital video production. We also discuss JustLove, a "multifaith movement provoking love and action," founded by Terlinchamp. 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!

As we continue to dig into various approaches to "spiritual innovation," Dan and Lex are joined by Aaron Bisno and Harlan Stone, rabbi and president, respectively, of Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a synagogue that is over 150 years old and doing very well by conventional synagogue measures, which is nevertheless intensely interested in innovation and experimentation. Our conversation digs into the how a contemporary American synagogue is working to re-imagine itself around the goal of increasing human flourishing. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Debbie Bravo, spiritual leader of Makom NY: A New Kind of Jewish Community, located in Nassau County, Long Island. 1 They discuss how and why Makom NY's outside-the-box model has succeeded in engaging many of Long Island's Jews who have not otherwise connected to institutional Jewish life in the area. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Elan Babchuck, Director of Innovation at Clal and founder of the Glean Incubator, a program that combines coaching and a course in entrepreneurship aimed at helping new spiritual initiatives develop compelling strategies for launch and sustainability. In their conversation, they compare and contrast the challenges of Jewish legacy institutions with those of Jewish start-ups, re-examine the metrics used to measure success in Jewish life, and ask how lessons from community organizing can apply to 21st century Judaism. In the weeks that follow, we will profile organizations that were part of last year's pilot cohort of the Glean Incubator. 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!

Dan returns to History in the Bible, hosted by Garry Stephens. This time they discuss best-selling Israeli author Yochi Brandes' novel “The Orchard”. Dan translated the book into English. The novel centres on Rabbi Akiva, the man who forged rabbinic Judaism after the fall of the Temple. Along the way they encounter a host of other rabbis and Paul of Tarsus. They also ponder the difficulties of translation and working out what actually happened in history. For a limited time (starting on March 20th, 2018, as this episode is released), The Orchard is available FOR FREE on Kindle. Get it 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.

Dan and Lex reflect on their conversations with members of The Open Dor Project's first cohort. They reconsider how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs relates to the challenges of. contemporary Judaism, explore how issues of social justice could take on a more central place in Jewish institutional life, and interrogate the conceptions of "community" and "variety." 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Adina Allen and Jeff Kasowitz, founders of the Jewish Studio Project, which bills itself as "part urban art studio, part house of Jewish learning, part spiritual community," as part of our series exploring new experiments in spirituality and community building. Our conversation looks at how creative expression and Judaism can overlap in powerful ways and how the Jewish Studio Project, through its combination of Jewish learning and creative arts exploration, creates a context for folks to explore that overlap themselves. 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!

Dan and Lex are joined by Dan Ain, Founder and Spiritual Leader of Because Jewish. In their conversation, they discuss the ways in which music can engage people spiritually, the tension between "inspiration" and "institution," how the Grateful Dead are relevant to Judaism and how rabbis have it harder than Bruce Springsteen, as well as a wide variety of other important topics for contemporary 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 full shownotes for this episode, click here!

In honor of Purim, when everything goes topsy-turvy, Dan's role flips around from host to guest! He speaks with Lex about Yochi Brandes's book, entitled The Orchard, which connects to many ongoing themes of Judaism Unbound, and which Dan himself translated into English. Purchase The Orchard, a best-selling novel in Israel that is now available English, by clicking here! You can purchase in paperback form or as an e-book. 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.