Judaism Unbound

Olivia Devorah Tucker is a demonologist, Talmud educator, and artist teaching a course called Developing a Demon: Ashmodai Through the Ages in the UnYeshiva this fall. They join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the world of Jewish demons and its radical, imaginative potential. This episode is the third in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And 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!

Jonathan Branfman, the Eli Reinhard Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies at Stanford University, researches and teaches about Jewish identity in U.S. popular culture -- focusing on the way that Jewish stars perform race, gender, and sexuality. He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about his upcoming mini-course in the UnYeshiva, Rude, Lewd, and Fabulous: 21st-Century Jewish Feminist Comedy, from Haddish to Glazer to Bloom. What is this course about, why is it just as important as classes about ancient Jewish texts, why is it being taught in an organization with "Yeshiva" in its title, and why you should register right now?? All of these questions are answered in this bonus episode.To sign up for Rude, Lewd, and Fabulous: 21st-Century Jewish Feminist Comedy, from Haddish to Glazer to Bloom, click here. To see our other courses in the UnYeshiva being offered right now, click here. ----------------------------------------------Note: We, and I'm sure all of you listening, are holding feelings of anger, and fru

Rena Singer and Samantha Frank are the masterminds behind the viral Jewish Instagram account, Modern Ritual. When they aren’t crafting innovative Jewish social media content, Singer serves as a rabbi at Temple Sholom of Chicago, and Frank works at Sanctuary, the 92nd Y, and is a Rabbinic Fellow and DC’s Temple Micah. In this episode, they join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Jewish engagement, accessibility, and fun in the digital age. This episode is the second in an ongoing series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring digital Judaism.Registration for the UnYeshiva’s new winter mini-courses is now open! We’ve got witches, demons, angry mystical gods, magic, feminist comedy, and more. Visit JudaismUnbound.com/classes for more information and to register!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And 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!

Molly Tolsky is the founding editor of Hey Alma, and the editor of Kveller. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about digital Judaism, pop culture as Torah, and finding humor in dark spaces. Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!  It starts in just a few days (November 5, 2023), as this episode is released! Learn more about other upcoming UnYeshiva mini-courses, beginning in late November, by heading to JudaismUnbound.com/classes.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And 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!

Jory Handelsman Mayschak is the founder and CEO of BaMidbar, the nation’s first Jewish wilderness therapy program. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about community-oriented approaches to youth mental health and wellness, all through a distinctly Jewish lens.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

Expanding the Canon is an initiative from the Washington DC-based Theater J, which has commissioned seven racially and ethnically diverse Jewish writers to create new full-length plays. These plays will thematically and visually center diverse Jewish narratives in order to correct and broaden the historically limited portrayals of Jewishness on stages in the United States and around the world. Hayley Finn, Theater J's artistic director, and Zachariah Ezer, one of the seven playwrights that collectively form the Expanding the Canon cohort, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about their project's work to expand (or maybe upend?) notions of Jewish canon.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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! 

Conversion to Judaism is a process dating back to roughly the 2nd century BCE, but even with this long history, mainstream Jewish institutions often fail to wholly welcome these individuals into their communities. In this conversation, Dan and Lex discuss attitudes towards conversion and explore the future of integrating the beauty and brilliance that people who convert bring to the Jewish community and beyond. This episode is the 10th and final episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

Tamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the wide range of understandings of God in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history, and how those understandings open up new Jewish possibilities today. Kamionkowski is also teaching an UnYeshiva course this fall called God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes?: Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible – don’t miss it!Tamar Kamionkowski is teaching a course in the UnYeshiva this Fall entitled God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes? - Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible. You can register for it (and explore our other Fall 2023 courses as well) by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

What are the purposes of ritual in our lives? What are the ingredients that go into a successful ritual? Rachel Rose Reid, a ritualist and storyteller who was the first British person to be ordained by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about crafting Jewish ritual. Rachel Rose Reid is teaching a course in the UnYeshiva this Fall entitled Crafting Jewishly-Rooted Ritual. You can register for it (and explore our other Fall 2023 courses as well) by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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! 

Yoshi Silverstein is the founder and executive director of Mitsui Collective, an organization that seeks to "build resilient community, through embodied Jewish practice and somatic antiracism." Register for the course he is teaching in the UnYeshiva, beginning in early October, via this link!To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. Learn more about current and upcoming courses in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva -- a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- by heading to www.unyeshiva.com. And 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!

Danya Ruttenberg, the Scholar-in-Residence for the National Council of Jewish Women -- and also (unofficially) the "Rabbi of Twitter" according to many -- joins Dan and Lex for a special Yom Kippur episode of Judaism Unbound! Together they explore her book, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, considering what it has to teach us about the process of making amends, and asking how its lessons could help us create deeper and more meaningful forms of Yom Kippur experience.Fall 2023 Courses in the UnYeshiva (Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning) are open for registration! Learn more about this semester's courses -- taught by Yoshi Silverstein, Eliana Light, Tamar Kamionkowski, Caryn Aviv, and Rachel Rose Reid -- via www.judaismunbound.com/classes.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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 clickin

Some people become Jewish at some point in life after they are born. Typically, they're referred to as either "Jews-by-choice" (in contrast to "Jews-by-birth") or as "converts" to Judaism. Amelia Dornbush, who underwent a conversion to Judaism during college, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about why she would not describe herself as a "Jew-by-choice," and why that term may create more problems than it solves. This episode is the 9th in an ongoing Judaism Unbound mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Fall 2023 Courses in the UnYeshiva (Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning) are open for registration! Learn more about this semester's courses -- taught by Yoshi Silverstein, Eliana Light, Tamar Kamionkowski, Caryn Aviv, and Rachel Rose Reid -- via www.judaismunbound.com/classes.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And if you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Judaism Unb

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this fourth and final bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the topic of second chances, through ancient Jewish stories and contemporary life.This Elul bonus episode is the fourth of four that has been released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). Check out Elul Unbound by visiting www.judaismunbound.com/elul.To check out our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past five years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2023 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our final Elul Unbound Zoom gathering of 2023 (Thursday, September 14th), where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with friends, by clicking here.

Benay Lappe, the founder of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva -- and, way back in Judaism Unbound's earliest days, the first guest on our podcast -- joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about conversion to Judaism in the Talmud. As it turns out, the process of becoming Jewish was a lot simpler for the early rabbis than it is today. But just how much simpler? To find out, listen in to this episode, the 8th in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And guess what?? Fall 2023 Courses in the UnYeshiva (Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning) are open for registration! Learn more via www.judaismunbound.com/classes.And 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!

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this third bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore ways in which spirals might connect to the month of Elul, and the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.This Elul bonus episode is the third of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). For a 3-session Elul mini-course, which helps you take your Elul observance to the next level, you can register for Elul: Your On-Ramp Into Rosh Hashanah -- which is being taught by Wendie Bernstein Lash, longtime facilitator of Elul Unbound! To check out our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past five years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2023, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our third Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (Friday, Se

Tivona Reith and Holly Smith are two of Judaism Unbound’s most dedicated and longstanding listeners. They join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about becoming Jewish as adults, and whether we might benefit from shifting our terminology from “conversion” to “integration.” This episode is the 7th in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And a reminder: Elul Unbound is back! Our annual exploration of the final month of the Jewish year, which serves as an on-ramp into Rosh Hashanah, is here. Register for Elul Unbound (almost all components of it are free!) via this link!And 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!

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this second bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the power of the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet -- Bet!This Elul bonus episode is the second of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). For a 3-session Elul mini-course, which will help you take your Elul observance to the next level, you can register for Elul: Your On-Ramp Into Rosh Hashanah -- which will be taught by Wendie Bernstein Lash, longtime facilitator of Elul Unbound! To check out our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past five years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2023, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our second Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (Friday, September 1st), where we will be exploring

Israel has played a central role in American-Jewish life for quite some time. Eric Axelman and Sam Eilertsen, co-directors of a new documentary film entitled Israelism, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about their film, which explores a movement of young American Jews fighting to redefine Judaism’s relationship to Israel-Palestine. Learn more about Israelism by heading to IsraelismFilm.com. The film debuted at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, won Best Documentary at the Arizona International Film Festival, and garnered a Spirit Award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. It also won the Audience Award at the 2023 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the oldest and largest Jewish film festival in the world. To explore bringing a screening of Israelism to your community, email Contact@IsraelismFilm.com. Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And a reminder: Elul Unbound is back! Our annual exploration of the final month of the Jewish year, which serves as an on-ramp into Rosh Hashan

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this first bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg, Wendie Bernstein Lash, and Micah Sandman launch their month-long exploration of the power of twos/seconds!This Elul bonus episode is the first of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). For a 3-session Elul mini-course, which will help you take your Elul observance to the next level, you can register for Elul: Your On-Ramp Into Rosh Hashanah -- which will be taught by Wendie Bernstein Lash, longtime facilitator of Elul Unbound! To check out our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past five years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2023, by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering (Friday, August 25th), where we will be ex

Lisa Rappaport is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel, in Chico, California, and in just a few months (January 2024) she will be ordained as a rabbi! She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for the 6th episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And a reminder: Elul Unbound is back! Our annual exploration of the final month of the Jewish year, which serves as an on-ramp into Rosh Hashanah, is here. Register for Elul Unbound (almost all components of it are free!) via this link!And 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!