For over two years, I, Chaz Volk, successfully released one episode of Jewish content per week. Each episode averaged 30 minutes, offering Torah insights and glimpses into Jewish diasporic cultures. This endeavor was nothing less than a passion project—one that I balanced alongside my day-to-day work life. My primary goal was to learn. Coming from a conservative/secular Jewish background, my knowledge was limited. It still is, humbly speaking. However, I am proud to say that I have grown tremend...
Feb 26, 2025•38 min
Depression is real. It's a problem as old as time. Whether it's from a lack of fulfillment or from loss or even a chronic disorder, people know what you're going through and it's valid! As cliche as it sounds, it's going to be okay. We hope that this episode brings you comfort during these troubling times and helps provide solutions through Jewish wisdom. The Torah offers insights that go beyond the 5 books of Moses to remedy this mental illness. Ari Gutman, a financial guru, content creator, an...
Feb 12, 2025•59 min
Jews wear these weird boxes on their arms and head. They are placed there for some specific holy reason but to an outsider it's unclear why it has to be worn to pray. These "phylacteries" have an aesthetic that could be misconstrued, but once you know the truth, you won't want to take them off. Sruly Meyer, a kosher chef and return guest to the podcast, offers a comprehensive look into the beauty and holiness of tefillin. Using his very own to personally teach us, Chaz Volk, host of Bad Jew, tak...
Feb 05, 2025•54 min
Do you have the heartthrob of a hopeless romantic that bounces from one love to another? Do you go heart-first into relationships only to find yourself washed up from another treacherous and dramatic quarrel? Dating is hard but learning when to enter the dating scene is another matter. Coach Daniel Ratner jumps back onto the podcast to talk about the 'WHEN' that is so essential for dating. Drawing from the wisdom of the 5 books of Moses, including the creation story, Coach Daniel Ratner has crea...
Jan 29, 2025•34 min
It's finally 2025 (5785 for those keeping track) and you want to start that new years resolution. A classic example that everyone struggles with is the desire to take on the dreaded gym goals. We know how this song goes: You start your gym membership. You realize how hard it is. You give up. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Whether or not you go to the gym, there are hundreds of tasks we wish we could take on but never do. Rabbi Benzion Klatzko, a return guest from the early days of Bad Jew, c...
Jan 22, 2025•26 min
Your brain is the most precious and unique part of your body. It is more than just a memory drive or a ball of grey matter. It essentially contains the essence of your soul. When scientists fully understood this truth, Jews had already figured this out thousands of years earlier. If you look at the laws and life guiding principles around Jewish communities, you'll see that it's geared to be a system of timeless mental health choices that can help make life better. Rabbi Daniel Sher comes from a ...
Jan 15, 2025•34 min
How familiar are you with Torah? It's an important question because a lot of people simply remember the grand journey Moses takes and how he leads the people to Israel, and boom! You have the Torah. But it's so much more. In fact, outside of the 5 books of Moses you have The Talmud and Kabbalah and you have Pirkei Avot and you have this thing called Oral Torah versus Written Torah. Somewhere within the wide scope of what's considered Torah, you'll come across this book and wonder what's so speci...
Jan 08, 2025•36 min
Chaz Volk, host of Bad Jew, is off to Yeshiva! Studying at Aish HaTorah, Volk will be examining more than just text and Jewish law but also his soul. Before leaving, he threw a large going away party at his residence - Venice Moishe House - where he acknowledged his aggressive change and growth which enabled him to take this next big leap into 2025. Chaz explains his bold discovery announcing his understanding of the meaning of life while offering 3 rules to help all who listen follow this path....
Jan 01, 2025•14 min
The holiday of Hannukah is here! We often remember it for the 8 nights of gift-giving, latkes, donuts, and dreidels. However, there's so much more to the holiday and honestly, it's essential you understand this because non-Jews love to appropriate Jewish holidays into their own movements. SO... "How is Hannukah Zionist?" highlights the hard facts around the strong Jewish ties to Zionism while staying authentic to Jewish values and tradition. Ari Lesser, a slam poet and hip hop artist, jumps on t...
Dec 25, 2024•36 min
Jews have a specific relationship with money that others tend to blow out of proportion. Some Jews go out of their way to make fun of this antisemitic trope by turning themselves into caricatures in hopes of revealing such lunacy with satire. However, the Torah has so many laws around how we handle money that it must be spotlighted! Rachel Grose, the executive director of the Jewish Free Loan Association knows a thing or two about cash from the Jewish perspective. Loaning in itself is a tricky b...
Dec 18, 2024•32 min
It's been mentioned on this podcast a few times now - Chaz is Vegan. And while he has gotten a few raised eyebrows for his dietary preferences, he has tried to explain the Jewish implications of it. Coming short in elaborating on how it works with Jewish law, he went to the expert. Rabbi Akiva Gersh, branded 'The Vegan Rabbi' teaches Chaz the ins and outs of navigating the vegan diet through the laws of kashrut. Citing the Torah, Gersh debunks multiple rumors and gives context to the Jewish appr...
Dec 11, 2024•43 min
Dear Trolls, We thought we explained this to you well enough but we clearly haven't. Over 95% of Jews understand this well: Your attempt to separate Jews from their origins in Judea-Samaria (aka Israel) is blatant Jew hatred disguised as anti-Zionism. Being said, I brought on an expert from the Jewish Agency for Israel. Daniel Elbaum has dedicated his life to understanding the complicated geopolitics and history of the middle easy. Elbaum understands that such matters require microscopic-level a...
Dec 04, 2024•37 min
It's easy to get swept away with the mundane of existing. You get up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, come home, brush your teeth, go to sleep... Sound familiar? How can any of it mean anything? There is nothing special about this. After all, this is what it means to be an adult, right? Rabbi Alex Kress works day in and day out to operate differently than the notion above. The idea that life is grey is an unrelatable idea as Rabbi Kress takes the principals of radical ama...
Nov 27, 2024•35 min
It's been acknowledged on this podcast many times - It's not been an easy year for Jews. Yet, you have to acknowledge the fact that this also isn't the hardest year for Jews either. Is that the only thing that gives us hope? That we've endured so much worse than a post-October 7th world? Or is it the fact that we have Israel so at least we have that going for us? Hope comes from so much more. Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback from Stephen Wise Temple illustrate the radically colorful history of hope that Jew...
Nov 20, 2024•38 min
What's the matter with kids today? Jewish youth is either the most connected or disconnected demographic of the Jewish population. If you're ages 18 - 35, you're a part of an inconsistent international community that can't decide on a lot of things. Most of all, you may be confused about your past and how relevant your upbringings are to today. David Hazony and Alissa Bernstein are from Z3, a zionist thinktank rethinking the future of the American-Israeli relationship. Bernstein and Hazony work ...
Nov 13, 2024•41 min
**This episode is our FIRST-EVER SPONSORED EPISODE! Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll further down for details!** Being a Jew is difficult. Being anyone is difficult but the difficulties of existing as a Jew in this turbulent world is ever more clear, especially after October 7th, 2023. It's nearly impossible to navigate this world alone and that's why mentors exist. Cari Uslan of Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Los Angeles knows this too well. She helps run an organization buil...
Nov 06, 2024•30 min
DISCLAIMER: This podcast does not reflect any affiliation with either party and the opinions expressed in this episode do not reflect the opinions of either speaker's affiliation with any organization. It's time to vote. For some, they rush to the polls excited to cast their ballot. For others, it's a day of dread. Jews this year are a particularly divided demographic. Who is ultimately better? The progressive values that come with Kamala Harris's campaign or the right-wing values that red lines...
Nov 05, 2024•49 min
Dating is a stressful and exhausting process. It's often romanticized (no pun intended) as this cutesy, lovely gathering when really it's a trial in the spotlight of your future that determines EVERYTHING. It's daunting. Luckily Jewish matchmaking (also known as the shidduch system) makes that process easier... right? Wrong. Gabi Koyenov, licensed therapist and host of the GKP Podcast, tells us his nightmare story of the long, high-pressure and seemingly forced experience he went through to find...
Oct 30, 2024•39 min
Are the high holidays over yet? NOPE! We got one more (two more if you count Shemini Etzeret - the holiday where we ask God for rain). Mainly, Simchat Torah is everyone's focus. This festive holiday is about joy! But how can we be fully joyous a year into a post October 7th reality? Actor and comedian Ben Berger jumps back onto the podcast, talking happiness, laughter, l'chaims, and dancing! This sense of profound Jewish joy is shred with Chaz Volk, host of Bad Jew. Ben Berger and Chaz Volk coll...
Oct 23, 2024•30 min
Sukkot is upon us! Does that mean we like camping? Well we do but this holiday is less about camping and more about commemorating the 40 years Jews lived in temporary shelters while wandering the desert on the way to Israel, their promised land. On this holiday, when you actually enter this holy "shack" you come across a ritual of waving around fruits and sticks... If it's your first time witnessing this, you must agree that this is a bizarre ritual. Rabbi Yitz Jacobs of MyAishLA and Aish Los An...
Oct 16, 2024•32 min
Yom Kippur is notorious for the strenuous difficult key feature task of fasting for 25 hours. Beyond just getting the rumbles in your tummy, starving for prolonged periods of time with no water leads to headaches, fatigue, and a lack of ability to focus. So how could it possible do any good for a time when we must reflect and pray? Rabbi Ari Averbach is no stranger to the importance of this act. Whether it's the high holidays or another fasting day, Rabbi Averbach brings attention to the deeper ...
Oct 09, 2024•38 min
October 7th, 2023 will always be notorious for being the greatest massacre in Jewish history since the holocaust. Everything changed after that Simchat Torah. In the epicenter of this terrible day was the Nova Festival. This music festival was famous for being a "nature party" filled with love, laughter, diversity, and memories that would last a lifetime. This beautiful experience quickly became the source for thousands of attendees' traumas as Hamas terrorists breached the border and massacred ...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Happy Jew Year! Some people get confused about this: Why do Jews celebrate 2 new years and not 1 like everyone else? Well, a better question might be "Why does everyone else celebrate a different new year?". In all actuality, the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, was first and unlike the secular new year celebrated at Times Square, ours has a lot more meaning. Jamie Geller, CMO from Aish.com, speaks to the joys of celebrating the new year to come (5785). This particular new year comes at an auspic...
Oct 02, 2024•28 min
Just reading this title, don't you want to sink your teeth into a dense, spongey, doughy texture, chomp on the egg-layered crust, and enjoy the taste of freshly made challah? Of course you do. Anyone who knows anything about Judaism knows that challah is one of the tastiest and most iconic foods of Jewish cuisine. But why do we eat challah and why did we land on this particular recipe for our rituals? Sarah Klegman, co-creator of Challah Hub, has probably made thousands of Challahs. She's a pro ...
Sep 25, 2024•34 min
Bad things keep on happening to good people. In what world is that acceptable and how could God let that happen? People who are suffering and undergo unsurmountable levels of pain struggle with this question all of the time. Many lose their belief in God over this question. For others, it strengthens their connection to God. Rabbi Asher Resnick has gone through a lot in his life, yet he's a great person. Rabbi Resnick is no stranger to pain. He has dealt with things that you wouldn't wish on you...
Sep 18, 2024•34 min
Free Will doesn't exist... or does it? Afterall, all of our decisions are impacted by the decisions right before... right? Philosophy may not be your strong suit but surely we simply come into existence and act on our needs and what's around us. It's nice to feel like we make decisions but surely we're just animals like the rest of the living organisms on this Earth, thus we have no free will.... right? Rabbi M.Z. Dubov has much more to say on this! Free will does exist even with G-d in the pict...
Sep 12, 2024•56 min
What's happening with the Jewish people right now? Can we agree on anything? Is it even worth debating anymore? Up is down and down is up. Explanations fall on deaf ears and those who we once thought were Jewish are raising children in a completely different faith. Our identity seems to be in perils... or is it? Shoshanna Stein, known for being a Jewish teacher and content creator, gives a humbling and realistic take on what is happening to our identity and culture. While Jews are constantly at ...
Sep 04, 2024•31 min
How many times have you clasped your hands together, looked up at the sky, and BEGGED G-d for something only to get crickets in return. Praying to G-d can be a disheartening and even intimidating task for some. This is an incredibly valid and real experience and anyone who believes in G-d would be lying if they said that was never their experience. But what if there was a better way to ask for things? Jesse Orenshein, known for his valiant and impressive efforts on the famous TV show American Ni...
Aug 28, 2024•37 min
You turn on your TV or go on your phone and the first video that pops up is insurmountable destruction of Gaza. A once complete society is now in rubble, leaving bloodied bodies and children behind. And who's responsible? Israel. Surely this is a genocide, right? Well, it's true that Gaza is in ruins but characterizing what's going on in Gaza as a genocide is tone deaf. Sam Fried, a former paratrooper and two-time veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces, has continued his fight by speaking on beha...
Aug 21, 2024•38 min
The Torah is central to Judaism. There’s no debate there. But why is it relevant to our daily lives? It’s a history book… about supernatural things that we can’t possibly relate to… right? Joey Swaid, a young and bright yeshiva student in Jerusalem, Israel, speaks the words of wisdom and truth relating Torah and it’s relevancy to our daily lives. While offering a deeper perspective on the turbulent state of our people, he also provides practical steps to add meaning and depth to your week and pe...
Aug 15, 2024•26 min
