This week we talk to Erin Foster, the creator and writer of new Netflix comedy Nobody Wants This, starring Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, and Unorthodox alum Tovah Feldshuh. Then we visit the special collections of Hebrew University. Learn more about becoming a Tablet Member at tabletm.ag/uomember Podcast Audio Write to us at [email protected], or leave a voicemail on our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/pod...
Sep 26, 2024•38 min
On this episode of Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement, we look at the Reform movement’s focus on Social Justice, and how the emphasis on it can impact Jewish practice. We spoke with Rabbi Sari Laufer, Chief Engagement Officer at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles and a veteran of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Sep 24, 2024•50 min
Executive Producer Courtney Hazlett sits down with Tanya Singer and Talia Elkin to discuss the Simchat Torah Challenge, a new project aimed at getting 10,000 Jews to read the Torah portion every week. Learn more and join the challenge at www.simchattorahchallenge.org. Then, Courtney brings us back to Israel with a visit to the Shura military base to learn about the IDF Rabbinate’s role in catering to the religious needs of all their soldiers, including sending Torah scrolls to battle. Write to u...
Sep 19, 2024•27 min•Ep. 428
On this episode of Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement, we look at the Reform movement’s decision about patrilineal descent, and how it re-defined who is a Jew. Rabbi Mark Washofsky joins us to discuss a pivotal 1983 responsa.
Sep 17, 2024•50 min
Introducing, Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement. Hosts Josh Kross and Rabbi Diana Fersko walk us through the big decisions — from patrilineal descent to Zionism to intermarriage — that brought the movement to the crossroads it is at today.
Sep 16, 2024•26 min
Liel Leibovitz sits down with the French philosopher, journalist, and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Lévy to discuss his new book, Israel Alone
Sep 12, 2024•39 min
For this week of our summer vacation, we went to camp, and to the old city. First, we bring you a dispatch from a day of Beautifully jewish Day camp from earlier this month Then, Liel took a tour of Jerusalem’s Armenian quarter with the Father Koryoun Baghdasarian, Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Dean of the Armenian Theological Seminary of Jerusalem, to get insight into the least examined part of the Old city.
Aug 29, 2024•33 min•Ep. 427
Two very Jewish movies have just been released. First, Between the Temples, a comedy about a cantor who has lost his way. We talk to director Nathan Silver, and Robert Smigel, who plays a rabbi in the film. Then, there’s a conversation with Swell Ariel Or who stars in Israeli coming-of-age film Kissufim. Along with director Keren Nechmad we discuss what they hope audiences take away from this film, post 10/7.
Aug 22, 2024•37 min•Ep. 426
This week we’re testing your metal in Israel! FIrst we meet Ben Zion David, an eighth generation jeweler from a Yemenite family. We met him at his shop in Jaffa to find out more. Then we talk to to two Iraelis using martial arts to better themselves and overcome PTSD.
Aug 15, 2024•28 min•Ep. 425
This week on the show, we’re bringing you two stories from our producer Quinn Waller. First up, we hit the road. After getting to know “Jeff the Truck Driver” through his Unorthodox voice mail submissions about keeping kosher while on his long-haul deliveries, we had to know more about this very unique Jew. Quinn hit the highways to figure out the challenges observant Jews face in this industry. Then, Quinn brings us a story closer to home. She checks out Bagel Joint, a unique new bagel place in...
Aug 08, 2024•36 min•Ep. 424
It's been almost ten months since the Oct. 7 attacks, and Israelis are adjusting to a new normal. Executive producer Courtney Hazlett visits the Reich family home and speaks with mother and son Osnat and Chen Reich to learn more about daily life since Oct. 7, from coping with grief to the fatigue of war for both soldier and mother. Learn more about becoming a Tablet Member at tabletm.ag/uomember. Write to us at [email protected], or leave a voicemail on our listener line: (914) 570-4869. ...
Aug 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 423
India Abraham, a new immigrant from California who is also a medical tattoo artist, is offering free consultations and reduced-rate scar camouflage for victims of the October 7 massacre. Liel Leibovitz returns to the National Library of Israel for a tour.
Jul 25, 2024•37 min•Ep. 422
Reuven Fenton has been covering breaking news for the New York Post since 2007. He comes to us today to talk about his first work of fiction, Goyhood: A Novel, and the magic of local news.
Jul 18, 2024•30 min•Ep. 421
As the war moves into its ninth month, having non-Jewish allies is more important than ever to many of us. Tablet Magazine’s own Religious Affairs Correspondent Maggie MacFarland Philips leads a conversation with Luke Moon, Executive Director of the Philos Project and Father Steve Grunow, CEO and Executive Producer of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries as they discuss ways Christian communities can support Jews.
Jul 11, 2024•45 min•Ep. 420
With the 4th of July comes the official BBQ season, so this week we’re bringing you some musicians who can help with your summer soundtrack. We have Shlomo Gaisin and Zachariah Goldschmiedt of the band Zusha, who combine Hasidic vibes with secular styles. We also go to Nashville to talk to the only Jewish-Israeli country music artist there, Omer Netzer. Learn more about becoming a Tablet Member at tabletm.ag/uomember. Write to us at [email protected], or leave a voicemail on our listener ...
Jul 04, 2024•54 min•Ep. 419
This week on the show, we’re throwing our duffel bags into El Al’s overhead bins. Journalist and author A.J. Jacobs returns to the show (for the sixth time!) to discuss his newest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning. If you want to catch up on A.J.’s previous stints as Jew of the Week, you can find him on our very first episode, as well as here, here, here, and here. Learn more about becoming a Tablet member at tabletm.a...
Jun 27, 2024•52 min•Ep. 418
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres sits with Tablet Magazine’s Liel Leibovitz and Alana Newhouse to discuss Zionism, social media’s role in antisemitism, and the necessity of patriotism.
Jun 21, 2024•25 min
This week on the show, we know what you should add to the queue. Stephanie, Liel, and Joshua have come with their recommendations for the best TV, films, and books for a hot, hot summer. Chelsea Film Festival founder Ingrid Jean-Baptiste joins the show to discuss the festival’s global mission and her Martinique Jewish heritage. Maya Lasker-Wallfisch comes by to talk about The Commandant’s Shadow, a new documentary in which Maya and her Auschwitz survivor mother meet the family of the camp’s form...
Jun 20, 2024•57 min•Ep. 417
This week on the show, we’re marking Father’s Day and Shavuot with reflections on fatherhood, loss, and collective Jewish responsibility. Director Adam Nimoy shares stories from his memoir, The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy. He details what it was like to be the son of Spock, as well as how he and his father reconnected before Leonard’s death in 2015. Tablet writer Gabe Sanders returns to the show with a personal essay about finding unexpected meaning while saying Kaddish...
Jun 14, 2024•55 min•Ep. 416
This week on the show, we’re examining the most Beautifully Jewish object of all time: the Torah. In celebration of Shavuot, Beautifully Jewish hosts Stephanie Butnick and Tanya Singer explore creative, unexpected ways of connecting with the Torah. Israeli journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir, host of the Tablet podcast Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally, shares how she found her way into the Torah, and the daily wisdom it offers her. Dr. Carol Meyers of Duke University, who as Stephanie’s professor...
Jun 06, 2024•46 min•Ep. 415
Unorthodox is off this week, but today we’re sharing an episode of the Tablet podcast Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally, featuring Sivan Rahav-Meir and our own Liel Leibovitz. Parshat Bechukotai’s got a lot of blessings, and a lot of curses. Follow God’s commandments, you’re in the clear. Don’t follow them, some gnarly stuff can happen. Persecution. Exile. A divine wrath. But could it be that it’s all a blessing, even the curses? That the worst sin isn’t some particular action, but apathy ...
May 30, 2024•27 min
This week on the show, we’re catching a wave. Producers Courtney Hazlett and Elie Bleier head to Tel Aviv to learn about the history of Israeli surfing from surfer Arthur Rashkovan. Accompanying Tablet’s just-published reflections from Jewish college students about a semester like no other, producer Josh Kross heads to the University of Chicago to catch up with one of the essay writers. You’ll also hear from Stephanie and Liel about the Torah class they led in a local correctional institute, org...
May 23, 2024•59 min•Ep. 414
This week on the show, we’re Eden Golan’s biggest fans. TikTok phenom and cookbook author Eitan Bernath tells us about the Jewish foods featured in his new series, “Eitan Explores: Mexico City.” Rabbi Shai Held of the Hadar Institute and the Answers WithHeld podcast delves into his new book, Judaism Is About Love. And Orthodox clothing designer Rivky Itzkowitz shows off Impact Fashion, her size-inclusive fashion brand offering modest clothing for all. The Israeli Eurovision winners heard in toda...
May 16, 2024•2 hr 50 min•Ep. 413
This week on the show, we’re opening a dialogue. Jewish actor Noa Tishby and Gentile sports commentator Emmanuel Acho share what they learned from each other while co-writing their new book, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew. Actor Michael Rapaport and Dr. Aliza Erber talk about their involvement in the Sharing Memories project, an effort by Israeli aid organization Latet and Meta in Israel that’s bringing Holocaust survivors’ stories to social media for Yom HaShoah. And we speak with Barna...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 412
This week on the show, we’re diving into the newest must-watch Israeli television series, thanks to our friends at ChaiFlicks, the Jewish streaming service. Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein-Shai discusses her new drama, Fire Dance, a tale of passion, fulfillment, and faith set in an ultra-Orthodox community near the Sea of Galilee. Unorthodox listeners get 50% off new ChaiFlicks subscriptions and a seven-day free trial with code FIREPOD at checkout. Visit ChaiFlicks.com to get started. We’re exc...
May 06, 2024•18 min
This week on the show, we’re reporting from Columbia University, where in recent days anti-Israel protesters have set up an encampment and occupied an administrative building. You can read Tablet’s long-running coverage of the escalating situation on American college campuses here, and Liel’s 2019 article “Get Out” here. Liel and Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse speak with New York City Mayor Eric Adams about the protests, the NYPD response, and more. Stephanie heads to Columbia to see what...
May 02, 2024•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 411
This week on Unorthodox, we’re highlighting the latest installment of The Minyan, Tablet’s roundtable series on American Jewish life, hosted by Abigail Pogrebin. Tablet’s Executive Editor Wayne Hoffman discusses the newest offering, which features a conversation with Jews from the former Soviet Union. Their stories of endurance and emigration resonate always, but especially during Passover. You can read this and previous installments of The Minyan at tabletmag.com/minyan. And don’t miss the Tabl...
Apr 25, 2024•21 min•Ep. 410
This week on the show, we’re taking time to remember. Memory is at the core of so much of Jewish life and tradition, especially during Passover. So we’re sharing several stories about memories, from the individual to the collective, and from the difficult to the uplifting. Tablet writer Gabriel Sanders reads his essay about preparing for his first Passover without his father, who spent the last years of his life with Alzeimer's disease. (The version of Ma Lecha Hayam featured in this story is pe...
Apr 18, 2024•53 min•Ep. 409
Around the world, food insecurity impacts far too many lives. As the war rages on, and hunger threatens so many inside and outside of Israel, the words of the Haggadah implore: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” Before we sit down for our festive Passover meals, Unorthodox is shining a light on those who help make sure everyone has access to food, year-round. Producers Courtney Hazlett and Elie Bleier visit the Jerusalem food pantry of Meir Panim, which gives out meals to those in need, incl...
Apr 15, 2024•36 min•Ep. 408
This week on the show, there’s a new (Jewish) sheriff in town. First, another story from our recent reporting trip to Israel. Liel sat down with IDF soldier Shavit Romero, who shared his journey from growing up non-Jewish in Tel Aviv, to getting wounded in Gaza and starting his conversion process. Our Gentile of the Week is Caroline D’Amore, founder of Pizza Girl, who tells us how October 7 and its aftermath sparked her viral support for Israel and her visit to one of the kibbutzim attacked by H...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 407
