Last week, we all watched a meltdown in real time, when actor and TV host Whoopi Goldberg asserted that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. She doubled down that night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, before finally apologizing on social media that night, and then on The View the next day. Uri and Rivky ask, were Whoopi’s comments antisemitic? Can we just blame it on inadequate Holocaust education in America? What does this whole episode say about “cancel culture”? Whoopi Goldberg on The View...
Feb 09, 2022•38 min
Miriam Anzovin is a millennial content producer for JewishBoston.com with a semi-viral, and hyper-niche TikTok account in which she shares reflections on the daily daf. Anzovin’s videos are very different than most; they’re fun, irreverent, and not quite traditionally educational. So, naturally these videos have created a stir. Uri and Rivky wonder, while some in the Jewish community are obsessed, is Anzovin approaching Torah in a fresh, exciting, new way, or are her videos inappropriate and o...
Feb 02, 2022•29 min
This past shabbat, the rabbi and three worshippers were taken hostage while they prayed at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Three days later, Uri and Rivky talk about what happened, and the reaction across the Jewish community to this terrifying antisemitic incident. Related links: Zac Beauchamp: https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1482540030082129921 Bari Weiss: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/being-jewish-in-an-unraveling-america Rabbi Charlie Cytron Walker: https://www.yo...
Jan 19, 2022•37 min
This week, along with clips and letters from listeners, Uri and Rivky reflect on last week's doozy of an episode.
Dec 30, 2021•49 min
This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Amer Zahr, Palestinian Arab American comedian, speaker, writer, academic, and professor of law. They speak about whether Jesus was Palestinian, Palestinian identity, a binational state, and what peace can and should look like. Relevant links: https://twitter.com/AmerZahr? https://www.facebook.com/amer.zahr/videos/10109485183153743/?t=198 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries ht...
Dec 23, 2021•1 hr 47 min
The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Carson vs Makin, in which parents of Maine students alleged that their First Amendment rights were infringed upon by not allowing their children to attend religious schools using the state funding, when other private schools were allowed. Rivky and Uri discuss the court case, and ask, as religious Jews, what do we think about the separation of church and state, school vouchers in general, and government funding of religion? Links: https://www.ny...
Dec 16, 2021•41 min
This week, Joshua Malina, Jewish actor best known from The West Wing and Scandal, published an article in The Atlantic entitled Cancel Mel Gibson: Why is Hollywood still hiring this raging anti-Semite? Malina expresses frustration that Mel Gibson’s “Jew-hatred” has not yet gotten Gibson excommunicated from Hollywood. Uri and Rivky discuss Mel Gibson, whether antisemitism is taken less seriously than other bigotry, and whether Gibson be cancelled? Then they end up getting into Chanukah movies (or...
Dec 10, 2021•38 min
“Blood is flowing in the streets of the Holy Land,” began an open letter signed by just under 100 rabbinical students, and published in May. Last week, Marc Tracy of the NY Times published an article about the letter, its backlash, and what it all means. In this week's episode, Uri and Rivky ask, is it true? Is American Zionism unraveling? NYT: Inside the Unraveling of American Zionism - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Letter https://www.google.com/amp/s/forward.com/scribe/469583/gates-of-tears...
Nov 18, 2021•44 min
Park East, a historic synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is going through a critical upheaval. Over the last month, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the 91-year-old senior rabbi, fired the shul's assistant rabbi, Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, over an alleged coup. Teams have been formed, and allegations thrown around. This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Ben Sales, JTA reporter, about this story and ask, is this merely salacious gossip about real people and their lives, or does this story actually ...
Nov 10, 2021•40 min
This week, Uri and Rivky speak with Laura Adkins, Opinion Editor for the Forward and author of the recent piece, “How To Lie With Statistics, Antisemitism Edition." They ask Laura, what do people get wrong about antisemitism? Is antisemitism overblown? What are her fears for the future? https://forward.com/opinion/477551/conflating-anti-zionism-with-antisemitism-erases-violence-orthodox-jews/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/opinion/how-to-protect-new-yorks-jews.html https://www.washingtonpost...
Nov 04, 2021•57 min
This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Ma'ayan Seligsohn, a rebbetzin in Riverdale, NY, who recently came out publicly as trans and nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. They speak to Maayan about their story, the Orthodox community, and their relationship with God. (So, you know, nothing too heavy.) Check out Ma'ayan's trans media list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kfhVjbsLz5cXU5G0OyvSp8IOHSJlFWaUmSXYL-I8S7c/edit?usp=sharing
Oct 28, 2021•58 min
You might have heard about SB8, the new Texas abortion bill. This week, Rabbanit Leah Sarna joins Uri and Rivky to talk about why the bill is anti-religion, why Judaism doesn't fit neatly into the left-right political binary, and the clash (or not?) between Jewish and Western values. Gary Shteyngart in The New Yorker - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/a-botched-circumcision-and-its-aftermath Rabbi Hayim Lieter response to Gary Shteyngart - https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-new-yor...
Oct 14, 2021•51 min
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to give $1 billion to Israel for its Iron Dome missile-defense system. Even though it ended up passing with overwhelming support, the whole kerfuffle and removal of the Iron Dome funding from the larger spending bill angered centrist Democrats, and led vocal Republicans to label the party as anti-Israel. Uri and Rivky break down the vote, and ask, is this breakdown of bipartisan support real? What’s actually going on? Divestment from Unilever https://www.a...
Oct 06, 2021•39 min
Did you hear about the crazy Shabbat Naftali Bennett, other high level officials, and journalists spent in a DC hotel last week? This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Lazar Berman, diplomatic reporter for The Times Of Israel about that Shabbat, being a diplomatic correspondent, and bias in media. Links: Understanding false rape allegations: https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/Publications_NSVRC_Overview_False-Reporting.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20180101025446/https://icdv.idaho.gov/confe...
Sep 12, 2021•46 min
Rivky and Uri discuss an anonymous piece published in the Yeshiva College student newspaper. A female student at YU describes being raped by a fellow student and subsequently receiving little to no support from the university. How should we respond to this very troubling story? Is YU indeed as at fault as this woman describes? Should universities be handling sexual assault investigations in the first place? Links: Article in Commentator - https://yucommentator.org/2021/08/i-thought-rape-culture-...
Sep 02, 2021•58 min
Sadly, you're about to hear an Uri-less episode. But Rivky tried! This week, Rivky had an incredibly interesting conversation with Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, an educator and "amateur sociologist of Orthodoxy." They discussed her recent tweet thread comparing our community's reaction to an Orthodox baseball player to LGBTQ members, dealing with painful Jewish law, and asked, what are the priorities of the modern Orthodox community?
Aug 25, 2021•49 min
You watching the Olympics? We are...kinda. This week, after their regular Ben & Jerry's segment (they can't stop!), Uri and Rivky talk about #sports. Specifically, the Olympics! Is it weird that many of the Israeli athletes aren't really, ya know, Israeli? They also discuss the Iranian defector who dedicated his medal to Israel, and the Palestinian-American sprinter, Hanna Barakat. Ben and Jerry's in NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/opinion/ben-and-jerry-israel.html Tablet articles abo...
Aug 10, 2021•42 min
You probably haven't heard of this new show, My Unorthodox Life. Or heard any feedback or responses to it, right? This week, Uri and Rivky discuss, does the show give a fair representation of Orthodox Judaism? And at the end of the day, is this good for the Jews or bad for the Jews? (and does it matter?) Head of Ben and Jerry's board Anuradha Mittal on Twitter https://twitter.com/AAlwuhaib1977/status/1416474183433863172 DeBlasio Press Conference https://youtu.be/jQu8o7-DhRY?t=2925 NYT review of ...
Jul 28, 2021•47 min
Uri and Rivky open this episode jumping around - from Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz's comparison between Orthodox MLB players and Orthodox LGBTQ Jews, to Ben and Jerry's, to My Unorthodox Life. But they settle on this week's topic: namely, is social medial evil? How did Facebook, run and started by two Jews, become something seen as so evil? Dr. Schwartz tweet: https://twitter.com/Doc_RPS/status/1417434623915839520 Jacob Steinmetz drafted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXg2mLnnAyo Ben and Jerrys: h...
Jul 21, 2021•43 min
Last month, June 2021, In The Heights, the movie, was finally released. Rivky and Uri both have deep ties to Washington Heights, so they feel connected to this movie. They discuss the film, its controversies, and, hey, where are the Jews at?
Jul 14, 2021•40 min
Boycotting Israel and Israeli products is common these days. But a recent incident in Philadelphia stood out. An organization called “Eat Up the Borders” whose mission is to “help promote small, family, or immigrant owned businesses” organizes a food festival, called “Taste of Home,” which was meant to showcase local immigrant chefs and the cuisine of their countries of origin. One of the participating food trucks was “Moshava,” a local food truck run by Israeli born chef Nir Sheynfeld. In the d...
Jul 07, 2021•33 min
Last month, during the latest flareup between Gaza and Israel, dozens of Jewish and Israel studies scholars published an open letter, in which they defined Zionism as “a diverse set of linked ethnonationalist ideologies … shaped by settler colonial paradigms … that assumed a hierarchy of civilizations” and “contributed to unjust, enduring, and unsustainable systems of Jewish supremacy.” This week, Uri and Rivky interview Dr. Joshua Karlip, professor of Jewish History, who wrote a response articl...
Jun 30, 2021•45 min
Israel had another election last week, but instead of talking about politics, this week Uri speaks with first time author Ira Mosen about coexistence and peace in Israel. His book, First Among Nations, deals with many of the tensions in Israel, from the conflict with the Palestinians to the rifts within Jewish Israeli society. They talk about the motivation behind writing the book, some personal anecdotes relating to these themes, and more! https://iramosen.com/ https://www.publishersweekly.com/...
Mar 31, 2021•27 min
This week's guests started an organization called Nahamu, which fights against forced marriages in the Jewish community. Eve Sacks and Yehudis Fletcher discuss why they became activists on this issue, how they define forced marriage, some of the challenges they have encountered, and even some parallels between these issues and the Meghan and Harry saga with the British royal family. http://nahamu.org/ Nahamu Position Paper: http://nahamu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Position-Paper-on-FM-Nahamu...
Mar 24, 2021•46 min
Uri talks with Dr. Steven Fine about his scholarship in Jewish history and archaeology. Why are these subjects important? What are some of the challenges a religious person could encounter when studying these subjects? They also discuss some of Dr. Fine's work related to the Menorah, the Arch of Titus, the Samaritan people, and more! YU Center for Israel Studies: https://www.yu.edu/cis Samaritans Project: https://www.yu.edu/cis/samaritans-project Arch of Titus project: https://www.youtube.com/wa...
Mar 18, 2021•38 min
Jewish Horror is not a film genre you hear about often, but there is an excellent new movie in that category, and it's called The Vigil. This week Uri speaks with the creative team behind The Vigil- Writer/director Keith Thomas Star of the film Dave Davis Actor and Associate Producer Malky Goldman Producer Rafi Margules They discuss the inspiration for the film, the setting of Hassidic Williamsburg, learning Yiddish, hearing about shadim and Jewish demons as kids, and much more. Thank you to IFC...
Mar 08, 2021•44 min
On last week's episode of Saturday Night Live, Michael Che, the co-host of the Weekend Update segment (and SNL's head writer) made a joke about Israel only vaccinating Jewish citizens. People have called the joke misleading and hurtful, and many have demanded an apology. To talk about this issue we are joined this week by Jewish comedian Eli Lebowicz. Eli and Uri discuss a range of topics including- when is it ok to make jokes about Jews and Israel, is there a double standard in comedy when it c...
Mar 02, 2021•49 min
This week Uri speaks with former president of Yeshiva University Richard Joel. President Joel recalls his childhood and discusses some of his reflections from his time at YU. They also talk about creativity in the Orthodox community, the future of YU and modern Orthodoxy, and President Joel clears up once and for all whether or not he is first cousins with Billy Joel.
Feb 15, 2021•37 min
This week Uri interviews Dr. Phillip Schwartz, who received his Ph.D. in neurobiology/development/oncology from Harvard Medical School and is currently working on a Covid-19 vaccine. They discuss the different types of vaccines, the potential risks involved with vaccines, and the current Covid-19 vaccine rollout in both the US and Israel. They also discuss the possible origins of the Covid-19 virus, as well as the mutations it is currently going through.
Feb 08, 2021•35 min
This week Uri speaks with the very talented Dr. Shayna Weiss. They discuss Dr. Weiss's upcoming book about gender separation in Israel, her experience teaching at the US Naval Academy, her involvement with sometimes controversial Israeli TV shows, and more! Shayna's Twitter page https://twitter.com/shaynamalka Shayna's essay about teaching Israeli history at the US Naval Academy https://www.dropbox.com/s/m3lh9tatf46varo/Teaching%20the%201948%20War%20at%20the%20Naval%20Academy%20final%20version.d...
Jan 31, 2021•45 min
