We are thrilled to feature an episode of a new podcast in the Jewish pod-o-sphere, as a bonus episode on our podcast feed! This episode is the third in a new series called Breaking the Glass: Reflections on Interfaith Relationships . Breaking the Glass is a podcast series from Jewish Rhody Media reflecting on the experiences of multifaith couples and families in Jewish communities and beyond. A series that asks its listeners to reimagine traditional ideas of community, family, and partnership, B...
Dec 13, 2022•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Happy Hanukkah! Or as we like to spell it, (c)(h)(x)(j)an(n)(i)(u)k(k)a(h)! We're about 1 week early, but in this episode, Dan and Lex explore Hanukkah in depth, asking how we might deepen our relationship to it if we connected it to frameworks from our recent conversation with Emily Tamkin , about her book Bad Jews . Also, they tie the holiday of Hanukkah to....Jewish weddings? It sounds incoherent, I know, but if you listen, we promise it will all make sense! This Hanukkah, Judaism Unbound is ...
Dec 09, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ayin Press is an artist-run publishing platform, production studio, and research collective -- rooted in Jewish culture and emanating outward. They recently launched, and there's much to be excited about! High on the list is the adjective "artist-run" that begins their self-identification -- a great hyphenated adjective that we hope more Jewish organizations will come to embody! Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg are joined by Tom Haviv , Eden Pearlstein , and Penina Eilberg-Schwartz -- three people ...
Dec 02, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jen Gubitz is the founder and executive director of Modern Jew ISH Couples -- an organization that supports committed couples on the pathway to partnership, marriage, and beyond. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Jewish weddings that asks a number of questions. What typically happens, and what should happen, before the wedding day? Why is it not only okay, but wonderful, when non-clergy officiate Jewish weddings? What transformation does the ritual of a wedding cer...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Adina Allen , co-founder and creative director of The Jewish Studio Project , joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explore what Torah is, what creativity is, and what her framework -- a Torah of Creativity -- has to teach the world. Inspired by what you hear in this podcast episode? You can sign up for a 3-week mini-course in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva (a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning), taught by Adina Allen and revolving around the Torah of Creativity. Register for Adina ...
Nov 18, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast This bonus episode of Judaism Unbound is presented in partnership with Theatre Dybbuk . Once a month, their podcast -- called The Dybbukast -- releases a new episode, and we are proud to feature their third season's first episode as a bonus episode here on Judaism Unbound's feed. In each episode, they bring poems, plays, and other creative texts from throughout history to life, all while revealing their relationships to issues still present today. Subscribe to The Dybbukast on Apple Podcasts , o...
Nov 15, 2022•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Emily Tamkin is the senior editor, US at The New Statesman and author of a new book entitled Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities . She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explore how the phrase "Bad Jew" has been mobilized throughout American history, how it's used today, and why it might be time to discard it. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound , please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-...
Nov 11, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Lerner -- a theologian, activist, rabbi, and psychotherapist -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation looking back at over 50 years of justice work, drawing on Jewish wisdom and in partnership with progressives from other spiritual traditions. To access full shownotes for this episode, click 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! Learn more ...
Nov 04, 2022•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Liana Finck , a cartoonist and author whose most recent book is entitled Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation , joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about this work -- a graphic novel that reimagines the story of Genesis, with God as a woman. To access full shownotes for this episode, click 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! You can also buy Judais...
Oct 28, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg , in two recent conversations with Ron Wolfson and Rachel Gildiner, explored what it meant for Judaism to be "relational." In this follow-up episode, they map that question, of what it means for Judaism to be relational, onto digital Jewish experiences in particular. They reflect on recent Judaism Unbound developments, including Yom Kippur and Hakhel , in considering what it would like for digital gatherings to center relationships -- and not just programming. Regis...
Oct 21, 2022•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rachel Gildiner , the CEO of Gather, Inc. -- a nonprofit that is committed to reorienting how Jewish professionals and organizations define success -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what it means to prioritize people, over programs, in Jewish life. To access full shownotes for this episode, click 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! Y...
Oct 14, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ron Wolfson , author of Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community (and many other awesome books -- that's just the one most central to this conversation!), joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the ways in which Judaism might be more powerful, if Jewish communities prioritized relationships over programs. He also offers some strategies for how we might take positive steps in that direction. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . ...
Oct 07, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Daniel H. Pink , a New York Times-bestselling author who recently wrote The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward , joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the positive sides of regret -- and how an exploration of regret could help us reimagine the holiday of Yom Kippur. To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound , please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation. Support Juda...
Sep 30, 2022•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ketzirah Lesser is an ordained kohenet (Jewish priestess) who creates "magickal judaica, art, and ceremonies inspired by Jewish history and traditions." Her creations range from amulets and shrines , to Haggadot (guidebooks to the Passover seder), to AI art based on Yiddish folklore. If you're reading all this and thinking..."Wait, I thought amulets and shrines were considered idolatrous" or "I'm confused, why is 'magickal' spelled with a 'k'," then this episode is for you! Lesser joins Dan and ...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg are here to say that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are solid -- as warm-up holidays. In this episode they look ahead to the festival of Sukkot, which comes after the two observances we call "The High Holidays," but historically may have been the biggest festival of them all! They ask why Sukkot, despite its initial glory, became a second-tier holiday over time -- and they consider whether, in our own time, there may be good reason to re-elevate it. To access full sho...
Sep 16, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg continue their conversation about Elul, the final month of the Jewish year -- which serves as an "on-ramp" into the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They explore what the sports terminology of "home field advantage" has to do with Judaism, extend previous conversations about space and time, and consider the impact of blasting a Shofar in public. This “mini-episode” is the third and final episode, of three, that are being released as part of El...
Sep 11, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alicia Jo Rabins -- a writer, composer, performer, and Torah teacher -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to talk about her new book, entitled Even God Had Bad Parenting Days . To access full shownotes for this episode, click 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!...
Sep 09, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jennie Rosenn , the founder and CEO of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action , joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the urgency of our collective work -- across boundaries of religious difference, and across generational divides -- to combat climate change. They explore particular roles that Jewish individuals, communities, and institutions can play in this effort, along with the imperative that they (we!) be in coalition with other communities, as we all seek to give h...
Sep 02, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be a time to think about Jews in space! No, this bonus episode is not about that clip at the end of Mel Brooks's History of the World Part I, entitled Jews in Space. It's not about outer space at all! Instead, it's about inner space, along with the physical spaces/locations that we inhabit, and how we might make them sacred. This “mini-episode” is the second of three that are ...
Aug 28, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast One year ago, right before the once-every-7-year observance of Shmita began (Shmita is a year-long Jewish observance where land is given a chance to rest and debts are remitted), we spoke with Nigel Savage in a bonus episode . Savage, the founder of Hazon: The Jewish Lab for Sustainability , returns to Judaism Unbound to speak with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg about what it might look like to transition out of one 7-year Shmita cycle, and into the next. Register for one or more of our 3-week mi...
Aug 26, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg think that Elul -- the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar-year -- should be spicy! They argue that this spiciness should apply every year, but it should be especially in play in a year like this one -- where Elul is serving as a bridge between Shmita (a year-long, once-every-7-year observance of release, renewal, and recalibration) and the six "normal" years that will follow. This “mini-episode” is the first of three that will be released as part o...
Aug 21, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jay Michaelson , a political columnist, author, and teacher in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva (!), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss his most recent book, The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth . In their conversation, Michaelson dives into the wild world that was Jacob Frank's life, connects Frank's 18th century ideas to the present-day, and professes his love for Netflix's The Sandman . Register for Michaelson's 3-week mini-course in the UnYeshiva, entitle...
Aug 19, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Diane Tickton Schuster , the editor of a new book entitled Portraits of Adult Jewish Learning: Making Meaning at Many Tables , joins Dan and Lex to ask what "Jewish education" means, and why it doesn't serve us when think of it only (or primarily), as something that children experience. Also, Banksy makes an appearance (he says cryptically...)! To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . To sign up for one of our 3-week UnYeshiva mini-courses , beginning in September, click here! If ...
Aug 12, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Shawn Harris , author of The Red Door: A Dark Fairy Tale Told In Poems , thinks that Jews would benefit from having a little less reverence for Judaism -- and a lot more chutzpah. Harris, who is also the creative mind behind Project Tzimtzum: Play, Learn, Make , joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the Jewish present and future. They hop from, and to, a wide variety of topics, including literature, fandom, Dungeons & Dragons, and darkness. Pre-order The Red Door by clicking here! To access...
Aug 05, 2022•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Janet Krasner Aronson , the Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University, is one of the leading sociologists of American Judaism. She directs local Jewish-population studies in cities all around the country, and most recently led a study that looked at greater Los Angeles (to take a look at the findings of this study, head to StudyOfJewishLA.org) . Krasner Aronson joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about her mo...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan and Lex have some questions: What counts as a "Jewish space?" What should be counted as a "Jewish space?" What would be different about Judaism if we sought to build more creative forms of Jewish space? What about "Jewifying" spaces that are not specifically-Jewish? What's different about Jewish spaces that are indoors versus those that are outside? In this conversation, they explore all these questions and more, as they reflect on the 3-episode mini-series -- recorded on-location at Leichta...
Jul 22, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kesha Dorsey Spoor , Adam McCurdy , and Sharone Oren are three members of the team at Coastal Roots Farm — a nonprofit community-farm in Encinitas, California, anchored in Jewish traditions. They join Dan and Lex for a conversation about how Judaism and farming are rooted (get it??) in shared values. This is the 3rd episode in a three-part mini-series, recorded on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, Californ...
Jul 15, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jim Farley and Charlene Seidle are the CEO and Executive Vice-President, respectively, of the Leichtag Foundation . In this 2nd episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Farley and Seidle, on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, California and operated by the Leichtag Foundation. The conversation hones in on the principles that drive the Leichtag Foundation -- in both its grantmaking and in ...
Jul 08, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jenny Camhi and Jessica Kort are the Chief Talent Officer and Director of Communications and Strategy, respectively, of The Leichtag Foundation . In this 1st episode in a three-part mini-series, Dan and Lex speak with Camhi and Kort, on location at Leichtag Commons -- a Jewish community farm, education center, co-working space, and more, located in Encinitas, California and operated by the Leichtag Foundation. The two guests provide a window into the programming that takes place at Leichtag Comm...
Jul 01, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan and Lex have been thinking a lot about art lately. In this conversation, they reflect on recent podcast episodes exploring Jewish art from a variety of angles, revisit their notion Judaism itself might be best understood as a medium of art, and play around with what the words "mosaic" and "Mosaic" might mean for the future of Judaism (yes, you did not misread, it's the same spelling for both!). To access full shownotes for this episode, click here . If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound , pleas...
Jun 24, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
