JUDAISM UNBOUND PLAYLISTS

Playlist 1: DIY Judaism

Judaism Unbound has always promoted a Do-It-Yourself Judaism. In these episodes, Dan, Lex, and guests talk about ordinary Jewish people stepping into Jewish leadership, creating the rituals, traditions, and communities that they want to see. The end of this playlist is a how-to guide for creating your own Passover as a model for Jewish ritual innovation.

Episode 77: Folk Judaism

Who determines what "counts" as genuine Judaism today? Those who serve in official leadership capacities of the Jewish world, or can ordinary Jews (the "folk") determine for themselves what what forms of Jewish life are "authentic" and what Judaism fundamentally "is"? In this episode, Dan and Lex wrestle with this basic question while looking back on a fascinating series of conversations with guests over the past few weeks.

Episode 5: Leviticus - Vanessa Ochs

What does it mean to "invent" Jewish ritual? Aren't rituals something we inherit or learn? Professor Vanessa Ochs, author of Inventing Jewish Ritual, helps us answer these questions and more.

Episode 85: B-Mitzvah Revolutions - Isa Aron

Isa Aron, Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, joins Dan and Lex to re-think a ritual that has turned into one of the central moments of the Jewish life cycle -- the B Mitzvah. Aron explores why Bar Mitzvahs (and later, Bat Mitzvahs) became such a core part of the American Jewish experience, and we discuss ways in which we may re-vision them for the future.

Episode 184: Disorganized Religion

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg call for future forms of Judaism that will be less institutional and more disorganized.

Episode 126: Open Hillel - Rachel Sandalow-Ash, Eva Ackerman

Dan and Lex are joined by Rachel Sandalow-Ash and Eva Ackerman, two organizers with Open Hillel, an organization that works for pluralism and open discourse around Israel-Palestine in Jewish spaces on college campuses.

Episode 160: Open Temple - Lori Schneide Shapiro

Lori Schneide Shapiro joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Open Temple, an emerging Jewish community she founded in Venice, California.

Episode 182: Judaism On Our Own Terms - Tal Frieden, August Kahn

Tal Frieden and August Kahn, two leaders of Judaism On Our Own Terms (a new national network of student-led Jewish communities) join Dan and Lex for a conversation about how Jewish campus life today can help us build the Judaisms of tomorrow.

Episode 86: We’re the Jews We’ve Been Waiting For

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker once published a book entitled We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For. In this conversation, Dan and Lex suggest a similar idea -- that we are the Jews we've been waiting for! They ask how we can create a Jewish world that is led not by a small set of elites, but by everyday folks.

Episode 105: The Well - Dan Horwitz

Dan and Lex are joined by Dan Horwitz, Founding Director of The Well, an inclusive Jewish community-building initiative geared towards young adults in Metro Detroit. Their conversation explores the founding and evolution of The Well, the ways it approaches the idea of pluralism, its unique relationship to a nearby Reform synagogue, and more.

Episode 178: I-Wish-I-Had-This-Itis - Shira Stutman Part 2

Shira Stutman, who serves as Senior Rabbi at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington D.C, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for the second half of a 2-part conversation. Together they ask some big questions about the ecosystem of 21st century Judaism, working to combat a disease (not physical!) they term “Wish-I-Had-This-Itis” in the process.

Episode 180 - The Ritual Design Lab - Margaret Hagan, Kursat Ozenc

Margaret Hagan and Kursat Ozenc, co-creators of the Ritual Design Lab, based at Stanford University’s Institute of Design (the “d.school”), and co-authors of the book Rituals for Work, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to investigate what rituals are, why they matter, and how they work.

Episode 95: Doing Jewish For Yourself

Dan and Lex are joined by Fredric Price, the founder of Fig Tree Books and a facilitator of multiple discussion groups focused on Jewish topics, in the first episode of our series looking at what "regular Jews" (non-professionals) have built. We learn about Fig Tree Books and the various discussion groups Fred runs, and our conversation ranges across a wide variety of topics, including the advantages of connecting to Judaism later in life, how one's professional life can inform Jewish projects, and an extremely broad (and perhaps unanswerable) question -- what is Jewish literature?

Episode 210: Escape from Egypt - Dan Horwitz

Dan Horwitz, Founding Director of The Well, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about outside-the-box approaches to Passover.

Episode 212: Haggadot.com - Eileen Levinson

Eileen Levinson, founder of Haggadot.com, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about crowd-sourced Haggadot (guide-books to the Passover seder), and about re-imagining Passover more generally. We hope to use this series as a case study of concrete practices for finding deeper meaning in contemporary Jewish practice.

Episode 214: Finding A Jewish Voice - Kristin Eriko Posner

Kristin Eriko Posner joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about creating multicultural Jewish ritual. Posner is the founder of Nourish Co., a lifestyle brand that help people to come together, heal, connect to their lineage, and remember their rituals.

Episode 215: Passover Re-Imagined

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg wrap up their series on creative approaches to Passover by invoking some of their recent guests and brainstorming their own ideas for experimental new forms of Passover observance.

Playlist 2: Activism

Judaism Unbound features many conversations that approach activism as Jewish practice. In the episodes in this playlist, Dan, Lex, and guests explore what it looks like to change the Jewish community, or change the world more broadly through a Jewish lens.

Episode 75: The Myth of Apolitical Judaism - Lila Corwin Berman

Is it possible for Judaism, or its institutions, to ever be apolitical? Is it even desirable? Lila Corwin Berman, the Murray Friedman Chair of American Jewish History and Director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University, joins Dan and Lex to engage with those questions, as well as questions about Jewish peoplehood, intermarriage, and the funding of Jewish institutions.

Episode 166: The Freedom Seder - Arthur Waskow

Arthur Waskow, noted activist, author, and rabbi, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about 1969’s Freedom Seder. They look at the process that led to Waskow’s invention of that Passover observance, and the impact it has had on both Judaism and the world over the 50 years since its creation.

Episode 230: Never Again Action - Tal Frieden, Becca Lubow

Tal Frieden and Becca Lubow, two members of Never Again Action — a movement of thousands of Jews and allies fighting to end the United States’s cruel immigration policies — join Dan and Lex for a conversation reflecting on the first year of Never Again Action’s work. In doing so, they explore what it means to fight for justice through a Jewish lens, why the historic language of “Never Again” is so important, and why organizing that transcends generational divides can be particularly powerful.

Episode 155: The Women’s March - April Baskin, Yavilah McCoy, Abby Stein

April Baskin, Yavilah McCoy, and Abby Stein, the three Jewish members of The Women’s March steering committee, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about intersectionality, coalition-building, and embodiment — and how all three of those key concepts served a key role in the success of the second annual Women’s March.

Episode 124: IfNotNow - Ilana Levinson, Jill Raney

Dan and Lex are joined by Ilana Levinson and Jill Raney, two members of IfNotNow, a national campaign led by young Jews, working to end American-Jewish support for the occupation and promote freedom and dignity for all Palestinians and Israelis. Their conversation looks at a wide variety of issues, ranging from fear and trauma in American-Jewish life, to the idea that no Jew should be deemed "not Jewish enough" to express their viewpoints on Israel and Palestine.

Episode 126: Open Hillel - Rachel Sandalow-Ash, Eva Ackerman

Dan and Lex are joined by Rachel Sandalow-Ash and Eva Ackerman, two organizers with Open Hillel, an organization that works for pluralism and open discourse around Israel-Palestine in Jewish spaces on college campuses.

Episode 127: A Synagogue Without Flags - Brant Rosen

Dan and Lex are joined by Brant Rosen, founding rabbi of Tzedek Chicago, an intentional congregational community based on core values of justice, equality, and solidarity. In their conversation, they look at the central role that nationalism, and Zionism in particular, has come to play in many Jewish communities, and explore strategies for institutional change within American-Jewish life.

Episode 50: Bending The Arc - Jason Kimelman-Block

Jason Kimelman-Block, Director of Bend The Arc: Jewish Action, joins Dan and Lex to discuss the ramifications of Donald Trump's presidency for American Jewish individuals, communities, and American society as a whole. The conversation explores questions as broad as "In what ways do politics and Judaism overlap?" and as specific as "What is the difference between a 501c3 and a 501c4 organization in terms of permissible political activity?"

Episode 90: Audacious Hospitality - April Baskin

April Baskin, Vice President of Audacious Hospitality for the Union for Reform Judaism, joins Dan and Lex for an in-depth look at ideas of welcoming, empowerment, inclusion, and hospitality in contemporary Judaism. [1] We discuss how the Reform movement is working to create communities that better reflect the full diversity of the Jewish people, and the ways in which historically marginalized Jews, in particular, have so much to add Judaism, now and in the future.

Episode 91: Is This The Fast That I Have Chosen? - Jonah Pesner

Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about social justice, Judaism, and the many ways the two intertwine. They discuss the RAC's origins during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, its evolution, and the work it does today to bring about a world built on justice and equality.

BREAKING NEWS: A State of Moral Emergency - Stosh Cotler

Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, joins Dan and Lex for an urgent conversation on the family separation crisis at the US borders. Cotler calls on American Jews to speak out against those who would callously separate children from their families, and she connects these recent events to the broader context of Donald Trump's administration and to Jewish values and historical experiences.

Episode 181: The New Synagogue Project - Joseph Berman, Lauren Spokane

Joseph Berman, founding rabbi of The New Synagogue Project (NSP), and Lauren Spokane, NSP’s “lead instigator,” join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about how their intentional community is looking to help build a better, more just world.

Episode 138: God and Gender - Rachel Adler

Theologian Rachel Adler, of Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion, explores Judaism through lenses of metaphor, liturgy, theology, and more, in a conversation with hosts Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg.

Episode 129: Women of the Wall - Lesley Sachs, Susan Silverman

Dan and Lex are joined by Lesley Sachs, the executive director of Women of the Wall, and by rabbi and author Susan Silverman, a member of Women of the Wall's Board of Directors and an activist on behalf of African refugees and asylum seekers in Israel. In their conversation, they discuss the efforts of Women of the Wall to fight for women's rights to pray as they wish at the Western Wall, explore questions related to religious pluralism in Israel, and consider how a Jewish state ought to deal with non-Jewish asylum seekers. They also consider the roles that American Jews might or might not take on in dealing with these issues and the nature of the relationship between American Jews and Israel.

Episode 234: Jews for Racial and Economic Justice - Audrey Sasson

Audrey Sasson, Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation looking back on the origins of her organization, looking out at the present moment our society is facing, and looking forward, toward the Jewish (and global) future.

Episode 170: Queering The Jewish Bookshelf - Noam Sienna

Noam Sienna, author of the book A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969, joins Lex and Dan for a conversation about expanding our understanding of the Jewish past.

Playlist 3: Bible

In these episodes, Dan, Lex, and guests dive into ancient Jewish texts. Where did they come from? What can they teach us about Jewish experience today? What was left out of the canon? To focus squarely on the biblical texts of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, check out out bonus episodes on each of the Torah and Haftarah readings.

Episode 27: Who Wrote The Bible? - Richard Elliot Friedman

Professor Richard Elliott Friedman joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about modern Biblical scholarship, which his book Who Wrote the Bible? brought to lay audiences in an accessible way nearly thirty years ago (and which had a major influence on Dan and Lex). Among the most influential books on Biblical literature of the 20th Century, Who Wrote the Bible? provides a scholarly overview of the authorship of the Torah through a lens known as the "Documentary Hypothesis." Subsequently, Professor Friedman wrote additional books making these ideas available to non-experts. Along with co-hosts Dan and Lex, Professor Friedman dives deeply into his ideas and scholarship, their impact on the world, and more!

Episode 28: The Secret Book of Kings - Dan Libenson

In an act of role reversal, Lex enters the role of solo host of Judaism Unbound and welcomes Dan onto the show as this week's featured guest! In this episode, Dan discusses a newly published book entitled The Secret Book of Kings by Yochi Brandes, which he has been working for three years to bring to English-speaking readers. Together, Dan and Lex explore why this book's publication represents an important moment for American Judaism, along with ways in which its themes tie to many ideas that have previously been discussed on Judaism Unbound.

Holidays Unbound Episode 3: Passover Part II - Did the Exodus Really Happen?

Dan and Ruth speak with scholars Steven Weitzman of the University of Pennsylvania and Richard Elliott Friedman of the University of Georgia (author of Who Wrote the Bible?) to explore the critical question—or is it?—of whether or not the Exodus was a historical event. Professors Weitzman and Friedman walk us through the elements of the story that seem to reflect true historical memories and the elements that are likely embellishments, and both reflect on the power of the story regardless of its historicity.

Episode 61: Wandering in the Wilderness - Zack Bodner, Tova Birnbaum

Dan and Lex are joined by guest co-hosts Zack Bodner and Tova Birnbaum, from the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, California. In this episode, they explore the Torah's narrative of the wandering in the wilderness, asking how lessons from that story can apply to contemporary Jewish life.

Bonus Episode: Shavuot Part IV - The Book of Ruth

Traditionally, many of the books from the "Writings" section of the Hebrew Bible are associated with various holidays from the Jewish calendar year. The Book of Ruth was connected to the holiday of Shavuot. Dan and Lex dive into this book and ask the question: what elements of this text can we learn from and apply to our lives today?

Episode 83: The Exodus - Richard Elliot Friedman

Richard Elliott Friedman, scholar of the Hebrew Bible and author of the best-selling work Who Wrote the Bible?, joins Dan and Lex to discuss his newest book, The Exodus. He argues that the story of the Exodus outlined in the Torah represents a real historical event, experienced not by the whole Israelite nation writ large, but by a particular segment of it -- the Levites.

Episode 161: The Zohar - Daniel Matt

Daniel Matt is a scholar of Kabbalah who translated and annotated the Zohar — a central text of Jewish mysticism — into English. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the Zohar’s origins, his work that yielded The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (his landmark translation), and questions that the text opens up about the duality of old and new.

Episode 164: Going, Jewishly - Leon Wiener Dow

Leon Wiener Dow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and BINA Secular Yeshiva joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg in conversation about his new book, The Going. They discuss Jewish law — a system which both bounds and binds — probing the tensions between individual Jewish practice and an ongoing communal endeavor.

Episode 167: The Meaning of Mussar - David Jaffe

David Jaffe, author of the National Jewish Book Award-winning book Changing the World from the Inside Out, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about Mussar -- both what it is, and the transformative potential that it possesses for individuals and the world.

Episode 200: Educating Ourselves - Benay Lappe

Benay Lappe, founder of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg as a co-host for this conversation, as the three of them look forward toward the future of Jewish education and reflect back on 200 episodes of the Judaism Unbound podcast.

Episode 218: A Book That Didn't Make It - Barbara Thiede

Barbara Thiede, Teaching Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Dean of the Faculty for the ALEPH Ordination Program, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the Book of Jubilees, why it matters, and what we can learn from it — along with other Jewish books that didn’t make it into the Bible.

Episode 233: The Torah of Jews of Color - Arielle Korman, Mira Rivera

Arielle Korman and Mira Rivera, of Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy, join Dan and Lex for a conversation Ammud and its work. They explore the importance and power of for-us-by-us spaces for Jews of Color, the excitement of blending traditional Jewish texts with contemporary struggles for justice, and more.

Episode 239: Isaac Unbound - Aaron Koller

Aaron Koller, author of Unbinding Isaac: The Significance of the Akedah for Jewish Thought, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to dive deep into the story of the binding of Isaac in historical context and as it is utilized today.

Episode 245:  Her Torah - Yael Kanarek

Yael Kanarek, an Israeli-American artist, has spent the past few years rewriting the entire Torah -- in Hebrew and English -- by changing the genders of all characters (and animals, and more). In this episode she speaks with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg about her project, called Toratah (her Torah), and what it might mean for the future of Jewish text and Jewish practice.

Episode 98: The Future of Torah - Brett Lockspeiser

Dan and Lex are joined by Brett Lockspeiser, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Sefaria, for the last interview in this series exploring the creations of "regular Jews" (people who did not set out to become Jewish professionals). In this episode, we explore the beginnings, evolution, and future of Sefaria, a free digital library of Jewish texts that describes its work as "the Future of Torah."