JUDAISM UNBOUND PLAYLISTS

People who discover Judaism Unbound sometimes aren’t sure where to start listening. These playlists offer an entry point into the ideas we explore on the podcast, no matter what perspective you’re coming from.

Find compilations of our conversations on topics like a “DIY” approach to ritual, activism, Jewish space, or going “beyond inclusion” to learn from the leadership of Jews on the margins. As you delve into our episodes about any of these topics, you’ll get a taste of the recurring themes of Judaism Unbound.

DIY Judaism

Jewish History

Re-Imagined Jewish Learning

Bible

Playlist 4: Jewish History

Sometimes reexamining the past suggests a new way of thinking about the future. In these episodes, Dan, Lex and guests dive deep into a few pieces of ancient and modern Jewish history.

Episode 13: American Post-Judaism - Shaul Magid

Professor Shaul Magid joins Dan and Lex for the third episode in our four-episode series, entitled "Judaism in America: Evolutions, Revolutions, or Something Else?" Professor Magid's book, American Post-Judaism, serves as a springboard for a discussion about American post-ethnicity, the Holocaust, survivalism, and spiritual humanism. Next week, Dan and Lex close out the series by connecting elements of this conversation to Episode 11, featuring Jonathan Sarna, and Episode 12, featuring Anita Diamant.

Episode 41: History and Memory - Yehuda Kurtzer

How should the Jewish present and future relate to the Jewish past? Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and author of the book Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past, joins Dan and Lex for an exploration of the significance of history and memory in contemporary Judaism.

Episode 11: American Judaism - Jonathan Sarna

Dan and Lex welcome pre-eminent American Jewish historian Jonathan Sarna to the podcast for the first episode of a series entitled "Judaism in America: Evolutions, Revolutions, or Something Else?"

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 42: Aphrodite and the Rabbis - Burton Visotzky

Burton Visotzky, Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, joins Dan and Lex to discuss the topic of his recent book, Aphrodite and the Rabbis: the surprising degree to which Greco-Roman ideas shaped Rabbinic Judaism.

Episode 43: Hanukkah in America - Dianne Ashton

Professor Dianne Ashton, author of the book Hanukkah in America: A History, joins Dan and Lex to describe the evolution of Hanukkah over the course of American history. The conversation ranges from the Maccabees to gift giving to the "December Dilemma."

Episode 46: How Hanukkah Explains Everything - Jay Eidelman

Jay Eidelman joins Dan and Lex to explain his theory of "How Hanukkah Explains Everything." Through a comprehensive encapsulation of the historical events of Hanukkah and analysis of them, Eidelman shines many new lights on what Hanukkah has meant and could mean.

Episode 84: The Jewish Catalog, Then and Now - Riv-Ellen Prell

Dan and Lex are joined by Anthropologist Riv-Ellen Prell, author of Prayer and Community: The Havurah in American Judaism. Prell outlines the evolution, impact, and legacy of an important work called The Jewish Catalog, patterned after The Whole Earth Catalog and designed as a "Do-It-Yourself Kit" for living a Jewish life. She discusses the broader political and social context within which it was published, comparing and contrasting the era of the late 60s and early 70s with the times in which we live today.

Episode 87: Reforming Judaism - Daniel Freelander I

Daniel Freelander, President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, joins Dan and Lex for the first of a two-part conversation about the history of Reform Judaism. In today's episode, Freelander tells the story of the first 100 years of Reform Jewish history, beginning in Germany and continuing into the first few generations of Reform in the United States.

Episode 88: Reform or Revolution? - Daniel Freelander II

Daniel Freelander, President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, joins Dan and Lex for the second segment in a two-part conversation about the history of Reform Judaism. In today's episode, Freelander walks us through Reform Judaism's journey from the mid-20th century to the present, and we discuss where Reform, and Judaism in general, may be headed in the future.

Episode 119: The Histories of Zionisms - Noam Pianko

To help us better understand and think about the role that Israel might play in the future of American Jews, Dan and Lex are joined by Professor Noam Pianko of the University of Washington, author of the books Zionism and the Roads Not Taken and Jewish Peoplehood: An American Innovation. The conversation explores the origins and evolution of Zionism, its many early variations, the changing nature of American Zionism, and the ever-shifting place of Israel in the minds of American Jews.

Episode 131: Protesting God - Dov Weiss

As we launch a series of episodes on the subject of God, Dan and Lex are joined by Dov Weiss, associate professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and author of the National Jewish Book Award-winning Pious Irreverence: Confronting God in Rabbinic Judaism. In their conversation, they look at how ideas of God have changed over the course of Jewish history, discuss the Jewish tradition of disputing its God, complicate the idea that God has always been understood as perfect, and explore a concept Weiss dubs "protest ventriloquism."

Mid-Week Episode: Antisemitism, Nativism, and Immigration - Eli Lederhendler

After 11 were murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Judaism Unbound pre-emptively releases a conversation that initially wasn't going to be available for a few weeks. Eli Lederhendler, the Stephen S. Wise Chair in American Jewish History at Hebrew University, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about antisemitism, nativism, and immigration in the early 20th century. It's a conversation centered in the past, but it couldn't be more relevant to our contemporary context.

Episode 147: From Selling Pews to Temple Dues (Dan Judson Part I)

Dan Judson, Dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, joins Judaism Unbound for the first of two episodes on the story of how synagogues have sustained themselves economically throughout American history and how they will have to adjust to the great changes in Jewish life we are experiencing today. Judson is the author of the recent book Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money.

Episode 148: Pennies for Heaven…and Building Upkeep (Dan Judson Part II)

We continue our conversation with Dan Judson, Dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, in the second part of a two-episode series, turning our focus to more recent history and to the future outlook for synagogues in the face of the demographic and religious changes American Judaism has been going through. Judson is the author of the recent book Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money.

Episode 152: Elie Wiesel's Classroom - Ariel Burger

Ariel Burger joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to discuss his book Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, winner of a 2018 National Jewish Book Award.

Episode 158: Curating the Jewish Story - Ivy Barsky

Ivy Barsky, the CEO and Gwen Goodman Director of the National Museum of American Jewish History, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what Jewish museums are, why they matter, and the impact they are having on contemporary Jews. This episode is the third in a series of episodes on art, creativity, preservation, and museums, brought to you in partnership with The Council of American Jewish Museums.

Bonus Episode: Jews in the Confederacy (American Jewish History #1)

Adam Mendelsohn, Director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Capetown, joins Judaism Unbound on the ground at the National Museum of American Jewish History. In conversation with Dan Libenson, he looks at Jewish involvement in the Confederacy during the Civil War. This bonus episode is part of a series of bonus episodes, recorded in partnership with the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Bonus Episode: B’nai B’rith (American Jewish History #2)

Deborah Dash Moore, Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History at the University of Michigan, joins Judaism Unbound on the ground at the National Museum of American Jewish History. In conversation with Dan Libenson, she looks at the origins and evolution of the organization B’nai B’rith. This bonus episode is part of a series of bonus episodes, recorded in partnership with the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Bonus Episode: Levy’s Jewish Rye (American Jewish History #3)

Beth Wenger, the Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, joins Judaism Unbound on the ground at the National Museum of American Jewish History. In conversation with Lex Rofeberg, she looks at a series of famously successful advertisements produced in the mid-late 20th century by Levy’s Jewish Rye. This bonus episode is part of a series of bonus episodes, recorded in partnership with the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History.

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 204: Confronting Yiddish Shame - Naomi Seidman

Naomi Seidman, the Chancellor Jackman Professor of the Arts at the University of Toronto’s Department for the Study of Religion, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation looking at Yiddish’s intersections with politics, translation, gender, and shame. This episode is the second in a series of episodes produced in collaboration with the Yiddish Book Center, as part of its Decade of Discovery initiative, in honor of 40 years since the Yiddish Book Center’s founding.

Episode 207: American History of Yiddish - Tony Michels

Tony Michels, the George L. Mosse professor of American Jewish History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the evolving role of Yiddish in America, from the late-19th century through the present. This episode is the fifth in a series of episodes produced in collaboration with the Yiddish Book Center, as part of its Decade of Discovery initiative, in honor of 40 years since the Yiddish Book Center’s founding.

Episode 211: The Passover Haggadah, a Biography - Vanessa Ochs

Vanessa Ochs, author of The Passover Haggadah: A Biography, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the origins, evolutions, and revolutions of the Passover Haggadah — the text that is used as a ritual guide to the Passover Seder. This episode is the third in an ongoing series exploring new, old, and new-old approaches to the holiday of Passover.

Episode 221: Zooming Out - Steven Windmueller

Steven Windmueller, the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Service at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation that dives into the past couple centuries of American-Jewish institutional evolution, along with a look forward into what the next century or two might hold.

Episode 237: America's Jewish Women - Pamela Nadell

Pamela Nadell, author of America's Jewish Women, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to kick off a series exploring the history, and the contemporary leadership, of America's Jewish women. The book America's Jewish Women was the recipient of 2019's National Jewish Book Award for Book of the Year.

Episode 244: The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex

Lila Corwin Berman, director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History and author of the book The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion Dollar Institution, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about American Jewish philanthropy's history. They also explore ways in which that history opens up expansive questions about issues ranging from the Holocaust, to Israel, to sexism, and key terms in Jewish life like "continuity" and "identity."

Episode 235: Jews and Whiteness - Eric Goldstein

Eric Goldstein, author of The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring the history of American Jews and their relationship to whiteness. Their conversation looks at the ever-evolving relationship between particularism and universalism for American Jews, contemporary discourse around white Jews and Jews of Color, and more.

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 5: Digital Judaism

Dan and Lex often explore the internet as Jewish space. On many episodes of the podcast, they have talked about digital Jewish projects, what they reflect about the changing geography of Jewish life, and why any of that matters for the future of Judaism.

Bonus Episode: Lex’s ELI Talk (Migrating Judaism: The Internet Movement)

Is the internet a place, among others, in which Judaism now "lives?" In this special, mid-week episode, Dan and Lex ask that question, using a recent ELI Talk given by Lex as a springboard into the conversation.

Episode 57: Becoming Jewish On the Web - Juan Mejia

Juan Mejia, the Southwest/Latin America Regional Director for Be'chol Lashon, who grew up Catholic, converted to Judaism, and became a rabbi, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about conversion, the growing importance of the internet in contemporary Jewish life, and emergent forms of Judaism arising in Latin America, and what it all might mean for the future of Judaism.

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 20: Jewish Without Walls - Beth Finger

Beth Finger, founder of Jewish Without Walls (JWOW) joins Judaism Unbound for the third episode in our "New Platforms in Jewish Life series." We learn from the successful strategies of her organization, and in doing so converse about issues ranging from contemporary denominational divides to the role of the internet in the Jewish present and future.

Episode 24: BimBam - Sarah Lefton

What does it look like to start a Jewish organization that functions almost entirely in the digital world? Sarah Lefton, the founder and executive director of BimBam (formerly G-dcast), an organization that produces animated videos about Jewish texts, practices, and ideas, as well as apps and other new media, [1] joins Dan and Lex to give us a window into that process. She outlines her own Jewish story, the evolution of BimBam over time, some of the unique characteristics of digital forms of Judaism, and more.

Episode 63: JewTube - Oona King

Oona King, former member of the British Parliament, currently on leave from the House of Lords, and now Director of Diverse Marketing at YouTube, takes us on a deep dive into the democratization that new internet-based technologies, like YouTube, potentially represent, and we discuss possible applications to the process of re-imagining Judaism.

Episode 67: Seven Weeks in Silicon Valley

Dan and Lex close out their seven-episode series looking at the seven weeks of the Omer, the period between Passover and Shavuot, as an especially resonant symbol of our own time, which might be described as a time in between Judaisms. Looking back on our interviews drawing inspiration from Silicon Valley, the landscape of experimentation and innovation in our own day, Dan and Lex discuss the democratization of Judaism embodied and facilitated by the internet and revisit the question of Judaism as an operating system vs. Judaism as an app.

Episode 165: SecularSynagogue.com - Denise Handlarski

Denise Handlarski, rabbi and founder of SecularSynagogue.com, joins Dan and Lex for a wide-ranging conversation, looking at digital Judaism, interfaith relationships, colonialism, among other topics.

Episode 175: Becoming a Rabbi on The Web - Sandy Zisser, Patrick Beaulier

Sandy Zisser and Patrick Beaulier, of the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about digital rabbinic ordination.

Episode 34: The Snapchat Rabbi - Sandra Lawson

Sandra Lawson, described in a recent article as "an African-American lesbian who converted to Judaism, eats vegan, and is now studying to be a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College," joins Dan and Lex in a discussion on the present and future of Judaism. She offers her take on issues ranging from race, sexuality, and intermarriage to the future of synagogues and emerging forms of digital Jewish life.

Episode 192: Online Jewish Learning - Danielle Eskow

Danielle Eskow, co-founder and CEO of Online Jewish Learning, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about leading one of the few for-profit businesses in a field (Jewish education) that is mostly made up of non-profit organizations.

Episode 193: Overhauling Jewish Education - Dan Mendelsohn Aviv

Dan Mendelsohn Aviv, the head of curriculum and design for Adraba (an innovative new educational institution in Toronto), returns to Judaism Unbound to speak with Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg about ways in which Jewish education could be radically re-envisioned. This conversation is the 7th in an ongoing unit of Judaism Unbound episodes on the theme of Jewish education.

Episode 189: Six Days A Week - Tiffany Shlain

Tiffany Shlain, author of 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about her weekly practice of “Tech Shabbat.”

Episode 216: Passover Pandemic - Benay Lappe

Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe take a look squarely at Passover under COVID-19, in our moment of social distancing. What challenges arise for those celebrating this holiday via digital platforms, and what opportunities arise?

Episode 231: A JCC for JOCs - Yitz Jordan (Y-Love)

Yitz Jordan (also known as the hip-hop artist Y-Love), the co-founder of TribeHerald Media, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about building online and offline communities that center Jews of Color.

Episode 217: jewishLIVE

Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg reflect on the digital Jewish ecosystem that has arisen rapidly in this moment of COVID-19 and social distancing, and ask what it could mean for the future of Judaism. In doing so, they shine a light on a project they just launched, called jewishLIVE, which is serving as a digital hub for livestreaming Jewish programming.

Playlist 6: Money In Judaism

In this playlist, it’s time for a rich conversation about Jews and money. Dan, Lex and guests examine how Judaism is funded, how that impacts Jewish life, and what role finances will play in the Jewish future.

Episode 48: Jewish Funding - Bound and Unbound

Dan and Lex reach back to the beginnings of the Judaism Unbound podcast, providing a look back at some of our foundational concepts for those who may have started listening recently. They also ask big questions about Jewish funding, ranging from "Who is a funder?" to "What is Jewish giving?"

Episode 147 - From Selling Pews to Temple Dues - Dan Judson Part I

Episode 148 - Pennies for Heaven…and Building Upkeep - Dan Judson Part II

Episode 23: Hello Mazel - Noa Kushner and Yoav Schlesinger

The Kitchen, an emergent Jewish spiritual community in San Francisco, made waves earlier this year when they launched their Hello Mazel initiative -- a "quarterly box of Jewish stuff" sent to people's homes, which quickly became the most-funded Jewish Kickstarter project ever and reached thousands of people across the country. Dan and Lex welcome two of its leaders -- Rabbi Noa Kushner and Yoav Schlesinger -- to explore what The Kitchen is, to understand its goals and methods, and to find out how Hello Mazel came to be.

Episode 47: The Jewish Funders Network - Andres Spokoiny

Andres Spokoiny, the President and CEO of Jewish Funders Network, joins Dan and Lex for a deep dive into questions of Jewish philanthropy. Spokoiny takes on big-picture questions like "what is Jewish giving" and also tackles the particulars of how such giving can be conducted most effectively. He also provides his thoughts on broader trends in 21st century Judaism.

Episode 58: Jewish Economics - Carmel Chiswick

How do Jews decide how (and whether) to invest their time and money in Judaism? Economist Carmel Chiswick joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about that question and more in this episode of Judaism Unbound.

Episode 65: Investing in the Future - Oren Zeev

Oren Zeev, Founding Partner of Zeev Ventures, gives us a window into the mind of a Silicon Valley investor, as we continue to explore how the mindset of Silicon Valley might help us think about getting from the Jewish present to the Jewish future we hope might emerge. Oren Zeev is known for successful investments in early-stage companies. How does he decide which projects to back? To what extent are the perspectives he has developed in the business world translatable to the Jewish non-profit landscape?

Episode 141: Federations Facing the Future - Danny Grossman

Danny Grossman, CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, joins Judaism Unbound to look at the Bay Area as a case study for how Jewish federations address demographic and other changes in the Jewish community of the kinds revealed in the 2013 Pew Study and more recent population studies.

Episode 220: Viral Philanthropy - Lila Corwin Berman

Lila Corwin Berman, director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History and author of the upcoming book The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion Dollar Institution, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation looking at the history of Jewish philanthropy, along with an exploration of how Jewish philanthropists are responding to COVID-19.

Episode 194: Funding the Future - Barry Finestone, Josh Miller

Barry Finestone, President and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation, and Josh Miller, its Chief Program Officer, join Judaism Unbound to discuss the Foundation’s recently-completed process of rethinking and resetting its strategic approach to grantmaking in its main area of focus, Jewish education and learning.