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.
Playlist 7: Re-Imagined Jewish Learning
In these episodes, Dan and Lex talk to Jewish educators, scholars, and radical thinkers to explore what Jewish learning looks like and potential innovations in Jewish education.
Episode 186: Re-Imagining Jewish Education - Miriam Heller Stern
Miriam Heller Stern, National Director of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion School of Education, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to kick off a unit of episodes looking at shifting dynamics in contemporary Jewish education.
Episode 56: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva - Benay Lappe
In celebration of our one-year anniversary as a podcast, Dan and Lex are joined by the very first guest we ever had on the show, Benay Lappe, making her third guest appearance on Judaism Unbound. In this episode, we do a deep dive into Lappe's organization, SVARA, which defines itself as a "traditionally radical yeshiva," a place to study Jewish texts through a "Queer lens."
Episode 76: The Project of Jewish Education - David Bryfman
What are the goals of Jewish education, and what should they be? David Bryfman, Chief Innovation Officer of The Jewish Education Project, joins Dan and Lex to discuss the challenges ahead as we consider how to recalibrate education to shifting Jewish realities.
Episode 238: Jewish Women's Archive - Judith Rosenbaum
Judith Rosenbaum, CEO of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring how, when you center the lives and narratives of Jewish women, the story of what Judaism has been fundamentally changes.
Episode 125: Complementary Zions - Zachary Schaffer
In our ongoing exploration of the relationship of American Jews and Israel, Dan and Lex are joined by educator and activist Zach Schaffer, whose work focuses on helping Jewish federations and similar organizations talk across ideological, generational, and religious divides. Schaffer describes his approach to Israel education, engagement, and advocacy, encourages dialogue across ideological differences, and suggests that the framing of "pro-Israel" and "anti-Israel" is unhelpful to the project of engagement and relationship-building with Israel.
Episode 132: The God Gap - Eliana Light
Musician and educator Eliana Light joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for the second conversation in our series on the role of God in American Judaism. The conversation explores topics ranging from God as metaphor, Light's interest in the many different traditional names for God, how music can dovetail with experiences of holiness, and whether ideas about God could be addressed in better ways in Jewish educational settings.
Episode 198: Jews are People - Darren Kleinberg
Darren Kleinberg, the Head of School at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto, California, wants to remind you that Jews are human beings. He also wants you to remember that Judaism is not about Judaism. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg to explain what those two sentences mean, and why both are of the utmost importance.
Episode 199: Learning Judaism - Abby Eisenberg
Abby Eisenberg, an independent Jewish educator and life cycle officiant, joins Dan and Lex in a conversation that asks what it would mean to conceptualize our Jewish practices as “Learning Judaism,” through which the continual engagement with Jewish texts would be centered above any particular relationship to Jewish law or belief.
Episode 145: Studying Jews Differently - Tobin Belzer
Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg are joined by Tobin Belzer, an applied sociologist, for a conversation about why it might be time to re-conceptualize the study of American Jews and their identities.
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 156: Creating Jewish Theatre - Aaron Henne
Aaron Henne, Artistic Director of Theatre Dybbuk, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation blurring the lines between art, education, politics, preservation, and creativity. This episode is the first in a series, brought to you in partnership with the Council of American Jewish Museums.
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.
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.
Episode 171: Digesting Judaism - Rachel B. Gross
Rachel Gross, the John & Marcia Goldman Professor of American Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University, thinks that food is “the world’s most important subject.” She joins Dan and Lex to tell them (and you!) why that is, and why that fact matters when we seek to understand the Jewish past, present, and future.
Episode 176: Wilderness Torah - Zelig Golden
Zelig Golden, the Founding Director of Wilderness Torah, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about nature, roots, education, and the Jewish future.
Episode 190: Jewish Camps, Jewish Utopias - Avi Orlow
Avi Orlow, Vice-President for innovation and education at The Foundation for Jewish Camp, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation that explores summer camp as a site for Jewish education.
Episode 187: Child-Centered Jewish Education - Rebecca Milder
Rebecca Milder, Founding Director of the Jewish Enrichment Center in Chicago, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about rooting Jewish education in empathy, text study, and creative expression.
Episode 188: The Art of Jewish Education - Alicia Jo Rabins
Alicia Jo Rabins, the educator, artist, and midrashist (what’s that?? — you’ll have to listen!) who created the Girls in Trouble curriculum, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Jewish music, art, interpretation, and education.
Episode 191: Jewish Kids Groups - Ana Robbins, Neshama Littman
Ana Robbins and Neshama Littman join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Jewish Kids Groups, an innovative Atlanta organization that Robbins serves as Executive Director and Littman serves as Sunday Families Director.
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 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.
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.
Playlist 8: Gender and Sexuality
In these episodes, Dan, Lex, and guests explore themes of gender and sexuality in Jewish narratives, practice, and history.
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.
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 56: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva - Benay Lappe
In celebration of our one-year anniversary as a podcast, Dan and Lex are joined by the very first guest we ever had on the show, Benay Lappe, making her third guest appearance on Judaism Unbound. In this episode, we do a deep dive into Lappe's organization, SVARA, which defines itself as a "traditionally radical yeshiva," a place to study Jewish texts through a "Queer lens."
Episode 15: Men, Women, and Intermarriage - Keren McGinity
Dr. Keren McGinity joins us for a conversation about intermarriage and gender. McGinity is the author of Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America and Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood. She founded the Love & Tradition Institute and serves as Director of the Interfaith Families Jewish Engagement Program at Hebrew College.
Episode 35: Twice Blessed - Joshua Lesser
Rabbi Joshua Lesser, of Bet Haverim (House of Friends), a Gay- and Lesbian-founded synagogue in Atlanta, joins Judaism Unbound for a discussion on being Jewish and Queer, reflecting on the history of Queer Jews in American Jewish life, the positive shifts that have taken place over the past few decades, where there is still work to be done, and the significance of the Queer experience for other Jews who may feel less than welcome in many Jewish spaces.
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 151: Judaism from a Transgender Perspective - Joy Ladin
Joy Ladin, author of The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about being transgender, being Jewish, and how the two intersect.
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 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 173: Fragments of The Brooklyn Talmud - Andrew Ramer
Andrew Ramer, an ordained Maggid (storyteller) and author of Fragments of the Brooklyn Talmud, among other works, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about ecological crisis, the blurry line between future and past, and the Jewish future. So nothing major, really.
Episode 196: Becoming Eve - Abby Stein
Abby Stein, author of Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about how the topics of gender, fundamentalism, peoplehood, “tolerance,” and more intersect with one another in Jewish communities and beyond.
Episode 240: Hebrew Priestesses - Jill Hammer, Taya Shere
Jill Hammer and Taya Shere, co-founders of Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, join Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the old, the new, and the ways in which Kohenet's work blurs the line between the two.
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 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 238: Jewish Women's Archive - Judith Rosenbaum
Judith Rosenbaum, CEO of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA), joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring how, when you center the lives and narratives of Jewish women, the story of what Judaism has been fundamentally changes.
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.
Playlist 9: Jewish Objects
What makes something a “Jewish object?” Is it just that they are “officially” connected to a Jewish ritual, or might there be other factors as well? How are some today designing Jewish objects, and how would they answer these questions? Who has, or should have, the “authority” to create them? Dan, Lex, and guests explore these questions in this playlist.
Episode 64: Judaism By Design - Jesse Dorogusker
In the fourth episode of Judaism Unbound's seven-part series exploring Silicon Valley and the period between Passover and Shavuot known as the "Omer," Jesse Dorogusker, Hardware Lead for Square Inc, brings ideas from product design and technological innovation and thinks with us about how they might be applied to renewing contemporary Judaism. Dorogusker helps deepen our thinking on topics introduced in previous episodes, including integration, modularity, and "jobs to be done."
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 96: ModernTribe - Amy Kritzer, Jennie Rivlin Roberts
Dan and Lex are joined by Amy Kritzer and Jennie Rivlin Roberts, the President and Founder (respectively) of ModernTribe, "a Judaica store for people with innovative minds, spirits, and style." In our continuing exploration of innovation by "regular Jews," we explore what it looks like to run a successful business and try to help to re-invigorate contemporary Judaism at the same time.
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.
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 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.