According to Jewish tradition, the world around us is filled with demons, ghosts, giants and angels, and creatures of all types. But Judaism today tends to downplay and rationalize them away, to the point where they’re just forgotten dusty metaphors. But for millenia, Jews have lived with these creatures and have had practical means for coping with them. Join Jack Zaientz a scholar of all things Jewish folklore and mythology and John Baltisberger, the award-winning author of Jewish horror and fantasy as they explore the topics of mythic Judaism and discuss it's survival and use in modern day culture both pop and otherwise.
Jack Zaientz & John Baltisberger
Send us a textJack and John are back in the water horse saddle again! Riding those Sheydim across the sunset and into the river! That's right this week we discuss WATER DEMONS! Well... not so much water demons as water AND demons. Demons in water? Look, here's the thing... bathrooms are dangerous y'all.Here's a link to the rabbinic essays Jack talks about: https://t.co/CbdARQtbuQ----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website or his Patreon GET OUR READING LIST! GET THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SHIRT! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week we talk about Omens!Hilariously this episode was supposed to go up before Hannukah but John has been through the ringer. ALSO hilariously Jack talks about how its okay that John is not good about hitting posting deadlines. But here's your episode!Do not take this as an Omen that John will miss the next episode deadline!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! GET THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SHIRT! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week we discuss CHANNUKAH! That's right, the reason for the season is latkes, dreidels, candles, and of course goblins!But what are goblins in the Jewish tradition? Why are they involved in Channukah? Why is Channukah a punk rock and metal holiday? All this and more in this very special CHANNUKAH EPISODE of Wayward Children!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! GET THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SHIRT! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week Jack and John try to take it a bit easy and then argue about animals! Listen as we describe a terrible frog, a clever ass, and of course how fables modern and ancient fit into the fabric of sacred mythology.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! GET THE WAYWARD CHILDREN SHIRT! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week we talk about the sexiest figure in Jewish mythology. The queen of demons, a woman who looked the archetypal man in the eyes and said. "No, I will not be subservient. I am woman, and I would rather be a queen of demons than serve anyone."John may be really excited to delve into this one...----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website Back the Trading Cards of Jewish Magic and Monsters Kickstarter GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week Jack and John throw curses around like it's nobody's business! Listen to Jack read off traditional Yiddish curses. Did you know we tried to curse Hitler? Check out the storied history of curse prevention, and watch as Jack puts John on the spot to make curses up just for you!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textJohn and Jack delve into one of their favorite topics, THE GIANT WARS. This is an insane topic as it's rife throughout both the Tanakh and the Talmud. There is ample liturgical evidence of giants and the Jewish people fighting them. So let's delve into our biggest fans, be the Nephilim, Raphaim, or just Yao Ming. (To our knowledge, Yao Ming is not a being made of fire, nor is he a listener, but we could be wrong!)----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a textThis week John and Jack meet up in person in sunny oppressive Austin, Texas to discuss which ghosts have the most in this episode of Dybbuk-Centric episode of Wayward Children.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a Text Message.An amazing special episode, we bring on a descendent of the Rebbe to discuss his storied and near-mythic family history,Story of Rabbi Menachem Tzvi of England (Rabbi with an Earring #2) https://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=1148-11The wedding memento of Pessi and Dovie Levy (Rabbi with an Earring #3 and other family stories) https://collive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Levy-Fischer-Memento.pdfSefer Shimmush Tehillim https://halakhah.com/rst/tehillim.pdf----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a Text Message.There are few things that bring a group of Jews together faster than and better than food. This episode Jack and John dive into the culinary traditions of Judaism is more specifically those traditions' place in mysticism.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Send us a Text Message.John and Jack talk about speaking quietly and carrying a big stick, while speaking very loudly.This episode is all about canes, staffs, and staves, magic and meaningful throughout Jewish history and mythology!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Jack and John discuss messianic myths of Judaism as well as various messianic figures that have existed through our history.ProphetsJoseph Della Reina StoryOvergrowth by John Baltisberger----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Buy Marti's Shirts! Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Happy Passover everyone! This week we cover myths and folklore surrounding the seder plate and legends of the Exodus from kaiju to angels!a few extra links: Roman Prostitute Elijah!Elijah: Private Dick (checker)Miriam's WellMarti's Kaiju Frog Shirt----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
We're doing it, okay. You can stop yelling at us. We are finally covering the legend of the Golem on Wayward Children. All this really means is that Jack and John are going to yell and rant at each other for roughly an hour. But it's all in good fun... I promise.A couple of extra links this week:https://www.jmberlin.de/blog-en/2016/12/bread-and-golems/https://ezrarose.itch.io/----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week John and Jack discuss witches, but with the added super cool bonus of a full-fledged interview with New York-based cultural critic, playwright, and teacher of Everyday Ashkenazi Magic, Rokhl.Aunt Taiblele Link https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/yiddish-translation/aunt-taibeleYou can also get artist Marti's shirt based on this episode here: https://t.co/60Vw6wC1zj----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Did you know there were Jewish unicorns? Like several different types and styles of Jewish unicorns? And they aren't Jewish just because they like Challah and klezmer music! Join John as he gets educated by Jack on the vast lore of Jewish unicorns including how they are STILL represented today in Jewish culture and decor!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
In case you didn't guess from the convoluted title, this week we are talking about divination practices. (You really should have seen that coming.) What is it about knowing the future that gets us all hot and bothered? Why are there so many methods of divination when divination is ruled as an abomination in Dueteronomy? The only way to know for sure is to dive in with John and Jack!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
As much as we love when you stick a bunch of googly eyes to a kitten and say it's a biblically accurate cat (and we do love that), biblically accurate angels aren't all that... well biblically accurate. Jack and John discuss angels in folklore, writing, and liturgy. ----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week John and Jack teach you how to protect yourself from the evils that infuse the world! From magical charms to keep demons away, burning incense, to actions you can take to put the kaibosh on evil spells from people, we got it all for you!Don't forget to check out:THREE CHARMS FOR KILLING ADOLF HITLER----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week Jack takes over the show to share his presentation "Rolling to Jerusalem" on Jewish customs and beliefs surrounding death.You can catch the slides here.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Not every Jewish legend involves outsmarting opponents, sometimes a hero just has to pick up a sword and start swinging it about until all the demons leave you alone! Let's talk about magic swords, swords that become magic, and the swords of giants!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
A special treat this week as Jack interviews the descendant of a Jewish wise woman and healer. We talk about the traditions of Jewish healing and more specifically, women's place in the rich tapestry of Jewish mysticism and sacred practice.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week John and Jack discuss the king of Sheydim, Ashmandai. John has written books about this figure and the two basicly nerd-boy/fangirl out for the handsome (literal) devil.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week Jack and John peer into the misty here-after to discuss the afterlife and those that want no part of it, ghosts! Hot topics include:Cool GhostsLess Cool GhostsGhosts vs DybbukimHow to handle hauntings----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week Jack and John dive into actual Jewish ritual magic and touch on meditation, golems, spells and commanding angels to do supernatural tasks.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week we dive into our the giant beasts that make up the Torah Cinematic Kaiju Universe. We argue about what is and isn't a kaiju, we wax romantic about what we would like to see, and most importantly, we discuss how we would eat these big lovable beasts!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week the boys get into it over Vampires. Of course, the term vampire could mean a lot of different things, we delve into what sort of blood drinking fun we can get into in a religion that is very strictly anti-drinking blood.----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
This week we discuss Sheydim! The first chapter in what will likely be a million-part saga. Jack and John discuss the legends surrounding the creation of Sheydim, some of the most popular creatures like Lillith and Na'ama, and of course stories as to why humans are afraid of them!----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
Welcome to our first episode! Jack and John discuss monster hunting kits. Not just what they might contain but the sorts of people who might carry them about! We discuss Baal Shems, Ibburim, Dybbukim, Black Weddings, Sheydim and so, so much more!This episode's book recommendations:Jewish Magic and Superstition -A Study in Folk Religion by Joshua TrachtenbergWomen's Divination in Biblical Literature by Esther J. HamoriMagic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism ny Gershon Winklerand the website, Pulling at ThreadsWe also mentioned two Jewish fiction book up for preorder:Charwood by Josh SchlossbergNo Guilt of Bloodshed by John Baltisberger----------------------------------------------------- Find Jack on Twitter or his Website Find John on Twitter or his Website GET OUR READING LIST! Shop Aggadah Try It Books Intro and outro music ‘Skin and Bones' composed by Yoshie Fruchter and performed by Pitom, on Tzadik records
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