Podcasts about Jewish Life

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Drawing from some four hundred Yiddish-language interviews conducted by the Archives of Historical and Ethnographic Yiddish Memories project, Jeffrey Veidlinger will explore how elderly Yiddish speakers in Ukraine described their memories of Jewish life in the Soviet shtetl, their stories of survival during the Holocaust, and their experiences living as Jews under Communism. This exploration will help us understand how despite Stalinist repressions, the Holocaust, and official antisemitism, these interviews infused with memories of family life, religious observance, education, and work testify to the survival of Jewish life, even within the shadow of the shtetl. This lecture originally took place on July 1, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Drawing from some four hundred Yiddish-language interviews conducted by the Archives of Historical and Ethnographic Yiddish Memories project, Jeffrey Veidlinger will explore how elderly Yiddish speakers in Ukraine described their memories of Jewish life in the Soviet shtetl, their stories of survival during the Holocaust, and their experiences living as Jews under Communism. This exploration will help us understand how despite Stalinist repressions, the Holocaust, and official antisemitism, these interviews infused with memories of family life, religious observance, education, and work testify to the survival of Jewish life, even within the shadow of the shtetl. This lecture originally took place on July 1, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Drawing from some four hundred Yiddish-language interviews conducted by the Archives of Historical and Ethnographic Yiddish Memories project, Jeffrey Veidlinger will explore how elderly Yiddish speakers in Ukraine described their memories of Jewish life in the Soviet shtetl, their stories of survival during the Holocaust, and their experiences living as Jews under Communism. This exploration will help us understand how despite Stalinist repressions, the Holocaust, and official antisemitism, these interviews infused with memories of family life, religious observance, education, and work testify to the survival of Jewish life, even within the shadow of the shtetl. This lecture originally took place on July 1, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

This class explores the challenges Jewish immigrants faced in balancing material success with spiritual fulfillment, highlighting the Lubavitcher Rebbe's vision and the impact of shluchim. Personal stories and blessings emphasize perseverance, community, and the value of Jewish outreach. https://www.torahrecordings.com/classes/by_parsha/005_devarim/004_reay/015

This class explores the challenges Jewish immigrants faced in balancing material success with spiritual fulfillment, highlighting the Lubavitcher Rebbe's vision and the impact of shluchim. Personal stories and blessings emphasize perseverance, community, and the value of Jewish outreach. https://www.torahrecordings.com/classes/by_parsha/005_devarim/004_reay/015

#503Paper Tombs: Post-Holocaust Memorial Books and Prewar Jewish Life (with Prof. Jennifer Rich)> To pruchase the book: https://amzn.to/3R5C7ed> This episode is sponsored by KosherKlaf.com, your trusted source for mezuzos, tefillin, Sifrei Torah, and megillos. Expert guidance, transparent pricing, and nationwide shipping. Visit https://kosherklaf.com or call 516-737-5436.> To join the SeforimChatter WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DZ3C2CjUeD9AGJvXeEODtK> To join the SeforimChatter WhatsApp status: https://wa.me/message/TI343XQHHMHPN1>  To support the podcast or to sponsor an episode follow this link: https://seforimchatter.com/support-seforimchatter/or email seforimchatter@gmail.com (Zelle/QP this email address)Support the show

#499> To purchase the book: https://amzn.to/4wH3V7N> To purchase Prof. Kalman's English translation of Ibn Ezra on Iyov: https://amzn.to/4h8LDri> This episode is sponsored by KosherKlaf.com, your trusted source for mezuzos, tefillin, Sifrei Torah, and megillos. Expert guidance, transparent pricing, and nationwide shipping. Visit https://kosherklaf.com or call 516-737-5436.> To join the SeforimChatter WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DZ3C2CjUeD9AGJvXeEODtK> To join the SeforimChatter WhatsApp status: https://wa.me/message/TI343XQHHMHPN1>  To support the podcast or to sponsor an episode follow this link: https://seforimchatter.com/support-seforimchatter/or email seforimchatter@gmail.com (Zelle/QP this email address)Support the show

Rabbi Perl discusses how pets fit in to a Jewish lifestyle.

Hear Rabbi David Ingber in conversation with teacher, thought leader, and spiritual activist Yiscah Smith in conversation about a G-d-centered approach to Jewish life that celebrates our roots and calls us to embrace our truest Jewish selves.

Website: jewishexperience.org  Facebook: facebook.com/ManhattanJewishExperience/  Instagram: instagram.com/M_J_experience/

Episode 79 of What Gives?—the Jewish Philanthropy Podcast from Jewish Funders Network, hosted by JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny. In this episode, Andrés speaks with Naomi Firestone-Teeter and Elisa Spungen Bildner of the Jewish Book Council, an organization that has spent a century championing Jewish books, Jewish writers, and the readers who find themselves through Jewish stories. In this conversation, Naomi, Elisa, and Andrés talk about why books remain such a powerful entry point into Jewish life, especially at a time when Jewish identity, Jewish culture, and Jewish authorship all feel newly urgent. They explore the history of the Jewish Book Council, from its beginnings as Jewish Book Week in 1925 to its current role as a convener, advocate, and ecosystem-builder for Jewish literature. And they discuss the challenges facing Jewish writers and publishers after October 7, the need to make room for Israeli voices and a wider range of Jewish stories, and why funders should see culture as central to Jewish continuity rather than peripheral to it. Take a listen.

Abby is joined by Rabbi David Ingber, founding rabbi of Romemu and Senior Director of Jewish Life at 92NY, a leading voice in Jewish Renewal known for his spiritual teaching and influential leadership.

This sicha discusses the balance between individual identity and community belonging in Jewish life. It explores how each person's unique role and contribution is vital to the broader purpose of the community, symbolized through the counting of the Israelites in the wilderness. https://www.torahrecordings.com/likutei-sichos/023/001_001

October 7 and the Gaza war radically changed the way many people around the world, including Diaspora Jews, viewed Israel. For Toronto-based journalist Jesse Brown, the turning point came not with Hamas' massacre itself, but with the domestic backlash that followed. “Canadians got angry with Jews after October 7, and the entire national discourse seemed to just turn against Jews in a way that I wouldn’t have imagined possible,” he told the Haaretz Podcast. Using police-reported hate crime statistics from Canada and the United States, Brown argues that a Jew in Canada is now about nine times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than a Jew in the United States. Ironically, he explained to podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, the progressive political atmosphere in Canada has made things worse for Jews, not better. Brown’s podcast series “What is Happening Here” documents the skyrocketing antisemitism targeting Jewish institutions and neighborhoods in Canada, including synagogues being shot at, firebombed or vandalized, and Jewish-owned businesses and individuals singled out for harassment campaigns. Brown contends that debates over whether specific chants or actions are “anti-Israel,” “anti-Zionist” or “antisemitic” obscure the practical impact on Jewish communities. While he stops short of equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, Brown said that contemporary anti-Zionism is “just as dangerous to Jews.” Read more: Canadian Watchdog Reports Record Number of Antisemitic Incidents in 2025 Canadian-Jewish Groups Decry Efforts by pro-Palestinian Groups to Strip Jewish Schools of Their Charity Status Toronto Police Arrest Suspect in Passover Shooting at Jewish-owned Restaurant Campaign Targeting Jewish Children's Summer Camps in Canada Condemned as AntisemiticSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three rabbis reunite after a hiatus with no agenda and plenty to say. They wade into the fraught waters of Israel, the war, Yom HaZikaron, and what it means to hold nuance in a community that often demands a party line — then somehow end up in a heated debate about strings in rock music, Charlie Daniels, and whether Phil Spector ruined "The Long and Winding Road." Josh admits he's been hiding from Israel discourse behind his guitar, Jeff cops to being emotionally "buffeted" by the whole thing, and Matt drops the news that he's heading to the pulpit of a major New York synagogue this summer. It's the classic Weird Being Jewish formula: serious stuff, silly detours, and genuine friendship holding it all together.        

This month, the province of Quebec passed Bill 9, a law that bans employees at publicly subsidized daycares from wearing religious symbols—including kippot, tzitzit, hijabs, turbans, and Stars of David—while also phasing out subsidies for religious private schools; banning prayer rooms in public institutions such as hospitals and universities; and compelling institutions like the Jewish General Hospital, which serves patients only kosher-certified food, to also offer equivalent non-kosher food. It is the most recent salvo in Quebec's ongoing campaign to suppress and push out Judaism, among all religions, from the public square. And while Montreal's Jewish community has expressed some concern over the measures, the response has been somewhat muted. Many understand the true target of these laws to be the province's Muslim population—which can be construed as being in the interest of the Jewish community. One Montreal rabbi told The CJN that the Jewish community must balance its principles with its interests, saying, “Right now, we have to focus on where our interests lie. It's in our interest to see radical extremism tamped down. This is not targeting us. This is a reaction to extremism within the Muslim community.” This week on Not in Heaven, rabbi podcasters Avi Finegold and Matthew Leibl discuss what this means for the future of Jewish life in Quebec. They also compare the situation to the ongoing one in the southern half in of our southern neighbour, where a series of American states have recently mandated the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

On this episode of On the Nose, Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angel, publisher Daniel May, editor-at-large Peter Beinart, and advisory board member Simone Zimmerman answered listener questions about what accountability looks like for US rabbinic leadership, how American Zionists will respond to Israel's plummeting popularity, and more. For the very first time, this episode of On the Nose was recorded live in front of an audience, which gathered at Littlefield in Brooklyn. Thanks to the Littlefield staff for hosting and recording the event. Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further Reading“J Street says Israel should fund its own defense,” Jacob Kornbluh, The Forward“Democratic Senators Face Pressure on Israel Arms Sales Vote,” Josh Nathan-Kazis, Jewish Currents“Democratic Presidential Contenders Are Turning on Israel. Will They Convince Progressives?,” Alex Kane, Jewish Currents“A Majority of Voters Support Senate Resolutions To Block Bombs and Bulldozers To Israel,” Common Dreams“The Many Equivocations of Curt Mills,” Will Alden, Jewish CurrentsHere Where We Live Is Our Country by Molly CrabappleJFNA Survey of Jewish Life since October 7 – Zionism Findings“Rhetoric Without Reckoning,” Simone Zimmerman, Jewish Currents“At Synagogues, Tensions Are Boiling Over,” Eyal Press, The New Yorker“The Rabbinic Freak-Out About Zohran Mamdani,” On the Nose“Nostra Aetate” from the Second Vatican Council“MAGA Catholics in Revolt,” On the Nose“Do No Harm! Palestinian Call for Ethical Tourism/Pilgrimage” from the BDS movementEverything You Have Is Yours, film about Hadar Ahuvia“The Capitalist's Kibbutz,” Sam Adler-Bell, Jewish CurrentsTranscript forthcoming.

Sofia Freudenstein serves as the Director of Jewish Life and Learning for the Jewish Community of Helsinki, Finland. She joins Lex and Rena Yehuda for a conversation about why being Jewish in Finland, and in other corners of the world that don't have the largest Jewish communities...really rocks! Together, the three of them also explore what halacha (Jewish law) looks like in such communities -- with one strong supporter of it, one opponent, and one situated in the middle. Find out who's who by listening in! Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva: Reproductive Justice, Torah during Climate Catastrophe, Yiddish Revolutionary Folksong, and Jewish Citizenship Bound & Unbound! Financial aid is available via this link. ------------------------------ Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. 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! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

On this episode, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Director of Jewish Life and Learning (and Friend of the Podcast) Dr. Yosef Rosen talks about the basic elements of a Passover Seder, the history of the practice and how to make this tradition your own. Today's episode is adapted from Dr. Rosen's 2015 "How to Host a Passover Seder," available in full at youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1qLhWZDjk.

Meryl Ain is a writer, author, podcaster, and career educator. Her newest book, Remember to Eat and Other Stories was published in January. She is also the author of two award-winning novels, The Takeaway Men (2020) and Shadows We Carry (2023., The host of the podcast People of the Book, she is also the founder of the Facebook group Jews Love to Read! The group currently has more than 6,100 members. Randi Brenowitz is the immediate past International President of the Melton School for Adult Jewish Learning and has been involved in Jewish learning and philanthropy her entire adult life. She is a retired Human Resources/Organization Development consultant, avid reader and an early and active member of our Facebook group, Jews Love to Read! She lives in Palo Alto, CA with her husband, writer and psychotherapist, Dr. Marty Klein. Stewart is an award-winning journalist and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee three times. He has worked for The Forward, The New York Times, New York Daily News, Long Island Business News, the New York Jewish Week, and the LI Jewish World. He hosts his own weekly cable TV program, Jewish Life. He is married to Meryl and they have three sons and six grandchildren. Meryl's website: merylain.com/ Jews Love To Read! www.facebook.com/groups/455865462463744 People of the Book: www.facebook.com/PeopleOfTheBookWithMerylAin Facebook: www.facebook.com/meryl.ain.9/ Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/MerylAinAuthor/ Amazon: a.co/d/ec5DbXn Copyright by Authors on the Air Global Radio Network #AuthorsOnTheAir #AuthorsOnTheAirGlobalRadioNetwork #AOTA #PeopleOfTheBook #PeopleOfTheBookPodcast #Podcast #MerylAin #RandiBrenowitz #StewartAin #RememberToEat #ShortStories #RememberToEatAndOtherStories #Marjorie #Alice #TheGreatestGeneration #WWII #WomensArmyCorps #WAC #FamilyCircle #BabyBoomers #WomensRights #ChangingRoleOfWomen #TheSixties #TheSeventies #Antisemitism #CovidPandemic #TheHolocaust #Ancestry #AfterTheHolocaust #ShadowsWeCarry #TheTakeawayMen #MeltonSchoolForAdultJewishLearning #MerylAin #LetsTalkJewishBooks #JewsLoveToRead

Why does Orthodox Jewish life feel so expensive these days?In this deeply thoughtful conversation, Rabbi Chaim Zvi Senter shares his perspective on money, family pressure, entitlement, resilience, emunah, and the rising cost of Jewish life.From housing in Israel to tuition, kollel support, fundraising culture, and the pressure parents feel to keep up, Rabbi Senter offers clarity, warmth, and hard truth. Drawing on decades of life in Eretz Yisroel, he speaks candidly about what has changed, what hasn't, & where many families are quietly struggling.Why do so many parents feel overwhelmed by the financial expectations of frum life? Are children becoming entitled or are adults simply afraid to say no? Should every child be sent to learn in Israel, even when the cost is crushing? And what happens when tzedakah starts to feel more like gambling than giving?Along the way, Rabbi Senter speaks about visiting children learning in Israel, raising emotionally healthy and resilient families, and how to strengthen emunah when money feels tight and the future feels uncertain.He also addresses the cultural messages we are sending our children through the luxuries we normalize, the prizes we offer, and even the way we fundraise.Let's not lose sight of what really matters!Email: rabbisenter@adereshatorah.com

Watch us on Youtube: https://youtu.be/vQ0o0F07o2k Subscribe to get bonus episodes, read more about the team, and catch us on every platform we're on! > https://bit.ly/unholy-podcast Naomi Alderman on Substack: look at me. I'm here. I'm the ultimate product of Hitler's defeat: https://naomialderman.substack.com/p/look-at-me-im-here-im-the-ultimate Day 13 of the war with Iran — and the conflict just got bigger. Overnight, 200 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah, which many believed had been neutered, is back.  This week, Yonit and Jonathan take stock of a war that is growing, not winding down. They're joined by General David Petraeus — former CIA Director, commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one of the most clear-eyed voices on American military strategy. Petraeus breaks down what the US and Israel have actually achieved so far: missile launches are down over 90%, air defenses have been dismantled, and over 6,000 targets hit. But the new Khamenei? "We wanted a Delcy Rodriguez," he says. "We got a young Kim Jong-un." And he's blunt about what comes next: Iran's a million men under arms, and nobody has a clean exit. Then: a very different conversation. Jonathan talks to novelist and broadcaster Naomi Alderman about why she thinks Marty Supreme is the most intensely Jewish movie she's ever seen.  Plus: the Mensch and Chutzpah awards return. The Academy of Hebrew Language gets hacked by Iranians. Their response? Perfect. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

B”H We're challenging some communal norms today on Jewish Money Matters. Stay with me, because this conversation may be uncomfortable in the best possible way. My guest today is Rabbi Moshe Bane, president emeritus of the Orthodox Union. Rabbi Bane is also a retired senior partner at the international law firm of Ropes & Gray where he headed its department of Corporate Restructuring. Rabbi Bane has lectured and written extensively on issues relating to the American Jewish community, and was a co-founding editor of the journal, Klal Perspectives. In this episode, we talk about why the problem isn't always the strategy—it might be the objective. And of course we relate that to money. Rabbi Bane shares insights from his popular Yeshiva University course, Designing Your Jewish Life, including the pursuit of wealth versus the pursuit of lifestyle, the “glory of failure,” and the money conversations husbands and wives need to be having. This is one insightful episode. Here's Rabbi Moshe Bane. The post 459: Designing Your Jewish Life with Rabbi Moshe Bane appeared first on Yael Trusch.

Join us for this special Purim episode of the Toras Chaim podcast. In keeping with the theme of Season 3, we examine the historical context and significance of the special reading for Purim-Megilas Esther. In doing so we discover that things are not always what they seem and G-d is always working behind the scenes. SPECIAL REQUEST: Our Shul, The Community Shul of Los Angeles, is currently running its annual fundraiser. This podcast is part of the work we do to educate and elevate Jewish Life. If you appreciate our work, please help by supporting TCS. Any amount helps. https://causematch.com/shul26/561633If you enjoy the Toras Chaim Podcast, please help us spread the word! You can share a link on social media, leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast platform, or best of all, discuss what you've learned at the shabbos table!We love to hear from our listeners. Be it comments, questions or critique. You can send an email to overtimecook@gmail.com or via instagram @OvertimeCook or @Elchonon.

Recently, the Jewish Federation of North America released a poll they conducted last year that shows that while 88% of respondents said they “believe Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state,” only 37% identified as “Zionist.” A small number identified as “anti-Zionist” and “non-Zionist,” 7% and 8% respectively, with a plurality answering “not sure” (18%) or “none of these” (30%). These numbers are confusing; they seem to indicate that while Zionist identification is waning—perhaps due to the stink of the term amid the genocide—the underlying commitment to a Jewish state, albeit one paradoxically imagined as “democratic,” is not. At the recent Conference on the Jewish Left at Boston University, nearly every presentation discussed or confronted questions about the terms “Zionist” and “anti-Zionist,” and whether they had enough of an agreed-upon meaning within the community to be useful terms to organize around. On this episode of On the Nose, editor-in-chief Arielle Angel speaks with Ari Lev Fornari, senior rabbi at Kol Tzedek in Philadelphia; Dove Kent, interim executive director of Diaspora Alliance and former executive director of Jews For Racial and Economic Justice; and Fadi Quran, the senior director at Avaaz and a Ramallah-based strategist and organizer. They try to make sense of the recent polling numbers and discuss different strategic considerations about using the Z-word in organizing contexts, including how to welcome newcomers to the Palestine liberation movement without coddling them.Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”Media Mentioned and Further ReadingJFNA Survey of Jewish Life since October 7 – Zionism Findings“The ‘Zionism' gap: What JFNA data really shows about Jews, Israel and Zionism today,” Mimi Kravetz, JTACombined Jewish Philanthropies' 2025 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study“Do American Jews Really Know What ‘Zionism' Means?,” Mira Sucharov, HaaretzJewish Electorate Institute July 2021 National Survey of Jewish VotersSynagogues Rising2026 Conference on the Jewish Left sessions on YouTubeTranscript forthcoming.

This month of learning is sponsored by our dear friends Matt and Mollie Landes of Riverdale for the neshama of Dovid Yehonatan ben Yitzchak Yehuda.In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Professors Elisheva Carlebach and Debra Kaplan, scholars of early modern Jewish history, about women's religious, social, and communal roles in early modern Jewish life.In this episode we discuss:How have women's prayer and shul-going habits changed over time? When did the women's chevra kadisha become a Jewish institution? How did Jewish emancipation alter the structure of Jewish life and its implications for women? Tune in for a conversation about how women shaped—and were shaped by—the structures of the early modern kehillah.Interview begins at 9:13.Elisheva Carlebach is the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture, and Society at Columbia University and Director of its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. A specialist in Early Modern European Jewish history, her work explores Jewish–Christian relations, religious dissent, conversion, messianism, and communal life. She is the award-winning author of The Pursuit of Heresy, Divided Souls, and Palaces of Time, and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and honors including Columbia's Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award.Debra Kaplan teaches early modern Jewish history at Bar-Ilan University. A social historian, she is the author of Beyond Expulsion (2011) and The Patrons and their Poor (University of Pennsylvania 2020; winner of the Rosl und Paul Arnsberg-Preis).References:“Notes Toward Finding the Right Question” by Cynthia OzickA Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe by Debra Kaplan and Elisheva CarlebachWomen and the Messianic Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi, 1666 - 1816 by Ada Rapoport-AlbertMothers and Children: Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe by Elisheva BaumgartenComing of Age in Medieval Egypt: Female Adolescence, Jewish Law, and Ordinary Culture by Eve KrakowskiFor more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyWhatsApp: join hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.