Podcasts about Jewish Life

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.

What does the Torah actually say about immigrants — and what does it demand of us? Rabbi Jeff Salkin sits down with one of the Jewish world's leading theologians, Rabbi Shai Held, to explore the Bible's most repeated commandment: love the ger — the stranger, the sojourner, the immigrant. Held argues that "immigrant" is not just the most accurate translation of ger, it's the most morally urgent one. When the Torah says to love the immigrant, it's making a claim on us every single day. Together, Salkin and Held trace the Torah's radical counter-vision to Egypt — a society built not on cruelty and power, but on empathy and care for the vulnerable. They explore what it means to imitate God by loving those whom God loves, why the stories of Abraham, Sarah, and Lot are really lessons in empathy, and how the Holocaust's legacy shapes the Jewish moral imagination. And they end with the question Rabbi Held says belongs on the doorpost of every house of worship in the world: It's not whether you believe in God. It's whom your God loves. Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair of Jewish Thought at the Hadar Institute, which he co-founded. His most recent book is Judaism Is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

B"H Jewish life is on fire, and I want to share a bit of that positivity. This is a very difficult time to be Jewish. In Israel and in the diaspora there is fear, tension, and real danger. Nothing I say here minimizes that. I see it as a rabbi and in my work as a therapist supporting people in the Jewish community. Every attack, every threat, every moment of fear is real and painful. But there is another truth at the same time. For generations we have often lost the propaganda war. We try to respond, we try to explain, but so much of that is beyond our control. Yet while that battle rages, Jewish life itself is thriving. Tel Aviv is alive with simchat chayim. The Land of Israel is flourishing in ways our ancestors could only dream of. Chabad centers across the world are bursting with Ahavat Yisrael, welcoming every Jew with love. Our hopes go even deeper than this. A world where Beit Tefillah yikareh lechol ha'amim, where all humanity gathers in Yerushalayim to serve Hashem together. Until that day, we keep fighting antisemitism, we keep supporting our people, and we keep standing strong. But we should also recognize the moment we are living in. Jewish life is burning with an aish tamid, an eternal flame, inside every one of us. Thank Hashem for that fire. And may we soon see days of peace for Am Yisrael and for the entire world. #AmYisraelChai #Judaism #Israel #Chabad #JewishLife To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content! Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!

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.

A Mississippi synagogue is set on fire—and in the ashes, a prayer book lies open to the Shema. In this episode of Seeking Sinai, Rabbi Natan Trief is joined by Rabbi Brad Levenberg to confront the evolving face of Jew-hatred and why synagogues remain such powerful symbols of hatred as well as resilience. Together, they wrestle with fear, history, and the pressure to respond without losing our moral center. This is a conversation about clarity over panic, presence over silence, and the stubborn courage to remain visibly, proudly Jewish.

The Shmuze - Rabbi Karlinsky - 4 Parshiot, 4 Foundations of Jewish Life by Shapell's Rabbeim

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: https://merylain.com/ Jews Love To Read! https://www.facebook.com/groups/455865462463744 People of the Book: https://www.facebook.com/PeopleOfTheBookWithMerylAin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meryl.ain.9/ Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/MerylAinAuthor/ Amazon: https://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

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/455865462463744People of the Book: www.facebook.com/PeopleOfTheBookWithMerylAinFacebook: www.facebook.com/meryl.ain.9/Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/MerylAinAuthor/Amazon: a.co/d/ec5DbXnCopyright 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

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: https://merylain.com/ Jews Love To Read! https://www.facebook.com/groups/455865462463744 People of the Book: https://www.facebook.com/PeopleOfTheBookWithMerylAin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meryl.ain.9/ Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/MerylAinAuthor/ Amazon: https://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

Rabbi Y Y Rubinstein is w orld-renowned lecturer and author. Originally from Scotland, he was the official campus rabbi for the 14 universities of the Northwest of England for 23 years and was a regular Broadcaster on BBC Radio and TV but resigned in 2022 over what he saw as its institutional anti-Semitism. He is the author of fourteen books including "The Little Book for Big Worries", "Jewish Life and Jewish Laughter" and most recently, "Never Alone...The book for teens and young adults who've lost a parent." ---Please rate and review the Empowered Jewish Living podcast on whatever platform you stream it. Please follow Rabbi Shlomo Buxbaum and the Lev Experience on the following channels:Facebook: @ShlomobuxbaumInstagram: @shlomobuxbaumYouTube: @levexperienceOrder Rabbi Shlomo' books: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Four Elements of an Empowered Life: A Guidebook to Discovering Your Inner World and Unique Purpose⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Four Elements of Inner Freedom: The Exodus Story as a Model for Overcoming Challenges and Achieving Personal Breakthroughs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can order a copy on⁠ Amazon⁠ or in your local Jewish bookstore.

In this thoughtful and accessible episode of Shoulder to Shoulder, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Pastor Doug Reed explore one of the defining rhythms of Jewish life: the weekly Torah portion. What is the parsha, where did it come from, and why has it unified Jewish communities across centuries and continents? Pesach explains how the annual cycle of fifty four readings structures Jewish spiritual time, shapes synagogue life, and keeps the Five Books of Moses at the center of Jewish consciousness. Along the way, the conversation touches on the Ten Commandments and their unique (yet not hierarchical) place within Jewish law, including the surprising history of why Jews once recited them daily and why that practice was discontinued. Pesach also reflects on how the Torah's communal rhythm compares to Christian liturgical seasons like Christmas and Easter. Before diving into Scripture, the two hosts briefly address the current U.S.–Iran negotiations under the Trump administration, offering a clear-eyed take on what is at stake for Israel and the region. This is a rich blend of Bible, history, theology, and contemporary geopolitics — all told in the warm, candid "one Bible, two voices" style that defines Shoulder to Shoulder.

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.

Today on the podcast, I'm deeply honored to welcome Rabbi Dr. Minna Bromberg — the founder and president of Fat Torah, a groundbreaking initiative working at the intersection of Jewish life, sacred text, and body liberation. Fat Torah's mission is both urgent and expansive: to confront and end weight stigma in Jewish communal spaces, to train leaders and educators to recognize and uproot fatphobia wherever it appears — including within ourselves — and to cultivate spiritual practices rooted in dignity, wholeness, and liberation for people of every body size. Rabbi Bromberg brings more than three decades of fat activism into deep conversation with Judaism, theology, and lived experience. She holds a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University, was ordained at Hebrew College, has led a 250-family Conservative congregation, released multiple albums of original music, made aliyah, and directed the Year-in-Israel program for Hebrew College rabbinical students. She is also a voice teacher who helps people reclaim their voices in prayer — work that beautifully echoes Fat Torah's insistence that every body and every voice truly belongs. Minna lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Rabbi Alan Abrams, and their two children. Her forthcoming book, Every Body Beloved: A Call for Fat Liberation in Jewish Life, challenges us to rethink holiness, tradition, and belonging from the inside out. This is a conversation about Torah, justice, embodiment, and what it really means to create Jewish communities where no one has to shrink themselves — physically, spiritually, or emotionally — in order to belong. ——

Today on the podcast, I'm deeply honored to welcome Rabbi Dr. Minna Bromberg — the founder and president of Fat Torah, a groundbreaking initiative working at the intersection of Jewish life, sacred text, and body liberation. Fat Torah's mission is both urgent and expansive: to confront and end weight stigma in Jewish communal spaces, to train leaders and educators to recognize and uproot fatphobia wherever it appears — including within ourselves — and to cultivate spiritual practices rooted in dignity, wholeness, and liberation for people of every body size. Rabbi Bromberg brings more than three decades of fat activism into deep conversation with Judaism, theology, and lived experience. She holds a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University, was ordained at Hebrew College, has led a 250-family Conservative congregation, released multiple albums of original music, made aliyah, and directed the Year-in-Israel program for Hebrew College rabbinical students. She is also a voice teacher who helps people reclaim their voices in prayer — work that beautifully echoes Fat Torah's insistence that every body and every voice truly belongs. Minna lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Rabbi Alan Abrams, and their two children. Her forthcoming book, Every Body Beloved: A Call for Fat Liberation in Jewish Life, challenges us to rethink holiness, tradition, and belonging from the inside out. This is a conversation about Torah, justice, embodiment, and what it really means to create Jewish communities where no one has to shrink themselves — physically, spiritually, or emotionally — in order to belong. ——

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. 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

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Over the past two years, many filmmakers have hesitated or refrained from bringing their films to Israeli film festivals as part of cultural boycott of Israel over the Gaza war. But for Joshua Zeman, the decision to bring his powerful new documentary “Checkpoint Zoo” to the Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival was “merely part and parcel of the whole experience of making a film about something that's been politicized that shouldn’t be politicized.” Zeman’s film tells the dramatic story of the 2022 rescue of nearly 5,000 animals from the Feldman Ecopark zoo in Ukraine located on the Russian border outside the city of Kharkiv – on the front lines of the war – lovingly built and maintained by an animal-loving Orthodox Jewish oligarch, Oleksandr Feldman. “There has been a lot of backlash against Ukraine here in the States, even though the film is just about people rescuing animals, so the film was already complicated for me in terms of getting distribution,” Zeman said on the Haaretz Podcast. “Checkpoint Zoo” chronicles the efforts of Feldman, a handful of zoo workers who did not flee Kharkiv during the war and four idealistic volunteers as they risked their lives under fire from drones and bombs to remove lions, tigers, monkeys, ostriches and other animals out of from harm’s way in a modern-day Noah’s Ark. “War by definition is brutality created to strip away your humanity. But in rescuing these animals, these volunteers not only refound their humanity, but found this unbelievable well of courage.” Zeman sees Feldman – who allowed his luxurious mansion to be taken over by the rescued animals – as “a Schindler-esque character.” After Feldman’s businesses in Kharkiv were destroyed by the war, he was forced to “basically sell everything to care for these animals,” Zeman recounted. “Whenever we talked about the animals, he immediately cried. He's a big crier – he is a fascinating character who espouses a lot of values from the Torah.” Read more: Meet Oleksander Feldman, the Lonely Ukrainian Jew Fighting His Country’s New Fondness for Nazis 'It Is a Fascist Project': The Ukrainian Filmmaker Who Withdrew From a Prestigious Amsterdam Film Festival Because of the Israel Boycott Read all of Haaretz's film coverage Russian Strikes Destroy Centers of Jewish Life in Kharkiv as Community Members Flee The Tragic End of the Ukrainian Community in GazaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rabbi Laizer Labkovski from the Center for Jewish Life on the attack on the Jewish community in Australia this past weekend full 173 Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:30:00 +0000 hOXR8UoQbkfSfnnbP43hazIOSpmjzrLc news,australia,western new york,wben,antisemitism WBEN Extras news,australia,western new york,wben,antisemitism Rabbi Laizer Labkovski from the Center for Jewish Life on the attack on the Jewish community in Australia this past weekend Archive of various reports and news events 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News False

The American Jewish philanthropic enterprise is unparalleled in scope, dynamism, and the diversity of funders and the causes they support. Yet even as Jewish giving has been largely successful in responding with alacrity to emergencies, it has been subjected to severe criticism. What once was regarded as a point of pride has become the object of scorn and dismissal, with skepticism--if not harsh criticism--about its work rife both within and outside Jewish communal circles. Based on 320 interviews with professionals at Jewish not-for-profits across the United States, principals of foundations and their top staff personnel, and also tax filings of major foundations, Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life (NYU Press, 2025) provides readers with fresh perspectives to evaluate the efforts of Jewish donors, large and small. The book traces the evolution of Jewish giving from the colonial era to the present, charting the changing profile of those who give to Jewish causes and what funders have aimed to achieve through their largesse. It makes the case that philanthropy serves as a prism through which broader themes in communal life are illuminated. As society or politics change, the priorities of charitable giving adjust in response. These changes in targeted funding can help to sharpen our understanding of demographic and social patterns. Devoting much attention to twenty-first century developments in contemporary Jewish giving, the book pays special attention to the changing landscape of donors who are remaking Jewish philanthropy, including women, Orthodox Jews, Sephardi givers, and young funders. 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

The American Jewish philanthropic enterprise is unparalleled in scope, dynamism, and the diversity of funders and the causes they support. Yet even as Jewish giving has been largely successful in responding with alacrity to emergencies, it has been subjected to severe criticism. What once was regarded as a point of pride has become the object of scorn and dismissal, with skepticism--if not harsh criticism--about its work rife both within and outside Jewish communal circles. Based on 320 interviews with professionals at Jewish not-for-profits across the United States, principals of foundations and their top staff personnel, and also tax filings of major foundations, Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life (NYU Press, 2025) provides readers with fresh perspectives to evaluate the efforts of Jewish donors, large and small. The book traces the evolution of Jewish giving from the colonial era to the present, charting the changing profile of those who give to Jewish causes and what funders have aimed to achieve through their largesse. It makes the case that philanthropy serves as a prism through which broader themes in communal life are illuminated. As society or politics change, the priorities of charitable giving adjust in response. These changes in targeted funding can help to sharpen our understanding of demographic and social patterns. Devoting much attention to twenty-first century developments in contemporary Jewish giving, the book pays special attention to the changing landscape of donors who are remaking Jewish philanthropy, including women, Orthodox Jews, Sephardi givers, and young funders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

The American Jewish philanthropic enterprise is unparalleled in scope, dynamism, and the diversity of funders and the causes they support. Yet even as Jewish giving has been largely successful in responding with alacrity to emergencies, it has been subjected to severe criticism. What once was regarded as a point of pride has become the object of scorn and dismissal, with skepticism--if not harsh criticism--about its work rife both within and outside Jewish communal circles. Based on 320 interviews with professionals at Jewish not-for-profits across the United States, principals of foundations and their top staff personnel, and also tax filings of major foundations, Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life (NYU Press, 2025) provides readers with fresh perspectives to evaluate the efforts of Jewish donors, large and small. The book traces the evolution of Jewish giving from the colonial era to the present, charting the changing profile of those who give to Jewish causes and what funders have aimed to achieve through their largesse. It makes the case that philanthropy serves as a prism through which broader themes in communal life are illuminated. As society or politics change, the priorities of charitable giving adjust in response. These changes in targeted funding can help to sharpen our understanding of demographic and social patterns. Devoting much attention to twenty-first century developments in contemporary Jewish giving, the book pays special attention to the changing landscape of donors who are remaking Jewish philanthropy, including women, Orthodox Jews, Sephardi givers, and young funders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Small groups of crypto-Jews are known to have made their way to England. We know the names and occasionally the stories of some. But no one had a greater impact on England's history or on Queen Elizabeth I, than Roger Lopez: Physician, Double Agent, Diplomat & Court Jew.   Jews were News even during the period of their supposed forced absence.   And what is the real story behind Henry VIII's set of Talmud?   Chapters 00:00:00 Doctor Lopez and the Earl of Leicester 00:00:26 Podcast Introduction and Listener Letter  00:36:32 Rodrigo Lopez: Early Life and Arrival in England  00:05:10 Lopez's Rise and Role at Court  00:08:14 Espionage and the Don Antonio Affair  00:09:41 Jewish Community as Diplomatic Asset  00:11:02 International Intrigue and Spanish Spies  00:13:39 The Spanish Armada and Aftermath  00:15:22 Lopez's Espionage and Double Agency  00:16:40 The Andrada Case and Rising Suspicion 00:19:12 Arrest and Trial of Lopez  00:21:52 Charges, Confession, and Execution  00:24:35 Was Lopez Guilty? 00:27:08 Lopez's Legacy and Impact on Literature  00:30:44 Jewish Life in England: 1300s–1400s  00:32:50 Conversos and Marranos in Tudor England  00:36:32 Risks and Persecution of Marranos  00:38:42 Elizabethan Era and Secret Jewish Life  00:40:35 Religious Practice and Open Jews 00:43:10 Persistence of Jewish Identity 00:45:12 The Talmud in England: The Henry VIII Legend  00:48:35 Conclusion and Next Series Teaser     

Abby Smith is the President and CEO of Team Pennsylvania, where she leads statewide efforts to build strategic public-private partnerships that address long-term challenges no single sector can solve alone. With more than 20 years of experience in policy, strategy, and cross-sector collaboration, Abby has held leadership roles advancing economic development, education, and workforce initiatives in Pennsylvania and beyond. She previously served as Team Pennsylvania's Vice President of Policy & Programs and Senior Advisor to the Foundation, and earlier in her career worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Teach For America, and as a 7th grade social studies teacher. Abby holds degrees from Yale University, The Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Mellon University. A recipient of the Above & Beyond Award honoring Pennsylvania women of public and civic leadership, she also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg and the Jewish Community Center, where she led the acquisition of the Alexander Grass Campus for Jewish Life. She lives in Hershey, Pennsylvania with her husband, twin sons, and dog, Comet.

All Home Care Matters and our host, Lance A. Slatton were honored to welcome esteemed author Eliezer Sobel as guest to the show.   About Eliezer Sobel:   Eliezer is the author of The Silver Lining of Alzheimer's: One Son's Journey Into the Mystery, as well as two picture books for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, Blue Sky, White Clouds: A Book for Memory-Challenged Adults, and L'Chaim! Pictures to Evoke Memories of Jewish Life. He has also published Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World That is Heartbroken, selected by National Book Award winner John Casey as the winner of the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel, among 400 entries.   Also, The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments; Wild Heart Dancing: A One-Day Personal Quest to Liberate the Artist & Lover Within; The Dark Light of the Soul/Encounters with Gabrielle Roth; an e-book titled Why I Am Not Enlightened, and he blogs for PsychologyToday.com.   Eliezer has also led creativity workshops and silent meditation retreats around the U.S.; he is a certified teacher of Gabrielle Roth's 5Rhythms® conscious movement practice; has served as a hospital chaplain; was the publisher of two magazines, The New Sun and the Wild Heart Journal; served as Music Director for several children's theater companies on both coasts, and taught music in two alternative high schools. Also an amateur painter, he and Shari reside in Red Bank, New Jersey with their two cats, Shlomo and Nudnick.