Judaism Unbound

Molly Tolsky is the founding editor of Hey Alma, and the editor of Kveller. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about digital Judaism, pop culture as Torah, and finding humor in dark spaces. Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!  It starts in just a few days (November 5, 2023), as this episode is released! Learn more about other upcoming UnYeshiva mini-courses, beginning in late November, by heading to JudaismUnbound.com/classes.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. And 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!

Jory Handelsman Mayschak is the founder and CEO of BaMidbar, the nation’s first Jewish wilderness therapy program. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about community-oriented approaches to youth mental health and wellness, all through a distinctly Jewish lens.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

Expanding the Canon is an initiative from the Washington DC-based Theater J, which has commissioned seven racially and ethnically diverse Jewish writers to create new full-length plays. These plays will thematically and visually center diverse Jewish narratives in order to correct and broaden the historically limited portrayals of Jewishness on stages in the United States and around the world. Hayley Finn, Theater J's artistic director, and Zachariah Ezer, one of the seven playwrights that collectively form the Expanding the Canon cohort, join Dan and Lex for a conversation about their project's work to expand (or maybe upend?) notions of Jewish canon.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by clicking here!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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! 

Conversion to Judaism is a process dating back to roughly the 2nd century BCE, but even with this long history, mainstream Jewish institutions often fail to wholly welcome these individuals into their communities. In this conversation, Dan and Lex discuss attitudes towards conversion and explore the future of integrating the beauty and brilliance that people who convert bring to the Jewish community and beyond. This episode is the 10th and final episode in an ongoing mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Learn more about Shawn Harris's upcoming (un)course, called Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels,  by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

Tamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the wide range of understandings of God in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history, and how those understandings open up new Jewish possibilities today. Kamionkowski is also teaching an UnYeshiva course this fall called God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes?: Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible – don’t miss it!Tamar Kamionkowski is teaching a course in the UnYeshiva this Fall entitled God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes? - Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible. You can register for it (and explore our other Fall 2023 courses as well) by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

What are the purposes of ritual in our lives? What are the ingredients that go into a successful ritual? Rachel Rose Reid, a ritualist and storyteller who was the first British person to be ordained by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about crafting Jewish ritual. Rachel Rose Reid is teaching a course in the UnYeshiva this Fall entitled Crafting Jewishly-Rooted Ritual. You can register for it (and explore our other Fall 2023 courses as well) by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/classes!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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! 

Yoshi Silverstein is the founder and executive director of Mitsui Collective, an organization that seeks to "build resilient community, through embodied Jewish practice and somatic antiracism." Register for the course he is teaching in the UnYeshiva, beginning in early October, via this link!To access full shownotes for this episode, click here. Learn more about current and upcoming courses in Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva -- a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning -- by heading to www.unyeshiva.com. And 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!

Danya Ruttenberg, the 'Rabbi of Twitter,' joins for a special Yom Kippur episode. They explore her book on making amends and discuss the steps of repentance, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, personal actions vs societal change, challenging Yom Kippur liturgy, and more.

Some people become Jewish at some point in life after they are born. Typically, they're referred to as either "Jews-by-choice" (in contrast to "Jews-by-birth") or as "converts" to Judaism. Amelia Dornbush, who underwent a conversion to Judaism during college, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about why she would not describe herself as a "Jew-by-choice," and why that term may create more problems than it solves. This episode is the 9th in an ongoing Judaism Unbound mini-series exploring conversion to Judaism.Fall 2023 Courses in the UnYeshiva (Judaism Unbound's digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning) are open for registration! Learn more about this semester's courses -- taught by Yoshi Silverstein, Eliana Light, Tamar Kamionkowski, Caryn Aviv, and Rachel Rose Reid -- via www.judaismunbound.com/classes.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link.And 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!

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this fourth and final bonus episode of Elul Unbound 2023, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the topic of second chances, through ancient Jewish stories and contemporary life.This Elul bonus episode is the fourth of four that has been released as part of Elul Unbound 2023 (our 18th-21st Elul episodes overall). Check out Elul Unbound by visiting www.judaismunbound.com/elul.To check out our previous Elul bonus episodes, released through Elul Unbounds of the past five years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2023 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our final Elul Unbound Zoom gathering of 2023 (Thursday, September 14th), where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with friends, by clicking here.