Judaism Unbound

This week, we’re bringing you an episode of our newest podcast, Tales of the Unbound! In its inaugural season Tales of the Unbound follows the Jewish journey of two incarcerated individuals, their chaplain, and the community they co-created in the most unlikely of places.Tales of the Unbound: Episode 4 - “Do Good Time” follows Ari’s spiritual journey of claiming Jewish identity. There’s an incentive process in prison sentences called meritorious time. We call it “Good Time." For Ari, Good Time has to do with the way he spends his days for the betterment of himself and the world at large. Good Time means a gratitude process, embracing shared humanity, giving to others without expectation of receiving, choosing compassion, and accountability.For information on how to reach out to connect with Jewish agencies who support folks who are incarcerated and their families, connect with a Jewish penpal, donate to help bring kosher meals and access to Jewish supplies, or give straight to Ari and Josh’s Jewish minyan in Monroe, connect with us at: www.judaismunbound.com/tales. You can subscribe to Tales of the Unbound in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else podcasts are found!

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 third bonus episode of Elul Unbound, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore what it means for the observance of Elul to be "God-optional."This Elul bonus episode is the third of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2024 (our 22nd-25th 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 six years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2024 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering of 2024 (Friday, September 6th), where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with friends, by clicking here.

Jericho Vincent, founder and rabbi of Temple of the Stranger — a mystical community based in Brooklyn, NY — is leading a ritual entitled The Unbinding of Isaac: a provocative, experimental, controversial, and immersive theatrical Rosh HaShanah experience. They join Dan and Lex for a conversation about this wild new ritual, and for a broader exploration of what it means to experiment with the treasures of Jewish tradition. This episode is the second in a Judaism Unbound mini-series, helping listeners prepare for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva  (and our 12-week Judaism In-Bound class)! Explore the binding of Isaac, Kol Nidrei, Hasidism, and more!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!

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 second bonus episode of Elul Unbound, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash continue their exploration of the power of threes.This Elul bonus episode is the second of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2024 (our 22nd-25th 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 six years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2024 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering of 2024 (Friday, September 6th), where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with friends, by clicking here.

Zvika Krieger, spiritual leader at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley, California, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Together they ask and explore a variety of questions: who is the God of the High Holidays? When Jews and their loved ones gather to pray, are they praying to that God? Are they (we) doing something else? Should we chuck most of the liturgy out and re-focus ourselves in a different way? Should we retain the traditional prayers and re-interpret them?Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva  (and our 12-week Judaism In-Bound class)! Explore the binding of Isaac, Kol Nidrei, Hasidism, and more!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!

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 first bonus episode of Elul Unbound, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the power of the number three — and the fact that we are entering into the 3rd year of the seven-year Shmita cycle!This Elul bonus episode is the first of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2024 (our 22nd-25th 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 six years, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2024 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our first Elul Unbound Shabbat gathering of 2024 (Friday, September 6th), where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with friends, by clicking here.

Play Steinberg and Sue Reinhold join Dan and Lex for a conversation about Father. Mother. God. — a web-comic Steinberg is in the process of creating! They dive into topics ranging from conversion, to addiction and recovery, to the power of digital Jewish art. Check out Father. Mother. God. via this link!Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva  (and our 12-week Judaism In-Bound class)! Explore the binding of Isaac, Kol Nidrei, Hasidism, and more!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!

On June 20th, 2024, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion eliminated its ban on interfaith relationships for rabbinical students. This landmark decision comes on the heels of decades of many years of organizing and advocacy, and Judaism Unbound is thrilled to celebrate it! In this episode, Dan, Miriam, and Lex speak about what this shift means for Jewish leadership — and for Jewish life more broadly. They also name the ways in which the ban on intermarried (and inter-partnered) rabbinical students did real damage — to Jews and Jewish-adjacent non-Jews — and call for active forms of teshuva (righting of wrongs) by the institutions that inflicted that damage.----------------------------------Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva  (and our 12-week Judaism In-Bound class)! Explore the binding of Isaac, Kol Nidrei, Hasidism, and more!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!

This bonus episode of Judaism Unbound is presented in partnership with Theatre Dybbuk. We are proud to feature their fourth season's fourth episode as a bonus episode here on Judaism Unbound's feed. In each episode, they bring poems, plays, and other creative texts from throughout history to life, all while revealing their relationships to issues still present today. Subscribe to The Dybbukast on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else that podcasts are found.------------------------Presented in collaboration with The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley, we explore "Lilith," a short story by Primo Levi, featured in his 1981 collection, Moments of Reprieve. Dr. Francesco Spagnolo, Curator of The Magnes Collection and Professor of Music and Jewish Studies at UC Berkeley, discusses the ways in which "Lilith," with its combination of memoiristic storytelling, sharply drawn characters, and mythic resonances, speaks not only to the work Levi created throughout his career but to Italian Jewish history and beyond.

This week, we’re bringing you an episode of our newest podcast, Tales of the Unbound! In its inaugural season Tales of the Unbound follows the Jewish journey of two incarcerated individuals, their chaplain, and the community they co-created in the most unlikely of places.Tales of the Unbound: Episode 3 — We go HAM follows Josh’s spiritual journey of claiming Jewish identity, finding healing through reconciliation, and what it means to lead from a place of faith. His joy in the face of adversity is captivating as he carries his own stories and the stories of others as part of his personal evolution. This episode will reach you in the kishkas* carrying the listener as we move from tears to laughter, embracing the raw humanity of becoming yourself.*Kishkas = Literally: intestines; Colloquially: In the guts/ where you deeply feel emotionFor information on how to reach out to connect with Jewish agencies who support folks who are incarcerated and their families, connect with a Jewish penpal, donate to help bring kosher meals and access to Jewish supplies, or give straight to Ari and Josh’s Jewish minyan in Monroe, connect with us at: www.judaismunbound.com/tales. You can subscribe to Tales of the Unbound in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else podcasts are found!