Tablet Studios

Today on Unorthodox, we’re welcoming Shabbat after a painful week. Rabbi Diana Fersko walks us through the basics of Shabbat, and shares additional prayers we can incorporate into our practice on this particular week. Host emeritus Mark Oppenheimer returns to dispense some corduroy wisdom as we navigate this unprecedented moment, and Liel shares some levity with an unexpected account of how one Jewish mother outwitted her Hamas captives.Listen to the Testimonies Archive for more eyewitness audio accounts from Israel, and read Tablet’s coverage here.Write to us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re sharing stories from Israel. We’ll hear firsthand from those who have faced unspeakable tragedy, and acted with incredible bravery since the terror attack on Oct. 7. You’ll hear from someone who escaped the NOVA music festival, friends donating supplies in Tel Aviv, and a report from the missing persons center near Ben Gurion Airport, where Israelis are coming in droves to look for information about their loved ones. This episode features a rendition of “Avinu Malkeinu” performed by Regina Spektor, and “Eli, Eli” sung by from Jenny Penkin and J.Lamotta.Listen to the Testimonies Archive for more eyewitness audio accounts from the Hamas massacre in Israel, and read Tablet’s coverage of the war here.Reach us at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Discussion on the recent sophisticated attack in Israel involving Hezbollah and Iran, speculation on the intentional timing of the attack. Examination of Iran's involvement and the revelation of a command center. Debate on the billions of dollars given to Iran and its potential impact. Exploration of Israel's political unrest and concerns about future conflict. Analysis of past incidents involving US agents and anticipation of Russian and Chinese involvement. Debate on reassessing views on the Iran deal and US-Iran alignment. Discussion on redefining pro-Israel sentiments and understanding power dynamics.

Vote for us in the Signal Awards! We’re finalists for our Across the JEW.S.A: Louisville, Kentucky, episode (vote here!) and for our limited series podcast The Franchise: Jews, Sports, and America (vote here!).This week on Unorthodox, we’re battling the Spelling Bee. Our beloved co-host Liel Leibovitz joins us as our first guest to tell us about his new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book. Listeners have a very special opportunity: preorder the book (from the publisher, your local bookstore, or anywhere else), upload a picture or screenshot of your receipt to tabletm.ag/preorder and fill out the short, accompanying form. You’ll then get invited to a special virtual event with Liel and will get entered to win one of 10 gift packages curated by Liel himself! We also interview Leore Dayan, the creator and screenwriter of Normal, a new, semi-autobiographical Israeli TV show from Israeli production company Dori Media that’s currently available to stream on ChaiFlicks. Leore is the grandson of Israeli military legend Moshe Dayan and the son of famed director Assi Dayan. He shares with us how his complicated family legacy impacted him and informed Normal. We love to hear from you! Send us emails at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS:Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. Visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust to see their new exhibit, Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, opening October 15th. Plan your visit at www.mjhnyc.org. The National Yiddish Theater is presenting Amid Falling Walls, a tribute to the indomitable Jewish spirit during the Holocaust. You can see the show November 14 to December 10 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Get tickets at nytf.org. 

This week on Unorthodox, we’re celebrating Sukkot in style. We head to the Malina sukkah, where we hear from Joshua’s parents, Fran and Robert, about their family traditions. We’re also sharing the second installment of Beautifully Jewish, our series celebrating Jewish material culture, the ritual objects that inspire us, and the people who make them. Stephanie and Tanya explore how something as temporary as a sukkah can be a beautiful and meaningful structure, with the help of Rabbi Adam Baldachin of Shaarei Tikvah, artist Yaeli Vogel (Unorthodox listeners get 10% off using that link), and the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. You can see photos and more at tabletmag.com/beautifullyjewish.Then we’re bringing you the latest installment of The Archive, our series exploring the collections of the National Library of Israel. We learn how Napoleon left his comfort zone and ended up in Israel, a story that ends with the French giving away the Rosetta Stone in exchange for a ride home. And finally, we hear from producer Josh Kross, who never really connected with Sukkot until he moved upstate and reconsidered how his rural home is sort of like a permanent sukkah. Vote for us in the Signal Awards! We’re finalists for our ‘Across The JEW.S.A: Louisville, Kentucky’ episode (vote here!) and for our limited series podcast ‘The Franchise: Jews, Sports, and America’ (vote here!). We appreciate your support. Share your favorite beautifully Jewish things in our Unorthodox Facebook group, via email at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or on social media using the hashtag #beautifullyjewish. Leave a message on our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Special thanks to Josh Mack and Rebecca Frank of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The Aryeh Steinberger sukkah panels panel loan by Jehuda, George, Robert and Paul, sons of Jeno and Piroska Lindenblatt. Lower panel loan by Magda Tewner, granddaughter of Aryeh Steinberger. In addition, the Museum acknowledges with appreciation Irene White, and Richard and Alexander Platschek and Perel Rosenfeld, children of Andor Platschek Weiss. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS:Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. NLI, the National Library of Israel, proudly supports our series The Archive. Discover the treasures, collections, and stories of the National Library of Israel here.American Jewish University (AJU) invites you to join them for their fall semester of online learning. To learn more and register, visit aju.edu/open and use code Unorthodox for a 10% discount.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re preparing for Yom Kippur by learning how to communicate better. We interview linguist Deborah Tannen, who coined our favorite phrase, “cooperative overlap.” She explains the real reason why we’re always interrupting each other on this show, and shares some tips for talking to people with different conversational styles. We talk to Julie Rice, co-founder of Soul Cycle, whose new project, Peoplehood, teaches people how to better listen and communicate with each other. She tells us why we should be working out our “empathy muscles,” and what we can learn when we finally shut up and listen.We chat with Mitchell Silk, the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets (and the first Hasidic Jew to be appointed to a Senate-confirmed position in the federal government). He recently published the first English translation of the Kedushas Levi, a classic Hasidic commentary on the Torah. He shares how communication, whether in Chinese, Hebrew, or English, is the key to revealing what we all have in common. Vote for us in the Signal Awards! We’re finalists for our ‘Across The JEW.S.A: Louisville, Kentucky’ episode (vote here!) and for our limited series podcast ‘The Franchise: Jews, Sports, and America’ (vote here!). We appreciate your support. We love to hear from you! Send us emails at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS:Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. This High Holiday season, help HIAS provide vital services to refugees in more than 20 countries around the world. All donations through September 22 will be matched, doubling your impact. You can learn more at hias.org/unorthodox. American Jewish University (AJU) invites you to join them for their Fall semester of online learning. To learn more and register, visit aju.edu/open and use code unorthodox for a 10% discount.

This week on Unorthodox, you’re totally invited to our bat mitzvah. First we talk to Amanda Stern—aka Fiona Rosenbloom—the author of the young adult novel You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which the new Netflix film is based on. She shares (pre-strike!) what it was like to have her novel adapted into an Adam Sandler movie and gives us an update on what she’s working on now. Then director Guy Nattiv joins us to discuss Golda, his new film about former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. He tells us about the experience of making a film about one of Israel’s most iconic figures, working with Helen Mirren, and more.We love to hear from you! Send us emails at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS:Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. This High Holiday season, help HIAS provide vital services to refugees in more than 20 countries around the world. All donations through September 22 will be matched, doubling your impact. You can learn more at hias.org/unorthodox.American Jewish University (AJU) invites you to join them for their Fall semester of online learning. To learn more and register, visit aju.edu/open and use code unorthodox for a 10% discount.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re unveiling our newest series: Beautifully Jewish, hosted by Stephanie Butnick with Tanya Singer. It’s a celebration of the objects that enrich our Jewish identities and observance, from Shabbat candlesticks to menorahs, tallis covers, mezuzahs, and much more.  Each month, Beautifully Jewish will celebrate Jewish material culture, the ritual objects that inspire us, and the people who make them. We’ll also get hands on, helping listeners create new Jewish things to connect with. We’re starting our journey at the very beginning: Gabriel Goldstein, interim director and chief curator at Yeshiva University Museum, helps us understand the deep connection between Jews and things, tracing it all the way back to the creation of the Mishkan, in Exodus. Fiber artist Heather Stoltz shows us the High Holiday Torah covers she made for her synagogue, Temple Israel Center of White Plains. And Tanya teaches Stephanie to knit, helping her on her journey to explore the many ways in which Judaism celebrates beauty and craft. Share your favorite beautifully Jewish things in our unorthodox Facebook group, via email at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or on social media using the hashtag #beautifullyjewish.  Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS:Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. HIAS: This High Holiday season, help HIAS provide vital services to refugees in more than 20 countries around the world. All donations through September 22 will be matched, doubling your impact. You can learn more at hias.org/unorthodox.American Jewish University (AJU) invites you to join them for their Fall semester of online learning. To learn more and register, visit aju.edu/open and use code unorthodox for a 10% discount.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re chowing down. Cookbook author and chef Jake Cohen returns to the show to tell us about his new cookbook, I Could Nosh: Classic Jew-ish Recipes Revamped for Every Day. He also shares some recipes for your Rosh Hashanah table. Producer Quinn Waller brings us along to Lee Lee’s Baked Goods in Harlem to talk to Alvin Lee Smalls, the man behind some of the best rugelach in New York City. Tablet writer Maggie Phillips returns to the show to visit PLNT Burger and chat with co-founders Seth Goldman and Julie Farkas about the surprising Jewish ethos behind the business and their work to make burgers available to people of all faiths. We’re also taking a trip Across the JEW.S.A to the thriving Orthodox community in the Catskills. Across the JEW.S.A. is created with the support of the Jewish Federations of North America. You can catch up on the rest of our travels across the JEW.S.A. at tabletmag.com/jewsa.We love to hear from you! Send us emails at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS: Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger is fighting hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. Visit mazon.org/unorthodox to join their fight to end hunger: Right now your donation will be doubled, up to $100,000!

This week on Unorthodox, we’re continuing our journey through the Hebrew month of Elul up to the High Holidays by focusing on music. Rabbi Josh Warshawsky returns to the show to walk us through the melodies of the High Holidays, plus he shares his new version of Hineni. Then, we’re re-airing a segment with Ladino singer Sarah Aroeste, who shares her musical tribute to the lost Sephardic community of Monastir. We’re also bringing you our latest installment of The Archive, our series exploring the collections of the National Library of Israel. This week, we dive into the library’s music collection and sound archive. We love to hear from you! Send us emails at unorthodox@tabletmag.com, or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Check out our Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at tsinger@tabletmag.com.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.SPONSORS: Hadassah is hosting “Inspire Zionism: Tech, Trailblazers and Tattoos,” a two-day online event featuring panels with inspiring Zionist women, hosted by our own Stephanie Butnick. To join the conversation October 25 and 26, register at go.hadassah.org/inspire. Cutting Edge Foods is a family business that has been producing premium kosher meats for over four decades. Get 10% off your order at cuttingedgefoods.com with the code UNORTHODOX. NLI, the National Library of Israel, proudly supports our series The Archive. Discover the treasures, collections, and stories of the National Library of Israel here.