Tablet Studios

This week on Unorthodox: Three Jews, infinite opinions.First, Mark sits down with Yiscah Smith, a Jewish educator, spiritual activist, and author. Yiscah discussed her journey as a trans woman and teacher of Torah; her documentary, I Was Not Born a Mistake will be shown at the New York Jewish Film Festival on Tuesday, January 21. More info here.Our next guest is Danny Dayan, Israel’s Consul General in New York. Liel spoke with him about the communities he’s prioritized outreach to, the challenge he faces in getting Israeli and American Jews to understand each other, and his solutions to that challenge.And finally, Mark speaks with Dr. Carol Gilligan, feminist activist and NYU professor, about anti-Semitism and the Women’s March, which takes place this weekend across the country.Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and LielJan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with StephanieFeb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & LielFeb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and LielFeb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and MarkMarch 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and LielCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies hereDo you know a high school student who wants to deepen their engagement with Judaism? Nominate them today for the Maimonides Scholars Program, where they’ll debate and discuss Jewish thought, Zionism, philosophy, and politics at Yale University over two weeks in the summer of 2020. The application closes on January 27, so nominate a student today at maimonidesscholars.org/Unorthodox

Unorthodox is off this week, so instead we're introducing you to Take One, the new Daf Yomi podcast from Tablet Magazine hosted by our own Liel Leibovitz.As Jews around the world begin a new seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, reading the entire Talmud one page per day, Tablet Magazine's new podcast, Take One, will offer a brief and evocative daily read of the daf. We launch the cycle with a brief introduction to the Talmud at large before diving into the text with Tractate Berakhot, page 2, and a meditation on the meaning of time, why you might want to think twice before you Netflix and chill, and how all these rabbinic strictures can help us make sense of our modern, messy lives.

We’re starting 2020 with our favorite combo: Talmud and food.First, Adam Kirsch reflects on completing the seven-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of reading one page of Talmud each day, which he chronicled in a column for Tablet. He tells us what he learned as a reader and literary critic from this intense textual undertaking, plus how his life has changed in the seven years since he started. He also makes the case that more Jews should take on Daf Yomi, if only to better understand what our ancestors were up to, and offers some tips for beginners.Then we sit down with the Seattle-based food writer and podcaster Rachel Belle, host of “Your Last Meal.” She tells us about asking people like Isaac Mizrahi, Rainn Wilson, and William Shatner what their last meal on earth would be, and dishes about how food ties into her Jewish identity. Then she asks the hosts what their last meals would be, in a beshert-cross-podcast segment airing on her show as well.Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!Jan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and LielJan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with StephanieFeb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & LielFeb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and LielFeb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and MarkMarch 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and LielCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:Do you know a high school student who wants to deepen theirengagement with Judaism? Nominate them for the Maimonides Scholars Program, where they’ll debate and discuss Jewish thought, Zionism, philosophy, and politics at Yale University over two weeks in the summer of 2020. The application closes on January 27, so nominate a student today at maimonidesscholars.org/Unorthodox.

This week, we’re coming to you live from Denver’s JCC Mizel Arts and Culture Center as part of the 12th annual Neustadt Jewish Arts, Authors, Movies, and Music Festival.Our Jewish guest is Sue Salinger, director of the Denver region of Hazon, the environmental organization working to strengthen Jewish life and contribute to a more environmentally sustainable world. She tells us what Jewish tradition teaches us about farming and sustainability, what makes Denver’s Jewish community unique, and why Judaism calls us to act against climate change.Our Gentile of the week is Michael Johnston, a teacher and politician who served as the Colorado State Senator from the 33rd district from 2009 to 2017, and is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020. He tells us about the culture shock of leaving Vail, CO to attend Yale University, explains how his work as a teacher got him interested in politics, and weighs in on the 2020 Democratic primary.And finally, a musical tribute on the eve of Leonard Cohen’s third yahrzeit from Eve Ilsen, a storyteller, singer, and psychotherapist. She was ordained as a rabbinic pastor of the Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal, by her late husband, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!Dec. 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and LielJan. 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and LielJan. 10, 2020 — Fountain Valley, CA: Book talk with StephanieFeb. 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & LielFeb. 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and LielFeb. 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and MarkMarch 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and LielCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:Sony Pictures Classics presents The Song of Names, a new film from Francois Girard starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen, and featuring a score by two-time Academy Award winner Howard Shore. When a Jewish music prodigy disappears, a childhood friend starts an obsessive search that spans over two continents and a half century. The Song of Names opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 25th and comes to a theatre near you this January.

New York-area listeners: Enter to win a spot at our first-ever Unorthodox Shabbat dinner, January 3rd at the Freehand New York.This week on Unorthodox, we’re getting into the Hanukkah spirit. But first, a discussion of the terrifying anti-Semitic shooting at a Jersey City kosher market that killed four people.Then, Rabbi Ari Lamm explains the real story of Hanukkah, which is less about oil and miracles and more about Jews battling each other over assimilation.And since the holiday season is synonymous with movies, we talk to Clive Owen and Howard Shore, the star and composer of The Song of Names, which opens in theaters on Christmas. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht, features Owen as a Hasidic violin prodigy.We also chat with Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ, about how he incorporates the latest technology into his work.Let us know what you think of the show: email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!December 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and LielJanuary 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and LielFebruary 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Book talk with Stephanie & LielFebruary 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, Pennsylvania: Book talk with Mark and LielFebruary 26, 2020 – Naples, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and MarkMarch 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, Florida: Book talk with Stephanie and LielCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:Hebrew College’s vibrant and pluralistic community trains aspiring rabbis, cantors, and educational leaders. Learn more at hebrewcollege.edu/explore. Applications for Fall 2020 are due January 15, 2020.Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking, and makes a great Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstore

This week on Unorthodox, we’re very literally all over the place.First, we bring you News of the Jews from our live show earlier this week at the Valley of the Sun JCC in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. Then we call Wall Street Journal reporter Louise Radnofsky to figure out why so many figure skaters perform to the Schindler’s List theme song.Stephanie sits down with Sarah Hurwitz, a former speechwriter for Michelle Obama and the author of the new book Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life—in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There). She tells us about rediscovering and embracing Judaism while working in the White House, how she’s using the skills she honed as a speechwriter to make Judaism more accessible, and the advice she has for people who want to make Jewish practice a bigger part of their life but aren’t sure how to do so.Our Gentile of the Week is Jackson Crawford, a professor of Old Norse mythology, who chatted with Mark while we were in Denver last month. He tells us about translating Norse poetry, bringing an ancient world to life through his YouTube channel, and the strange conspiracy theories circulating about him on the internet.Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!December 15 – New Haven, Connecticut: Brunch and book talk with all three hostsDecember 19 – St. Louis: Book talk with Stephanie and LielJanuary 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talk with Mark and LielFebruary 6, 2020 – Scotch Plains, NJ: Book talk with Stephanie & LielFebruary 9, 2020 – Wyomissing, PA: Book talk with Mark and LielFebruary 26, 2020 – Naples, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and MarkMarch 12, 2020 – Boca Raton, FL: Book talk with Stephanie and LielCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:Soom Foods makes delicious tahini products that are dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and certified kosher. Try the pantry sampler, which includes their tahini, chocolate sweet tahini halva spread, and silan date syrup. Head to soomfoods.com and use code UNORTHODOX to get 15 percent off your order.Adeena Sussman’s cookbook Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking, and makes a great Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstoreHarry’s limited-edition holiday sets are the perfect gift this season. Get $5 off any shave set when you go to Harrys.com/UNORTHODOX. (Free shipping through Dec. 16.)

This week on Unorthodox, we’re kicking off December with three very festive interviews.First up, designer Jonathan Adler and his husband, three–time Unorthodox guest Simon Doonan. Jonathan tells us about growing up with a one-room shul-house in rural southern New Jersey and how he developed his love for pottery and ceramics at summer camp. Simon talks about his new book, Drag: The Complete Story, and explains how Barbra Streisand became an icon in the drag world and in gay culture more broadly.Next up is Stephen Schragis, whose One Day University offers continuing education experiences across the country. He offers his theories on why Jews love learning for learning’s sake (or at least sign up so frequently for his courses), and tells us about the time he got Donald Trump to lecture to a group of 30,000 people.Finally we check in with our favorite food blogger and TV personality, Molly Yeh, who tells us about her upcoming latke-filled Food Network special, Ultimate Hanukkah Challenge, which premieres Saturday, December 21. (Listen to Molly’s previous Unorthodox appearances here.)Let us know what you think of the show! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!December 5 – Port Washington, New York: Book talkDecember 6-7 – Encinitas, California: An Unorthodox Shabbat and Unorthodox live showDecember 9 – Phoenix: Unorthodox live showDecember 15 – New Haven, Connecticut: Brunch and book talkDecember 19 – St. Louis: Book talkJanuary 8, 2020 – Westport, Connecticut: Book talkCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:Our world needs more healing, and our tradition needs more caring and committed leaders. Hebrew College’s vibrant and pluralistic community trains aspiring rabbis, cantors, and educational leaders. Learn more at hebrewcollege.edu/explore.Applications for Fall 2020 are due on January 15, 2020.Soom Foods makes delicious tahini products that are dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and certified kosher. Try the pantry sampler, which includes their tahini, chocolate sweet tahini halva spread, and silan date syrup. Head to soomfoods.com and use code UNORTHODOX to get 15 percent off your order.Adeena Sussman’s Israeli cookbook Sababa is the perfect Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life. Named a best Fall 2019 cookbook by The New York Times and Bon Appetit, Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstore.

Live from Detroit with Jackie Victor of Avalon International Breads and Phil Goldsmith of New York Bagel, plus a road trip to Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MIWe talked carbohydrates and community on stage at the JCC of Metro Detroit with two Jewish guests who run Detroit institutions: Jackie Victor, CEO and co-founder of Avalon International Breads, and Phil Goldsmith, fourth-generation owner of New York Bagel.Jackie tells us about opening a bakery in downtown Detroit in the 1990s (much to the surprise of her family and the realtor), and how that bakery continues to champion sustainability and community even as it’s become the largest bread distributor in the area. Phil tells us about taking over the family business, which was founded in Detroit by great-grandfather Morris Goldsmith in 1921, explains how chains like Panera and Einstein Bros Bagels have changed the landscape of bagel-making throughout America (he recently added blueberry bagels to the menu), and clues us into what a ‘dogel’ is (you can buy them online!).Since that wasn’t enough food for us, the next morning we made a pilgrimage to Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, MI. We ate sandwiches and rugelach and sat down with owner Ari Weinzweig, who told us about the surprising Jewish anarchist roots of his iconic deli (his latest book is a pamphlet called Going into Business with Emma Goldman), his favorite menu offerings, and the upcoming Zingerman’s Food Tours trip to Israel.Let us know what you think of the show: Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869.Come see us on tour!December 5 – Port Washington, New York: Book talkDecember 6-7 – Encinitas, California: An Unorthodox Shabbat and Unorthodox live showDecember 9 – Phoenix: Unorthodox live showDecember 15 – New Haven, Connecticut: Brunch and book talkDecember 19 – St. Louis: Book eventCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more.Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group.Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.For more information about the Jewish Star contest, visit JewishRockRadio.com.This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at Harrys.com/Unorthodox.This episode is also sponsored by J. Press. Get 15 percent off your first order when you use the code Unorthodox15 at jpressonline.com or in one of their retail stores in New Haven, New York, or Washington, D.C. Offer good through Dec. 24, 2019.Looking for the perfect Hanukkah gift for the foodie in your life? Get them Adeena Sussman’s new Israeli cookbook, Sababa. Named a best Fall 2019 cookbook by The New York Times and Bon Appetit, Sababa shares the vibrant flavors of Israeli home cooking. Get a copy of Sababa online or at your favorite bookstore.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re coming to you from, well, all over the place. First, we check in on our hosts to see what was up when they were in Cincinnati this past weekend, and we even get some news fresh from Cincinnati’s Jewish newspaper, The American Israelite.Our first Jewish guests are Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook, co-owners of the James Beard award-winning restaurant Zahav and several other Philadelphia mainstays. We visited them at Zahav and talked about what makes the place so special, what “Israeli” food really is, and how food will be the key to future diplomacy. They also share recipes from their cookbooks, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking and Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious.Our Second interview is with writer and Parsha in Progress podcast host Abigail Pogrebin. We talk about her journey from unaffiliated Jew to active synagogue member and author of several books about Judaism, including Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish and My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew. She also tells us how her journey lead to creating the Tablet podcast Parsha in Progress a 10 minute look into each week’s Torah portion, which she hosts alongside Rabbi Dov Linzer.Come see us on tour!November 21 – New York: Book talkNovember 22 – New York: Shabbat book talkDecember 5 – Port Washington, New York: Book talkDecember 6-7 – Encinitas, California: An Unorthodox Shabbat and Unorthodox live showDecember 9 – Phoenix: Unorthodox live showDecember 15 – New Haven, CT: Brunch and book talkDecember 17 –  New York: Stephanie talks to the team behind Hadassah’s podcast The Branch, Dina Kraft and Josh KrossDecember 19 – St. Louis: Book eventCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.

This week on Unorthodox, we’re coming to you from Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT. Our Jewish guest is Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of more than 15 books, including the recently updated and reissued Words that Hurt, Words that Heal. Rabbi Telushkin tells us about the most common types of questions he fields as a rabbi, why he’s so interested in Jewish laws of ethical speech, and what he learned from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.Our gentile of the week is Farooq Kathwari, CEO of the Ethan Allen furniture company and author of Trailblazer: From the Mountains of Kashmir to the Summit of Global Business and Beyond. He tells us about his childhood in Kashmir, his interfaith work on the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, and and why it feels perfectly right to be an immigrant at the helm of a famous furniture company named after a Revolutionary War hero.Come see us on tour!November 14 – Margate, New Jersey: Book talkNovember 17 – Cincinnati: Unorthodox live showNovember 20 – Dresher, Pennsylvania: Book talkNovember 21 – New York: Book talkNovember 22 – New York: Shabbat book talkDecember 5 – Port Washington, New York: Book talkDecember 6-7 – Encinitas, California: An Unorthodox Shabbat and Unorthodox live showDecember 9 – Phoenix: Unorthodox live showDecember 15 – New Haven, CT: Brunch and book talkDecember 19 – St. Louis: Book eventCopies of The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia will be sold and signed at each event. Like the book? Leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads.Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram and join our Facebook group. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies here.Sponsors:This episode is brought to you by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at Harrys.com/Unorthodox.Get ready for Thanksgiving with KOL Foods. Go to kolfoods.com and use the code UNORTHODOX to receive a 10 percent discount on your next order.