

Ask a Jew
Ask a Jew
Yael Bar tur, secular sinner, and Chaya Leah Sufrin, pious Haredi, ask each other the hard questions, from Torah to Tinder askajew.substack.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 14, 2024 • 1h 22min
The Last Remaining Jew of Idaho - with Ben Dreyfuss
 America’s favorite Nepo baby after Jesus, the greatest one-eye war hero since Moshe Dayan, the man who puts the Ho in Idaho - we are honored to welcome Ben Dreyfuss to Ask A Jew today. In this vulnerable, first of its kind tell-all, Ben opens up to us about his relationship with social media, his famous father, Judaism - and why he still hasn’t forgiven Bin Laden.Make sure to check out Ben’s hilarious newsletter Calm Down on Substack, and follow him on X , you probably won’t regret it.   Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Aug 9, 2024 • 54min
The one Kosher restaurant in Cape Town
  A haunting and beautiful skit from the Israeli show "Hayehudim Baim" ("The Jews are coming")Peter Paltchik, olympic medalist, with his coach Oren Smadja who just lost his son in GazaIsael's Olympic team (6 medals and counting!)Dr. Mijal Bitton at the NYU rallyJoing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Aug 1, 2024 • 1h 3min
The funniest episode about the Holocaust you'll ever hear
 Karmela Waldman may be a Holocaust survivor with a heartbreaking story, but the true victim of the Nazis is clealrly her son, Joel, as he tells us. The hilarious mother-son duo join the girls to talk about optimism, the True Crime podcast they co host, Surviving the Survivor,  and the book Joel wrote about his mother by the same name, which he calls a living eulogy, but she refers to as “A poor man’s Tuesdays with Morrie”. Surviving the Survivor bookSurviving the Survivor podcastJoel and Karm’s Instagram Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jul 22, 2024 • 1h 30min
Botox and Bibles, with Andy Mills
 The girls are joined by Andy Mills, a reporter and a podcaster who spent time as both a fundamentalist Christian and an employee of The NY Times. You may know him from such podcasts as The Daily, The Witch Trials of J.K Rowling, and most recently, Reflector.We discuss faith and certainty, values, conspiracy theories about the media, how to pray in 2024, Fandom, and much more! Andy has been listening to Ask A Jew, so he really wants to talk to us about Botox.Growing up super-duper religiousWhat Andy accidentally learned at seminaryPut your money where your values areHave you tried being less authentic, Yael?This phone is made for callingFandom built the internetOpen your homeWill Biden resign? We called it.Trump supporters walk amongst you!The parents of hostage Omer Neutra speak at the RNC (here's what the Washington Post had to say about it)We ask Andy, what is a Podcast?Ladies, shoot your shot.Listen to Reflector!! Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jul 12, 2024 • 1h 7min
Postcard from Israel, a totally normal country where everything is fine
 In this week's solopod, Judaism's Piers Morgan and Roger Waters sit down to discuss the woes of the Jewish people in 2024. But first, we waste your time with talk about toxic relationships, skincare, skimpy bathing suits. Fear not - about 26 minutes in we start to talk about Israel: hostage deals, the national mood, why trying to kill us will backfire, yadda yadda yadda. Shabbat Shalom! Show notes:Roger Waters heads into the abyss"Kevin Spacey Trial Unfiltered" podcastA Wife’s Revenge from Beyond the GraveIsraelis arrested in connection to death of a Gaza infiltrator on October 7Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jul 4, 2024 • 1h 6min
Goyhood - with Reuven Fenton
 Reuven Fenton is a reporter for the NY Post and the author of the new novel "Goyhood", which the Jerusalem Post called "A unique story of identity and redemption that examines no less of an issue than the essence of Judaism."We talk identity, the Post, writing - and more. Don't forget to rate us 5 stars wherever you get your podcasts, and join us for a conversation on Substack at askajew.substack.com Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jun 26, 2024 • 1h 13min
Urban Warfare Urban Legends with John Spencer
 Why war isn't as simple as two armies fighting, the obsession with "2,000 pound bombs", Hamas's non-battlefield strategy (which the media helps it achieve) and so much more with John Spencer.No one understands the intricacies of modern warfare like John Spencer. As a retired US Army Major and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, not only has he studied war for years, he also put his boots on the ground as a soldier and researcher (including several visits to Gaza over the last year). So of course, we asked him the important questions - are we all going to die? Is he single? And why is he so obsessed with concrete?The After Action Review:How did he learn about Israel?Global world orderRemember when Iran attacked Israel?? What was up with that.There are worse things than warA Just War? Yes (here’s what the author of the Just War theory, Michael Walzer, had to say last year)Drones! Here is Yael’s thread about battlefield innovation)Wait what is going on in Ukraine again?Dead chinese military generals that don’t existAppeasement never worksSpeaking up for Ukraine vs speaking up for IsraelThe dangerously dumbJohn is a normal person — what do normal people think?The myth of the 2,000 pound bombWar has never been two militaries just trying to defeat each other - there are politicians and populations involved.Hamas’s goal is not to win on the battlefieldHow the US lost a battle of Fallujah because of media pressureOh guess what Hamas is stealing (and bombing) humanitarian aid.Start digging!Sorry ladies, his heart belongs to concrete…Everyone should have a friend in the militaryFollow John on X/TwitterIsrael Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It? - Newsweek, March 2024.Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jun 19, 2024 • 58min
Why does an alarm clock need to be Kosher?
 In this episode of Ask A Jew, we answer your questions like why can religious Jews go into a mosque but not a church? Does an alarm clock need to be kosher? And should you say a prayer every time you use the bathroom?Have a question? Send it to us at askajewpod@gmail.comWhen is it time to post things on Instagram again?Before we get to that though, we cover our thoughts on if it's ok to go back to posting day to day things on Instagram, our strange social media algorithms, the NYC Meetup wrap-up, the ugliest of all the Hadid’s, war isn’t a Loony Tunes cartoon, what we’re angry about today, AND - is TJ Maxx the secret to healing the world? Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

Jun 12, 2024 • 1h 30min
There's No Place Like Noam
 Noam Dworman is the owner of the world famous Comedy Cellar in New York City, co-host of the podcast Live From The Table, and two-time MVP of Ask A Jew.We sat with him last week in a beautiful Soho studio (thank you Jonathan!) to talk about Israel, Trump, people you disagree with, and more. Manny Dworman, a 5th-grader with some strong opinions about free speech, made this episode even better than we could have hoped for.Also: Thank you to everyone who came to the AAJ Happy Hour in NYC! Was great to meet you, for photos and more announcements head over to substack: askajew.substack.comBreakdown:he problem with Holocaust educationA supply and demand problemSome pessimistic predictionsNoam’s solution - take his kids to israelChaya Leah has a solution (guess what it is)The cool kids don’t like usWhat to do about the West BankHebron for Tel Aviv?Make America Pro-Israel again - the case for Trump?Talking to people you disagree withIs Noam a narcissict? We ask his son.What Chaya Leah changed her mind aboutWhen a broken clock is right twice a dayShould Briahna Joy Gray have been fired? Manny has some thoughtsJews behind the curtainThey hired you to be a Jew!Show notes:Inflation Debate between Paul R. Krugman and Lawrence H. SummersLive From The TableJoing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 

May 29, 2024 • 1h 8min
East Side Story - With Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove
 The girls welcome Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue for a very serious conversation about faith and Jewish identity in 2024, Anti-Zionist Jews, compassion, and what the future may hold for America's Jews.* The Interview beings 31 minutes in, after we catch up on Yael's meditation retreat and other spiritual adventures.Park Avenue SynagogueRabbi Cosgrove's SermonsJoing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.comEmail us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Want to help us grow? Rate and review us 5 stars on Apple podcasts and Spotify ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe 


