Talking in Shul Ep. 97: Politics
his month we’re talking about… politics. How does it show up in our Jewish communities? And how do we want it to show up in our communities? How and when do we talk about politics at shul?
Endorsements:
Zahava endorses (1) the Gabfest Reads episode about Tablets Shattered by Joshua Leifer; (2) Rav Yehuda Amital’s speech to the students of Yeshivat Har Etzion after the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin; and the new cookbook Big Vegan Flavor by Nisha Vora
Mimi endorses (1) headbands by Bizzybcrafts and (2) Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell.
Tamar endorses The judgement of yoyo gold by Isaac Blum, Waking Up Nigun, Between the Temples
Talking in Shul Ep. 96: Wastefulness
This month we’re talking about waste and Jewish practice, especially as we begin preparing for Passover. What if anything can we do on a global, local, and personal level about waste?
Endorsements:
Zahava endorses the folk song “Irish Eyes” by Rose Betts and encourages you to search for responses to Rose’s “Open Verse” challenge
Mimi endorses “Shai’s Shabbat Walk” by Ellie Gellman.
Tamar endorses Tuba shvat
Talking In Shul Ep. 95: The Book of V
This month we’re joined by Rabbi Shani (pronounced Shah-Knee)
Rosenbaum also in Somerville, MA. Shani is a teacher of Talmud and Halakhah at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. Welcome, Shani!
This month we’re talking about The Book of V. by Anna Solomon.
NYT review by Jennifer Haigh: “The Book of V.” is a meditation on female power and powerlessness, the stories told about women and the ones we tell about and to ourselves.
Other Book of Esther retellings that Tamar recommends:
Good for the Jews by Debra Spark
The Gilded Chamber by Rebecca Kohn
Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants by Leah Rachel Berkowitz
Endorsements:
Zahava endorses the poem “Heavy,” by Mary Oliver
Mimi endorses
Shani endorses Dirshuni (English edition here, Hebrew here and free on Sefaria here)
The Party Upstairs by Lee Conell
Tamar endorses A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall
Unapologetic: The Third Narrative Podcast
Yedid Nefesh haggadah by Rabbi Joshua Cahan
Talking In Shul Ep. 94: The Tunnels Under 770
Hello! and welcome to Talking in Shul, a roundtable podcast. I’m your host, Tamar Fox, and I’ve got Zahava Stadler joining us from Toronto. Hi Zahava! And Mimi Lewis is joining us from Somerville, MA. Hi Mimi! And this month we’re joined by Hannah Lebovits, Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Arlington. Hannah is joining us from Dallas, TX. Welcome Hannah!
This month we’re talking about the tunnels under 770, Chabad headquarters, and how headlines about this story have helped and hurt.
A few different takes on the story:
So why were those yeshiva students digging a tunnel at Chabad headquarters by By Beth Harpaz Louis Keene in the Forward
The controversial tunnel at Chabad’s Brooklyn headquarters, explained by Luke Tress in JTA
Endorsements:
Zahava endorses the Noctis Magicae trilogy by Jewish Torontonian Sylvia Izzo Hunter
Mimi endorses sponsoring kiddush and calling it a birthday party and Rancho Gordo beans as Chanukkah gifts.
Hannah endorses giving warm socks to unhoused people in your community.
Tamar endorses In Memoriam by Alice Winn, and learning more about Siegfried Sassoon.
Talking In Shul Ep. 93: Deep Dive into Jewish Poetry
This month we’re joined by special guest, Hila Ratzabi. Hila has joined us in the past to discuss Etty Hillesum. Hila is a poet, writer, and editor whose book of poems, There Are Still Woods was published by June Road Press in September 2022, and won a 2023 gold Nautilus Award and was a finalist for a National Indie Excellence Award.
This month we’re talking about Jewish poetry.
Poetry
Louise Gluck (obituary & JTA obituary)
1. Memoir:
2. A Fable:
3. “Abishag
4. “A Fantasy”
Linda Pastan (obituary)
1. The Cossacks
2. “A Short History of Judaic Thought in the Twentieth Century”
3. “Mosaic”
Alicia Ostriker–not dead!
1. The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog
2. “What is Needed After Food”
Endorsements
Mimi endorses Mike Birbiglia’s special “The Old Man and the Pool” on Netflix
Zahava endorses the PJ Library podcast Afternoons with Mimi, which is here on Spotify and here on Apple Podcasts
Hila endorses:
WTF MUSE – pro-human anti-robot gifts for the writer in your life
From Darkness to Light: Poetry in Celebration of Hanukkah, Dec. 14th, 8:30pm EST
June Road Press Winter Solstice Poetry Celebration, Dec. 19th, 8:00pm ESTTamar endorses stick um candle adhesive, and Poetry Thursdays.
Talking In Shul Ep. 92: Little Bird
This month we’re talking about the television show Little Bird, available on PBS, and CBC. Created by Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch with the participation of Jeremy Podeswa as an executive producer, the series centres on a First Nations woman who was adopted into a Jewish family during the Sixties Scoop, as she attempts to reconnect with her birth family and heritage.
Further reading:
“In PBS Series ‘Little Bird,’ a Jewish Woman Uncovers Her Traumatic Indigenous Past” by Shira Li Bartov on JTA
“New Series Tells Story of Sixties Scoop Survivor Learning About Her Past” by Louise BigEagle on CBC News
Endorsements
Zahava recommends the show Little Mosque on the Prairie
Tamar recommends the show Reservation Dogs on hulu, and Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts
Talking In Shul Ep. 91: Jewish Joy
This month we’re doing kind of an unusual episode. Given how hard things have been for everyone since the events of October 7th, and the ongoing war in Gaza, we wanted to talk about things that are bringing us some Jewish joy.
Mimi’s Jewish joy
My daughter entering shul shouting “Amen!”
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
“Singing Through Fear,” a Spotify playlist from Hadar’s Rising Song Institute.
Zahava’s Jewish joy
The website Pulling At Threads, a project by Annabel Gottfried Cohen that looks at “forgotten rituals of Eastern European Jewish women”
The Articles of Interest podcast (and stay tuned for a future episode on modesty, including an interview with Zahava
For Heaven’s Sake: Israel at War (a podcast from the Sholom Hartman Institute)
Calming views of the world at https://www.window-swap.com/
Tamar’s Jewish joy
Double Mitzvah by Erica Dequaya (email tamar.fox@gmail.com if you’d like to read this story)
A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee
The Postcard by Anne Berest
Love Syndrome episode of Israel Story
Til Kingdom Come documentary
Babka, bagels, and making Jewish foodCouples therapy, all seasons but especially the most recent season
Talking In Shul Ep. 90: Talking About Kiddush
Hello! and welcome to Talking in Shul, a roundtable podcast. I’m your host, Tamar Fox, and I’ve got Zahava Stadler joining us from Toronto. Hi Zahava! Mimi Lewis is taking a break this month, but we’re thrilled to welcome past and future guest Yael Kalman, who is joining us from Minneapolis. Hi Yael!
This month we’re talking about Kiddush. Not the blessing you saw before drinking wine, but the experience you have at a religious event on Shabbat. I personally have learned that I have super strong feelings about kiddush, both the food and the social experience, and I’m excited to unpack them together.
So let’s start with the evolution of kiddush. What do you remember about kiddush when you were a kid? And what do you expect from kiddush now?
- Kiddush as the central social element of shul
- Kiddush as community service (ie isn’t it fundamentally there for people who might not make kiddush at home?)
- Kiddush as personal celebration
- Kiddush clubs
- Good and bad kiddush food
- Alcohol at shul generally
- kiddush as social marker/status signifier (for personal celebrations and also as signifier of communal wealth)
- Kiddush evolution over Covid
- Kiddush evolution over time (ie from herring & crackers to new norms)
- Meat kiddush
- Kids’ experience of kiddush
- Kiddush as a time to help those who need physical help
- Kiddush – challenging for introverts
- Kiddush as reflection of social values (eg food waste, composting, listing allergens)
Endorsements
Yael endorses having a weekly scheduled family/social business meeting to plan Shabbat meals and other social plans.
Zahava endorses “The Immortal Mel Brooks” in The Atlantic and the Gatecrashers podcast from Tablet.
Tamar endorses the Yenta podcast and the comedy of Raye Schiller.
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Jordan Daniel Mills for editing our show! If you have a minute, please leave a review for us on Apple podcasts or let us know what you’d like us to discuss on a future episode. You can leave a comment on a post on our facebook page (search for Jewish Public Media) or on our website–jpmedia.co, choose Talking in Shul from the list of podcasts. You can also donate to jewish Public Media at jpmedia.co, which is a great way to support our show and ensure that we’re able to bring you new episodes.
See you next month!
Talking In Shul Ep. 89: Passover Favorites
This month we’re talking about Passover, talking about our favorite rituals, texts, foods, and more.
Passover favorites
Ritual
Mimi: Hallel (when it happens!) and washing each others hands
Zahava: Reciting the entire Hagaddah out loud, in unison, with my family
Tamar: Making pickles the night before the holiday begins
Text
Tamar: Letter to My Old Master by Jourdan Anderson, Praise the Contrary and its Defenders by Sue Swartz
Zahava- Rabbi S.R. Hirsch’s commentary on Exodus 1 (selections), which you can find in Zahava’s custom Hagaddah for this year on p. 13
Mimi- “And It Came to Pass at Midnight” and an explanation of miracles performed at midnight which I happened to randomly find online here.
Food
Tamar – Passover Cookie Cake from Molly Yeh
Zahava- Apple Matzah Kugel (and you can find the almond cookie recipe we mentioned in our show notes from a very old episode)
Mimi – Yeminite Charoset and deviled eggs
Wildcard
Zahava- Using the Omer to revive a neglected resolution or daily practice
Mimi- Step outside at some point in your seder!
Tamar- Pouring wine from the ten plagues into the toilet, and everyone pouring some wine from their cup into Elijah’s cup to symbolize how we all have to contribute to the redemption
Endorsements
Mimi endorses “The Passover Seder: What to Expect” from BimBam
Zahava endorses “Watching my Friend Pretend Her Heart Isn’t Breaking,” a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Tamar endorses – Being Heumann by Judy Heumann, Crip Camp featuring Judy Heumann, Drunk History – Judith Heumann’s Fight for Disability Rights (feat. Ali Stroker)
Talking In Shul Ep. 88: Jewish Influencers
This month we’re talking about Jewish influencers. What/how are the influencing us, and what trends do we see and like or dislike?
“Influencer” can feel like a very shallow field–one that’s obsessed with trends and how things look to attract likes, views, followers. So what happens when influencers are speaking from a Jewish space?
Raizy Fried
Raizy Fried’s New “INSPIRED LIVING” Platform Takes the Jewish World by Storm, with Much Needed Torah Based Girl Talk in Digital Journal
3 Tips for Getting to Know Yourself
Yaffa Palti
Connect Better as a Wife and Mother
Non Jewish Nanny
Moses and Zippora
Orthodox Jewish woman’s livestream goes viral after man exposes himself by Noa Rosen in the Jerusalem Post
Endorsements
Mimi endorses the app SongShift for shifting music from Spotify to Apple Music (or vice versa!).
Zahava endorses “Monuments to the Unthinkable” by Clint Smith in the Atlantic and the illustrated version of What a Wonderful World, by Tim Hopgood.
Tamar endorses Shabbos Yerushalayim by Yerachmiel Begun and the Miami Boys Choir