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Dear Jews and regular people,
Rosh Hashana is upon us, which means it’s time to reflect on the past year, take a hard look at our behavior, ask forgiveness from the people we’ve wronged, and then immediately start judging everyone again.
What a year it has been.
Actually, we take that back. We’re tired of saying “what a year it has been.” Every year is apparently going to be A YEAR now. We would like one boring Jewish year, please. Nothing historic. Nothing unprecedented. Nothing that requires a statement from a Jewish organization. Just apples, honey, some light antisemitism we can complain about, and everyone home by 10.
Is that really too much to ask?
This week on Ask a Jew, we’re getting ready for the new year with someone very special: ChayaLeah’s dad, Rabbi Abba Perelmuter.
We brought him on partly because he is a rabbi with decades of wisdom and an incredible ability to make big Jewish ideas feel relevant and human.
But Yael really wanted him on because she was hoping he would tell an embarrassing story about ChayaLeah.
He could not remember one.
Honestly, devastating.
* Why Sukkot is the tragically under-marketed holiday of the Jewish calendar and deserves a rebrand.
* What to do on Rosh Hashanah if you’re Jewish but haven’t been inside a synagogue since your cousin’s bar mitzvah.
* Why community matters even if you don’t know the prayers, don’t know what you’re doing, and don’t plan on staying for three hours. Just show up.
* ChayaLeah’s annual rant: STOP WAITING TO BE INVITED. Invite someone yourself. You don’t need a gorgeous table or a five-course dinner. There are lonely people waiting for someone to remember them.
* Why parents whose college kids suddenly come home with radically different views should educate themselves before starting the argument.
* Whether we give antisemites and anti-Israel celebrities way too much of our attention.
* Macklemore, Mark Ruffalo, Mandy Patinkin, Ed Sheeran, Brad Pitt, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Nirvana and, somehow, the Miami Boys Choir.
* Why America knows what celebrities and quarterbacks think but can’t name four philosophers. Seems healthy.
* Whether Ask a Jew could be the Beatles of podcasting. (The answer appears to be no, but Vegas is still on the table.)
* And finally, what ChayaLeah was actually like as a child: opinionated, challenging her teachers, befriending older kids and apparently already preparing for a career in podcasting.
And maybe that’s what we love most about Rosh Hashana. Judaism gives us a reset button every year, while also being extremely clear that you are, unfortunately, still you.
Thank you to everyone who has listened this year… You’ve laughed with us, argued with us, corrected us, defended us, gotten mad at us, and told us you were yelling responses to us while driving.
We love this weird little community we’ve built.
So for 5787, we wish all of you a year of health, laughter, good marriages, good friendships, good food, and group chats that never get screenshotted and sent to the wrong person.
Stay tuned for next year….. lots of great guests coming up including Brad Lander and Mandy Patankin.
Shana Tova U’Metuka.
See you in 5787.
Yael & ChayaLeah
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