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The One With the Mitzvah Tank: Ep. 143 Jul 12, 2018

Show notes

"Hi, are you Jewish?" It's a question you may have been asked in any number of towns or cities by a smiling bearded man wearing a yarmulke. It's one of the trademarks of Chabad, the Hasidic movement that dispatches its young men around town to help Jewish strangers perform a mitzvah—Jewish women are offered Shabbat candles, and Jewish men are encouraged to put on tefillin.

We've always been fascinated with this practice, with some of us finding it charming and others, frankly, terrifying. So we did the only thing we could do: We went to Manhattan's crowded Union Square during lunchtime, accompanied by our very own Chabad sherpas, to see what it was like to talk to absolute strangers about religion.

While we're asking questions: Is it OK to say "JAP"? That's what we'll be discussing at our live show Wednesday, June 18, at the JCC Manhattan. Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out will join us to screen a short film we made about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. Broadway legend Tovah Feldshuh and Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out will join us to screen a short film we made about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. There will be a lively discussion, audience questions, and much more. Get your tickets here.

Our donation drive is live! We have fun prizes for all levels of giving, including a special Camp Unorthodox T-shirt, an Unorthodox enamel pin, an 'Unorthodox Approved' laptop sticker, and more. And this year are hosts are upping the stakes with a contest: When you give, include a note with the name of your favorite host. The host who gets the least love will have to face a very creative and amusing penalty on air. Visit tabletmag.com/donate to be part of the fun.

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at our listener line: 914-570-4869. We may share your note on the air. If you like us, please consider leaving a review in iTunes.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Show your love for Unorthodox with our new T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies. Get yours at bit.ly/unorthoshirt.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. New customers get 5 dollars off a shave set from Harry’s when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jews Across America: Ep. 142 Jul 04, 2018

Show notes

In honor of July 4th, we're celebrating the diversity of American Jewish life—which, as we've learned, goes well beyond eating bagels on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Up first, we get a crash course in the history of Jews in the South from Stuart Rockoff, who created the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, a rich online resource from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

Next, Sammy Potter tells us about driving an hour to synagogue from his home in Yarmouth, ME, and why he wants to return to Maine after college.

Yemile Bucay then describes her Mexican Syrian family's move from Mexico City to San Antonio, TX, and how she ended up raising her family in Great Neck, NY.

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone follows to tell us about the Jewish Renewal movement in Boulder, CO.

Finally, from Tulsa, OK, a vibrant Jewish community in the American heartland, we speak with Rabbi Marc Fitzerman and his children, Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Nina Fitzerman-Blue, about the unique landscape of Jewish life on the Arkansas River.

Plus we hear from a couple listeners!

Is it OK to say ‘JAP’? That’s the subject of our next live show, June 18 at the JCC Manhattan. Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out and Broadway legend Tovah Feldshuh will join us to screen a short film we made about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We’ll follow with a lively discussion, audience questions, and much more. Get your tickets now!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Losing It: Ep. 141 Jun 28, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we have three special guests. Jonathan Ornstein is the executive director of the JCC Krakow, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. With more than 10,000 visitors a month, the JCC is at the center of a Jewish revival in Poland, that Ornstein, a New York native, is witnessing—and cultivativating—firsthand. We also talk with Gabi Birkner and Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss, a website that aims to make conversations about grief less fraught and awkward. Their book, Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief, Beginners Welcome, was published this year. They share their personal stories of loss and explain how Jewish rituals surrounding loss can sometimes fall short.

Is it OK to say ‘JAP’? That’s the subject of our next live show, July 18 at the JCC Manhattan. Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out will join us to screen a short film we made about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We’ll follow with a lively discussion with guests including Judith Rosenbaum of the Jewish Women’s Archive and Bat Sheva Marcus of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, audience questions, and much more. Get your tickets here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roots and Boots: Ep. 140 Jun 21, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we’re all about food and futbol.

Our Jewish guest is writer and food historian Michael Twitty, whose book The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, won two James Beard Awards this year. He describes being told that a book by a black, Jewish, gay man would never succeed (and how it felt to prove them wrong!), explains how most of the foods we eat today originated in Africa, and tells us why Jewish food is more than just gefilte fish.

Our Gentile of the Week is Simon Doonan, creative ambassador-at-large for Barneys New York, whose latest book, Soccer Style: The Magic and Madness, is out in time for World Cup madness. He returns to the show (last time is here) to dish on life with his Jewish husband Jonathan Adler, tell us what to look out for in this summer's World Cup, and explain why, despite being British, he calls it soccer, not football.

Finally, fan favorite Molly Yeh calls in to tell us about her new Food Network show, Girl Meets Farm, which premieres June 24. (Here she is telling the Food Network about her "favorite podcast of all time" and making us blush.)

Our next live show is July 18 at the JCC Manhattan, and it’s an episode devoted to the question, “Is it OK to say ‘JAP’”? Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out joins us to screen a short film we made about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We’ll follow with a lively discussion with guests including Judith Rosenbaum of the Jewish Women’s Archive and Bat Sheva Marcus of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, audience questions, and much more. Get your tickets here.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kung Fu Naches: Ep. 139 Jun 14, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, we talk to Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, the new scholar in residence for trans and queer Jewish studies at CBST, the world's largest LGBTQ synagogue. He's the first Orthodox rabbi at the New York City synagogue, and he explains how Judaism, even at its most observant, can make room for transgender adherents—and how Jews could learn a lot from the trans community.

We're also joined by Gentile of the week Matthew Polly, whose latest book is Bruce Lee: A Life. He tells us about Lee's continued influence in not just martial arts but Hollywood as well, describes his own two-year study of kung fu at the Shaolin Temple in China, and shares a surprising discovery he made while researching the book: Bruce Lee is one-eighth Jewish!

Mark sits down with our Jewish guest, Arnold Gorlick, owner of Madison Art Cinemas, one of the country's last great arthouses. He tells Mark about growing up in Brooklyn as the son of an appetizing store owner before moving to Connecticut and devoting himself to indie movies.

And in honor of Father's Day, we're airing Liel's moving story about fatherhood, and his own father, which he shared at a Moth storytelling event.

Our next live show is July 18 at the JCC Manhattan, and it’s an episode devoted to the question “Is it OK to say ‘JAP’?” Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out joins us to screen our short film about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We’ll follow with a lively discussion with guests including Judith Rosenbaum of the Jewish Women’s Archive and Bat Sheva Marcus of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, audience questions, and much more. Get your tickets here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People of the Book: Ep. 138 Jun 07, 2018

Show notes

For our first book club episode, we talk to Israeli-born writer Ruby Namdar about his ambitious second book, The Ruined House, which won Israel's most prestigious literary award and was recently translated into English. The book is set in New York City, where he's lived for the past 18 years, and follows a charming and successful professor named Andrew P. Cohen as he descends into a very peculiar kind of madness. Ruby tells us why he made his protagonist such a specific male archetype, and explains the difference between American and Israeli literary culture (he didn't discover Philip Roth until he moved to the U.S.). He also answers questions from listeners who read the book along with us, such as, "Why does the main character live near Columbia if he teaches downtown at NYU?"

Plus, New York Times writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner joins us to talk about her essay about what reading Philip Roth in an observant household taught her about being an American Jew.

New York listeners, come see Stephanie moderate the Jewish Book Council's Unpacking the Book event at the Jewish Museum on June 14 at 7 p.m. Info here.

Our next full live show is July 18 at the JCC Manhattan, and it's an episode we're calling: "Is it OK to say ‘JAP’?”. Jill Kargman of Odd Mom Out joins us to screen a new short film about the persistence of the Jewish American Princess stereotype. We'll follow with a lively discussion with guests including Judith Rosenbaum of the Jewish Women's Archive and Bat Sheva Marcus from the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (who appear in the film) and more. There will be loads of audience participation as well! Get your tickets here.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Philip Roth Bonus Minisode Jun 05, 2018

Show notes

Philip Roth died on May 22, 2018, and we wanted to bring you a few pieces while you wait for our next episode. First up, Mark Oppenheimer visited The Gist to talk with host Mike Pesca about Roth's place in the literary and Jewish canon. Plus, our editor Noah Levinson goes on the Newark public library's tour around the Weequahic neighborhood where Roth grew up.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Telling Truths: Ep. 137 May 24, 2018

Show notes

This week on Unorthodox, Liel prepares for his role as honorary grand marshal at New York City's Celebrate Israel Parade on June 3. Our Jewish guest is Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and the author of 'Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.' He tells us how he, as a religious Jew in Jerusalem, came to understand the Palestinian perspective, why he framed the book as a letter to an imagined interlocutor, and the crucial need to recognize that both sides have their own truths, and that respecting each of those truths is the first step towards any reconciliation.

Our gentile of the week is Astead Herndon, who recently joined the New York Times as a national political reporter from the Boston Globe. He tells us about the challenges of covering the Trump administration, growing up as the son of two Pentecostal preachers, and the summer he spent as a JCC camp counselor in Chicago.

This episode is sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Conversion Episode: Ep 136 May 17, 2018

Show notes

On Shavuot we read the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of Ruth, the first convert to Judaism, who ultimately becomes the great-grandmother of King David. In Ruth's honor, this week we're talking about conversion to Judaism, and hearing stories from people around the globe who have chosen to become Jewish—starting with our listeners.

Reporter Abby Holtzman travels to Savannah, Georgia, to bring us the story of a 13-year-old girl who has taken the plunge, literally, to convert to Judaism.

Rabbi Seth Farber, the director of ITIM, an advocacy organization that helps people convert to Judaism outside the Orthodox Rabbinate, explains the complexities of conversion in Israel, and how he's trying to change that.

Nathan Steiger shares his story of losing his Mormon faith and, together with his wife and daughters, embracing Orthodox Judaism and converting as a family.

Naomi Telushkin (sister of our producer Shira Telushkin) and her fiancee, Ben Pigett, an Australian submariner converting to Judaism, discuss what Judaism—and Ben's conversion—means to both of them.

Listener Yolanda Wu tells us about her decision to finish her conversion 20 years after she started it — and the very jewish life she and her family lived in that time.

This episode is sponsored by One Day University, which brings together the greatest professors from the world's top schools to present special versions of their best lectures live. Register for upcoming events at www.onedayu.com using the code JEWISH for 30 percent off.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Motherhood, Burgers, and Bacon: Ep. 135 May 10, 2018

Show notes

Our Jewish guest this week is Peninah Lamm Kaplansky, who in 2015 wrote a candid and moving account of her miscarriage, at 21 weeks, and the need for more resources and discussion surrounding infertility and miscarriage in Jewish communities. Our Gentile of the Week is Sister Julia Walsh, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and a Catholic youth minister. Sister Julia tells us about the painful decision to give up motherhood, something she had always dreamed of, when she entered the life at 24, and the unexpected freedom she found in her work for the church.

We also sit down with filmmaker Rachel Myers and her grandmother Roberta Mahler, the director and star of Wendy’s Shabbat, a documentary about a group of seniors who meet each week for Shabbat dinner at a local Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. Rachel and Roberta tell us what they learned about each other while making a film together, Roberta’s newfound celebrity status, and the ways Jewish community can be forged in the unlikeliest places.

This episode is also sponsored by Harry’s. Get a free trial shave set when you sign up at harrys.com/unorthodox.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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