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Jew-ish | Jew curious? Questions and answers for the Jews, non-Jews, and all the Jew-curious out there
Jew-ish | Jew curious? Questions and answers for the Jews, non-Jews, and all the Jew-curious out there
Jew-ish is a podcast that explores what it means to be Jewish, answering common questions about Jewish identity, beliefs, and practices. It explains basic concepts such as Hebrew, synagogue life, and the diversity within a very small global minority. The show is aimed at Jews, non-Jews, and anyone Jew-curious, offering a friendly introduction to Judaism and Jewish life. Through conversation, it aims to demystify stereotypes and clarify what is shared and what is distinct about moving through the world as a Jew.
Episodes
Rosh Hashanah, 9/11, and missing opportunities
A Jew and a Muslim walk into a creative meeting...and a podcast episode is born! On Rosh Hashanah eve and the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Layma Murtaza ( https://www.instagram.com/factswithlayma/ ) and I were in an unrelated work meeting, and found ourse...
Jew-ish announces: the Jew-ish Community!
Jew-ish is back and there's more of it to love! The podcast for the Jews, the non-Jews, and the Jew-curious everywhere is excited to announce we're launching a newsletter, and: The Jew-ish Community (get it!?)! It's scary to try something new, and I'm ...
Jewish holidays: Happy Purim Repost for 2026
Send us Fan Mail What is Purim? When is Purim? Is Purim really "the Jewish Halloween"? In this fun repost, Baby Brother Zev and then-girlfriend, now-wife Osnat set us straight about the super-fun Jewish dress-up party where we celebrate a(nother) narro...
Two years after October 7, the family of one freed hostage says "it's enough already"
Send us Fan Mail Two years ago, Liz Hirsh Naftali was working in real estate, organizing for the Democratic party, and enjoying life as a mom and auntie. Then, she awoke in Tel Aviv one day, and her world had been ripped apart: her family killed, her 3...
Rosh Hashanah for my non-Jews: repub from 2024
Send us Fan Mail This episode was originally published for Rosh Hashanah on October 9, 2024. One of my nearest and dearest non-Jewish friends asked if she could join me for Rosh Hashanah last year, and we thought it would be useful to other Jew-curious...
People are starving in Gaza, hostages are still missing, and the U.S. remains Israel's closest ally. What's a Jewish lawmaker to do?
Send us Fan Mail Right after a flurry of activity around Israel and Gaza on the Hill, I connected with Congressman Greg Landsman, one of only 32 Jews in Congress (9 in the Senate, 23 in the House). Landsman has been a voice defending Israel and demandi...
Jews having babies with Jews! No, not the old fashioned way
Send us Fan Mail Jews and money and babies, oh my! Our mission of destigmatization continues with a look at IVF, and some Jewish perspectives on fertility--and infertility--with Sarah Shah, Director of Operations for the Jewish Fertility Foundation. Ap...
Talking On Being Jewish Now with Zibby Owens
Send us Fan Mail Ask a Jewish question, get a Jewish answer: It's complicated. It would be impossible to fully represent the richness and variety of Jewish experiences, but who better to try than a bunch of writers? So, author, publisher, and podcaster...
Can you be a Christian, and still be a Jew?
Send us Fan Mail As a wise rabbi once said (It was Rabbi Susan Shankman, our very first episode), there as many ways to be Jewish as there are Jews. Well, friend-of-the-show Evan Feinberg is a living example of how one can live their "Jewishness"....as...
Still Jew-ish! Season 3 Trailer
Send us Fan Mail Your Jewish friend is back!! Season 3 of Jew-ish has a whole new roster of stories and voices from all the usual and unusual suspects: Jews, non-Jews, former Jews, and the generally Jew-curious. As usual, we'll tackle the questions you...
The Christmas Hanukkah (Chrismukkah?) Hallmark(style) love story you've been waiting for!
Send us Fan Mail Content warning: mentions of self-harm, SA, eating disorders and addiction. On the first night of Hanukkah 2024, I give to all of you, my seventh-grade bestie and USA TODAY bestselling author Helena Greer, and the story of Carrigans Ch...
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur questions answered, repub from 2023
Send us Fan Mail What is Rosh Hashanah? How do you wish someone a good Yom Kippur? What are the High Holy Days? All this and more with Jewish educators spanning two generations, who happen to also be my family! This episode is republished from 2023, an...
A non-Jew's first Rosh Hashanah, one year after the October 7 Hamas attacks
Send us Fan Mail You may know Rosh Hashanah as the Jewish New Year, and you're mostly right (it's technically the anniversary of creation), but that might be about it. Maybe you have some questions, like: when was Rosh Hashanah 2024 (October 2-4)? What...
Mysticism and Judaism and dreams, oh my!
Send us Fan Mail Growing up Conservative Jewish in Ohio, Rabbi Cantor Judy Greenfeld turned away from her family traditions after her beloved father was murdered. Judaism became an unbearably painful reminder of her loss, and she became a "seeker" of o...
Don’t be afraid of the dark, that’s where creation begins
Send us Fan Mail We all know "in the beginning, there was darkness," right? The first line of the first book of the Old Testament (AKA the Torah). But did you know, there was also “chaos and void”? And then, of course, God created everything. So we're ...
What’s really going on in Israel, Part 2: how do we even begin to talk about a "solution"?
Send us Fan Mail It’s been six months since Hamas attacked Israel, killing nearly 1200 people, kidnapping around 250, and triggering Israel’s devastating war on Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, th...
What is Purim and why do we celebrate it? The story of Purim, what to wear, what we eat, and how it's done in Israel
Send us Fan Mail It's Purim! So when Baby Brother Zev and his girlfriend Osnat came down to DC to peep some cherry blossoms, I made them come to tell you all what is Purim, the super-fun Jewish dress-up party where we celebrate a narrow escape from mas...
What's really going on in Israel, Part 1
Send us Fan Mail An American, a Canadian and an Israeli Jewish educator walk into a….well a discussion. About the Israel-Hamas war, the state of Gaza and state of mind of Israelis, no less. So, this conversation is really no joke. Huge thanks to Yair A...
When you nickname your generational trauma "Holocaust hoarding"
Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered if your “quirks” might actually be manifested trauma? Or more like…that they probably ARE? Victoria Dozer was curious about her mom’s pretty typical Jewish-mom-quirk of stashing huge amounts of things, like dishe...
Jews Love Trees! It's true! It's also Tu Bishvat
Send us Fan Mail What is Tu Bishvat (also spelled Tu BiShevat)? Well it's the birthday of the trees, also called the New Year of the Trees, so happy new year to you, and happy new year to the trees, and welcome back to Jew-ish! Trees have a very specia...
Jew-ish Presents: The Curl Code
Send us Fan Mail Introducing our sister podcast, the Curl Code! Hosted by Wafaya Abdallah, owner of Curly Oasis, a curl salon and education platform in Rockville, MD, the Curl Code explores individual stories of how learning to embrace our natural hair...
Toxic polarization and how not to be part of the problem
Send us Fan Mail There’s polarization, and then there’s toxic polarization. We all know what that feels like, especially at this moment around Israel and Palestine. For many of us, the temperature of the rhetoric is so incendiary that even though we mi...
Leaving the Mormon Church and becoming an “asker”
Send us Fan Mail Erick Cloward was raised in the Mormon Church in Utah, in a not-always-happy home. He talks about it a lot on his podcast, The Stoic Coffee Break (which is an absolute must-subscribe, by the way) and the parts of that culture that even...
What does Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mean, and what do you do?
Send us Fan Mail Happy Jew Year! Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, followed by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and together with the 10 days of deep contemplation between them, they are known as the Days of Awe, or the High Holy Days–but apparent...
What does "culturally Jewish" even mean?
Send us Fan Mail Finally, the basic question: What is being “culturally Jewish”? Getting at the difference between a culture and religion, how identity manifests in modernity and how it came to be this way is heady stuff, and of course, in true Jewish ...
A Jewish lawyer who is also a clown. No, really.
Send us Fan Mail Robert Markowitz was a nice Jewish boy just trying to do what he thought he was supposed to, building on the legacy of his immigrant grandfather to rise to fulfill his mother’s dream of becoming a lawyer. But, like many of us who do th...
What my Jewish mother taught her kids about sex
Send us Fan Mail Judaism takes a very different view of sex than much of mainstream culture in the U.S. Mischaracterization or misunderstanding of some of these differences may have evolved into some of the many anti-Semitic stereotypes (including conf...
To be Young, Black, Gay and Jewish
Send us Fan Mail How does a gay man raised in a Southern Black church end up the Executive Director of Washington DC’s LGBTQA synagogue, Bet Mishpachah? Growing up attending the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Josh Maxey always had a relations...
New Jew, new you! But same eternal soul
Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Eliana Fischel might not claim the title "The Cool Rabbi" (or think it very likely any rabbi would), but the Washington Hebrew Congregation Associate Rabbi does a lot of the fun stuff. She runs the young professionals group, work...
The Catholic to Jewish conversion pipeline
Send us Fan Mail Who knew there was such a thing? Well, Laurel Lehman discovered it along her conversion journey when, in college, her pastor told her there was a "well-trodden path" through the Episcopal Church to Judaism. And that's where she ended u...
A Southerner walks into a shul...
Send us Fan Mail Nancy grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and like most people, was active in the church. But after having kids, she moved into the Jewish neighborhood of Savannah, wanting what she saw there for her family. That started her down a path of q...
What are Jews?
Send us Fan Mail Just kidding we couldn’t possibly answer a question that big in one show. Or one lifetime. But, in this first episode of Jew- ish, Rabbi Susan Shankman, Senior Rabbi of Washington Hebrew Congregation, will take our hand, and walk us th...
A "Jew-ish" Trailer
Send us Fan Mail The Jews.....we live among you, we often look, dress, eat, or party like you do, we may go to the same schools and restaurants, have the same interests, mutual friends. And yet, life is somehow different when lived through a Jewish len...
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