Judaism Unbound

This week, Judaism Unbound is thrilled to feature the 4th episode of Door to Door: A Pilgrimage Across Generations -- another podcast in Judaism Unbound's family of podcasts! Full shownotes for Door to Door Episode IV can be found here. ------------------------- Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva: on Reproductive Justice, Torah during Climate Catastrophe, Yiddish Revolutionary Folksong, and Jewish Citizenship Bound & Unbound! Financial aid is available via this link. -------------------------- Door to Door is a deeply personal, five-part podcast series tracing one Jewish family’s multigenerational pilgrimage from a once-lost home in Wachenbuchen, Germany, to the present-day echoes of inherited memory, trauma, and resilience. Told through archival recordings, family reflections, and emotional returns to ancestral ground, this podcast chronicles the survival of Simon—a Holocaust survivor taken to Buchenwald Concentration Camp during Kristallnacht—and the generations that followed him. It's a story shaped by suffering, but defined by rebuilding, remembrance, and an enduring commitment to legacy. Door to Door invites listeners to witness what it means to reclaim identity from the wreckage—and to carry forward the names, the stories, and the truths nearly erased. If you’ve ever felt the weight of inherited memory, or the pull to understand where you come from — subscribe to Door to Door wherever you get your podcasts. Let this be part of your story, too. We'd love to hear from you, so you can email us at miriam@judaismunbound.com or find us at: www.judaismunbound.com/door-to-door

Chag Pesach Sameach! Happy Passover!  Oh. And also...Chag Hamatzot Sameach (Happy Matzah-Fest), and Chag HaAviv Sameach (Happy Festival-of-Spring), and Z'man Cheruteinu Sameach (Happy Time of Our Liberation)! In this episode, Lex and Rena Yehuda explore the holiday of Passover, asking how we might find deep meaning in the Seder -- in ways that balance having a joyous, fun time with holding the seriousness of our collective societal moment right now. They also explore the power of names -- from Rena Yehuda's two first names to the four different names that Passover goes by in Hebrew. This episode is the 3rd in a 3-part mini-series introducing Rena Yehuda Newman, the new co-host of Judaism Unbound. Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva: Reproductive Justice, Torah during Climate Catastrophe, Yiddish Revolutionary Folksong, and Jewish Citizenship Bound & Unbound! Financial aid is available via this link. ------------------------------ Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com.   

Rena Yehuda Newman is the new co-host of Judaism Unbound! In this second episode of a 3-part mini-series, they talk through some of their core ideological frameworks -- Jewishly and beyond. Rena Yehuda and Lex talk about Hasidic philosophy, pluralism, and the ways in which every single Jew is a letter in the Torah. ------------------------------ Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! Genesis: Peoplehood & Solidarity in the Book of Bereishit begins just a few days after the release of this episode. Financial aid is available via this link. ------------------------------ Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

Rena Yehuda Newman is the new co-host of Judaism Unbound! They've been a guest on the podcast before, but this episode marks the first time that they truly and fully inhabit this new role of co-host. In this episode, Rena Yehuda introduces themself to Judaism Unbound listeners. In doing so, there is much discussion about frozen foods -- and more than a little discourse about the word "goofy" in multiple languages. This episode is the first in a 3-episode mini-series, as Rena Yehuda Newman embraces their status as co-host of Judaism Unbound! ------------------------------ Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! Every Body Beloved: A Jewish Embrace of Fatness begins just a few days after the release of this episode. ------------------------------ Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com.     

Dan Libenson's farewell. Dan's proverbial "sermon on the mount." We really don't know what to write in this "description" area for an episode that marks a momentous turning point for Judaism Unbound, but we're trying our best. In this conversation, Dan says goodbye to his role as co-host of Judaism Unbound, as we turn next week to welcome Rena Yehuda Newman as a co-host. He decided to bid farewell through telling some of his favorite stories -- some ancient and some less-so. Throughout this podcast episode he brings these stories, and both he and Lex do their best to hold back tears. ----------------------- Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering courses on an Intro to Judaism (Judaism Inbound), the book of Genesis, the Magic & Medicine of Psalms, Jews and Revolution, and a Jewish embrace of Fatness! Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

This week, Judaism Unbound is thrilled to feature the 3rd episode of Door to Door: A Pilgrimage Across Generations -- another podcast in Judaism Unbound's family of podcasts! ------------------------- Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering courses on an Intro to Judaism (Judaism Inbound), the book of Genesis, the Magic & Medicine of Psalms, Jews and Revolution, and a Jewish embrace of Fatness! -------------------------- Door to Door is a deeply personal, five-part podcast series tracing one Jewish family’s multigenerational pilgrimage from a once-lost home in Wachenbuchen, Germany, to the present-day echoes of inherited memory, trauma, and resilience. Told through archival recordings, family reflections, and emotional returns to ancestral ground, this podcast chronicles the survival of Simon—a Holocaust survivor taken to Buchenwald Concentration Camp during Kristallnacht—and the generations that followed him. It's a story shaped by suffering, but defined by rebuilding, remembrance, and an enduring commitment to legacy. Door to Door invites listeners to witness what it means to reclaim identity from the wreckage—and to carry forward the names, the stories, and the truths nearly erased. If you’ve ever felt the weight of inherited memory, or the pull to understand where you come from — subscribe to Door to Door wherever you get your podcasts. Let this be part of your story, too. We'd love to hear from you, so you can email us at miriam@judaismunbound.com or find us at: www.judaismunbound.com/door-to-door

Jewish Journeys, an unprecedented population study of Jewish Americans’ perspectives on psychedelics, explores the attitudes, practices, and needs of the emerging Jewish psychedelic community in the United States. Zac Kamenetz and Josh Lipson join Dan and Lex for a conversation about this study, its implications for American Judaism, and how we might take lessons from the field of psychedelics and apply them to contemporary Jewish life. Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering courses on an Intro to Judaism (Judaism Inbound), the book of Genesis, the Magic & Medicine of Psalms, Jews and Revolution, and a Jewish embrace of Fatness! Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here! Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

We reveal some HUGE JUDAISM UNBOUND NEWS in this episode. And yes, we are gonna be that organization and make you listen in order to find out what that news is. What we will say is that this big news offers an opportunity for a conversation reflecting on 10 years of the Judaism Unbound podcast, along with looking into its future.Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering courses on an Intro to Judaism, the book of Genesis, the Magic & Medicine of Psalms, Jews and Revolution, and a Jewish embrace of Fatness!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with Judaism Unbound's hosts, and with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

Juan Mejia, a beloved guest in past episodes of Judaism Unbound (here's Episode 57 and Episode 387), is back! He joins Dan and Lex to reflect on conversion to Judaism -- what has changed in the past 10 years since he initially was a guest on Judaism Unbound, and what remains constant? What parallels can we observe between discourse about Jewish conversion, and discourse about immigration to the United States? What might any of this mean as we look not only at the past 10 years, but the next 10?---------------Looking to convert to Judaism yourself? Judaism Unbound has a class you can take to begin your journey! Enroll in Judaism Inbound, beginning on February 25th, 2026. Financial aid is available via this link. (And yes, this class is also open to any and all folks who are not looking to convert, but are still interested in an intro to Judaism course for any other reason!).----------------Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com. 

What is Jewish placemaking, and why might it matter to the present and future of Jewish education? Beverly Socher-Lerner, founder and executive director of Makom Community in Philadelphia, joins Dan and Lex to explore that question. This episode is the second in a mini-series exploring Jewish education, following up on a recent Judaism Unbound episode featuring Leah Robbins, founder of Achvat Olam Community Day School.Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!Join the Judaism Unbound discord, where you can interact with fellow listeners all around the world, by heading to discord.judaismunbound.com.