

Judaism Unbound
Institute for the Next Jewish Future
Listen in as Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda Newman analyze pressing issues for 21st century American Judaism. Mixing their own analysis with interviews of leading thinkers, practitioners, and even "regular Jews," Lex and Rena Yehuda look to push past the bounds of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.
You can support Judaism Unbound at www.JudaismUnbound.com/donate.
You can support Judaism Unbound at www.JudaismUnbound.com/donate.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 19, 2019 • 56min
Episode 166: The Freedom Seder - Arthur Waskow
Arthur Waskow, noted activist, author, and rabbi, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about 1969’s Freedom Seder. They look at the process that led to Waskow’s invention of that Passover observance, and the impact it has had on both Judaism and the world over the 50 years since its creation.
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Apr 12, 2019 • 55min
Episode 165: SecularSynagogue.com - Denise Handlarski
Denise Handlarski, rabbi and founder of SecularSynagogue.com, joins Dan and Lex for a wide-ranging conversation, looking at digital Judaism, interfaith relationships, colonialism, among other topics.
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Apr 5, 2019 • 50min
Episode 164: Going, Jewishly - Leon Wiener Dow
Leon Wiener Dow of the Shalom Hartman Institute and BINA Secular Yeshiva joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg in conversation about his new book, The Going. They discuss Jewish law — a system which both bounds and binds — probing the tensions between individual Jewish practice and an ongoing communal endeavor.
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Mar 29, 2019 • 49min
Episode 163: Collective Effervescence - Lizzi Heydemann
Lizzi Heydemann, the rabbi and founder of Mishkan Chicago, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg in conversation about creating a 21st Century Jewish spiritual community. In their discussion, she calls for embodied experiences of Judaism that are “primal,” “spiritual,” “bold,” “visceral,” and “powerful.”
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Mar 22, 2019 • 45min
Episode 162: 100% Black, 100% Jewish - MaNishtana
MaNishtana joins Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson for a conversation about race and intersectionality in contemporary Jewish life. As a jumping off point, they discuss these issues through the lens of the protagonist in MaNishtana’s new novel, Ariel Samson: Freelance Rabbi, a Black Orthodox rabbi.
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Mar 15, 2019 • 58min
Episode 161: The Zohar - Daniel Matt
Daniel Matt is a scholar of Kabbalah who translated and annotated the Zohar — a central text of Jewish mysticism — into English. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the Zohar’s origins, his work that yielded The Zohar: Pritzker Edition (his landmark translation), and questions that the text opens up about the duality of old and new.
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Mar 12, 2019 • 58min
Bonus Episode: Museums and the Creative Challenge (Council of American Jewish Museums Conference)
Dan Libenson, one of Judaism Unbound’s co-hosts, heads to the annual Council of American Jewish Museums conference in Los Angeles and moderates a panel featuring recent podcast guests Ivy Barsky, Aaron Henne, and Yishai Jusidman.
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Mar 8, 2019 • 43min
Episode 160: Open Temple - Lori Schneide Shapiro
Lori Schneide Shapiro joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about Open Temple, an emerging Jewish community she founded in Venice, California.
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Mar 1, 2019 • 40min
Episode 159: Judaism Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
Novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Here I Am, and the non-fiction Eating Animals, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the creative process. This episode is the fourth in a series of episodes on art, creativity, preservation, and museums, brought to you in partnership with The Council of American Jewish Museums.
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Feb 22, 2019 • 48min
Episode 158: Curating the Jewish Story - Ivy Barsky
Ivy Barsky, the CEO and Gwen Goodman Director of the National Museum of American Jewish History, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what Jewish museums are, why they matter, and the impact they are having on contemporary Jews. This episode is the third in a series of episodes on art, creativity, preservation, and museums, brought to you in partnership with The Council of American Jewish Museums.
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.
To access full shownotes for this episode, click here!


