The After Life Podcast

We’re back with another episode, discussing the joys and curiosities of life after leaving ultra-orthodox Judaism. In this episode we catch up with each other (and with you!) about where we’ve been since our last episode aired. We take you through hospital delivery rooms, Sukahs attached to walls, jellyfish in the Guinness beer plant, and the cuddliest, sweetest step Sol took in his After Life journey.

For the occasion of Lipa’s groundbreaking new album Sol comes down from the ivory tower where he’s been teaching chemistry and Ushy takes a break from his lab at an undisclosed location near the US capitol, to discuss this momentous event. Can Ushy and Sol live with the knowledge that Lipa is now going to college and so they are not special anymore? Does Ushy even know what kind of music this new album is? Tune in to hear us discuss how, despite our qualms, Lipa still provides some of the best soundtracks to our lives. Oh, and just wait for the drop in the episode, it is, well, Bueh Bueh. You will also find out how Chaim Kanievsky became a DJ at a gay nightclub in Tel Aviv, what Lipa’s singing in hospitals has in common with Walter White from Breaking Bad, and hear our deep - and ranting - analysis of the album’s most shocking songs and how Lipa’s music has evolved from his first album. Whether you are driving to Tosh for a blessing or running away from the Aigel we hope you enjoy this new musical episode from The After Life Podcast.

Even if you sell your Olam Habbah we still welcome you in the After Life. Ari Mandel, aka Rachmuna Litzlon, joins us in this episode for an interview packed with insightful anecdotes of his very active life on the internet’s OTD groups, the story behind his activism, and juicy details about his notorious pranks.  Ari’s avatar (a hasidic sparta) and pseudonym (Rachmuna Litzlon) are amongst the most consistant personalities in Facebook’s many OTD groups, he is the admin of many groups and is very active in raising awareness about issues of sexual abuse in the Ultra-Orthodox community. He reached near national fame when he put up his portion in heaven for sale on eBay. Ari shares with us his views on the OTD social media landscape, the state of Kiruv debates, why he no longer debates politics as much as he used to, the story that changed his life and turned him into an activist, how “The Internet is not the problem” rally came about, what President Obama did to his face, the time he engaged in a movie-style heist at the Aguddah convention center, and how he spent his Yom Kippurs in the army (it involves a pool). Stick around till the end, you will hear a thrilling story that involved Shomrim and ponytails, plus at the very end Ari gives us an exclusive reveal that will affect all of us who have come to love and expect the Hasidic Sparta on our Facebook newsfeeds.

In the After Life it can be a bit confusing about how far back you really want to look. In this episode, as we reflect on our episodes so far, we discuss what it takes to talk about your life before, the responses we often get, and the criticism we sometimes ignore. We wonder aloud how ex-Hareidi writing has changed over the years, who can still be anonymous, and which type of stories really “get us”. We both share some of the projects we’ve been working on and what the responses in each case, in person and on the web, taught us. Sol takes us along on a journey through his own looking glass, and Ushy shares how he once, inadvertently, destroyed the Holy Temple all over again.     We also have a special announcement at the top of the show.

Happy Passover! They may have knocked our teeth out, but we, the wicked sons and daughters of the Haggadah who questioned all the rituals, still question who we are today. In this episode we discuss the role of Jewish identity in our new lives. Joined by a guest that makes us all seem smarter we discuss what it is to be Jewish when we gave up on the first definition we had. We share how we like to celebrate our holidays these days, what we tell people when they ask us about our jewishness, and we try to figure out what’s an ex-satmar to do with all this zionism stuff everyone seems to be talking about.

Now that the ball of life is in our court we sometimes like to sit back with a few beers and watch others kick it around. In this episode, recorded in the pre-super bowl era before God started loving his Dodge Ram, we sit down to discuss the world of sports and athletics that our new life has opened for us. Joined by special guest Shmuly Horowitz, co-founder of the Footsteps Basketball Program, we discuss why the Yankees are the most Hasidic team, how we discovered the sports we love and the ones we hate, what it takes to get any of us to go to a Mets game, and the secret underworld of Hasidic Varsity sports. We don’t have any Beyonce on this episode, but we also don’t have any power outages, so take that, Superbowl XLVII!

It’s back to school in the After Life and we feel as ready to take off as a Boeing 787, still we strap our seatbelts and take you along for the ride. In this episode, we discuss the Yeshiva learning skills that help or hinder us in our pursuit of secular higher education, why chemistry students don’t know how to create a Kol Torah, a good rule of thumb to know if your professor is talking about something you studied in Yeshiva, and what Amsterdam can teach us about choosing study partners.

We may no longer feel at home at Chasidic houses but the After Life can feel like a no man’s land. In this episode of The After Life we explore the architectural signatures of Chasidic life, why all shuls smell the same, the most complicated way to sweeten your coffee, and why it’s easier to find a restroom in a non-Chasidic community.

They may not serve beer in hell, but the After Life is full of new foods with complicated names to confuse even for the most avid shopper at Pomegranate. In this episode we reflect on the experiences we had with food since we made our last blessing, all the money we saved with the dollar menu, and why convenience is a dish best served cold and often.