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Tablet Studios

Author: Tablet Magazine

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From weekly series examining unique angles on Jews’ place in the world, to inquiries into the details of Jewish text and tradition, Tablet Studios podcasts bring you insight and inspiration for the modern-day Jew. Our shows include Unorthodox, Rootless, Re-Form, and more to come.



529 Episodes
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This show takes no weeks off for holidays, whether they are on the Jewish or Gregorian calendars. What are the differences and similarities between Rosh Hashanah and the “secular” new year’s and more importantly how are we marking them? Tablet’s executive editor Wayne Hoffman joins us to discuss the true meaning of starting a new year. Hosted by Courtney Hazlett, Rabbi Diana Fersko, and Josh Kross, each episode of How to Be a Jew takes a look at a current, cultural topic and what it means for us as Jews, and how we react to it because we are Jews. Want to send us an email? Send it off to podcasts@tabletmag.com For more podcasts, visit tabletmag.com/podcasts
Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we explore the history and evolution of “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen” (Raisins and Almonds), the iconic Yiddish lullaby written by Avrom Goldfaden for his 1880 operetta Shulamis. Our guest, Pulitzer Prize finalist Alex Weiser, Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, joins us to discuss the song’s transformation from its original folk origins in the rendition, “Unter dem Kinds Vigele” (Under the Child’s Cradle), to a theatrical centerpiece, as well as its lasting influence on Jewish music. Beginning with a field recording by the folklorist Ruth Rubin, we discuss how this simple lullaby inspired classical compositions by Lazare Saminsky, Joseph Achron, Stefan Volpe, and Judith Shatin.
Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we delve into a rare cultural intersection: Jewish life and the genre of horror. While Jewish contributions to American culture often focus on comedy, literature, or music, horror remains largely unexplored, even by prominent Jewish filmmakers. We’re joined by Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University professor and author of American Scary: A History of Horror from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond. Together, we examine Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film The Pawnbroker as a rare exception, highlighting its haunting depiction of Holocaust survivor Sol Nazerman’s trauma, particularly through the “thin place” of the subway—a space where the present collides with the horrors of the past.  You can watch the subway scene we discuss here.
Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we dive into the fascinating world of kvitlekh—19th-century petitions addressed to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, a misnagdic rabbi whose miracle-working reputation drew thousands of supplicants. Discovered in a Polish attic in 1932 and preserved by the YIVO Institute, these handwritten pleas offer vivid, if fragmentary, snapshots of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, revealing stories of financial struggles, illness, and family crises. Glenn Dynner, historian and author of The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust, joins us to share how he has teased history from these tantalizingly incomplete records.
Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we talk about Bruce Springsteen and his iconic song “Thunder Road.” While Springsteen himself isn’t Jewish, this song, and his songwriting in general, invites reflections on themes central to Jewish life: tradition, leaving home, and coming back again. We’re joined by noted Bruce fans, Park Avenue Synagogue rabbis Elliot Cosgrove and Neil Zuckerman. Drawing on their personal connections to the song and their shared journey through rabbinical training, Cosgrove and Zuckerman unpack the spiritual resonance of Springsteen’s work, asking why certain texts—whether Torah or rock lyrics—speak to us anew across the decades.  You can buy Rabbi Cosgrove’s book, For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today, here.
Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we explore Nathan Hanover’s 17th-century work, The Abyss of Despair, or, in the original Hebrew, Yeven Metsulah. The text documents the Chmelnitski Revolt of 1648, a catastrophic uprising that devastated Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. We’re joined by Adam Teller, historian and author of Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Jewish Refugee Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, to examine how Jews across Europe and the Middle East organized a remarkable rescue network to ransom hostages, despite the era’s limited communication tools. Drawing parallels to modern events, Adam Teller sheds new light on this often-overlooked chapter of history, showing how The Abyss of Despair holds untapped insights into Jewish resilience and global solidarity.
Hosted by Courtney Hazlett, Rabbi Diana Fersko, and Josh Kross, each episode takes a look at a current, cultural topic and what it means for us as Jews, and how we react to it because we are Jews. This year, the first night of Hannukah falls on Christmas, so we are talking about how each of us, and Jews in general, relate to the most famous Christian holiday, and how some customs might find their way into our own lives. We are joined by musician Peter Himmelman to discuss his view on the relationship between music, holidays, and spiritual practice. Want to send us an email? Send it off to podcasts@tabletmag.com For more podcasts, visit tabletmag.com/podcasts
Jewish Studies Unscrolled features host Alyssa Quint in conversation with expert guests and historians. Each episode focuses on  a single classic Jewish text and covers topics ranging from a 17th-century hostage crisis, to modern classical interpretations of a  Yiddish lullaby.
It’s been a whopper of a year: Israel at war with Hamas and Hezbollah, a decisive Trump victory, anti-Semitism on the rise, and formerly great American institution on the decline. Yet as this look back at 2024 in Rootless reveals, we’ve many reasons to be hopeful, at home and abroad. Why? Join us in looking back at the year and find out.
Hosted by Courtney Hazlett, Rabbi Diana Fersko, and Josh Kross, each episode we'll take a look at a current, cultural topic and talk about what it means for us as Jews, and how we react to it because we are Jews.
When Jordan Neely, a mentally disturbed man with a long rap sheet began threatening his fellow subway passengers one day last year, they were all terrified. But one straphanger, a Marine vet named Daniel Penny, stepped up, wrestling Neely to the ground and putting him in a chokehold. Tragically, Neely, who had health complications and was abusing drugs, died shortly thereafter, and New York’s ideologically motivated District Attorney decided to make an example of Penny. Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a columnist for the New York Post, joins Liel to talk about how the progressive obsession with race is crippling the justice system, about the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and about how pro-Palestinian activists are now leading vocal demonstrations about matters that have nothing at all to do with Palestine.
There are few political issues we consider more contentious than abortions. But what if we are getting this critical subject all wrong? Erica Pelman, the founder and director of SHIFRA, a group that helps Jewish women dealing with unplanned pregnancies, tells Liel about her journey from a high-powered job at the Department of Labor to starting her own organization, about the importance of listening to expecting mothers in distress, and about how we should rethink pretty much everything we think we know about abortion and have a more soulful and helpful debate that transcends those deeply flawed labels, “pro-choice” and “pro-life.”
Earlier this week, Israel signed a controversial ceasefire deal with Lebanon, brokered by the Biden administration. Tablet’s news editor Tony Badran joins Liel to explain why the deal is the culmination of Barack Obama’s anti-Israeli vision for the region, how it might complicate the Trump administration’s foreign policy, and what reasons, if any, Israel had for signing such an agreement.
In 2017, Liel, back then no fan of Donald Trump, wrote a piece defending one of the president’s advisors, Sebastian Gorka, who was outrageously accused of being an actual Nazi. The reaction it generated sent Liel on a journey of political transformation, one that many Americans have recently shared, away from intimidation and lies and towards freedom and enthusiastic faith in America. Dr. Gorka joins Liel to talk about why Trump’s detractors are still smearing his top aides as extremists, and why we even conservatives should want the Democrat Party to reinvent itself and grow saner and stronger.  Tale of Trump Adviser’s Alleged Nazi Ties Unravels What We Talk About When We Talk About Gorka The Turn
Once upon a time, American publishing houses were paragons of excellence, championing writers like Cytnhia Ozick or Saul Bellow and helping create a robust culture. These days, however, the industry has been hijacked by inflamed activists who are more interested in banning books than publishing them, and who are especially keen to target Jewish writers, editors, and colleagues. Liel is joined by editor and publisher Adam Bellow to discuss how book publishing descended into madness, and what might yet be done to save it.
With Donald Trump slated to return to the White House after a truly historic upset, many Americans are feeling joyful and many others bereft. Both may be missing the point, which is that change, in America, often comes by precisely in a string of revolutions, tearing down old and crumbling institutions and replacing them with ones better geared to serve the needs of their constituents. Free Press columnist Eli Lake joins Liel to deliver a quick and insightful recap of what happened on Tuesday and what it means for Democrats, Republicans, Israel, the media, and everybody else. And Tablet's Editor in Chief Alana Newhouse delivers a master class on why everyone, regardless of party affiliation, should feel tremendously hopeful about America's future.
With just a few days to go before the 2024 presidential elections, we hear a lot of chatter about American democracy, usually from partisan hacks who are more interested in touting self-serving lies than honing up to inconvenient truths. But the actual hurdles we face as we try to heal our ailing system are much more complicated, and overcoming them is going to take much more than lofty slogans. Liel is joined by writer Will Tanner, who delivers a cautionary tale from the late Roman Republic contemporary Americans should heed, and explains why the policies too many of our lawmakers are pursuing have led another nation grappling with racial justice, South Africa, to the brink of collapse.
On this episode of Tablet Radio Hour, our Minyans are casting their vote. Tablet executive editor Wayne Hoffman, Jamie Betesh Carter and author and journalist Abigail Pogrebin assembled not one, but TWO minyans, one of which was made up of of Harris/Walls supporters and a second made up of of Trump/Vance supporters. They discuss their methods and what they learned from each group and why each group of has chosen their candidate for the upcoming election. You can find the stories from both on Tabletmag.com. The Harris/Walz voters are here, and the Trump/Vance voters are here.
These days, a lot of people are feeling anxious about America, Israel, and the precarious state of the world. But Jews have always had a superpower—hope, not the facile and silly sort but the kind that motivates people to change the world. Liel is joined by singer, songwriter and author Peter Himmelman, who explains why giving up is never an option, why he chose a life of Jewish observance and reflection over greater fame and fortune, and why he decided to write a deeply moving song dedicated to the Bibas boys, Kfir and Ariel, still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, a song he shares on the show. They also discuss Himmelman's new book, Suspended by No String.
Re-Form: Zionism

Re-Form: Zionism

2024-10-2259:431

On this episode of Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement, we use our final episode to look at the current state of Zionism in the Reform movement. We’re joined by Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, whose recent, viral Yom Kippur sermon emphasized his stance that Zionism is an imperative for Jews today.  You can watch or listen to the sermon here.
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Comments (5)

Prithviraj Pandit

www.ridermafia.com great show guys check out some ebikes in meawhile hehe

Jun 10th
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Robin Michelle Goldblum

This is a great show!

Mar 31st
Reply

Natalia Maus

Shame Joel only got a tiny segment, would have loved to hear more!

Jun 23rd
Reply

Malachi D

ecokashrut, look it up.

Dec 29th
Reply

Heather Cooper

X

Oct 12th
Reply