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Jewish History Nerds
Jewish History Nerds
Author: Unpacked
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© Unpacked, a division of OpenDor Media
Description
Whoever said history was boring clearly never heard these stories…Welcome to Jewish History Nerds! Join hosts Yael and Schwab each week as they take a dive into some deep cuts of Jewish history. From the Jewish Da Vinci Code to mass suicide pacts, explore true stories that feel larger than life.
Be in touch: [email protected]
86 Episodes
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Grab your frozen yogurt. Before our new season begins, we’re taking one final detour from medieval Jewish history down a philosophical rabbit hole inspired by The Good Place. In this Director’s Cut, Jonathan Schwab and Yael Steiner explore the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a twelfth- and thirteenth-century German Jewish pietist movement whose extreme ideas about morality, suffering, and the afterlife have some surprising connections to the popular sitcom.
If you missed the full episode on the Hasidei Ashkenaz, you can listen here: The Other Hasidim: Medieval Jews Who Rejected Joy.
Stream The Good Place: Don't Let the Good Life Pass You By
Please join the conversation. Comment wherever you get your podcasts. And send us your audio or video comments to [email protected] with your thoughts about this episode.
What other shows, film or books come to mind when thinking about Yehuda he-Hasid? Please share your knowledge about the Hasidei Ashkenaz's rituals and beliefs. We would like to hear your thoughts about the impact of generational trauma. If you send us a video with your stories, we will share it with Nerd Nation.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on youtube and Spotify.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Please join the conversation. Leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts and send us your video reaction to [email protected].
When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953, they left behind two young sons. This outtake from our episode on the Rosenbergs follows Michael and Robert from the Jewish institutional system to the couple who gave them a new name, Meeropol. Yael and Schwab also revisit the Venona cables, where every Soviet spy had a code name except Ethel, and ask what the Jewish community’s near-silence on the Rosenbergs says about the golden age of American Jewry.
We want to hear from you, Nerd Nation! Please join the conversation. Comment wherever you get your podcasts. And, we're trying something new. Please send us your audio or video comments to [email protected] with your thoughts. Should the fact that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg would leave behind two young boys have factored into the sentencing decision? What other children became the victims of their parents’ fame and alleged crimes?
Here's a link to the full episode: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: The case that divided American Jews.
Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter's Story, by Ivy Meeropol.
An Execution in the Family: One Son’s Journey, by Rober Meerpol.
We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
Here is an image of the Rosenbergs' grave.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on youtube and Spotify.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
We’re back with a Director’s Cut of Jewish History Nerds, the 2x Signal Award winner. Yael and Schwab are digging into the mystery of sand floors in some synagogues in the Caribbean. This segment, which didn't make it into the original episode, also explores how Jewish communities have picked up customs from their neighbors, adapting them with their own local flavor.
In case you missed it, here's a link to the full episode: Jewish Pirates and the Caribbean.
We want to hear from you, Nerd Nation! Comment wherever you get your podcasts. And, we're trying something new. Join the conversation. And please send us a video to [email protected] with your theories or examples of customs adapted from neighboring societies.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on youtube and Spotify.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds is now an award-winning podcast! We took home two Signal Awards for history: Gold and Listener’s Choice. Thank you, Nerd Nation for coming out to vote.
Speaking of elections, Israelis are gong to the polls. So we decided to revisit one of our favorite episodes, the story of Ze’ev Jabotinsky. The founder of Revisionist Zionism is widely claimed as the ideological father of Likud and the Israeli right. But what did he actually believe? Jabotinsky predicted the Holocaust, fought for Jewish self-defense, and built the movement that shaped modern Israel. This is the origin story of the Israeli right, and it’s not what you think.
If you enjoy this show, please comment wherever you get your podcasts. And email us at [email protected]. We want to hear from you.
This episode was first released in February, 2024.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on youtube and Spotify.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews
Jewish History Nerds won two Signal Awards, gold and listener's choice in the history category. So we decided to revisit the episode submitted for consideration.
If you enjoy this show, please comment wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back soon with a brand new season of episodes.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That same year, Jews who didn't convert to Catholicism were expelled from Spain. Those two events are more connected than you think, and together they explain why the first Jewish community in the Americas ended up exactly where it did. Spoiler alert, It wasn’t New Amsterdam. It was Recife, Brazil.
Check out some of the other incredible episodes in the Americas Series.
What came next after Jews docked in Recife, Brazil? Jews thrived in the Caribbean.
Jewish Pirates and the Caribbean
The surprising story of Emma Lazarus, the poet behind the Statue of Liberty’s famous words.
How One Jewish Poet Changed the Meaning of America: Emma Lazarus (Part 1)
The Statue of Liberty Was Never Meant to Welcome Immigrants (Part 2)
Email us at [email protected]. We want to hear from you.
This podcast was brought to you by Unpacked, a brand of OpenDor Media. Follow @unpackedmedia on Instagram and check out our videos on youtube and Spotify.
Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount.
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Unpacking Israeli History
Wondering Jews



