Judaism Unbound

 Starting May 22nd, we're launching a new monthly series called Shabbat Unbound, an experiment in slowing Jewish prayer down. Once a month, in place of our regular interview on Friday, we'll release Shabbat Unbound here on the Judaism Unbound feed. Each episode of Shabbat Unbound focuses on one prayer through song, study, and story. Before the first episode drops on May 22nd, we wanted to share our trailer for the series with you now.

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ShavuotLIVE, Judaism Unbound's BIGGEST event of the year, is coming up! This 24-hour extravaganza of Jewish learning and unlearning will ta...

Samira Mehta is the author of a new book entitled God Bless the Pill: The Surprising History of Contraception and Sexuality in American Religion. She joins Lex and Rena Yehuda for a conversation exploring her book, along with what it can teach us about the history of American religion -- and about Jewish history in particular. This episode is the 1st in an ongoing unit of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring reproductive justice, bodily autonomy, and their intersections with the Jewish past, present, and future.

For 30%-off on God Bless the Pill, just head to this link and...

Chaia is a composer known for her Yiddish techno music, sometimes known as "kleztronica" (klezmer + electronica). She joins Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda Newman for a conversation honoring May Day (International Workers' Day). Together they explore the intersection of Yiddish, revolution, and folksong -- which, as it turns out, is an extremely prolific and inspiring intersection! They also explore broader Jewish questions about how we understand oldness and newness in Jewish tradition.
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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 m...

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Judaism Unbound is thrilled to be bringing you not one, not two, but THREE different Shabbat-focused podcasts over the coming months! They'll be called Shabbat Unbound, Rest to Return, and Shabbat Dinner Party. In this episode, Lex, Rena Yehuda, and Miriam explore what these podcasts will be, and why Judaism Unbound has chosen to make Shabbat such a big part of our programming moving forward.
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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 J...

Eli Ramer is a maggid (storyteller), an author, and a mystic. He joins Lex and Rena Yehuda for a conversation about Jewish connections across generations. They explore what it means to do eldering work, discuss Jewish notions of reincarnation (gilgul), and exchange stories that have the potential to help build a brighter world.

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming mini-courses in the UnYeshiva: Holy Chutzpah, and Rebbe Nachman of Bretslev! Financial aid is available via this link.

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Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying J...

Sofia Freudenstein serves as the Director of Jewish Life and Learning for the Jewish Community of Helsinki, Finland. She joins Lex and Rena Yehuda for a conversation about why being Jewish in Finland, and in other corners of the world that don't have the largest Jewish communities...really rocks! Together, the three of them also explore what halacha (Jewish law) looks like in such communities -- with one strong supporter of it, one opponent, and one situated in the middle. Find out who's who by listening in!

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out upcoming mini-courses...

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.

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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.

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Door to Door is a deeply personal, five-part podcast series tracing one Jewish family’s...

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 e...

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.

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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.

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!

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Head to...

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...

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!

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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!

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Door to Door is a deeply personal, five-part podcast series tracing one Jewish family’s...

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...

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...

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?
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Looking to convert to Judaism yourself? Judaism Unbound has a class...

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 c...

This week, Judaism Unbound is thrilled to feature the 2nd episode of Door to Door: A Pilgrimage Across Generations -- another podcast in Judaism Unbound's family of podcasts!

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 follow...

Leah Robbins is the founder of Achvat Olam: Diaspora Community Day School, a Jewish day-school "rooted in love, diasporism, and the Torah of justice," that hopes to launch in the 2029-30 school year. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about the importance of Jewish day-schools, the idea of diasporism, and visions for a brighter Jewish future -- in classrooms and beyond. Learn more about Achvat Olam by heading to AchvatOlam.org.

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 m...

Margot Valles is teaching a mini-course in the UnYeshiva called The Torah of Kink: Jewish Text Through the Lens of BDSM. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about what kink is, why discussions about kink can add to contemporary Jewish experience, and where we might find kink in the Torah. 

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering The Torah of Kink, Hasidism and Neo-Hasidism, Queering Kedusha (Holiness), and Brit Milah Unbound: Exploring Circumcision!

Access full shownotes for this e...

Judaism Unbound kicks off the new year by hearkening back to our recent mini-series exploring Jewish music: past, present, and future. Anthony Russell, a multidisciplinary artist working in the medium of Yiddish language and culture, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation. Together they explore Yiddish music, as a springboard into a broader exploration of how music can transform individuals and Jewish communities.

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering The Torah of Kink, Hasidism and Neo-Hasidism, Queering Kedusha (Holiness), and Brit...

Dan and Lex are joined by Tomer Persico, author of a recent book entitled In God's Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea. Together they explore the notion of B'tzelem Elohim (the idea that all human beings are created "in the image of God") from the book of Genesis -- what are its implications, why might it be important to us, and might it have a shadow side? 

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! This time around we are offering The Torah of Kink, Ha...

Lex Rofeberg is joined again by Lexi Kohanski, and Liana Wertman (our friends at The Torah Studio) for the 4th and final conversation in our 2025 edition of ApocryFest: Hanukkah Unbound and Un-Canonized. In this episode, they consider how we can channel our newfound Apocryphal ideas into the world today. They consider the importance of texts that are both canonical and non-canonical, along with endorsing the value of entering texts (such as apocrypha) that bring us into a state of beginner's mind.

You can sign up for ApocryFest 2025 by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/apocryfest. Do so, and...

Today we are thrilled to feature an episode from Judaism Unbound’s family of podcasts on our flagship podcast’s feed. The podcast is The Oral Talmud, hosted by our founder Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe – founder of SVARA: a Traditionally Radical Yeshiva.

Join Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson in their chevrutah, their partnered study and exploration of the Talmud through the “traditionally radical” lens pioneered by Benay Lappe. Together, we explore key stories and practices from the Talmud as a how-to manual for re-imagining Judaism after the previous version “crashes.” Whether you are a beginner or a longtime lea...

Lex Rofeberg is joined again by Lexi Kohanski, and Liana Wertman (our friends at The Torah Studio) for the 3nd conversation in our 2025 edition of ApocryFest: Hanukkah Unbound and Un-Canonized. In this episode, they explore a text called 4 Ezra. 

You can sign up for ApocryFest 2025 by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com/apocryfest. Do so, and we’ll send you all sorts of cool Apocryphal stuff, during Hanukkah, to help enrich your experience of this holiday! And you can register for The Hanukkah Apocrypha Extravaganza on December 21st, via this link!

For all of our episodes fro...

Lex Rofeberg, Lexi Kohanski, and Liana Wertman (the latter two our friends at The Torah Studio) bring the 2nd conversation in a 4-episode mini-series entitled ApocryFest: Hanukkah Unbound and Un-Canonized. In this episode, they explore a text called Genesis Apocryphon. They explore the power of texts written in the 1st-person (unlike most of the Bible), ask whether it may be spiritually productive to engage with texts that are fragments (allowing us to fill in the blanks ourselves), and wonder aloud what changes when allow stories from our tradition to have multiple versions that can all simultaneously be "authentic."

Hanukkah is here! Lex Rofeberg, Lexi Kohanski, and Liana Wertman (the latter two from our friends at The Torah Studio) kick off the 2025 edition of ApocryFest: Hanukkah Unbound and Un-Canonized -- a 4-part mini-series of Judaism Unbound. They ask why texts of the apocrypha are worth exploring, why it's worth doing so on Hanukkah in particular, explore some beloved apocryphal faves (Judith and Maccabees) along with introducing a few texts (Genesis Apocryphon and 4 Ezra) which will get bonus episodes of their own once Hanukkah begins.

You can sign up for ApocryFest 2025 by heading to www.JudaismUnbound.com...

Dan and Lex are joined by Sarah Hurwitz, author of a recently-published book entitled As a Jew, which explores ways in which antisemitism has shaped Jewish identity -- and how Jews can reclaim their tradition. This episode is the second in a short mini-series on antisemitism, following up on a conversation last week with Daniel May. 

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, wh...

Daniel May, publisher of Jewish Currents, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about anti-semitism. May is the author of a recent piece in Harper's Magazine entitled "An Outrage to Common Sense: On the Meanings of Anti-Semitism," a piece that serves as a great launching point into a discussion of antisemitism's history, its contemporary manifestations, along with debates about when it manifests and when it doesn't. If you've noticed that some parts of this description use a hyphen in "anti-semitism," and others use "antisemitism" with no hyphen, you're a sharp reader! That punctuation choice and its ramifications is part...

Barbara Thiede (also known as Shulamit Sapir) is a multi-time guest on Judaism Unbound in the past, a key figure in our recent book Judaism Unbound...Bound, a past teacher in the UnYeshiva, and a major influence on Judaism Unbound in many respects over the years. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that extends a previous appearance of hers (Episode 101: Not Your Rabbis' Judaism), and continues a mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes where we look back on what has shifted in Jewish life since our founding ten years ago.

Access full shownotes for this episode...

David Kraemer is the author of a recent book entitled Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora, and the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that uses that book as a springboard into a conversation about diaspora and exile in the Jewish past, present, and future.

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 c...

This week, Judaism Unbound is thrilled to feature the 1st episode of Door to Door: A Pilgrimage Across Generations -- another podcast in Judaism Unbound's family of podcasts!

Want to connect with Judaism Unbounders all around the world? Join our Discord server, which we have just opened to any and all Judaism Unbound listeners, all around the world! Just head to Discord.JudaismUnbound.com to join.

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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 pr...

Basya Schechter -- a songwriter, musician, performing artist, and cantor -- wants to remind everyone that you don't need to be in a synagogue to have powerful experiences with Jewish music. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about her evolutions as a musician, her experiences performing in contexts as different as a college dining hall and a sprawling concert venue, and so much more. This episode is the fourth in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes mobilizing Jewish music -- past, present, and future -- as a launching point into conversations about contemporary Jewish life and...

Benay Lappe, founder and rosh yeshiva of SVARA: a Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, returns to Judaism Unbound! She was our first ever guest on this show, in Episode 3: Exodus, and she's returned many times before -- but this time, she specifically is here to reflect on how American-Jewish life has transformed over the course of the past 10 years, since that first appearance. 

Love what you hear? You can listen to Benay Lappe in conversation with our co-host Dan Libenson, in another podcast that's part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts! It's called The Oral Talmud -- learn m...

On October 20th, 2025, Arthur Waskow – a revolutionary activist and teacher of Torah – died at the age of 92. He was an inspiration to our work at Judaism Unbound in more ways than we can articulate. Even as our organization was launched when he was already in his 80s, he found so many ways to collaborate with us and offer his unique forms of Torah to our audiences. He presented at 5 consecutive ShavuotLIVE gatherings, frequently moving attendees to tears, welcomed Judaism Unbound as a partner for many of his programs with The Shalom Center, and was twice a guest on this podc...

Should we be reviving the Nazirite vow, a practice that is typically seen as "ancient," "outdated," or "antiquated?" Might it have liberatory potential for Judaism and the world? Xava De Cordova and Michael Sokolovsky of Xai, How are You? join Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda Newman of Judaism Unbound for a crossover episode about Nazirite philosophy, rabbinic agendas, the Kol Nidrei declaration, and the metaphysical importance of vows! 

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Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva, beginning in mid-late October. Amazing learning opportunities are available for registration e...

Frequently you might hear someone claim that a particular Jewish melody is "mi-Sinai" (literally: "from Mount Sinai," implying "dating back to when Moses received the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai")? Mark Kligman, an ethnomusicologist who directs The Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, joins Dan and Lex to explore what this term illustrates. In doing so, they explore why "Jewish music" is such a challenging word to define -- along with what Jewish music does for people's lives. This episode is the third in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes mobilizing Jewish music -- past, present...

We’re thrilled to offer a bonus episode here on our feed, where we shout out an awesome new podcast created by friends of Judaism Unbound. It's called Aderaba: Jewish Studies on the Contrary and it’s co-hosted by Rafe Neis – a past teacher in Judaism Unbound’s UnYeshiva – and Gilah Kletenik. We’re featuring their second episode, entitled What’s Bad about Being in the Image of God, which connects to the mini-course that Rafe taught with us, entitled Untangling Tselem Elohim (the image of God).

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Aderaba: Jewish Studies on the Contrary Description: Join Rafe Neis...

Is Jewish music a form of Torah (spiritual wisdom)? Joey Weisenberg, a musician, composer, and founder of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, thinks so. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about contemporary singing communities, the history of wordless melodies (nigunim) and unbound approaches to prayer. This episode is the second in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes mobilizing Jewish music -- past, present, and future -- as a launching point into conversations about contemporary Jewish life and experience.

Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnY...

Elana Arian, a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and prayer leader, is one of the most important voices in contemporary Jewish music. So when she emailed Judaism Unbound with an entire vision for a mini-series of episodes exploring Jewish music, we of course paid attention! She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what the phrase "Jewish music" means, what sacred music does to/for us, and the extent to which there even is a real boundary between "Jewish music" and music more generally. This episode is the first in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes mobilizing Jewish...

Yom Kippur is here! For the past few years, Yom Kippur has been the single most popular day — all year — for folks to listen to Judaism Unbound. To those of you incorporating our podcast into your observance of this holiday, wishing you a beautiful and unbound Yom Kippur. In this episode, Angela Buchdahl -- senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City -- joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring the holiday of Yom Kippur, in conversation with her upcoming book entitled Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging.