Sorry, not sorry!
Good evening from Tel Aviv, where we broke the Yom Kippur fast about an hour ago. Even if you are an infidel, fasting on Yom Kippur is like, the one thing you do. Hopefully it makes up for a year’s worth of sins.
Right before the holiday, Chaya Leah and I got together to discuss apologies, moving, and being nice to strangers (but nicer to non-strangers.) We also go over the latest at UC Berkley, and argue a little about what deserves to be called anti-semitism, and what is plain old dumb-asasery. This epsiode was crafted over 3 times zones, so apologies if some of you more observant Jews got it before YK ended. Fear not though - it was uploaded to iTunes by a goy, so we good.
Here is Yael’s book recommendation about Russia, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, and a funny Israeli show called “Rehearsals” on Hulu.
Chaya Leah also wanted to share nice sermon about the Shofar and the Harp, by Rabbi Daniel Levine.
"Unlike the harp which represents the neat order the shofar represents something in need of fixing.
The Shofar is fundamentally a call to action necessitated by imperfection.”
Above is a short quote, but you can read the full text here.
We’ll be out for a couple of weeks, but will return with some fun guests and surpises. Please remember to share the podcast with friends if you think they’ll like it, and write to us any time in the comments below or on askajewpod@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Instagram, @Askajewpod, and leave a 5-star review on Apple iTunes, which helps us reach more people. We recently got a lovely review from someone who cares about us in Oklahoma, so all you slackers can learn a thing or two from Meredith….
We leave you with a Yom Kippur jam with a modern twist :
Shanah Tovah! Looking through the squads’ twitter feeds is so Jewish. Me and my sister were doing the same thing, comparing Iran to Israel tweets 🙈🙈🙈 Spoiler: not even close.
On Rosh Hashanah, on the street, a hasid played the shofar for me. It felt like a moment of solidarity. It was really nice. I don’t think I would’ve done that before listening to this pod. My parents were so excited when I told them.
And, I’d love to hear you guys talk to David Baddiel. I’m finally reading Jews Don’t Count.
And, p.s. 100% agree with ChayaLeah that antisemitism is a shapeshifter (in so many ways) and, in this iteration, first it was about religion, then it was race, now it’s Israel. They’ll always find a reason because conspiratorial thinking is gripping and insidious.
It's a Yom Kippur miracle! A Midwestern white Protestant subscribed (admittedly by mistake) for a YEAR! I meant to select monthly, but now I feel like it was Providence. Blessings, and thanks for becoming one of my must-listens next to TFC and Smoke 'Em.