What ChayaLeah is reading, watching, and listening to right now...

For the two people who asked for recs

It’s the day after Purim. It’s actually a miracle that I can put a coherent sentence together. Yael has been bugging me to write a post on here for a while and I can’t take her Israeli aggressiveness anymore. So, here I am writing to you all with a list of things that I have been enjoying over the past month.

BOOKS:

I have gone down a rabbit hole of 2nd Temple Judaism since discovering Dr. Malka Simkovich on Youtube and I am in the middle of reading her book, “Discovering Second Temple Literature.”

BUY THE BOOK HERE

The book is easy to read and does a wonderful job of describing early Jewish communities in the diaspora, in Israel and the many texts that make up Rabbinic Judaism today. She has a few great series on YouTube about the Apocrypha, early Egyptian Jewish communities, and other fascinating parts Jewish history that are little known.

People ask me for books to help better understand the Israel/Palestinian situation. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Letters to my Palestinian Neighbors by Yossi Klein Halevy

2. Catch 67 by Micah Goodman

3. The War of Return by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf

TV/MOVIES:

Obviously, you already know that I think 80 for Brady was the greatest film ever made, but here are some other things I’ve been enjoying:

VEEP (HBO)- I’m watching this show for the third time. It’s so funny. Unfortunately, life imitates art and the past 5 years seem like our government is just one long episode of Veep. I should add, this show is not for people who can’t handle vulgar language and sexual innuendo (aka MOM).

VICTORIA (AMAZON PRIME)- There are dozens of shows and movies about Queen Victoria and and the famous love story with her husband, Prince Albert, but I found the PBS version to be the best. It could have to do with Lord Melbourne, who’s to say?

I’d vote for him.

PODCASTS:

Yael made me swear that I’d plug our own pod. Personally, I don’t listen. It’s bad enough I have to have the conversation with Yael to begin with, I can’t bear to listen to it again. Here is the link to our latest episode, which I was only on for for the first part. Don’t ask. Tech troubles. We called this one “Anne Frank: The Musical” because we talked about Broadway, antisemitism, and antisemitism on Broadway (now with tap dancing!) Our wonderful guests were playwright Jeremy Kareken and multi-talent performer and activist, Ari Axelrod.

Here are a couple of other pods that I really enjoy:

1. The Short History of..

This is a great pod about interesting events and characters in history - told in a concise way. No need to listen to hours and hours of content about the creation of Las Vegas, the Mona Lisa, or Shakespeare. You can feel smart while only spending 40ish minutes on each topic.

2. Heretic in the House

This is not for everyone. I repeat, this is not for everyone. Personally, I loved it. It’s a 4 part series about Orthodox men and women who leave the community. Usually I hate the media on this topic because it often feels exploitative but this podcast is different. Trust me, it is worth a listen.

Also, check out our Substack recommendations. There are some great writers with awesome content that you don’t want to miss!

Now, please return the favor and send me recs in the comments: