episode list
4.01 Dogs on a Plane
Dogs on a plane are kosher, but are they annoying? Rabbi Shira and Hanna kick off a new season and Elul with a Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot celebration. What are the Jewish ethics around animals? Is the Torah ableist? Bring your apples, honey, and dog biscuits and tune in.
3.28 Celebrating the (Sometimes Racist, Sexist, and Homophobic) Torah
Rabbi Shira and Hanna close out Season 3 with by celebrating Shavuot, which commemorates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. But how do you celebrate a sacred text that's often problematic?
3.27 Racism or Antisemitism? One Couple's quandry
A listener in an interfaith and interracial relationship asks for advice on how to navigate conversations about antisemitism, race and Israel. Rabbi Shira and Hanna are joined by antiracist educator Rachel Faulkner from the National Council of Jewish Women.
3.26 Friendship FOMO
Do you suffer from Friendship FOMO? Heartburn, fatigue, painful stabs of jealousy while looking at Instagram? Rabbi Shira and Hanna will provide some relief. Podcast host and producer Lauren Ober writes in. And Shira lets out her inner mean girl.
3.25 we hear you
Rabbi Shira and Hanna fire through a bunch of your letters and voice memos. Shira imagines having an audience with the Pope. Hanna re-imagines her concept of Jewish power. And, yet another plug for the mikvah.
3.24 An IVF Mitzvah
Rabbi Shira and Hanna help a couple navigate the decision to donate their embryos. They’d like to give the gift to a Jewish family. They’d like to maintain close contact. Are mitzvahs still mitzvahs if you have an ulterior motive?
3.23 spoiled rotten
What to do when you want to teach your children gratitude, humility and the value of a dollar, but your mother’s “greatest joy in life” is spoiling them rotten. Rabbi Shira and Hanna talk about money myths, values and honoring thy father and mother.
3.22 Israel and This Year's Seder
Israel is destined to be top of mind during Passover this year. Rabbi Shira and Hanna give advice on how to have a meaningful (and less contentious) seder.
3.21 Long-Held Secrets
There's something titillating about secrets in Judaism, but should we have them? Rabbi Shira and Hanna help a listener who wants to unburden a big secret with her father.
3.20 Jews of Discretion
Have you ever hid your Judaism? Whether for safety or comfort? A listener in France wonders if and when it’s ok to conceal your Jewish identity.
3.19 The End of a Jewish Golden Age
Rabbi Shira and Hanna talk with Franklin Foer about his cover story for The Atlantic, which argues that Anti-Semitism is threatening to end a “Golden Era” for Jewish Americans.
3.17 Not Enough Townies with Moshe Kasher
Comedian, podcaster, and Subculture Vulture Moshe Kasher joins Rabbi Shira and Hanna to help a listener pull (or not pull) a geographic.
3.16 Shira's Week of Torah Study
Rabbi Shira returns from Israel where she engaged in a week of Torah study, rabbinic debates, and shepherding in the West Bank.
3.15 The Jews Killed Jesus
A listener’s friend insists that the Jews killed Jesus. How should she respond? And why does this myth continue to hurt? Rabbi Shira and Hanna talk about weaponizing myths, conspiracies, and the always helpful “I” statements.
3.14 Death with Dignity
Rabbi Shira and Hanna help a listener who wants to know what Judaism says about choice when it comes to the end of life. What are the Jewish ethics around medical aid in dying? And is there a Jewish value in suffering?
3.13 Who Gets to be Jewish?
Rabbi Shira and Hanna are really Jewish. Charlotte York Goldenblatt is really Jewish. But what about the many of us who live in the gray in-between? We answer this week’s listener question: who gets to be Jewish?
3.12 Friends Forever
Can you be “Friends Forever”? And should you? Pulling from the ancient texts Saved by the Bell and the Talmud, Rabbi Shira and Hanna help a listener who wants to bring her oldest and dearest friendships back to life.
3.11 Teaching While Jewish
When channeling your inner Dead Poets Society isn’t enough…Rabbi Shira & Hanna help a high school teacher figure out when and how to talk with students about the war in Israel and Gaza.
3.10 On Dating While Married
What does Judaism (and the universe) have to say about dating and divorce? Dating BEFORE divorce? And are Jews better at New Year’s Resolutions? Rabbi Shira & Hanna are back to answer these questions and more.