Shows / Martini Judaism
Martini Judaism
For those who want to be shaken and stirred. Join one of American Judaism’s most prolific thought leaders and his special guests as they talk about the current state of Judaism, American culture, politics, religion, and spirituality.
Episodes
Martini JudaismWhy can't Israel be better?
"That's it!" my friend told me over coffee. "I am so done with Israel! The corruption, the situation with the Palestinians, the racists in the government...How…
Martini JudaismWhat Governor DeSantis needs to learn about the Holocaust and the Bible
I started my rabbinical career 42 years ago, when I served as an assistant rabbi at a large, urban synagogue in Miami, Florida. Those were interesting and…
Martini JudaismShould the Tree of Life shooter get the death penalty? • Marshall Dayan
It was the fifteen worst minutes in American Jewish history. It happened on October 27, 2018. It was a Shabbat morning. A gunman, Robert Bowers, entered the…
Martini JudaismHappy 95th birthday, Cynthia Ozick!
Bernard Malamud. Saul Bellow. Philip Roth. Joseph Heller. Herman Wouk. J.D. Salinger. Norman Mailer. E.L. Doctorow. Chaim Potok. Leon Uris. That is a partial…
Martini JudaismWhat Israel restored to the Jewish people
So, this really happened. Some years ago, my young cousin was on a United Synagogue Youth trip to Israel. While she was there, the group went north to tour the…
Martini JudaismIs 'To Kill a Mockingbird' a Jewish story?
It is time to play movie trivia. According to the American Film Institute, who is the greatest hero to ever appear in a movie? Indiana Jones? Rocky Balboa? Um…
Martini JudaismWhy I am saying kaddish for Al Jaffee of Mad magazine
Mad magazine was the haggadah of my childhood. It was my sacred text, my script and my constant companion — so much so that I cannot imagine my childhood and…
Martini JudaismWhen Israelis protest, it is music to my ears •Yossi Klein Halevi
I have been watching what has been unfolding in the state of Israel – the 5 percent (and growing) of the Israeli population that has taken to the streets of…
Martini JudaismLeo Frank’s ghost still haunts us
The word is "shushky." It means to shush something -- to not speak about something, to silence a conversation. It is a uniquely Southern Jewish Yiddishism. Let…
Martini JudaismWhen is it "a time to die?" • Rabbi Rachel Timoner
This might be one of the most important columns that I have ever written. I wrote this, and created the accompanying podcast, because I want to help people…
Martini JudaismShould Judaism disrupt your life? • Rabbi Michael Strassfeld
Here is a new Jewish party game. Gather a bunch of friends around a table, and everyone must complete the following sentence: “The Jewish people should…
Martini JudaismWhy right-wing populism should worry us all • Professor Marcia Pally
I love malapropisms. My favorite: A number of years ago, a bar mitzvah kid was leading services from an earlier Reform prayer book, “Gates of Prayer.” He was…
Martini JudaismWhy every Jewish kid goes on Birthright • Len Saxe
In honor of my niece’s return from her Birthright trip — which has become an American Jewish rite of passage — I talked with sociologist, Len Saxe, about what…
Martini JudaismIsrael. Relationship: Complicated • Gil Troy
It’s not the usual venue for it — that would be a coffee place on Emek Refaim Street in Jerusalem, but I spent about an hour talking with my friend and…
Martini JudaismWhen cancel culture invades a family • David Bernstein and Rabbi Amy Wallk
This podcast will begin with a sad story — about a family in turmoil. Their story mirrors what is happening in the larger society — the struggle over politics…
Martini JudaismHow to bend and not break
Jews are now in the process of finishing the festival of Sukkot. We have been shaking the lulav, the palm frond. What is the greatest quality of the lulav? It…
Martini JudaismWhen Jewish leaders say “I was wrong”
I love that old song by Player: “Baby Come Back” — especially when the singer says: “I was wrong…” It is not that easy to say. But, we do. Because we must. In…