The Orthonomics Podcast Mark Trencher

Joseph Kaplan is perhaps the most prolific writer anywhere on topics relating to Modern Orthodoxy. He has written hundreds of articles in The Baltimore Jewish Times, The Jewish Week, Edah Journal, Sh’ma Magazine, New Jersey Jewish Standard, and the Times of Israel. He has written many letters-to-the editor of many publications including 19 that were published in the New York Times.

He recently released a book titled “A Passionate Writing Life,” (https://www.judaicahouse.net/passionate-writing-life) and it starts with the two sentences: “I'm a Modern Orthodox Jew. And a feminist.” He writes extensively about those two topics, and also about politics, the Covid and Trump years, the culture wars, church/state legal issues, Jewish divorce law, liturgy, ritual and much more.

Joseph is a retired lawyer, who practiced as a commercial litigator in New York for 46 years. He and his wife Sharon live in Teaneck, NJ, and have been blessed with four daughters and five grandchildren.

Rabbi Yehuda Albin grew up as a Reform Jew in Scarsdale, NY. He was exposed to Judaism and his father ran several secular Jewish camps for youth.

He became religious in Jerusalem, after graduating Bowdoin College with the highest honors.  Then he studied the Torah and the Talmud for nearly a decade in Jerusalem, before returning to the states, and moving to Chicago. In Chicago he established a Torah teaching and counseling practice, focused on successful businesspeople and professionals. He has been doing this for 30 years wearing two different hats in the process. 
 
He melds the best of two worlds … Torah learning and personal coaching … providing a unique perspective to help people manage business, family and every type of unique  problem, and to improving themselves and living a happier, more spiritual, life. To get a feel for his engaging approach and command of subject matter, you can listen to him at https://www.theemberfoundation.org/.
 
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In our “What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we talk about six distinct and important groups within the Jewish and Orthodox community that are very much under-researched and where significant thought and creativity is needed to better understand them. Let me know what you think, at mark@nishmaresearch.com.
 
I wish you all a Pesach Chag Kasher v’Sameach.

Jacob Kornbluh is the senior political reporter for the Forward. Kornbluh, a member of the Hasidic community in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, covers politics with a Jewish angle and regularly interviews government officials, political commentators and security experts on issues that matter to the broader Jewish American community.

He previously worked as a national politics reporter for Jewish Insider, covered the 2013 NYC mayoral race for the Yeshiva World News, and was featured by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as one of the top Jews to follow on Twitter.

In this episode, we discuss his unique role in Jewish/Orthodox world reporting and some of the seminal issues he has covered, including the Orthodox world’s political views, reactions to coronavirus restrictions, secular education mandates in yeshivas, and more.

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The Nishma Research Pesach Survey!

And now, for something completely different: we’re undertaking a timely broad survey dealing with Pesach … the first such survey ever conducted. If you would like to participate in the survey, it will be online through April 9, at: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7774034/The-First-Ever-Pesach-Survey. Results will be available before Pesach at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html.

Baruch Lytle is an African American Orthodox Jew from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he identifies as a Satmar Chasid. 

He describes his conversion to Judaism as the defining moment of his life and greatest accomplishment.  He is also an award-winning journalist, having written nearly 200 articles for the largest Jewish newspaper in America, The Jewish Press.   

In 2023, he won the Simon Rockower Award – the Jewish journalism version of the Pulitzer – for Excellence in Journalism. His favorite writing assignments deal with self- improvement, and he has worked extensively with the developmentally disabled at agencies throughout New York State. 

In this episode we discuss his personal religious journey, and some of the interesting issues in the Orthodox community that he has covered. 

Baruch and I also discussed our recent Orthodox Political survey, and I discussed the variations within Modern Orthodoxy and the “silo effect”: 

Report – A Survey of Orthodox Jewish Political Attitudes and Behaviors: Haredi and Modern Orthodox Sectors 

Article – Despite What Some Want to Believe, Modern Orthodoxy is Indeed Politically Split 

 Some of Baruch Lytle’s Jewish Press articles referenced in this podcast: 

Study Finds Frum Jews Financially Secure – And Stretched 

The State of Orthodox Singles: It's Complicated 

Interview with Middle East Intelligence Expert Avi Melamed 

Book Review: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Antisemitism 

Michael Feldstein is a keen observer and commentator on all aspects of the Orthodox Jewish community, and his weekly columns in the Jewish Link newspaper draws an enthusiastic readership. His upcoming (January 2024) book, "Meet Me in the Middle," is a collection of 75 of his essays and, in this episode, we discuss five of them:
• Prayer, Politics and the Pulpit
• The Changing Geographic Face of Orthodoxy in America
• The Culture of Fear in Orthodoxy
• Time for a Jewish Vocational School
• Seven Things I Would Change about Jewish Weddings
In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we expand on our brief conversation about living in a smaller Orthodox community. Here is a LINK to our study of the cost of Orthodoxy, and check out page 46, where get into the smaller town cost data.
We want to hear from you, so you can contact us at this link to offer comments and questions about the Jewish community: http://bit.ly/areas-of-interest
Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

This episode is an exploration of a pioneering study of people who have left the Orthodox community, as we examing  journeys, practices, beliefs, identity, community and relationships, across Chasidic, Yeshivish and Modern Orthodox segments of the population.
In this episode, we review many highlights of this study, including:
1. Why People Leave Orthodoxy
2. How Do They Now Identify Jewishly? What Have They Held Onto?
3. What About “Double-Lifers”?
4. How Are Their Family Relationships? What are their Levels of Acceptance?
5. How Widespread Is This Phenomenon?
6. Final Thoughts and Reflections … In Their Own Words:
– a) Many people don’t well understand those who have left, or may leave, their Orthodox community of origin. What do you want to tell people about this group?
– b) Looking back at your experiences, what if anything would you have done differently?
– c) In conclusion, what advice would you give to others who are considering leaving their Orthodox community, for a more modern lifestyle?
The full report and many of its contents are available at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the section of files dealing with “Survey of Those Who Have Left Orthodoxy.”