Not in Heaven

5.0 (6)
JUDAISM
UPDATED WEEKLY

A weekly podcast about Judaism in the 2020s—because the Torah was left for us to figure out on the ground. Sublime and irreverent conversations about the present and future of communal, religious and spiritual life, led by Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl.

5D AGO

Escape from New York?

In the lead-up to New York's mayoral election, many prominent Jewish New Yorkers came out against the eventual winner, Zohran Mamdani. Now that Mamdani has won, what do they do? How do they reconcile that a third of the city's Jews voted for someone who has spoken out against Israel? And how can they preach about unity when they already made clear they were taking sides? This is the topic of today's episode of Not in Heaven, inspired by a recent column in the Forward, titled, "I spoke out against Mamdani. Then he won. Here’s how we walk forward together," by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove. In it, the rabbi writes how found it "totally bewildering" that a third of Jewish voters voted for Mamdani. Our rabbinic podcasters dig into what that says about the shifting politics of North American Jews and how, if at all, our communities can stand together and be united. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )

34 min
NOV 6

Nobody wants this (but everyone wants to talk about it)

The hit Netflix rom-com Nobody Wants This is back, and with it are Jewish debates about intermarriage and onscreen representation in mainstream media. The show's first season tells the story of heartthrob Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and non-Jewish podcaster Joanne (Kirsten Bell) falling in love. It was an unexpected hit for Netflix last fall, topping its most-watched list for weeks. Some Jewish viewers rejoiced at a popular portrayal of a common reality: families blended with non-Jews, not terribly religiously observant, yet still connected to their Jewish identity. Others bristled at a show that celebrates a Jewish religious leader breaking a deeply held community taboo, and criticized it for it representation of Jewish practice. Regardless of which viewpoint you took, the show was a nearly unavoidable topic at Jewish dinner tables when it first launched—and season two appears to be trending in the same direction. Our three rabbinic podcasters discuss the show, its merits and its pitfalls, including how is ostensibly frames Judaism as an obstacle to be overcome on the road to happily ever after. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

39 min
OCT 30

Challahween? How Jewish families navigate Halloween

This week, many Jewish schools will be participating in a hallowed end of October tradition: sending out letters discouraging families from celebrating Halloween. The prominence of Halloween in public has ballooned in recent decades, evolving into a full-blown seasonal phenomenon. But despite the celebratory spiders and inflatable pumpkins, Jews tend to have a mixed relationship to the festival. Many see it as a bit of harmless, secular fun—a time for neighbours of all faiths to welcome and be welcomed into each other’s homes, share sweets, and indulge in playful kitsch, costumes and parties. Others see it as a festival born of paganism and idolatry, later mired in antisemitic violence before ultimately becoming a modern-day sexualized glorification of the macabre. Regardless of where they fall on this spectrum, our rabbinic podcast hosts have a whole set of important questions for Halloween: Can a cultural phenomenon shed its religious origins and become fully secular? How much should Jews try to join their neighbours in shared cultural space? And how much should they cultivate their own individuality? Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

38 min
OCT 24

Who’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani?

For months, Zohran Mamdani has held a double digit lead in the New York City mayoral race. The 34-year-old media-savvy firebrand burst onto the scene with a suite of fresh, progressive ideas—but his candidacy has forced a reckoning among the city’s significant Jewish community. Mamdani says he doesn’t use the slogan “Globalize the intifada” himself, but he does not condemn those who do. He’s said that if he becomes mayor, Benjamin Netanyahu would face arrest if he stepped foot in the city. And, while he believes Israel has a right to exist, he’s not comfortable supporting a state that has a hierarchy of citizenship based on religion. Many Jews are shocked and scared by the prospect of a Mamdani victory. They see his criticism of Israel as a thin veil for antisemitism, and worry his election would create a permission structure for more aggressive hostility towards Israel and its supporters. On October 23, more than 850 U.S. rabbis penned a letter opposing Mamdani and the "political normalization" of anti-Zionism; a sharp departure from a broad rabbinic norm to keep explicit politics, especially candidate endorsements, out of the synagogue. But according to a recent Fox News poll, 38 percent of the city’s Jews still plan on voting for Mamdani. Some don’t think the mayor of New York has much influence over Middle Eastern geopolitics; others fear a future where Israel becomes a worn-torn, global pariah ruling over the rubble of Gaza and the West Bank—which would, they believe, only further endanger the lives of Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora. Our three rabbinic podcasters return from their High Holiday vacations for this week's episode of Not in Heaven, in which they ruminate on the rifts that have opened up within New York—and which could spread further outward. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

41 min
SEP 18

Rosh Hashanah Roundup

Even for the least religiously involved Jews, the High Holidays are a high point—and sometimes the only point—of organized Jewish engagement. For many families, it may be the only time in a year they step inside a synagogue or participate in a prayer service. A time for re-upping their membership in the Jewish collective, returning to the same well of tradition: the same tunes, buildings and prayer books that they remember from sitting with their parents and their parents’ parents. But, ironically, for the people most passionate about Jewish spiritual life—those who have devoted their careers to it—Rosh Hashanah can look very different. Two of our hosts’ spirtual needs are bringing them to prayer services apart from their partners. Another fears they’ve been seeing Rosh Hashanah as a job for so long, they're not sure if they’ve ever had, or could have, an "authentic" Rosh Hashanah experience. Plus, rabbis Avi, Matthew and Yedida discuss their advice for boredom in shul services, asking for forgiveness, and what to do with a yearning for someone to ask forgiveness from you, and using the High Holidays as a time not only to think about what you’ve done to other, but to let go of the slights others have done to you. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

40 min
SEP 11

Binge eating through the High Holidays

Jews may joke about the High Holidays being a time for binge eating—overflowing tables of multiple meats, several courses, soups, sides and desserts—but for anyone suffering from an eating disorder, it's a dangerous time of year. That's how Ilana Zackon, a performer and writer, remembers coming home for the holidays in her early 20s. Privately, she had a binge-eating disorder; when faced with mountains of brisket, chicken, potatoes and pies, nobody thought twice about her eating for two straight hours. Zackon wound up recovering from her disorder. And now, more than a decade later, she's reimagined that experience into a short film, Grain, that recently won an award for best 2D short film at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. In the movie, the main character binges to the point of transforming into a horrific creature that rampages through her city. Ahead of the High Holidays, Zackon joins the rabbi podcasters of Not in Heaven to analyze the role of food in Jewish culture—and how we approach eating, cooking and encouraging others to dig in. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

37 min
SEP 4

The state of Jewish education

School has returned—and with it, the annual anxiety of Jewish parents fretting over the cost, and results, of Jewish day school. What good is Hebrew knowledge if most Israelis speak English? What are the benchmarks for a successful Jewish education? Is it just about surrounding our kids with other Jewish kids, or is there something deeper in the biblical knowledge? Different parents will give different answers. For their part, our rabbi podcast panel of Not in Heaven, back from a quasi-summer break, have children of all ages with varying degrees of formal Jewish education. In this back-to-school special, the hosts debates the merits and strategies of Jewish schooling, including why sending your kids to a modern Orthodox school, even if you're more liberal in your home, might be the right choice. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

37 min
AUG 27

Elul: High Holiday Foreplay

Buckle up, sports fans, it’s synagogue pre-season—a.k.a. Elul, the Hebrew month of spiritual preparation directly before the High Holidays. It's somehow both a marathon and a sprint for observant Jews and their leaders: synagogue staff, rabbis and cantors prepare to go into overdrive writing sermons, leading prayers, facilitating spiritual experiences, and essentially running the year's most important programming back-to-back-to-back for a month. How can you community members support their leaders, prevent burnout and help empower rabbis to take on the enormous tasks ahead? Avi and Matthew share their thoughts, while also sharing their own routines—what they do logistically and spiritually to prepare for a time when they won’t have bandwith for self-reflection. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here)

38 min

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TRAILER

Trailer: Bonjour Chai

Episode Notes Canadian Jews, listen up: this podcast's for you. Join hosts Avi Finegold, Melissa Lantsman and Ilana Zackon as they break down the goings-on across our community. Geographically and politically diverse, this show will dive into current affairs, spiritual advice, and the latest news with in-depth analysis and special guests. (Trailer music: Glass Eye/Snow Globe by Great Circles.)

02/26/2021

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1 min

5

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6 Ratings

A weekly podcast about Judaism in the 2020s—because the Torah was left for us to figure out on the ground. Sublime and irreverent conversations about the present and future of communal, religious and spiritual life, led by Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat and Matthew Leibl.