An exploration of the Talmud through the “traditionally radical” lens pioneered by Benay Lappe. Whether you are a beginner to Talmud study or a long-time learner, by listening in on Benay Lappe’s study partnership with Dan Libenson as they explore foundational stories and material from the Talmud, you will discover the how-to manual that the ancient Rabbis left behind for future generations to help us re-imagine a new version of Judaism after the previous version “crashes.”
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Libenson Podcasts
Listen in as Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg analyze pressing issues for 21st century American Judaism. Mixing their own analysis with interviews of leading thinkers, practitioners, and even "regular Jews," Dan and Lex look to push past the bounds of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. You can support Judaism Unbound at www.JudaismUnbound.com/donate.
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Join Bex from the children's radio station Fun Kids as she meets top authors who tell her about their books and also read us chapters from them. Plus, Bex and friends recommend their favourite kids books of the month. You can listen to Bex on Fun Kids (weekdays from 4pm) on DAB Digital Radio across the UK, on the free Fun Kids app, and online at funkidslive.com Plus, when you become a Fun Kids Podcasts Plus subscriber, you get this show – and 30 others! – ad-free and support the work Fun Kid ...
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“Jewish law works like any legal system that survives for a long period of time – and it does so by the same mechanisms. And those mechanisms are the human insight that is brought to bear to modify, qualify, limit, and expand the law as one receives it.” - Benay Lappe Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, disc…
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Episode 510: Not Your Rabbis' Judaism...Still! - Barbara Thiede (Shulamit Sapir)
1:03:35
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Barbara Thiede (also known as Shulamit Sapir) is a multi-time guest on Judaism Unbound in the past, a key figure in our recent book Judaism Unbound...Bound, a past teacher in the UnYeshiva, and a major influence on Judaism Unbound in many respects over the years. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that extends a previous appearance of hers (E…
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“How do you take what you have and analogize, and tie some new radical thing that you don't have but you want to insert into the tradition? This entire passage is part of the instruction manual! This is some new twist of creativity, a twist of imagination.” - Benay Lappe Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, d…
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Episode 509: Embracing Exile - David Kraemer
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David Kraemer is the author of a recent book entitled Embracing Exile: The Case for Jewish Diaspora, and the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He joins Dan and Lex for a conversation that uses that book as a springboard into a conversation about diaspora and exile in the Je…
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Dermot O’Leary Swaps the Spotlight for a Pirate Adventure 🏴☠️⚓
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Welcome to the latest episode of Book Worms! Stevie Derrick kicks things off with Science Detective Agency, where curious minds crack scientific mysteries one clue at a time. Then, Phillipa Leathley brings Inkbound, a story bursting with imagination, adventure, and the magic of storytelling. MC Grammar returns with The Adventures of Rap Kid, a rhym…
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Episode 22 - Hillel & Shammai: Beyond Elu v’Elu
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“Ultimately the only way that you actually take these lessons into your soul is through trying to implement it in your actual life. And often that's gonna be failure!“ - Dan Libenson Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today…
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Episode 508: Door to Door I - A House for a Life
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This week, Judaism Unbound is thrilled to feature the 1st episode of Door to Door: A Pilgrimage Across Generations -- another podcast in Judaism Unbound's family of podcasts! Want to connect with Judaism Unbounders all around the world? Join our Discord server, which we have just opened to any and all Judaism Unbound listeners, all around the world…
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Episode 21: Dissecting Daf Yomi with Ilana Kurshan
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“Part of what I love about Talmud is that even if you're just listening, there's so many gaps, so many rough edges, so many places that don't quite fit together. There're all these holes and you, the reader, burrow into those holes. You find your nook, your cranny, your space, your neek’rat ha’tzur. And it's the nature of the discourse that has you…
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Episode 507: Jewish Music -- Not Just at Synagogue - Basya Schechter
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Basya Schechter -- a songwriter, musician, performing artist, and cantor -- wants to remind everyone that you don't need to be in a synagogue to have powerful experiences with Jewish music. She joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about her evolutions as a musician, her experiences performing in contexts as different as a college dining hall and a …
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Life Before Clarkson’s Farm: Kaleb Cooper on His Farming Childhood🌾🚜
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25:12
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Welcome to the latest episode of Book Worms! First up it’s Molly Oldfield with Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World—a fascinating journey answering curious questions from kids everywhere. Next up is Steve Cole and Astrosaurs: Mission to Infinity, a fast-paced space adventure bursting with action, dinosaurs, and plenty of laughs. And final…
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Episode 20: Transforming Story into Law with Jane Kanarek
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“I want activist reads to also be responsible reads, which is why I’m so committed to people being anchored and being able to actually read these classical texts.” - Jane Kanarek Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. Th…
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Episode 506: Judaism Unbound's 1st Guest...500 Episodes Later - Benay Lappe
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Benay Lappe, founder and rosh yeshiva of SVARA: a Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, returns to Judaism Unbound! She was our first ever guest on this show, in Episode 3: Exodus, and she's returned many times before -- but this time, she specifically is here to reflect on how American-Jewish life has transformed over the course of the past 10 years, sin…
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Arthur Waskow: Remembered (2 Judaism Unbound appearances from Arthur Waskow)
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On October 20th, 2025, Arthur Waskow – a revolutionary activist and teacher of Torah – died at the age of 92. He was an inspiration to our work at Judaism Unbound in more ways than we can articulate. Even as our organization was launched when he was already in his 80s, he found so many ways to collaborate with us and offer his unique forms of Torah…
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Bonus Episode: Xai Judaism, How Unbound Are You? - Xava, Lex, Rena Yehuda, and Michael
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Should we be reviving the Nazirite vow, a practice that is typically seen as "ancient," "outdated," or "antiquated?" Might it have liberatory potential for Judaism and the world? Xava De Cordova and Michael Sokolovsky of Xai, How are You? join Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda Newman of Judaism Unbound for a crossover episode about Nazirite philosophy, …
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“Opinions that are contradictory to one another, the opposite of one another are both the words of God.” - Dan Libenson Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. This episode is dedicated to beloved Talmud translator Rabbi …
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Episode 505: Jewish Music -- What's "Mi-Sinai?" - Mark Kligman
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Frequently you might hear someone claim that a particular Jewish melody is "mi-Sinai" (literally: "from Mount Sinai," implying "dating back to when Moses received the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai")? Mark Kligman, an ethnomusicologist who directs The Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, joins Dan and Lex to explore what th…
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Alex Horne from Taskmaster Shares His Funniest Story Yet!🪨📚
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Welcome to the latest episode of Book Worms! This week, we’ve got a magical line-up of stories you won’t want to miss! First, Harriet Muncaster introduces The Diary of Wiska Wildflower: The New School, a sparkling new adventure full of magic, mischief, and fresh beginnings. Next, Emily-Jane Clark brings us Cringe Club, a hilarious and heartfelt tal…
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Bonus Episode: Aderaba -- Jewish Studies on the Contrary ("What's Bad about Being in the Image of God?")
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We’re thrilled to offer a bonus episode here on our feed, where we shout out an awesome new podcast created by friends of Judaism Unbound. It's called Aderaba: Jewish Studies on the Contrary and it’s co-hosted by Rafe Neis – a past teacher in Judaism Unbound’s UnYeshiva – and Gilah Kletenik. We’re featuring their second episode, entitled What’s Bad…
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Episode 18: What Tisha b’Av Can Learn From Yom Kippur
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“We have to imagine that everything that we love today, or don't love, might end up in the Tisha b’Av of the future.” - Dan Libenson Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. This episode was originally released for Tisha b…
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Episode 504: The Torah of Music - Joey Weisenberg
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1:00:20
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Is Jewish music a form of Torah (spiritual wisdom)? Joey Weisenberg, a musician, composer, and founder of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, thinks so. He joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about contemporary singing communities, the history of wordless melodies (nigunim) and unbound approaches to prayer. This episode is the second …
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Episode 17: The Iranian Talmud with Shai Secunda
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“I love the world of the Talmud. I love the fact that they need to justify, they wanna justify, they wanna talk and talk and talk; the way that people who are less socially confident sometimes find themselves doing, when we're in a situation where we're in a new community, and we just, you know, ramble! That's something I love about the Talmud.” - …
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Episode 503: Jewish Music - Elana Arian
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Elana Arian, a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and prayer leader, is one of the most important voices in contemporary Jewish music. So when she emailed Judaism Unbound with an entire vision for a mini-series of episodes exploring Jewish music, we of course paid attention! She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about what the ph…
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First Aid School for Future Superheroes🩺❤️🩹
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29:49
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Welcome to the latest episode of Book Worms! First up, it’s Maisie Chan with Nate Yu’s Blast from the Past, a thrilling adventure full of time-travel and unexpected twists. Next, we hear from Punam Krishan, whose Superhero’s First Aid Manual is packed with clever tips and heroic antics for aspiring superheroes. And finally, Skye McKenna joins us wi…
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Episode 16: The Greatest Voices Are Anonymous with Daniel Boyarin
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“I find it deeply moving and worthy of homilies that arguably the most influential voices in the history of Jewish thinking are anonymous.” - Daniel Boyarin Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. This week Dan & Benay le…
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Episode 502: Yom Kippur 2025 - Angela Buchdahl
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Yom Kippur is here! For the past few years, Yom Kippur has been the single most popular day — all year — for folks to listen to Judaism Unbound. To those of you incorporating our podcast into your observance of this holiday, wishing you a beautiful and unbound Yom Kippur. In this episode, Angela Buchdahl -- senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New …
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“It's only when you know why, and the essence behind the whys, that you are able to create. You're able to then be free of the momentary form of a practice, which is trying to achieve a certain goal, and create other forms that achieve that same goal.” - Benay Lappe Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discov…
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Episode 501: Elul 2025 IV - E(cho)lul - Lex and Wendie
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Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this final Elul episode of 2025 (and 5785), Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the month (and the upcoming holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) through …
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Create Your Own Magical Tropical World 🌴✨
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Welcome to the latest episode of Book Worms! First up, it’s Nicola Davies’ Skrimsli, an epic adventure following a brave tiger and his friends on a wild animal quest. Next, Ben Newell’s Magical Miniature Worlds is packed with clever, creative ideas for building your very own tiny worlds. And finally, Louise Pentland’s Adventures in Lylaland is a ma…
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Episode 14: Reading the Angel of Death with Ruth Calderon
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“Even if the good book was not written by God, the Talmudic page is often a good place to encounter the Divine.” - Ruth Calderon Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. This week Dan & Benay learn with special guest schol…
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Episode 500: 500 Weeks of Unbound Judaism - Dan, Lex, Miriam
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500!!!! We made it. Somehow, someway, a wild idea that was once a figment of our imagination...has now been around for 500 weeks. In this episode, Dan, Lex, and Miriam celebrate that incredible number -- and take this as an opportunity to look back on the founding and evolution of Judaism Unbound, first as a podcast and then as an organization with…
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Bonus Episode: Elul 2025 III - Chiasm - Lex and Wendie
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Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this episode, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore the notion of chiasm (for "what is a 'chiasm' -- which is a great question -- click here), along with what i…
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