edJEWcation

This week on edJEWcation, we crack open the Book of Joshua — swords, spies, shofars, and all — to kick off our brand-new series on the books of the Hebrew Bible beyond the Torah.

Jay, ChayaLeah, and the Rabbi break down how Joshua, Moses’ humble sidekick-turned-general, led the Israelites into the land of Israel with nothing but faith, grit, and some serious divine backup. From the walls of Jericho crumbling to the sun standing still mid-battle, Joshua’s story isn’t just ancient /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663245

This week on edJEWcation, we sit down with Jay Sanderson — former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, professional disruptor, accidental chef, and self-described “tail Jew” — to unpack the past, present, and precarious future of Jewish life in America.

From a near-death experience as a teen to a life-changing blessing from David Ben-Gurion, Jay takes us on a journey through his unexpected path to Jewish leadership. We tackle everything from gefilte fish trauma to w /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663260

In this soul-poking, faith-fueled, wildly entertaining episode of edJEWcation, we dive deep into C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters—that brilliantly British, devilishly clever tale of temptation and bureaucracy in Hell (which could be confused with your last Zoom meeting).

Jay returns from Passover in full carb-rebound mode, ChayaLeah defends the honor of Jewish moms everywhere, and Dan—our resident Christian theologian—joins the pod to confess his love for Lewis, loathe f /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663265

While ChayaLeah was literally wrapping her kitchen in tin foil to survive Pesach, we invited Dr. Tanya White, a Senior lecturer at Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies and lecturer in Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, to join us to discuss the philosophy of the world-renowned Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and her podcast, Books & Beyond, which discusses some of his most prominent works.

• Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Explained. Why the late Chief Rabbi can be quoted in /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663275

As promised earlier in the week, here is the edJEWcation Rewind of our second Passover episode from last year.

If you’ve made it this far without the Chametz, it’s all downhill from here!

Talk to you all next week!

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Chag Sameach everyone! We were so excited about our first Passover episode we decided to do it again!

We start out this episode answering a few listener questions like what are some good books about /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663280

Since this is such a hectic time for the Perelmuter/Sufrin family (and of course I mean for the Rabbi…ChayaLeah gets to just lounge around this time of year), I’ve decided to do the kind thing and give them the week off.

But so as not to leave our devout listeners with nothing to tide them over until next week, and since our listenership has also grown substantially since last Pesach (I guess people really like me), we decided to do an edJEWcation Rewind and repost ou /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663290

We’re back — and we’ve got feelings. Well, one of us does. Right out the gate, the Rabbi had to get something off his chest. Apparently, he’s been “dumped.” And by that, he means he wasn’t in a couple of episodes. (No actual dumping occurred. No hearts were broken. Unless you count his.)

So, naturally, we spent the first few minutes of this week’s episode addressing The Great Podcast Snub of 2025.

To paraphrase: Without me, it’s just not the same, he said. /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663300

It occurred to us that Passover will be the first holiday we have covered twice during the podcast, so we had to come up with a new angle for discussion this year (the two Passover episodes we did last year are below).

So, this year, we decided to delve into how the concept of freedom is discussed in the Bible. First, Jay discusses a funny encounter he had in the airport during his recent business trip.

We discuss the nuances of free speech in the context of Jewish values and contemporary is /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663305

This week, we welcome Sal Litvak to the show…better known as the Accidental Talmudist.

In the first part of this conversation, Sal shares his unique Jewish journey, from his immigrant roots in Chile to his spiritual seeking and eventual reconnection with Judaism through the Talmud. He discusses the impact of personal loss, the rediscovery of his faith, and his commitment to teaching and sharing Jewish wisdom with a diverse audience.

We explore the complexities of Jewish lea /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663315

Have you noticed the large number of internet trolls who are “just discovering” things recently? Or have uncovered secret truths that “you aren’t allowed to talk about?” If you have, you’ve probably seen one of the “just discovered” things that “they aren’t allowed to talk about” is that Communism was actually a secret Jewish cabal led by the likes of Karl Marx (who was Jewish) and Joeseph Stalin (who was not).

Is there any truth to this? To find answers, we interviewed Paul H /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663325

Do you like Halloween? Do you like Jews? Well, then you’ll love Purim.

In this conversation, we explore the significance of Purim through its historical narrative in the Book of Esther, the key characters, and the holiday’s customs.

ChayaLeah and the Rabbi reflect on their personal experiences with the holiday (probably involving drinking too much) and the evolution of Purim traditions over the years. We discuss why we drink so much on the holiday (only if you’re over 21, of course), th /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663335

If you spend time on X/Twitter (which I would never waste my time doing), you’ve probably seen a bunch of internet morons talking about how “they’ve read the Talmud and here’s this horrendous thing it says.” Today, we discuss why they are full of nonsense (this is family programming).

But first, we begin discussing a recent Pew Research poll that shows that the decades-long slimming of American religious affiliation may have seen a stemming of the tide, especially among younger people. I /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663350

This week's episode was a high-wire act. What I thought would be a slight aside to kick things off ended up being the entire episode. You never know what those crazy Jews are going to do…

We start discussing what I thought was a profound insight from this week's parsha (don’t mind if I do!), Exodus 22:21-23 if you want to read along, which led us to a broader discussion about the importance of justice in Jewish law.

We had absolutely nothing planned for this episode, so what you hear is 1 /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663355

Oh boy. Here we go…

This week we decided to tackle the oh-so-non-controversial, milquetoast, mundane topic of the big A.

No, the A does not stand for Alcoholism, Agamemnon, or Adult Diapers. It stands for Abortion.

We’ve batted around discussing it for a while now and decided to avoid it (for probably obvious reasons). However, the great Kat Rosenfield wrote an article for The Free Press last week, which hit me like an AK-47 round right in the feels and made the time seem right to /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663360

This week, we present to you all the second installment of the edJEWcation book club. This month, we discuss Mary Shelley’s classicFrankenstein.

When I first suggested this book for the book club, ChayaLeah and the Rabbi looked at me as if I had two heads (each with a yarmulka on). However, after reading it, I think they came around. The book deals with several profound human questions, each of which Judaism has something to say about (but of course).

During the discussion, we exam /episode/index/show/dfb694f7-e66a-4d76-b7bd-2eee4f695b93/id/37663375

After a few weeks of intense conversations, we decided to lighten it up a bit and talk about happiness and what’s so great about it, both generally and in the Jewish context.

In this episode, we cover a lot of ground with our guest and true Renaissance woman, Sarah Skwire.

With the growth of the number of countries legalizing euthanasia to various degrees, we thought it would be a good topic to discuss this week. You know, why not hit on another lighthearted topic, amiright?

When ChayaLeah said she wanted to discuss “the big d,” I thought she meant delis, which got me excited because I can actually add something to that discussion.

Welcome back for another edJEWcation discussion. This week, we’re talking Tzedakah (or charity, for everyone who didn’t attend Hebrew school).

On this episode, we discuss the Jewish perspective on capital punishment. The discussion includes: