Adventures in Jewish Studies Podcast
Association for Jewish Studies
Association for Jewish Studies
Adventures in Jewish Studies Podcast
Association for Jewish Studies
Association for Jewish Studies

About

Adventures in Jewish Studies is a podcast produced by the Association for Jewish Studies, the largest learned society and professional organization representing Jewish Studies scholars worldwide. The episodes take listeners on a journey, exploring a wide range of topics, from the contemporary to the ancient, in a way that’s informative, engaging, and fun. Launched in 2018, the Adventures in Jewish Studies series produces five episodes annually.

Episodes

  • Introducing the AJS Critical Sources Podcast
    As a listener of Adventures in Jewish Studies, we hope you'll also listen to the new AJS podcast, Critical Sources. Critical Sources features Jewish studies scholars discussing a source that matters to them, offering a window into how...
  • Yiddish Socialists and the Garment Industry
    A century ago, Jews were at the center of the American garment industry and at the forefront in the battle for those workers’ rights. In this episode, host Avishay Artsy speaks to Daniel Katz and Caroline Luce about how Yiddish-speaking immigrants...
  • Rethinking Holocaust Education
    A sharp rise in antisemitic incidents has led to increased calls for mandatory Holocaust education. In this episode, host Avishay Artsy speaks with educators Sarah Ellen Zarrow and Jody Spiegel about the use and misuse of Holocaust memory for...
  • Jews in Colonial America
    This episode of Adventures in Jewish Studies explores the lives of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews who settled in what are now the states of Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina as far back as the late seventeenth century....
  • Jewish Pilgrimages
    Throughout the world, Jewish diaspora communities set out on pilgrimages to visit holy sites in search of wisdom, healing, and blessings. But these pilgrimage journeys, no matter where or why they take place, are about much more than the physical...
  • The Many Lives of Kabbalah
    Kabbalah, one of Judaism’s most sacred schools of thought, has served as a wellspring of Jewish faith, a portal to mystical knowledge, and a bridge for intercultural and interreligious exchange. In this episode, host Avishay Artsy speaks with guest...
  • Do Jews Believe in Magic?
    While the Talmud famously forbids sorcery, Jewish history is full of examples of what many today might refer to as "magic." In this episode, host Erin Phillips and guest scholars Sara Ronis, Marla Segol, and Michael Swartz take us on a spellbinding...
  • The Many Genders of Judaism
    In this episode, host Erin Phillips and guest scholars Max Strassfeld and S.J. Crasnow explore how gender is constructed in Judaism. They critically examine what many refer to as the "seven genders of the Talmud;" discuss the experiences of...
  • Kol Nidre: Yom Kippur's Most Famous Melody
    Kol Nidre is recited at the beginning of evening Yom Kippur services, and serves as an emotional and dramatic opening to the Day of Atonement. However, over the centuries, this legalistic text has been maligned, ridiculed, banned – and even used to...
  • Disability & Inclusion in Judaism
    In this episode of Adventures in Jewish Studies, we’re looking at the intersection of Jewish studies and disability studies. Guest scholars Julia Watts Belser and nili Broyer, along with host Avishay Artsy, talk about everything from the story of...
  • The Future of Kosher Food
    Are bugs kosher? What about CBD/THC edibles or Impossible Pork? Can entirely new substances - like lab grown meat - be categorized and certified? How does social justice interact with kosher restrictions? In this episode, join...
  • Jewish Honor Courts
    Following World War II, Jewish Honor Courts in Europe and criminal courts in Israel handled accusations of collaboration by Jews who were believed to have assisted the Nazis in some way. These trials were meant to heal communal wounds and rebuild...
  • 5782: A Shmita Year
    We are currently in a sabbath, or shmita year, a biblically-mandated year of rest where fields lay fallow and debts are forgiven. From nearly the beginning, however, shmita has been more of an ideal, rather than a fully-observed year, and any practice...
  • Israeli Pop Music
    The story of Israeli pop music is a story of constant evolution, a reflection of Israel's complex and ever-changing history. From its pre-state origins, to music outside of the mainstream music industry, to its current more cosmopolitan and...
  • Rethinking Intermarriage
    For decades, the rate of intermarriage among American Jews has been rising. Among many traditionally-minded Jews and Jewish organizations, the number of Jews marrying outside the faith is cause for concern, calling into question the long-term...
  • America's First Bat Mitzvah
    The first American bat mitzvah took place on March 18, 1922. As the 100th anniversary of this first bat mitzvah nears, guest scholars Carole Balin, Melissa R. Klapper, and Deborah Waxman consider the history of the bat mitzvah and its evolution over...
  • The Protocols, Henry Ford, & the International Jew
    For this episode, we joined forces with Theatre Dybbuk to co-produce a special episode exploring Henry Ford’s publication of The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, a four volume series containing newspaper articles which were...
  • The Jews of Persia
    If most of what you know about the history of Jews in Persia comes from the Book of Esther, when the wicked Haman (boo!) tried to massacre the Jewish population, you might get the idea that Persia was a place of great danger for Jews. And given the...
  • Is There a Jewish Environmental Ethic?
    "If you harm the environment, you harm yourself.” This mini-episode of the Adventures in Jewish Studies podcast series asks the question “Is there a Jewish environmental ethic?” Guest scholar Tanhum Yoreh considers the “New Year of the...
  • Why Most American Jews Are Democrats
    Since the 1930s, around 70% of American Jews have consistently voted Democrat. However, in earlier decades, the Jewish vote was spread widely across the American political spectrum. In this episode, we explore why the overwhelming majority of American...