Navigating Life’s Big Questions on the Chutzpod! Podcast
Published Oct 14, 2022
Chutzpod!
(30-45 min each) Chutzpod! is a weekly conversation in which Rabbi Shira Stutman, Joshua Malina (The West Wing), and honored guests bring a Jewish lens to life’s toughest questions: Who do I want to be in this one life? How do we work to heal this broken world? And how, dear G-d, did gefilte fish become a thing?
Each week Josh and Rabbi Shira meet to do what Jews do best: teach and learn, crack jokes, and argue with one another about everything under the sun. This podcast will become your weekly lifeline to smart, humorous, provocative and surprising conversations that frame Judaism and tradition within the complex culture of modern life. Chutzpod! asks the big life questions… and lets you find the way to your own best answer.
Featured episodes:
1.19 ink- it’s not just for torahs (with janel moloney)
1.32 tend our garden (with ken burns)
1.10 celebrating 100 years of the bat mitzvah (with rabbi lauren grabelle hermann)
2.01 repairing the breach: how we can do better (with rabbi danya ruttenberg and nathan englander)
episode 1.19 ink- it's not just for torahs (with janel moloney)
“In this episode, Rabbi Shira and Joshua discuss the ins and outs of Judaism’s tattoo taboo. Is it verboten? Where on the sliding scale of sin does it fall? And the biggie: will a tattoo get you barred from a Jewish cemetery?”
Click here to learn more about this episode.
episode 1.32 tend our garden (with ken burns)
“Rabbi Shira and Joshua are joined by award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns to discuss his upcoming documentary called ‘The U.S. and the Holocaust’ that will premiere on PBS on September 18th.”
Click here to learn more about this episode.
1.10 celebrating 100 years of the bat mitzvah (with rabbi lauren grabelle hermann)
“In March of 1922 in New York City, twelve-year-old Judith Kaplan had the first ever Bat Mitzvah and we are here to celebrate this momentous occasion. Rabbi Shira tells Joshua about her own Bat Mitzvah and explains the reasoning for why this rite of passage occurs when it does. Our interview this episode is with Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Hermann, who works at SAJ, where Judith made history 100 years ago. We also sprinkle in other touching first-hand Bat Mitzvah stories for you to enjoy.”
Click here to learn more about this episode.
2.01 repairing the breach: how we can do better (with rabbi danya ruttenberg and nathan englander
Our first episode of 5783 is jam-packed. Rabbi Shira and Joshua open with author Nathan Englander, playwright of Josh’s new play, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank.
We then welcome Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, to help us figure out how to make things right with other human beings. Why are we so bad at saying sorry?
Click here to learn more about this episode.
Listen to more episodes of Chutzpod! here or here.
Julie Shapiro is the VP of Editorial for PRX & Radiotopia, and Executive Producer of the ear Hustle podcast.
Reflections
Modern rituals
Have you ever considered adding a media (in this case, audio) experience to your weekly rituals? What does the podcast medium bring to the experience of encountering these thoughts and teachings?
The hosts
What roles do Josh and Rabbi Shira play in the podcast? Whose experience is more relatable for you?
Taboo topics
Are there any conversations about Judaism that would be off limits for you?
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