Jew Know What – Details, episodes & analysis

We’re joined in this episode by the brilliant Cole Moreton who joins us on the virtual couch.  Cole is a Radio 4 presenter, journalist, writer and podcast host - he has recently launched his new podcast Can We Talk? - a story-telling podcast about encounters with remarkable people such as Nelson Mandela, Scarlett Johnasson and Tiger Woods - and what they have taught him about being a better human.   

He tells us about his foray into evangelical Christianity as a teenager, how he left this behind, and what his beliefs are now - as well as the odd supernatural experience.   

Recorded in mid-December we open the show by celebrating Rabbi Charley having been the first Progressive Rabbi to light the Chanukah candles in Trafalgar Square.

Use the following links to find out more on social media

https://twitter.com/JewKnowWhat 

Cole Moreton - https://twitter.com/ColeMoreton 

Can We Talk podcast - https://play.acast.com/s/cole-moretons-can-we-talk/welcome-to-cole-moretons-can-we-talk  

Leo - https://twitter.com/WFCKeego 

Charley - https://twitter.com/RabCharley 

Rebecca - https://twitter.com/RSingerman or https://twitter.com/KingstonLibShul 

Find out more about Liberal Judaism, the home for your Jewish story here: https://www.liberaljudaism.org/

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The spotlight is thrown on one of our hosts when Leo’s three sisters join us on the virtual couch.  Hear how brilliant he was growing up and why his three sisters think he is the best sibling ever* 

Use the following links to find out more on social media

https://twitter.com/JewKnowWhat

Leo - https://twitter.com/WFCKeego

Charley - https://twitter.com/RabCharley

Rebecca - https://twitter.com/RSingerman or https://twitter.com/KingstonLibShul

Find out more about Liberal Judaism, the home for your Jewish story here: https://www.liberaljudaism.org/

*Rebecca who normally writes the show notes would like to apologise for the fact Leo wrote these notes and all points said may not be as factual as he thinks when he takes off his Rose Tint glasses.

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In this episode we have the pleasure of being joined by 2 guests - both of whom have the surname Baginsky.  Not a coincidence as they happen to be Charley’s brothers Abe and Ben.

Abe joins us from New York and Ben from Tel Aviv.  Sadly, there is a paucity of dirt-dishing on Charley although we do hear about how they viewed her decision to enter the Rabbinate and how having a ‘badass Rabbi’ as a sister is a great first-date opener. 

The siblings also reflect on how growing up in the Liberal Judaism youth movement has made them each empowered to hold conversations in their very different spheres - the Rabbinate, Advertising, and Organisational consulting. 

The serious subjects revolve around US and Israeli politics and populism - how optimistic are we that progressivism will win through?  

We spend some time on our cultural recommendations (yes, Leo talks about the West Wing again)

You can find Abe at AbeBaginsky.com and Ben at BenBaginsky.com, and us on Twitter at: 

@JewKnowWhat

Leo - @WFCKeego

Charley - @RabCharley

Rebecca - @RSingerman or @KingstonLibShul

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Our guest this week is Ed Kessler, founder of the Woolf Institute.  Based in Cambridge, it combines teaching, scholarship and outreach, focusing on Jews, Christians and Muslims, to encourage tolerance and foster understanding between people of all beliefs. He tells us about their important recent study “How We Get Along” - the largest known study of diversity in the UK, and how this was received on publication.  This leads to a conversation about the importance of the workplace as a place of encounter - ie. often the only place where we meet those who are different - and how this may be impacted by the changes to working patterns arising as a result of the pandemic.  

We talk about virtual encounters and virtual travel, and whether this is creating different inequalities than before.  Ed gives us a fascinating insight into the design of his workplace - the Woolf Institute - and how he envisages the workplace of the future.

Are we - as faith groups and a wider society - afraid of the ‘other’ and only looking out for ourselves?  

Ed also provides an insight into how the pandemic and lockdown has impacted on other faiths and we discuss how intra-faith relations in the Jewish community have evolved too. 

Ed gives us an insight into what an academic does to relax - and how many pages of a book does he read a day?  

You can find out more about the Woolf Institute here: https://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/

Find us on Twitter: 

@JewKnowWhat

Ed - @kessler_ed

Leo - @WFCKeego

Charley - @RabCharley

Rebecca - @RSingerman or @KingstonLibShul

Find out more about Liberal Judaism, the home for your Jewish story here: https://www.liberaljudaism.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re joined by Green Party’s candidate for London Mayor, SIan Berry.  Recorded just after the New Year for the Trees - Tu Bishvat - it was a good time to talk all things green.  Sian tells us about her journey into politics, via about 30 other jobs - and what inspired her to ‘get ethical’.  We talk about community - religious and otherwise - as well as memory; how do we ensure that the current Covid crises is not forgotten?  And do we, as humans, have a tendency to deny things that we don’t want to be happening? 

Will the changes that have arisen as a result of Covid, particularly in terms of travel, stick -  or will we go back to our old ways?

We also discuss the shift to online - is it a new leveller? Or does it just change the nature of access and equality? 

And we share tips about getting away from social media - or should we even be trying? 

Find us on Twitter:

@JewKnowWhat

Sian - @SianBerry

Leo - @WFCKeego

Charley - @RabCharley

Rebecca - @RSingerman or @KingstonLibShul

Sian’s website: https://www.sianberry.london/

Find out more about Liberal Judaism, the home for your Jewish story here: https://www.liberaljudaism.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Josh Edelman - a Rabbi’s husband and lecturer in Theatre Studies.  Josh is a US citizen living in the UK so there is much talk about the US - the inauguration, white supremacy, Kamala Harris, whether Biden can unite the country - and what was Lady Gaga wearing?

We hear about Josh’s current project - British Ritual Innovation under Covid-19 (Bric19) - which is examining how Britain’s religious communities have adapted to life under Covid 19 given the restrictions imposed.

And we discuss the latest social media platform, Clubhouse - will it go the same way as Twitter?  Is it just a fad?

Read about Josh’s Bric19 study here: 

https://bric19.mmu.ac.uk/

Find us on Twitter:

@JewKnowWhat

Leo - @WFCKeego

Charley - @RabCharley

Rebecca - @RSingerman or @KingstonLibShul

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re super excited to be joined by journalist and writer Sarah Tuttle-Singer from the Times of Israel. Recording just after Boris Johnson’s announcement of another national lockdown much of the chat is about Covid - which was also really timely as Sarah was on her 8th day of the illness as we spoke - so we were able to cover the topic on a very personal level as well as on a national and global scale. 

Sarah tells us about life in Israel in the current climate with the pandemic, vaccine roll-out and the Abraham Accords - she and Rabbi Charley share stories about driving in Israel and Sarah tells us about her upcoming book Taxi Driver Stories. We also plan to move to Scotland and open The Tattooed Mermaid, using bar-tending and rabbinic skills in equal measure. 

Read Sarah’s great article about catching Covid in the Times of Israel here: 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/i-let-my-guard-down-and-got-covid-19-this-is-what-its-like/

Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahtuttlesinger

Check out her Instagram account, Taxi Driver Stories: https://www.instagram.com/taxidriverstories/?igshid=1qns3t59iisnc

Find us on Social:

@JewKnowWhat https://twitter.com/jewknowwhat

Sarah - @TuttleSinger https://twitter.com/TuttleSinger https://www.facebook.com/sarahtuttlesinger

Leo - @WFCKeego https://twitter.com/WFCKeego

Charley - @RabCharley https://twitter.com/RabCharley

Rebecca - @RSingerman https://twitter.com/RSingerman or @KingstonLibShul https://twitter.com/KingstonLibShul

Find out more about Liberal Judaism, the home for your Jewish story here: https://www.liberaljudaism.org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Kington Liberal Synagogue member, Lior Locher. Lior has recently joined the Jewish people, having first encountered Judaism in Japan, beginning the conversion process in the US and then later completing it with Kingston. 

Lior tells us about her Catholic upbringing in a small town in Germany, and her journey to Judaism. She talks about her conversion as a non-binary member of the LGBT community and how this was reflected and celebrated by Liberal Judaism. 

We get quite deep about the nature of conversion in terms of religion, God, identity - in particular the crossover of different identities we regularly find within Liberal Judaism. We reflect on language around gender in the context of Hebrew, the liturgy and touch very briefly on the subject of pronouns before moving quickly on. We look ahead to Limmud and look back on the Ritual Reconstructed conference where Lior sat on a panel. We also hear about how Leo had to teach a group of Israelis how to light a menorah.  

We have a less deep conversation about our favourite musicals and discuss the appropriateness of cabaret artists in Shabbat morning services (yes, KLS again!)

Link to Lior Locher’s blog about her conversion process: https://klsonline.org/the-mensch-on-zoom-becoming-jewish-in-2020

Lior has also written this about overcoming binary thinking: https://christinelocher.medium.com/how-to-unblock-either-or-thinking-2f7c3d13b3eb

"Rainbow Stripes Background" by incurable_hippie is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

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In this episode we are delighted to welcome Reverend Dr John Seymour who is presently an interim minister in a parish in Hillingdon. His previous ministry has included work as a school chaplain, teaching at a theological college and parish ministry in the East End of London. He has been involved in campaigning for LBGTI equality in the Church of England.

A really fascinating and wide-ranging conversation this week.  Father John tells us about his journey to the priesthood and we discuss the difference between training to be a priest and a rabbi.  We delve into the thorny subject of gendered titles in different faiths, as well as touching upon gendered liturgy. 

In 3 sentences Father John attempts to explain to 3 Jews about the Holy Trinity - does he succeed? 

We also hear about the moves towards inclusion in the Church of England and how Father John experiences this as a gay man and an ordained Minister - does he see himself as breaking ground in this role?  

Of course, Charley gets the Talmud into the conversation in the context of leadership and how it preserves dissenting views.  

We hear about Charley and John’s conversations in pubs - and their gatecrashing of some “interesting” parties.

And it’s December - so we play the game of Whamageddon (listen if you don’t know how to play).  Father John tells us about the meaning of Advent - and we learn that it is surprisingly heavy and similar to the month of Elul.  We also hear Father John’s views on the commercialisation of the season and all admit to loving the Christmas lights! 

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.