Shabbat Unbound Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Each prayer its own world. With its own Torah to teach us. Most Friday night services move through fifteen prayers in one sitting. Shabbat Unbound asks a different question: what if we took just one prayer and really stayed with it? Over eight episodes, we give one prayer our full, undivided attention. Its history. Its language. Its music. The arguments it has sparked, the comfort it has given, and the questions it refuses to resolve.

One prayer. All the way in. No rushing. No catalogue. A singular prayer, explored from every direction.

Song: We listen to how the prayer sounds — its melodies, its variations, the way different communities have sung it across centuries and continents.

Study: We open the words themselves — unpacking the Hebrew, the layers of meaning, the rabbinic debates and the poets who shaped every syllable.

Story:  We bring each prayer to life through the people who wrote it, prayed it, and found themselves changed by it.

Eight Prayers. Eight Worlds.

One episode drops the fourth Friday of every month. Start anywhere or start from the beginning.

 Welcome to Shabbat Unbound, the world's longest Friday night Sabbath service, stretching over eight episodes. Instead of rushing through all the Friday night Shabbat prayers in one sitting, like we might in a classical synagogue environment, we're taking our time diving deep into one prayer each episode through song study and sacred conversation. It's the most original and traditional way to engage in the transition into Shabbat, taking each prayer as its own world with its own Torah to teach us. Miriam Terlinchamp, Lex Rofeberg and an incredible group of musicians invite you to discover what happens when Shabbat slows down. The first episode focuses on Yedid Nefesh. 

[1] Check out the music video for Yedid Nefesh here.

[2] All the music for the Shabbat Unbound podcast was recorded live at The Monastery Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio under the direction of Ric Hordinski.  

[3] Lex made AMAZING resources to accompany each episode of Shabbat Unbound, check out this page for further learning. 

[4] Molly Baigot, composer of this version of Yedid Nefesh, is a queer Jewish musician, educator, and activist living on Nipmuc & Pocumtuc land in Easthampton, MA. You can find out more about her on her website: mollybajgot.com

[5] Reb’ Zalman’s translation of Yedid Nefesh can be found here

[6] Check out this gorgeous article on the power of vulnerability through the lens of love, by Karen Erlichman

[7] The melody Healer of the Broken-Hearted for the prayer for healing comes from Shir Meira Feit. Learn more about their work at ShirMeira.com.