Ask a Jew

Sarah Rose Siskind is a science comedy writer and psychedelic comedian who came by to tell us about how she hosted a "psychedelic Shiva" after October 7th (which she also wrote about for Psychology Today). We also discuss how drugs may have influenced Nova festival survivors, why Chaya Leah and Yael need to go on a “trip” to Auschwitz, and proposing to her fiancé Nick Gillespie at Burning Man.

Remember when OJ died?? That's what we were talking about a few days ago when we recorded this, and all was calm in the world. Coincidentaly this blissfully unaware episode is also number 100 for us! Thank you for that, Chaya Leah is petitioning to the Rabbis to make it a holiday as we speak (100 days of fasting? Need to workshop). We did have a lovely chat with our friend Jay of the Habibi Bros about Iran, which you can find on our Instagram, @askajewpod.

Tom Aharon is an Israeli standup comedian, and co-host of Israel's top commercial daily radio morning show, New Morning. We discuss doing stand up for IDF soliders after Oct 7, Hezbollah's VP of Global Marketing, and Natan Sharansky's underwear. Happy Birthday Tom!

Dr. Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, former Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the Secretary of State. Naturally we talk about princess Kate. But we also cover additction to technology, the growing tensions between secular and religious Israelis, and the bad and worse options in Gaza.

In this episode we cover a failed meditation, a succesful trip to Israel (it's all fine now), and the moral confusion about rapes that aren't planned but just kind of happen. Also: a listener creates a fun game: who said it white nationalist or left wing antisemite? Check out askajew.substack.com to play! Our apologies to Princess Kate for making fun of her, clearly we recorded this hours before she shared the news of her diagnoses.

This week we welcome Jennifer Murtazashvili, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets. We talk about an interfaith initiative she co-founded with a Muslim colleague, what it was like living as a Jewish woman in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and the differences she notices between American and foreign college students. Questions? Email askajewpod@gmail.com, and join the conversation on Substack: askajew.substack.com

Two hours with one of our favorite Shiksa's, Bridget Phetasy! Fair warning, this episode gets spicy so don't listen with kids or Rabbis. We cover burning topics such as polyamory, blaming weight gain on the Holocaust, and Playboy's stand on October 7.

Last one to sign up for our substack is an antisemite! Askajew.substack.com. This week: A very bad Jewish dad joke An exciting new AAJ Spin-off ((((((Why)))))) Our friend and former guest Batya Ungar-Sargon kicking ass on Bill Maher Should you get a Aaron Bushnell face tattoo? Abolition week at Harvard Academia - Should we stay or should we go? Fantasy-league of Israel supporters Swifties for Palestine Imagine if the UN supported Israel? A tribute to David Frum’s daughter, Miranda, who passed away. We didn’t know her, but were touched. We can’t afford to say “it’s all too much” How do you deliver aid to civilians during a war? The chair of urban warfare studies at West Point weighs in. A book recommendation (again), Palestine 1936 by Oren Kessler. The story of Purim…kind of.

This week the girls welcome Rob Henderson, author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. Born to a drug-addicted, homeless mother in California, Rob was passed around 7 foster homes and grew to become a rowdy teenager. He turned his life around when he joined the Air Force after high school, and ultimately was accepted into Yale for his BA and earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge. We cover class in America, luxury beliefs of the elite, how to build resilience, Rob's first ever encounter with a Jewish person as well as his first ever encounter with ice cream (both left a lasting impression).

This week, we welcome Lord Winston Marshall (we assume he’s a Lord, he’s from England) - musician, writer, podcaster and noble friend of the Jews. You may know Winston as co-founder of the band “Mumford and Sons” and more recently as host of “The Winston Marshall Show” which you can find on Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts. Winston just returned from a trip to Israel where he did some excellent reporting, and he has a lot to say about the Middle East, Britian, October 7th and hope. **In LA on Saturday, Feb 24th? Join us for a meetup!** More info on Substack askajew.substack.com

Writer, musician, rapper, author and podcaster Coleman Hughes joins us this week to discuss his new book which you should buy and read, "The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America." We cover Neoracism, Israel, wokeness, writing and more. Also, who called Coleman a "black shabbos goy"? Listen to find out. Sure, Coleman has done a few interviews lately, but only ours bestowed upon him a porn name and you’ll have to listen to learn what it is. Ok, it's too good not to share. We'll tell you. It's Poleman Huge.

In this episode, we discuss the personal stories of two fallen IDF soldiers - Ahmad Abu Latif and Cedrick Garin. You can read more about Ahmad in a story from our friend Nancy Rommelmann (see show notes), and see a video of both young men on our substack, askajew.substack.com. We also share stories and photos from a visit to the site of the Nova massacre and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, warning - it gets a little heavy. But fear not - we leave plenty of time to talk about a bunch of NYPD cops going out for kosher sushi, the pros and cons of herring, and a personality breakdown based on your favorite Ninja Turtle. Have a question? Send it to askajewpod@gmail.com

James Kirchick is a journalist and author of the NY Times bestseller "Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington". You may know him from his work in Air Mail, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. Follow Jamie on Twitter, read his excellent latest piece in the Atlantic about the importance of protecting free speech, and of course his exclusive interview with Armie Hammer (in show notes).

Good morning from Israel, where it is currently October 116th. on this solo pod, the girls occupy familiar and new territories: • Being sick at home • We are brothers? • Hostages forever. • The Russian roulette that is Jerusalem bus travel • Chaya Leah guarding trash cans • A funny story about false teeth (is there a story about false teeth that isn't funny?) • A tribute to Chaya Leah's beloved aunt, may her memory be a blessing • Would you gain or lose weight in a Shiva? • A very Israel soccer game • What is a Ballerina Farm? • Holocaust poetry • Reagan Airport gets "Community Noted" • The Rebbe demands....

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason, the libertarian magazine of "free minds and free markets," and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie, he’s also our favorite libertarian! In this episode we talk about: Hollywood’s portrayal of Israel (we all agree that Paul Newman is the perfect looking Jew) Exodus by Leon Uris (the book!) Get the Book Exodus (the movie!) Watch the movie here Excellent article in Mosaic Magazine Read the article here Fiddler on the Roof Does anyone really care about the Palestinians Are college students worse today (Nick defends them!) The death of institutions Free speech on campus Leslie Fiedler Capitalism and the Jews by Jerry Mueller Get the book here Why is our political system so broken? We are not our grandparents, but maybe ChayaLeah's kids are..... Jewish Power And much, much more

This week on Ask A Jew, the girls sit down with their colleague at the top of the podcasting charts Mike Pesca, who just returned from his first ever reporting trip to Israel. We discuss the war with Hamas, growing up Italian and Jewish, and attempt to answer some of the nation’s most divisive questions like - does ketchup belong on a bagel? Should the voting age be raised to 45? And what kind of Jews wear hats? Mike Pesca is host of "The Gist" the longest running daily news podcast in history, consistently ranked in Apple's Top 20 Daily News charts.  During his 10 years as a correspondent for NPR, Mike has guest hosted All Things Considered and the news quiz Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.  His work has been featured on This American Life,  Radiolab, and Planet Money. He has frequently appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and The PBS Newshour, and written for The Washington Post, The Guardian, GQ, Slate, and Baseball Prospectus.

America’s favorite non-jew Michael Moynihan is back! The girls kvetch with The Fifth Column co-host and Vice News guy (ret.) about what's wrong with the youth, how to feel about people who are wrong on Israel but right on everything else (and vice versa), and whether or not its ok to crack jokes about October 7th.

Merry Erev Christmas! A Rabbi who explains why Jews wrote all the best Christmas music? Sounds antisemitic, we know. The re-run of last year's Xmas spectacular starts 47 minutes in, before that is all fresh content.

Chaya Leah is in Israel, Yael is defending the streets of NYC. Send questions and comments to askajewpod@gmail.com and join us on Substack for conversation, Hanukkah Party pics and more!

In a nice catch-up episode we discuss this non-fun rollercoaster of emotions, turn our rage to all different directions, discuss masterpieces like "Gremlins 2" and "Untamed Heart", and contemplate the legitimacy of Hanukkah decorations.

**Dec 13 NYC Hannukah Party! Follow askajew.substack.com for details** As part of our ongoing therapy, we welcomed Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Jonathan is one of our favorite authors, and his books “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought” and “The Constitution of Knowledge -  A Defense of Truth” are heavily earmarked in both our bookshelves. We ask Jonathan to help us hold on to our values and ideals in the face of October 7th, when everything we thought we knew was challenged. We talk about moral courage, what the roles of universities should be, how silence can be weaponized to make us feel like a minority, and we draw some optimism from Jonathan’s struggle for gay marriage – when it seemed like the whole world was against him.

~~Save the Date - December 13th Hannukah party in NYC~~ Follow substack for more info: askajew.substack.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sam Harris is amazing. https://open.spotify.com/episode/37QaVE2YZT9AME21cAdsky?si=Xday4oiWQR-tYvP8yIlInA Me too, unless you’re a jew. https://www.metoo-unlessurajew.com/ WHO? Unicef? UNHRC? GTFO. https://twitter.com/ZachLewis3187/status/1725850426371699107 Ilhan "some of my best friends are Jewish" Omar https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1725186323286200729 For the soul - Escaping Twin Flames on Netflix https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12770951/Netflix-fans-rave-disturbing-new-documentary-cult.html

We welcome young journalist and activist Blake Flayton, fresh off a ground invasion into academia. He tries to explain to us what is wrong with the kids today, what TikTok and peer pressure has to do with it, and why we need different kinds of Jews on campus.

Explicit language! In honor of Islamophobia month, we detained Mujahed Kobbe and Siraj Hashmi, otherwise knows as the Habibi Bros, hosts of the Habibi Power Hour." Seriously, this is the most fun we’ve had all month - and that's before we strip searched them. Follow their show and socials if you don't believe us. W We heard these boys are safe and funny, but when Mujahed showed up to our video call with a background of a tunnel, we knew we had found our people. Rate and review us 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts - it helps us grow Sign up to our substack askajewsubstack.com Send questions to askajewpod@gmail.com

The girls use their guest Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow at the Hartman Institute, as a free therapist. Warning: This episode gets funny and lighthearted at times, some might even say optimistic. We talk: Israeli music is so….Israeli. Why is Yossi doing a bit better? Hamas really messed up by making us stop hating each other. Our leaders don’t deserve us Moral failures What the hell does Hashem want from us?? Even the orthodox are becoming Zionists (and why that’s weird) Mental health help is not the answer to antisemitism The privilege of the progressive Jew Why there can never be a two-state solution and yet there HAS to be a two-state solution. There are more people of good will on the other side than the right thinks, but less than the left thinks. More about Yossi https://www.yossikleinhalevi.com/ Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Palestinian-Neighbor-Yossi-Halevi/dp/0062844911 Spotify Avoda Ivrit playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5RZ2TSTjeQqglz9G35n8Uk?si=mtj5VHRMQ0O4UN9m4CUpMw The Genesis War - Yedidia Stern https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/yedidia-stern/ Chaya Leah's YKH-inspired playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2oWIUXjGtjZwB9nOgQeFnh?si=S2kSqXUUTOCU7a70uYs0rw Follow us on substack: askajew.substack.com

On October 6th, we sat down for a lovely conversation with journalist Mary Katharine Ham, who you may know from CNN, The Federalist, and as the co-host of wonderful podcast "Getting Hammered". I'd like to say that back 3 weeks ago when we recorded this we didn't have any problems, but we did, just at a much smaller scale. We discuss a lot of the things that were on our minds then and now like Israel, journalism and American campus madness in this timeless episode. In her southern generosity, Mary Katharine agreed to come back a few days ago, so we also recorded a more timely intro for y'all where we discuss the last couple of weeks. Join our community on substack askajew.substack.com Help us grow by rating us 5 stars and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts

12 Days of War - with IDF Col. (Res.) Miri Eisen We are joined by IDF Colonel (Res.) Miri Eisen, formerly a senior intelligence officer and now the head of the International Institute for Counterterrorism at Reichman University. We discuss Hamas's endgame, future escalation, and the enviable strength of the people of IS\srael. If you are a new listener, our episodes are usually a lot funnier. Stick with us please till we make it past these dark days and go back to being our usual lighthearted and goofy selves. We have every plan to bounce back! Please rate and review us five stars on Apple Podcast Email us your questions and comments at askajewpod@gmail.com Follow us on substack https://askajew.substack.com/ And you can also follow Yael on Twitter with updates from Israel https://twitter.com/yaelbt

Elon Musk goes to Auschwitz, Chaya Leah goes to spin class. Are you a holocaust denier? Then why aren't you following us on Substack?? https://askajew.substack.com/ Please rate and review us five stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ on Spotify/Apple - it helps us grow! Also: How do you say Jew in sign language? 🔔 Holocaust bell rings around 10 minutes in... 🔔 Why does Oprah love her dog more than she loves the Jews? Chaya Leah wants to rebrand herself from a Jew to a person who goes to spin class Somewhere out there is s someone who is sick of sleeping with a supermodel We get vulnerable searching for our true selves... (spoiler alert - we couldn't find it) Is self-acceptance for losers? Did yael fail at Yom Kippur? Secular vs. Religious in Israel - Yom Kippur edition. We don't entirely agree with one another, but tend to nod along to Yossi Klein Halevi on this one - all of us should be ashamed. Yael's quest for Nazi Porn ------------------------------ Send emails to askajewpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram @askajewpod

Saudi Arabia, you up? Bibi and Elon, sitting in a tree A beautiful tradition or antisemitic blood libel? Why not both? Non binary silverware Yael asks Chaya Leah about a Yom Kippur tradition involving Jews paying Arabs The weird chicken thing that Orthodox Jews do Tradition! 🔔 Holocaust bell rings at 26 minutes 🔔 We talk about Lauren Boebert, Bari Weiss, and Palestinians antisemites at UPenn, because we always like to be 2 weeks behind the news. The time Chaya Leah got scolded for bringing a Nazi to campus Are we in control? Hashem says: lol.

Democracy Hipster - With Yascha Mounk Oh look, Yascha Mounk wrote another book. "The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time" is really great (just like all the others), so we invited Yascha on to talk about democracy around the world in 2023, why identity politics is bad for everyone, post-liberalism on the right and left, Germany and Israel being BFFs, Donald Trump , social media, and the death of self critique. 🔔 Yascha rings the Holocaust bell at 4:15 🔔 Also - how Jewish is Yascha? Is he single? And why might he want to work at Trader Joe's? Find out by listening and subscribing: Substack: https://askajew.substack.com/ Rate and review us five stars to fight antisemitism ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-a-jew/ Follow us on Instagram: @askajewpod And send us your emails to askajewpod@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Identity-Trap-Story-Ideas-Power/dp/0593493184

As a Rosh Hashana gift to ourselves (and our listeners) we spent an hour with the Beyonce of Rabbis, the honey to our apple, the horseradish to our Gefilte - Rabbi David Wolpe! He joins us from Cambridge where he is a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School (ohh-la-la), though you may remember him from such rabbinical masterpieces as “Most Influential Rabbi in America” (Newsweek), and “50 Most Influential Angelinos” (LA Magazine). A frequent cordial sparring partner of atheists like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, today he is the Senior Advisor at Maimonides Fund and the inaugural Rabbinic Fellow for the ADL. Yes, that ADL. And yes - we go there! The man is a treasure trove of deep thoughts about ethics, faith and the human condition, so naturally when granted an hour of his time we choose to pick his brain about diet books and Elon Musk. 🔔 A record breaking Holocaust bell at 2:40 into the interview 🔔 Don't forget to follow us on Substack for regular updates askajew.substack.com Rate and review us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Apple podcasts Follow us on Instagram @askajewpod And send your questions to Askajewpod@gmail.com

Sharing our 6th-grade trauma, you’re either and anti-antisemite or you’re an antisemite, and some PR advice for the Goyim Defense League. Also: Why did G_d forsake the people of Israel at Burning Man? Did Abraham work in a gift shop? You’re so not invited to my Bat Mitzvah (J/k please come) Would you read your angsty teenage diary on stage? These people did and its hilarious. Hot 12 year old boys Our traumatic stories from 6th grade Marraige is good, I guess Esther Perel on artificial intamacy 🔔Holocaust Bell rings late! 42:42 🔔 A Holocaust Instagram story? What happened to hot Nazis? Some PR advice for the Goyimn Defense League (Maybe a name change? Or shorten to GDL?) What random shows do you love that no one else watches? Chaya Leah is a fan of Hell on Wheels, while Yael yearns for a man with a cat who gets tomorrow’s newspaper today An Israel, a Palestinian and a bunch of whites go to dinner Listener Question: Frum vs. Seculars You’re either and anti-antisemite or you’re an antisemite

Remember when diversity wasn’t an annoying word that makes you think of 5 hour office HR power point presentations? Our guest today is diverse in the coolest way possible - not just his background, but his experience and work as well. Yirmiyahu Danzig tells us all about his upbringing as a Carribean/American/Israeli Jew, his military service in the heart of the conflict alongside Israeli soldiers of all religions, and his online work building bridges with our Arab neigbors. 🛎 Holocaust bell dings at 4:22 🛎 Find him on instagram @that_semite and JewishUnpacked.com Never miss an update! Sign up at askajew@substack.com, send your Qs to @askajewpod@gmail.com,and follow us on IG @askajewpod

The Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk of Jewish podcasting are back this week, talking about the latest tragedy to befall the Jewish people, prosthetic noses. We learn that this is the Jewish month of self reflection , debate whether israel should have a Sunday, and answer listener questions about autopay on Shabbat. For your Qs, our email is askajewpod@gmail.com. Next stop - the Tel Aviv light rail! We discuss public transportation and the conflicts between orthodox men and scantitly clad female passengers. Why can’t we all just get along, the heavily clothed and the half-naked? 🛎 Holocaust Bell rings around 3:25 🛎 Book club! Pick up a copy of Walter Russell Mead’s “The Arc of a Covenant” about the history of Israeli-American relationships and look smart while reading it on the train. We hope to have him on in the coming months and will take your questions! Join the conversation! We are on substack, where you can sign up for our newsletter and connect with other AAJ fans. The comment section is quite the Shtetel square: Askajew.substack.com. Questions for us? Askajewpod@gmail.com. You can also find us on instagram @askajewpod Show notes: Tel Aviv light rail video https://fb.watch/mz9wiYtKcl/ Bring Sundays to Israel: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-755225

The girls welcome Israeli author and co-founder of the Tel Aviv, institute Hen Mazzig. Hen, who identifies as a Queer, Mizrahi Zionist, has a huge online footprint, where he shares stories about Israel that people may not have seen before. We talk about everything from his family's Jewish roots in North Africa and Iraq, American Jews and Israel, being a Mizrahi or Sephardi Jew, progressive politics, and more! You can find him at Henmazzig.com or on social media @Henmazzig. Check out his book "The Wrong Kind of Jew: A Mizrahi Manifesto" wherever you get books. Questions? askajewpod@gmail.com and on substack askajew.substack.com

Chaya Leah is back from Italy and France The hazards of kosher fine-dining in Europe Harvard loves dead Nazis Yael is traumatized by classic Europe Americans love standing in line The Jewish ethics of having an affair You don’t *have* to love thy neighbor in America A solemn yet insightful conversation about Israel Is hatred of the religious people in Israel out of control? Save us, Eurovision! Barbie’s Kosher Dreamhouse Archie comics were more damaging than Barbie Congratulations Rabbi Shmuly! Oh look another sad Jewish holiday Yael suprises Chaya Leah by announcing a new project - The AAJ Book Club! There is no deadline and definitely no meetings (unless you guys want to do that). Our book is “Arc of a Covenant” by Walter Russel Mead. Questions? Askajewpod@gmail.com Follow our substack askajew.substack.com and find us on Instagram @askajewpod

Yael is stuck in Texas, so Chaya Leah and her father, Rabbi Aba Abba Perelmuter, take to the stage for some light Torah studies. They were left with explicit instructions to answer listener questions, but you know, these people...instead they have an enlightening conversation about the Talmudic interpretations of the Russia/Ukraine conflict, honoring thy father and thy mother (complete with loopholes), and this weird modern idea of following your passions. Subscribe to our Substack askajew.substack.com and ask questions (we will get to them some day) at askajewpod@gmail.com We are off for a summer break, but will be back soon with exciting guests and much to catch up on! xoxo

The Ministry of Agitation and Propaganda/ With guest Matti Friedman This week we are joined by author and journalist Matti Friedman, who recently penned "Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai" (you can hear him discuss it with Bari Weiss here) and before that the incredible "Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel" about the founding of the Mossad and the nation. A former AP correspondent, Matti blew the lid on what the media gets wrong about Israel, in this badass essay in The Atlantic and in Tablet. We cover a lot of ground in this one, and manage to make it all the way to the end without talking about current Israeli politics, but then discuss Matti's impactful and insightful letter to American Jews (with OG's Yossi Klein Halevy and Daniel Gordis) on why they need to raise their voice against Israel's current government.

Yael floats rumors about Taylor Swift’s new relationship with Avraham Fried, while Chaya Leah solved the Israeli Palestinian conflict during her latest visit to the holy land. The girls then decide that pride is too controversial of a topic, so they decide to discuss the Temple Mount instead. PLUS: A listener question about dating, a Y2K shabbat, and an evening with Hitler on a Tel Aviv balcony. Stay till the end to hear Chaya Leah’s review of the Jerusalem pride parade. You could be studying Torah, or you could be listening to us. The choice is yours!

We are back with our friend and reluctant mentor, Meghan Daum! Meghan is an author, host of The Unspeakable podcast, co-host of A Special Place in Hell with Sarah Haider, and founder of the Unspeakeasy, a special online community for special online women (we are both members!). As usual, we start light and breezy by gushing over hot dictators and 90's TV dads, and end up musing about regret, marriage, and successful divorces. Here's what made the cut: Jews and Muslims both hate pets Whatever you do, do not Google “Do monkeys menstruate?” With the right Instagram filters, you too can look like Martha Stewart The missing Friday Night Lights sex scene Birth control and mikveh apps Do women even drink beer? Everybody should be assigned a “bully buddy” Can women have it all? How about some? How about anything? The nature of regret Hasidic influencers, but not that kind The Unspeakeasy AAJ crossover spectacular shabbat crossover. If you have a question please email askajewpod@gmail.com, follow us on Substack, and rate and review us on Apple to help us grow.

The girls are very excited to welcome a real doctor to today’s episode, and not just any doctor - Dr. Drew Pinsky! In case you live under a rock (or in Israel): Dr. Drew is a board certified physician and addiction medicine specialist known for his show "Loveline," "Celebrity Rehab," "Teen Mom," and currently "Dr. Drew After Dark," "The Dr. Drew Podcast," and "The Adam and Drew Show" (co-hosted by Adam Carolla) - busy guy! He is not to be confused with Dr. Dre, as Wikipedia warns us. You can find him on https://drdrew.com/ and all the socials. Warning: In this episode we talk a lot about sex, drugs, addictions - all from a medical perspective of course! Trust us, we’re a doctor: Chaya Leah shares her origin story, and how Dr. Drew guided her through the radio Who is a worse Jew - Yael or Dr. Drew? Chaya Leah educates Dr. Drew about the Mikveh Lessons about attraction and love from Fiddler on the Roof Yael provides some Israeli context to sexual freedom - suprise suprise, it’s full of contradictions TV raised me, and I turned out TV What the heck is wrong with young people? We will look at screens the way we look at tobacco one day Even the French are making fun of us! A detour into homelessness and mental illness (here’s a link to “The Great Pretender”, the book Yael mentions) The Skid Row Run Club Armenians are bros! What Dr. Drew would have done differently with his kids (triplets!) How Me Too and dating apps affected dating What they’re not telling you about birth control Why Israelis were so good at Covid The orthodox are the only ones who had fun in the summer of 2020 Sex in your 40s and perimenopause - listen up ladies! Why can’t we have a realistic conversation about weed (and who is smoking it at 8am?) It’s addictive genetics, not addictive personality! A mind-blowing study about alcoholism (involving drunk fruit flies) A little (scientific!) discussion about porn Follow us on Substack askajew.substack.com and email your questions to askajewpod@gmail.com. If you’d like to help us grow, subscribe and rate us 5 stars on Apple Podcasts!

We are thrilled to chat with Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor for Newsweek and author of "Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy." In this Megillah (am I doing this right?): The Islamic Jihad comes for the Backstreet Boys What kind of Jew is Batya? Jewish matchmaking I'm not Jewish, I'm Israeli: An intervention Our various Jewish Identities Batya's bananas background Jews from authoritarian countries rule Is Bernie Sanders a messianic Jew? Batya's great un-wokening Working class people are not as dumb as you think A Bernie impression! Real subway face punching has never been tried The power of lurkers Is wokeness a religion? Discuss The secular world used to be one big orgy, now it’s just lame It's been more than a year and Yael still doesn't understand what a Mikveh is, but she manages to tie it in to Donna Martin from Beverly Hills 90210 Batya's upcoming book about the working class Between the war for Israel's security in the Middle East and the war for Israel's heart in Liverpool (Eurovision, Google it) we cover it all. Don't forget to follow us on Substack: Askajew.substack.com and on Instagram as well @Askajewpod

Just in time for Mother's Day, we are joined in the studio by the man who birthed us, Matt Welch! From his humble beginnings as a Newsie in Prague, to head of a podcast empire and reluctant cult leader, Matt makes idol worship almost acceptable to a religious Jew. Most importantly, Chaya Leah and Yael's love story began when they were both listening to The Fifth Column, the podcast Matt hosts with Kmele Foster and former guest Michael Moynihan. So extra special. In almost two hours, we cover: Why was Matt blocked by Salman Rushdie on Twitter? Libertarians are a lot like Jews in the sense that they all hate each other. The miracle that is Lakewood, CA An Ask A Jew Happy Hour recap New York is an absolute shithole and still the best place in the world THE LONGEST WE'VE EVER GONE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST Family Feud is everything that's right with America Chaya Leah is very bad with money, despite what you might think LA Times confidential Spilling all the tea on The Fifth Column A newsie in Prague Does paying a podcaster earn you their love and respect? Absolutely. Matt wants to go back to Israel (but we recorded this before rockets started raining from Gaza) something something baseball

Join us for our first real meetup in NYC, May 8th! Details in the episode. For more info: Sign up for our Substack newsletter askajew.substack.com, and email us at askajewpod@gmail.com *The rebranding of Antisemitism https://nypost.com/2023/04/28/nyc-council-progressives-vote-no-from-end-jew-hatred-day/ *Guess who leads the hate crimes chart?? That's right baby. *Whine smarter, not harder *We discuss which of our friends and non-Jewish guests would hide us in the event of a holocaust, and the answers may surprise you! We even ran a poll on our instagram @askajewpod *Armenians are so dope *We would kill for a Kardashian! *Israeli Memorial Day vs. Tisha B'Av *Fruit roll-ups are worth their weight in gold in Israel * G-d wants you to pull your head out of your A_s

Chaya Leah reviews a strip show on Vegas (relax, it was men!) A blasphemous Seder A passionate defense of peeling tomatoes Karens of the Bible Holocaust bell dings at: 15:50 A terrible disease and the only known cure is subscribing to our podcast and rating it five stars Death is really bad you guys Meet us for drinks in New York on May 8! Listeners questions about Passover loopholes and the Rebbe

Eli Lake is back to guide us through the desert and into freedom, stopping along the way to talk about Kanye, Iraq, Ukraine, Israel, Trump, Alvin Bragg and Nickelback. Not quite the 10 plagues, but something! Happy Passover and Easter!

Mark Epperson, ordained Presbyterian minister turned musical theatre performer, comes to educate us about Jesus Christ. You know who else loves you? We do! That's why we're having a Zoom hangout Sunday, April 2nd. Subscribe to askajew.substack.com for details.

Yael is back from Mexico, where she is profiled at the airport and almost gets a tattoo from an Argentine of German descent. Chaya Leah first tells a horror story of an interfaith breakfast, and then proceeds to offend everyone who loves the New Testament. Something for everyone on this episode of Ask a Jew!

Get out your jazz hands! In this episode of "Ask A Jew," men and women are dancing together! We welcome our two Broadway correspondents, playwright Jeremy Kareken ("Lifespan of a Fact"), and actor, director, singer and Jewish activist Ari Axelrod. Not a big theatre fan? Don't worry, we get to the holocaust real fast! We also discuss recent acts of antisemitism on and off Broadway (off Broadway antisemitism is a little smaller but usually still interesting), disagree a bit about micro-aggressions, and long for the failed Anne Frank musical (shhh!!!!) Questions? Askajewpod@gmail.com Follow us on Substack: Askajew.substack.com Instagram: @ AskAJewPod

Tom Brady, Ozempic, Madonna, and other heroes from the bible are discussed in this week's episode. We also give free medical advice, answer your questions about the NBA, and tell a lot of stories that start with, "I probably shouldn't say this on the podcast, but..." Remember to email us your questions at askajewpod@gmail.com, and to like, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!

This week we discuss Netflix's new romcom "You People," which frankly we find offensive to people who like funny movies and attractive male leads. We also learn about a Kosher Superbowl halftime show, what Orthodox kids learned from Dr. Drew, and... our very ambitious underage stalker. Dumb questions about Judaism? Email askajewpod@gmail.com

This week we interview David Ben-Moshe, a black guy from Baltimore who discovered Judaism while serving time in federal prison for drug and gun charges, and now lives in Israel as an orthodox Jew. Yup. Don't worry, we ask ALL the important questions in this episode, like "What kind of drugs did you sell," "Will we lose weight if *we* go to prison?" and "How did you find Jews to hang out with?" (answer: the white guys without the swastika tattoos) David takes us through the pretty awesome spiritual journey of how he found comfort in the uncertainty of Judaism, how he always kept his eyes on the prize while doing time, and the wonderful and and not so wonderful people he met along the way. We also learn about how American bureaucracy almost crushed David's hopes and dreams as a convicted felon, to which Israeli bureaucracy replied - hold my beer! David will be in NYC soon and we may host a little event, so if you are interested in joining, make sure to sign up to our Substack: Askajew.substack.com

Ever look at the Knesset and tell yourself - wow, we're lucky the US congress is so normal? This week we call on Lahav Harkov of the Jerusalem Post to help us untangle the swamp of israeli politics (mixed metaphors by design). If you want to skip right to the political stuff, it starts around 13:30.

The girls welcome hilarious stand-up comedian Dan Naturman, who you may know from "America’s Got Talent" and "Last Comic Standing."

Much like the 90s sitcoms that made us the women we are today, this week’s episode starts out with talks about nudity and boyfriends and ends with a heartwarming message about something or other. Also: *The Yad Vashem food court review. * Israeli dogs aren't cute. * Chaya Leah is baffled by thongs. And bikinis. * Yael does a mitzvah. * Sometimes you just shouldn’t believe in yourself. * Asian and Jewish super-babies. *Chat GPT has a Jew problem. We also answer to your listener questions about marrying outside the faith and Jews behaving badly! You can send yours to askajewpod@gmail.com

Two episodes a week? It must be some kind of non-denominational holiday season miracle! For this episode, we got a Rabbi who’s an expert on Christmas music. No, really. David Komorovsky is a rabbi in Canton, Ohio. Growing up in the Midwest with a Jewish community the size of a high school football team, Rabbi David amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Goy, including our peoples guilty pleasure: Christmas music. We talk to Rabbi David about the age old antisemitic trope that Jews are behind all the Christmas songs and… oh wait, what? It’s true? Why *did* Jews write the best Christmas songs? Turns out there is a simple answer, one that anyone who grew up as a bit if an outsider will relate to. Merry Christmas to all our Christians, we love that you listen to a podcast called "Ask a Jew" and promise to protect you if anyone ever calls you an antisemite. To our Jews, happy C/Hannukah, turns out if you go watch a public menorah lighting it doesn’t count, you still have to go light one yourself at home, as Yael just learned :/ And if you celebrate anything else or are a practicing atheist (we love those too!), please let us know below so we can properly shower you with blessings.

Happy Chanukah! If you don't know, Chanukah is an 8-day holiday in which Jews around the world celebrate the miracle of chocolate-covered gold coins. During this episode, Yael Jew-splains the holiday to a mortified Chaya Leah, who issues one or two corrections. We talk about playing sports in the nude (it's a Greek thing, you wouldn't understand), Christmas envy, and holidays blues. Chaya Leah wonders how Yael doesn't fall into deep depression over the holidays, and maybe vice versa. We talk reality vs. expectations when it comes to holiday cheer and introduce a new segment: Things That Aren't The Holocaust. This week in TTATH: "The great Twitter massacre of 2022." Every day, we thank Hashem that Elon Musk isn't Jewish. Could you imagine?? Also, do you know what Chaya Leah's grandparents got for Chanukah in Auschwitz?? Nothing, that's what! So stop complaining.

Best friend of the Jews and righteous among the podcasters - Michael Moynihan of the Fifth Column is our special guest this week! We feel especially blessed to interview our goyfriend (in person!) since The Fifth Column sort of gave birth to Ask A Jew, though no one really takes responsibility (think 3 Men and A baby) We spend 90 precious minutes holding hands around the small table in the studio covering a wide range of topics like antisemitism, the holocaust, and trashy bars in Boston. We also learn that Michael's little girl is on the ADL's watchlist, pitch our spinoff, "Jews in canoes", and pine for Swedish Zionists and Jewish astronauts, both of which we can count on one hand. Towards the end of the episode we spend a good amount of time talking about the Fifth Column, drugs, and IDF women, as per MMs contract.

Welcome to our two-part anniversary show! With Yael preparing to leave the homeland and Chaya Leah coming off the high of her son's Bar Mitzvah, we discuss cute holocaust survivors, how fun it is to ignore the latest anti-semitism viral thing, and make a passionate case for why Taylor Swift is the Israel of the music industry. On the second part, you will hear an excelled interview with David Bernstein of The Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, about his new book, Woke Antisemitism. Sadly Yael drops off, so this is just Chaya Leah, but surprisingly it's still really good! Enjoy. This is the last of our backlogged episodes which we blame on excessive travel and bar mitzvahs. Back to our regular schedule this week, and... go!

What do Orthodox Jews and a Dominatrix have in common? Leather, of course! In this special episode, we interview an Israeli/German BDSM Queen Dasa Hink, and yes - we go here, there and everywhere. Frankly, she had us at historical role play scenarios. We talk with Dasa about being Jewish in Europe, the banality of being a sex worker, Hugo Boss Nazi uniforms, German guilt, and something kind of adorable called a "broken ankle fetish." For our kosher listeners - this does get a little spicy, but nothing you haven't heard before on this show, so fear not. A little Hebrew school spanking won't hurt you.

Are you a left wing anti-semite? A right wing anti-semite? This episode has something for everyone! We are back after our little Jewish holiday hibernation: Yael tells us about her time in Africa (which was just like the Lion King) and Chaya Leah is recovering from making 200 meatballs and 1,4000 challahs. We talk about Kanye, depression, graveyards full of foreskins, and how we're all fu**ed if we lose our sense of humor. We also get to some listener questions, which you can send to Askajewpod@gmail.com Also: *Yelling at racist politicians. *Ilhan Omar talking about anti-semitism is like Chaya Leah talking about diets. *Yael wishes more Jews in the media used their power to promote our global agenda. Follow us on IG: @AskAJewPod Sign up for Substack: askajew.substack.com Email your questions: askajewpod@gmail.com

The Yom Kippur special extravaganza! Just as the girls are about to shut their pie holes for 25 hours (to abstain from eating, not talking) they meet to beg your forgiveness.

Let's party like it's 5783!! What's worse: Rosh Hashanah services or New Year's eve in Times Square? Also, is it Hasidic Jew migration season? Turns out they have some days off where they're allowed to do things, which explains why they are in bloom in city's parks and zoos. It's a beautiful sight. Also: Cooking for the holidays: a great Rebettzen vs. a Hot Mess. Chaya Leah is giving you the day off from work. Posting things on your Instagram about Iran is good. Yael doesn't like a documentary she hasn't watched yet. The Miami Boys Choir Listener feedback about out Orthodox Yeshiva episode (they hated it but love us, that's all that matters) Your hosts share a little mushy towards the end, sweet as honey.

The girls welcome special guest Peter Shankman - tech entrepreneur and 5-time best selling author.

The girls welcome Yehoshua (Jason) Bedrick, fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy and the man who literally WROTE THE BOOK on Yeshivas vs. New York. What follows is a friendly sparring over religious liberty, school choice, the importance of the English language, and swinging chickens around your head for spite.

Yael and ChayaLeah need therapy over their first negative review... Yael explains that ChayaLeah failed at meditation and should never try again... they answer a listener's questions about seven days of post-wedding parties, and give legal opinions on religious liberty (considering that neither of us went to law school you can take it or leave it!)... and ChayaLeah describes visiting her dead grandparents and the Rebbe, while Yael explores doing triathlons and moving to Idaho.

It's a back to school special! Today we talk about the trauma inflicted by Sesame Street (spanning continents and age groups), Chaya Leah's business idea for a fat-person only gym, the holy site to all religions that is Target, and some podcast recommendations that will make you smarter. Plus, did Covid kill swinging? Also, what is swinging? At some point of course we get serious (not too serious, but a little) and talk about how Yael's relationship to Judaism has changed since meeting Chaya Leah, why seculars feel embarrassed by religious Jews, and why hugging is amazing even though the torah doesn't like it when y'all touch each other.

Today we welcome national security correspondent, journalist and podcaster Eli Lake. Since we have such an esteemed guest with us, we spend plenty of time talking about reality tv, hot members of congress, and circumcisions. But also: why are people so obsessed with Israel, the ortho-woke, Salman Rushdie, Trump vs. Netanyahu, Kanye West, Zen and the art of dodging missiles, getting high in the bible, and much much more...

In this episode of AAJ the girls go real deep on being confident and dealing with their shortcomings, all while blaming their moms (and the Holocaust) for their problems. They also discuss Yael's bday party that you weren't invited to, ChayaLeah's obsession with a Mormon family on Instagram, why Yael refuses to be saved by a podiatrist, and of course, cats that look like Hitler.

Yael and Chaya Leah debate the hot issues of the day, from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to something happening to someone in China? (We weren't really paying attention). Also: how we define our Judaism (surprisingly the girls have very different answers for this), the best and worst airports, Chaya Leah gets fat-shamed by an (anti-semitic) TSA dog, Yael pulls off a major international smuggling operation at the age of 14, and much much more! Book recommendation: Spies of No Country, by Matti Friedman. Broadway recommendation: MJ the Musical (It's amazing. Don't @ me.)

Chaya Leah and Yael welcome parenting guru and "America's Worst Mom", Lenore Skenazy. We talk about how to let your child grow freely (whatever the opposite of helicopter parenting is), deadly laundry baskets, anxious parents, and crappy kids. We talk about the importance of play, take some questions about screen time, and how parents and kids can slowly learn how to chill. This is a great conversation even if you don't have kids! Lenore is the president of Let Grow, the nonpartisan nonprofit promoting childhood independence and resilience. A reporter by trade – including 14 years at The New York Daily News -- Lenore came to prominence/infamy after her newspaper column “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone” landed her on The Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News and NPR. Allowing her son that unsupervised trip garnered her the nickname “America’s Worst Mom.” She went on to write Free-Range Kids, the book-turned-movement claiming “Our kids are safer and smarter than our culture gives them credit for.” The book’s second edition just came out this summer, with a forward by Let Grow co-founder Jonathan Haidt (and his wife! and daughter!). Lenore has been profiled in The New Yorker, lectured everywhere from Disney to DreamWorks to the Bulgarian Happiness Festival (a real thing). And you may have seen her reality show, World’s Worst Mom.

Rabbi Aba Perlmutter is back! He wanted to talk about laughter, but being the serious pundits that we are, we went straight to abortions. The orthodox take might surprise you. We also get some spiritual guidance on how not to hate our fellow man (even though they can be really annoying), discuss why we should hold the center and love our country, why we don’t need a Jewish president (or king), Chaya Leah’s royal aspirations, what the rabbi thinks about Meghan and Harry, the Jewish view on divorce, the importance of shame, John Travolta, online communities vs. IRL communities, night terrors, the praying football coach, Muslim and Jewish privilege, and how to fix your life (don't worry, he won't tell you to become orthodox). Also, if you want to know the secret to a happy marriage, you’re going to get through a story about Carson Daly. Please remember to sign up to our Substack: askajew.substack.com and email us at askajewpod@gmail.com. Our next guest is Lenore Skenazy, founder of Free Range Kids and America's Worst Mom, according to the biased media.

Your two favorite Jews and backup Jew Nancy Rommelmann are back to talk about everything but abortions! We start with a historical overview of the hotness of First Ladies, a certain Israeli first lady's fondness for cases of pink champagne (I mean, who amongst us?), the royal family, getting older (related), gardening (super related) and Jews surviving in the wild in Peru (the Jews are related to the host). Also: * The Holocaust weight loss challenge * Bodega guy - friend or bro? A crisis communications disaster. * USA! USA! USA! * Stealing silverware from a country club. * Traveling during Covid is a human right. * Working out in the heat is a human right's violation. * Check out friend Meghan Daum's and future friend Sarah Haider's new podcast, A Special Place in Hell https://aspecialplace.substack.com/ Happy Anniversary to Chaya Leah and Baruch, the world's most patient British Orthodox Jew. Make sure to check out Nancy's podcast with Sara Hepola, "Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em" https://smokeempodcast.substack.com/ And Nancy's writings at Make More Pie https://nancyrommelmann.substack.com/

Chaya Leah manages to ruin Yael's surprise birthday party within the first 5 minutes of the episode. Yael talks about her vegan vacation in Northern Israel, and the girls discuss the Queen's birthday (like, *the* queen, not Yael), our giant fanbase in Kuwait, a listener question about Jewish quibbles over the letters S and T (as in Shabbas vs. Shabbat), new Hebrew words that just dropped, Yiddish is so hot right now, Starbucks makes America great, and even a talmudic take on Amber Heard and Johnny Depp (what is this, May 2022?). If you like Ask a Jew, please consider rating us on Apple Podcasts so we can grow. If you really like it, share with your friends in a mass email (people love those). If you adore us, give us money. But the sharing thing is more important.

The girls welcome Coleman Hughes. If you haven’t heard the name, Coleman is a gifted writer, musician, rapper, podcaster, and probably a Nobel Prize winning physician too. After Chaya Leah makes it awkward right off the bat, we move to topics like: * Afros make you closer to G_d * The season when Hasidic people bloom * Seeing the best in people * Coleman doesn’t know much about the israeli Palestinian conflict and we love him for it. * Campus wars vs actual wars * Anti-racist fetus * Coleman not being funny (?) * A good Neil deGrasse Tyson story * Amare Stoudemire doesn’t play on Shabbos * Famous Jewish Rap legends * An even better Snoop Dogg story * Coleman’s band will make you not want to go home * We Didn’t Start the Fire isn’t a Jewish song? * Sam Harris and other imaginary friends We could have gone on forever but we were about to pass out from the heat. Links to Coleman's amazing music and work in episode notes.

If NYC felt extra holy this week, it was because Chaya Leah and Yael were roaming the streets together, handing out blessings and kissing babies. They got in the sweltering studio to talk about meeting fans IRL at the Fifth Column event, going on a tour of Crown Heights, being mocked (rightfully) by waiters at a kosher Chinese restaurant, and more. Also, Chaya Leah maps out Brooklyn, which is kind of like a West Side Story of Jews but with less dance-fighting. And the girls settle an age-old question the rabbis can't agree on - is Hugh Grant still attractive? LAST PERSON TO SIGN UP TO OUR SUBSTACK IS AN ANTI SEMITE askajew.substack.com

Yael prepares for the arrival of the great Rebbe aka Chaya Leah, and the girls plan all the Jewy stuff they will do on the Lower East Side. Also: A Jewish version of “the purge,” body shaming, loving yourself and other lies.

The girls talk a bit about abortions but don’t worry, they quickly move on to the holocaust. Also, Chaya Leah tries to educate Yael on upcoming Jewish holidays (the next one involves cheese!), Yael talks about Israeli Memorial Day (no cheese), and much much more! Sign up on Substack, askajew.substack.com And leave us a review on Apple podcasts if you so please.

The girls welcome Liel Leibovitz, editor-at-large of Tablet magazine. Read Liel’s essay that made people yell at him. This may have been the Jewiest episode we ever recorded, but goys fear not - we’ll be back with the usual nonsense next week. Also: Please join us on Substack! Comment! Email! Give money! Or just sign up and say hey. https://askajew.substack.com/

The girls recap Passover and the Libs of Tik Tok kerfuffle. Also: * Everything and nothing is antisemitic * Blockchain! Books! And why we’re not as smart as we’d like to be. * Yael recommends a book about how to focus but she can’t remember what it’s called * Jonathan Haidt is a dreamboat * Social media is bad. No wait it’s good. * Friends are very important and never too late to find them - go get ‘em. *Chaya Leah tells a dumb beautiful story that will make you cry And nothing about Elon Musk! Email us at askajewpod@gmail.com

The girls fawn over Noam Dworman, owner of Comedy Cellar, and the NYC comedy scene's very own godfather, if the godfather was Jewish and generally just a cool guy. We talk about his personal history to the industry through his father, the holocaust being funnier than slavery, what American Jews get wrong about Israel, Will Smith (...we recorded this a little while ago), why comedians are funny, Hasidic Jews and COVID, comedy and COVID, and how we all love Orthodox Jews unless we're on a plane. Noam also shares how it was to bring back Louis CK post-cancellation, as well an almost-traumatic childhood memory... Go to Comedy Cellar! It's an incredible NYC experience no matter who's performing.

High off an interview on Meghan Daum's "The Unspeakable" podcast, Yael calls an emergency episode to Jew-splain the story of Passover to an eye-rolling Chaya Leah. If you want to know all about the Seder, Hagaddah, and the meaning of the story of the Jews leaving Egypt, go listen to something else. If you want an interpretive dance version that blurs fact and fiction with elegance and style, we got you. Happy Passover!

Just the girls this time for an intimate chat about modesty, free speech, and share the one truth about Hunter Biden that no one is brave enough to speak. Also the Messiah is coming - are you prepared? Start working on your resurrection-bod, because you're (almost) all invited. Plus: Chaya Leah proposes giving Ukrainians 50% off Starbucks on their birthday, and Yael tells a real war story about a woman who fired tampons into Lebanon.

Special Edition! We won't lie, this one got a bit out of control. Maybe we were starstruck, maybe hungover from Purim, or maybe our conversations are that good. Either way, you get over two hours of content, from Corey Haim to Corey Feldman. Since a lot is going on, here are some approximate time stamps to guide you home in episode notes!

Chaya Leah tells the tale of how she and her girlfriends traveled around the country in a van solving mysteries with a dog... or that might be Scooby Doo. But the part about traveling around the country with a van full of Jews is true! Also, Yael tries to compliment the Rebbe but ends up offending him (of course) by comparing him to the pope. Bonus content: Purim, Brad Pitt, diets, and an accidentally deep conversation towards the end about the F word (feminism) Trigger warning: You may never again be able to eat Hamentschen after this episode.

This week, the girls welcome Karol Markowicz of the NY Post to discuss Russia, Ukraine, and Jews. It gets real Holocausty, real fast. They also talk about Karol's wonderful essay about struggling to belong in Jewish spaces in woke times, the secret to dealing with having more people for Shabbat than food, and some COVID mask talk just for fun. Follow Karol on Twitter @Karol

Since being named "Best Jewish Podcast of 2022" Yael Bar Tur and Chaya Leah Sufrin have no time to write full descriptions, people! It's bullet-points from here on out! * The girls discuss how their lives have changed since they accidentally stumbled upon international fame. * Yael Jew-splains the concept of a Mikveh to Chaya Leah * The age-old Jewish ritual of taking an edible before Shabbat dinner. *Chaya Leah would do great in war until she needed to use the bathroom. *Everyone is an antisemite but we will still 3 Ukraine *Zelensky is objectively hot, not even for a Jew. *Stop comparing everything to Israel, but also here are the similarities between Ukraine and Israel. *Chaya Leah has imposter syndrome, but she can’t fool Hitler

On this week’s episode of ask a Jew, we get a real live Rabbi to answer our insightful and embarrassing questions about faith, meaning and Jewish humor. We also discuss this article from The New York Times and wonder: Are there things we shouldn’t laugh about? (Spoiler: no.)

The Betty and Veronica of the chosen people are back, talking about football (Mazal Tov Rams), what happens when someone chooses to leave the Orthodox life, and weird Jewish fashion rules.

The girls forgive Whoopi Goldberg for her dumb remark, but not for scarring Chaya Leah’s childhood on the movie Ghost. They also pray for a week without Jews in the news, answer a listener question about how to woo a Hasidic landlord, and discuss the least Jewish topic in the world: the Winter Olympics.

In this week's episode, Yael and Chaya Leah meet up to debrief after the Texas hostage situation. They also discuss anti-semitism and Coldplay - we’ll let you decide which one is worse. Also: Woke Jews, kosher abortions, Chaya Leah is a Yad Vashem Karen, and a guide to our Top 10 Holocaust Memorials You Can’t Miss (you’ll never believe number 3!) Have a question for us Yael and Chaya Leah? Email them palomamedianyc@gmail.com

Yael teaches Chaya Leah about gangsta rap, and Chaya Leah educates Yael about an obscure upcoming Jewish holiday that involves lots of dried fruit. Also discussed: Yael's recent (and first) piece for Newsweek, what orthodox Jews are and aren't allowed to do on social media, and the trauma of a broken heart vs. the trauma of Scud Missiles. Holocaust buzzer! The girls make it 41 minutes and 52 seconds before bringing up the Holocaust.

Yael and Chaya Leah welcome Bill Schulz, who walks like a Jew, talks like a Jew, but is actually some type of Catholic. The trio compare various percentages of Ashkenazi blood, ask Bill for dating advice (which is kind of like asking Chaya Leah for help picking a country club) and ponder the merits of children, friendships, and breaking out of Yeshiva.

Chaya Leah is hung over in Vegas while Yael is nursing her COVID (or is it the other way around?), and talk New Year's resolutions, favorite books of 2021, and fawn over the two great minds, Christopher Hitchens and that guy that was married to Reese Witherspoon.

In this week's episode, a listener asks Chaya Leah for permission to celebrate the joyous birth of Santa, Yael is surprised to hear she will go to Jewish Hell if she misspells Chanukkah, and we learn why Orthodox Jews will sometimes ask strangers to follow them to their hotel rooms on Shabbos (but not in Vegas, apparently). Plus in this week's "People We Thought Were Jewish", we writer Meghan Daum, who couldn't possibly be Jewish because she's from Southern Illinois and her family doesn't constantly ask her about her life. In "People We Thought Were Jewish", we welcome our guest, writer Meghan Daum, who couldn't possibly be Jewish because she's from Southern Illinois and her family doesn't constantly ask her about her life. Listen to Meghan's wonderful podcast, The Unspeakable, and read her book (one of our favorites), "The Problem With Everything". Please, unless you are an anti-semite, SUBSCRIBE to our podcast, it will help us grow and it's a Mitzvah, if i'm not mistaken. Just click the little "+" button on apple podcasts. And as usual, if you have questions contact us on Twitter! @yaelbt, @saysCL and @Palomamedia

Yael and Chaya Leah kick around the idea of mezuzah merch, talk about the kosher haven that is Cancun, and try to bring back smoking, as G_d intended. We also debut a new interview feature, People You Thought Were Jewish! Starting with our good friend, journalist and media mogul Nancy Rommelmann, who despite being a funny writer from New York, is actually not a Jew.  Have any ideas for people we could interview who just *feel* Jewish to you, but are not? Let us know on Twitter! @palomamedia @yaelbt @sayscl

Chaya Leah and Yael make it 90 seconds before talking about the Holocaust, but don’t worry, it’s funny (though if you’re not Jewish please don’t laugh). Yael learns about sexy Hasidic men with back tattoos, and is also relieved to find out she can indeed be buried in a Jewish cemetery, despite her 90210 tramp stamp. The girls also grapple with a Talmudic question concerning an ugly bride, determine it’s ok to pray for the Yankees to lose, and Chaya Leah tells of her special not-at-all creepy Sam Harrisspreadsheet.

Yael Bar tur, secular sinner, and Chaya Leah Sufrin, pious Haredi, are back, asking each other the hard questions, from Torah to Tinder