What happens when our origin stories don’t really present us in the best light—or even shows us as characters that we don’t identify with? When stories are often shared by “the winners” or the people who wield power, there’s a lot of missed or erased history—all of which influence our greater Genesis understandings. Luckily for us, we were able to learn from April Baskin and Tracie Guy-Decker of Joyous Justice acclaim—how to step back, look around, and listen in order to lift up diverse...

Here’s a short episode because OUR own lives are a little crazy even when it comes during the week that we’re focusing on Sarah’s life! (Or are we?!?) Don’t worry, we’ve still got you covered with that parashah rundown and for midrashic mixology! Looking for a short but sweet conversation with your two favorite best friend cohosts? Look no further—tune in now! Find us on social media: Facebook: Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a Twist Instagram: @DrinkingandDrashing Website:...

Storytime! After journey on Lech L’cha, we have so many different tales in Parashat Vayera. Negotiations, mysterious guests, action scenes, transformations, pseudo-sacrifices, lies, laughs, banishment, abandonment…oh my goodness! Lucky for us, we are able to learn from our guest this week, journalist and playwright Amelia Merrill, how to derive the meaning from the many tales and how to find the balance between seeking the truth and drashing an interpretation. To continue the...

Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a Twist is on its third round! For our third Lech L’cha episode, we have Women’s Rabbinic Network executive director, Rabbi Mary Zamore. Rabbi Zamore is an ethicist, activist, and awesome guest! This Torah portion is so foundational to the story of the Jewish people, and yet there are several points within it that make us sad, uncomfortable, or angry. How do we hold this text as sacred while also recognizing its faults? What can we learn from the mistakes of...

What happens when the world is being destroyed and recreated and you find yourself in the middle of it? How do we manage our relationships and communication amidst chaos? Rabbi Dennis Ross shares his wisdom—both as an intentional interim rabbi and as an expert on Martin Buber—with us and our listeners about how we might be able to read Noah through a new lens: that of relationship-building and dialogue, of transitions and the temporary nature of our tradition. About Martin Buber:...

Way to kick off Season 3 ON A JEWISH HOLIDAY! We begin again with Parashat Bereshit, recording during our sofrut (Scribal Arts class) at school with our incredible teacher Leana Jelen Tapnack who helps us understand how it is that we can literally create our own Torah and stories, regardless of gender, fear of failure, or a limited knowledge base. We were also thrilled to welcome fourth year HUC-JIR rabbinic student (and fellow sofrut stan!) Ilana Symons. To continue the...

It was SO nice that we did it TWICE! Gabe took over our LAST parashah of our second season—V’zot Habracha and it was SUCH a blessing! We can’t believe that we’ve come to the end of our second season and are so appreciative that we get a chance to “turn it, turn it, turn it again” at Simchat Torah! L’chayim to all of our listeners and supporters and chazak chazak v’nitchazek (may we all be strengthened)! Find us on social media: Facebook: Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a Twist Instagram:...

We fear we do not have the time to write this week’s blurb all in rhyme—but welcome to our penultimate parasha with Ha’azinu! We hope that you’ll listen up and listen in to the incredible organized chaos of this episode and the calming, passionate, and poetic presence of Rabbi Amalia Mark, Director of Programs and Partnerships at Mayyim Hayyim. Whether speaking to pleas, poetry or preparing for transitions, Amalia helps us wade through the transformational comfort of the ritual mikveh bath...

Welcome to 5783—this is our FIRST episode of the new year and we’re so excited to be heading out (soon!) of Deuteronomy while we enter into a new year with new/old friends. Luckily for us, we have a strong and resolute leader in Ethan Helfand who helps us understand managing change, remembering and supporting those who struggle, and trusting the process and the preparation. Shout out to Executive Producer Edon Valdman for his increased participation this week, and of course, #DoGoodThings and...

Can you even STAND it? We might be missing Gabe and Edon this week, but don’t worry—we have an incredible episode with two dynamic debuts! We learn about our own personal power, decision-making, and how we can lift up all voices within our communities from extraordinary friend and guide Maharat Rori Picker Neiss AND we get to gab with our incredible editor Kate Griffin! You’re not going to want to miss out on how YOUR Torah might just pop up in this particular parasha! To continue the...

Jill Zenoff joins us for a delicious (if not overly-cheesy) episode for Parashat Ki Tavo. A friend of farms and food, Jill brings a unique perspective to our conversation about first fruits, blessings, curses, and — of course — cheese. We love cheese. How does the first harvest connect to our world today? How does it connect to Tikkun Olam — repairing the world? We’ll cover all this and more, all with a taste of Torah and — again — cheese. In fact, in a Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a...

When we’ve been wandering in the desert for what seems like forever, when is the right time to check in on our organizational missions and visions, our time management, and our overall cultural design? It’s possible that this week’s guest, ADP Workforce Management Consultant Jacob Stoehr might have a new take on how to find the value and thematic connections on the seventy-four mitzvot that occur in this week’s episode, err, we mean Torah portion! For Parashat Ki Teitzei, Jake talks about...

In this week’s episode, Amanda coins a new term: “nudgecator.” What’s a nudgecator? Let’s ask Rabbi Ariel Naveh! For Parashat Re’eh, Rabbi Ari talks with us about a pursuit of justice for the future by reckoning with our past. Whether it’s passages of Torah or moments in American history, we need to be able to look back and be honest about the darker elements. And, as we say throughout the episode, that can be really hard. So join us as we talk Torah, history, and action for this week’s...

“They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat” might be a temporary tagline, but when it comes down to it, food is often the defining factor that helps us bring Judaism to the table. What makes Judaism and food so appetizing? We were lucky to have Early Childhood Academy Director and pastry chef Romina (Romi) Naparstek with us to help us explain the blessings of all of the steps that come in creating a meal. When was the last time you remembered to savor the people around the table? To give...

V’ahavtah, fused glass, early childhood education… What do these things have in common? They’re all main points of conversation in this week’s episode! We had so much fun learning and playing with Sasha Kopp and Aliza Plotkin to talk about Parashat Vaetchanan and learning with the youngest members of our communities. To continue the conversation: The Jewish Education Project: JewishedProject.org Sasha’s Website: SashaKopp.com Sasha’s Glass Art on Instagram: @FusedGlassworksBySasha Aliza’s...

Would it really be a Year-in-Israel reunion episode without the Dean of the HUC Jerusalem campus Rabbi Naamah Kelman? Absolutely not! All of us have a go-to memory of learning with and being supported by Rabbi Kelman during our Year-in-Israel and we are just a small part of her legacy of teaching current and future Jewish leaders in the field! Speaking of rebellion, restoration, representation, leadership, legacy, and so much more, we are honored to continue the learning—even if it’s on an...

While we may need to [legally] acknowledge that Parashat Balak is NOT the same as the Shrek trilogy, we are grateful to have Eliana Light, songleader and prayerground phenomenon helping us find the Jewish joy in this week’s episode. Whether talking about the magic behind Mah Tovu or how we might protest against a prayer practice that is a struggle for us, both Eliana Light and Q&A guest Becky Mann bring forward the idea that music in itself is magical and that we have a lot to look...

What do you do when decisions that your national community are making are heartbreaking, troubling, and traumatic? You find a way to bring yourself and your issues to the Torah portion of the week. We do this with recent decisions by the US Supreme Court in this week’s episode featuring your co-hosts who had a lot of thoughts and feelings and yes, perspectives that we wanted to share. While we didn’t smash anything physically this week, we took a swing at why the Judaism that we practice has...

Bringing a worldly perspective to Parashat Korach, we are so excited to have on Andrew Belinfante. An organizer and community builder, Andrew travels the world as the Senior Director of Programs and Organizational Development at JDC Entwine. He brings to the show an excellent perspective on leadership, community, and Jewish tradition. We’ll discuss rebellion, reconciliation, and renewal within this Torah portion and beyond. To continue the conversation: Andrew’s Twitter:...

In Parashat Sh’lach L’cha, the Israelites are getting ready to enter and conquer the Land of Israel. In their preparation, they send out 12 scouts to go through the Land and bring back a report. And grapes. To discuss this mission, we brought in our friends and classmates, Lt. Matt Derenbacher (USAF) and Ensign Laynie Zell (USN), each of whom chose to pursue military chaplaincy during their time at Hebrew Union College. In this episode, we’ll discuss the role of chaplains in the US military,...

In the words of this week’s guest, “The role of an educator is to facilitate other’s learning,” and we loved learning with Cantor Josh Rosenberg, educator extraordinaire! Josh talked with us about music, learning, and a love of community, all in light of Parashat B’haalot’cha. How do we balance structure and silliness, formality and freedom? How do we harness the energy of our communities to best bring joy and learning to our work? To continue the conversation: Temple Beth Elohim:...

What do you talk about when two extraordinary rabbis join you with the gift of their presence? SO MUCH! With Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Ph.D. and Rabbi Rachael Pass, we learn how each of us have a gift to bring to the world, especially if we’re willing to be present in the moment. Grappling with our ability to bring ourselves to the reading while struggling with unjust juxtapositions between ancient texts and contemporary issues, we welcome a strong commentary on Nasso through a feminist lens...

We may be starting a new book, but also a brand new type of episode! We welcome in a difficult look at B’midbar where we talk about data, storytelling, and what happens when the right people are doing the counting (and recording the data!). With two Wonder Women—Mariely Luengo and Rabbi Stacy Schlein taking on the incredible work of this show (#ClevelandRepresent)—we get an insight into how we might be able to push back against a portion (or even a people) that might try to leave certain...

We know that this spring’s episodes have been a bit sporadic but we wanted to make sure that we ended Leviticus with a little bit of learning and leaving into our personal and podcast-related challenges and successes! Hear a bit about what’s been going on, some of our proudest wins, and take a bit of Torah with you as we end this book and get ourselves strengthened up to take on another! Enjoy this SHORT episode and we hope that you might help support many more! To continue the...

What can the world look like when we take a moment to celebrate the gifts that we have (especially those that come from the ground? Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) reminds us to really embrace those full rest opportunities, celebrate our commonalities, and remember our love of living for liberty. What happens when we as individuals come together to share our strengths as a community? Judaism in the form of a vibrant experiential...