In 2005, Rabbi Andrew Oberstein was a budding theatre kid in Los Angeles, when Teen People magazine invited him to interview Sandra Bullock. "I loved Miss Congeniality," he told me, "so I thought, 'why not take this opportunity to check out what's going on with Miss Congeniality 2?'".

Before Rabbi Andrew became a rabbi, he was destined for a career on the stage, and studied musical theatre at Emerson College, in Boston. This passion inspired his rabbinic thesis, 'Welcome to Falsettoland: The Intersection of Jewish and Queer Identity in Late 20th Century American Theater.'

Rabbi Andrew spoke with me in January 2022, and told me about the leap of faith that brought him from the pages of Teen People magazine to the rabbinate.

Notes:

Rabbi Andrew's website: http://rabbiandrewoberstein.com

Find Oliver Sacks' book 'Gratitude' here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27161964-gratitude

Find me on Twitter and Instagram (where I've shared Rabbi Andrew's interview with Sandra Bullock) at Teen People Pod, and on Tumblr: www.teenpeoplepod.tumblr.com.

Intro music: © Anna SoperOutro music: ZakharValaha on Pixabay

Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.