My guest today is Rabbi Akiva Weingarten, born and raised in the Jewish ultraorthodox “Satmar” community in New York. He decided to leave the community, lived abroad for many years, then studied “Jewish Studies” in Germany and eventually became the Rabbi for two liberal Jewish communities in Switzerland and Germany. His own book by the title “Ultraorthodox,” has recently been published.

We are talking about Judaism specifically, other religions, spirituality, and also what it was like for him to leave his old life behind. How he dealt with the struggles of entering a whole new world, redefining himself, and how his stance on identity, religion, and spirituality has changed. He will also tell us what he thinks of pop culture depictions of ultraorthodox Jews, such as the Unorthodox series on Netflix.

Find more on Rabbi Weingarten at https://rabbiweingarten.com
The Yeshiva https://www.beshtdresden.org
The community in Dresden: https://www.juedische-gemeinde-dresden.de
Migwan community in Basel: http://www.migwan.ch

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