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joyous and festive installment of Beautifully Jewish.

1:06

Happy Hanukkah. Hello,

1:10

Baltimore. Good

1:13

instincts. Very good instincts.

1:18

We are Unorthodox, the universe's

1:20

leading Jewish podcast. Yeah.

1:24

This is great. By

1:26

the way, just do this after every line. It's call and

1:28

response. It'll be great. Please hold your applause until the end.

1:31

We'll be here all night. I am

1:33

Stephanie Butnik, and I'm joined... Oh my God, thank you.

1:38

We're never leaving. And I'm joined by

1:40

my co-host, tablet editor at large, Leah

1:42

Leibovitz. And

1:48

big famous Jew, Joshua Molina. Yeah. Good

1:53

morning, Baltimore. We should have done the whole number. The all singing,

1:55

all dancing edition of Unorthodox. We

2:00

are so excited to be here today at

2:02

the conservative Masorti Shabbaton and convening. I'm so

2:04

sorry that I've said that word wrong every

2:07

single time I recorded an ad. No, convening?

2:09

You nailed it. Convening. Convening? Am I saying

2:11

it right? We're just so proud

2:13

to be part of this gathering. It's going to

2:15

be a great show. We are so excited to

2:17

be here with you. And we're so excited to

2:19

convene. Usually we fellowship with people, but now we're

2:21

convening. Usually we start the show with

2:23

banter. The only thing I can talk about is this. It's

2:27

Eileen. Do we know about this? Not

2:29

Eileen, but Eileen. Come on, Eileen.

2:32

The trope trainer? What

2:34

is this? I love this so much. It's

2:38

a stress pickle. Oh, and this

2:41

is like, you know, honestly. Have our own

2:43

stress pickle. Five thousand years of

2:45

Jewish history. Very nicely done. That's

2:48

what you get at a live show. That's

2:50

the kind of stuff we edit out later.

2:53

I feel like five thousand years of Jewish history have come

2:55

down to these two words. Stress pickle. Stress

2:58

pickle. I love it. And

3:00

I love it. It's like as you're learning to lane, right?

3:03

This is the trope trainer, which I read is like

3:05

the number one trope learning, Torah

3:08

learning system. I googled it because I wanted to

3:10

know more. Is this for

3:12

while you're learning to lane when you're stressed? When you

3:14

want to hit your dad or your mom who's teaching

3:16

you. Take it out on the... Okay. I

3:19

love this. I hope all... Do all of you have this? Did

3:21

everyone steal this? I love it. I'm

3:23

going to be doing this. Actually, no. It's hurting my

3:25

hand. So, trope trainer subscriber

3:27

right here. Okay. But did you get one

3:29

of these? I did not get one of

3:31

these. But here's what I did get. I

3:33

got the, you know, ability of laning. And

3:38

this week, as it happens, my

3:41

very dear friends, I'm going to

3:43

go light on the details here because it's their

3:45

story to tell. But they are a Jewish

3:47

family from an Eastern European country. And whose family

3:50

Judaism has been sort of concealed for several

3:52

decades for somewhat obvious reasons.

3:55

That there was inconvenient to be

3:57

publicly identified as Jews. Unlike...

4:00

America right now in Europe in the 40s

4:03

being Jewish sometimes had it's dangerous to

4:05

pay very different from us and

4:07

so this is the first bar mitzvah in

4:09

I think like 85 years in the

4:12

family. It was a very, very, very big deal and

4:14

they celebrated this bar mitzvah. It was super beautiful and

4:16

very fortunate to take a part of it. They

4:19

called me a few weeks ago and I said, look, you

4:21

know, it's a big parasha. The boy is

4:23

going to do, you know, one, two and seven, the

4:25

first, second and seventh, the first thing that you do

4:27

is always, you go and you read five and six

4:29

and you count the

4:40

verses because if I'd done so, the number

4:42

would have been 738 verses altogether. The

4:44

two longest, the freaking entire

4:47

Torah. Okay, so I

4:49

understand what I'm into and I'm, you

4:51

know, trip training it and I got

4:53

this thing right and I have a

4:55

bunch of cheat sheets with like notations

4:57

and stuff. This is you. You know,

4:59

I walk in. Yeah, I'm doing the

5:01

pickle, the stress pickle thing and

5:03

I walk in and I'm, you

5:06

know, as I sort of walk to Shol that morning,

5:08

you know what, it's going to be fine because if

5:10

I make a mistake, like who's going to notice,

5:13

like who in that room is good because

5:15

it's not an Orthodox Shol. It was

5:17

like at some other venue and was

5:19

this really beautiful, moving, touching ceremony, but

5:22

not at the synagogue and a bunch of friends

5:24

from all walks of life, but I didn't think

5:26

any real observant people would be there. So who's

5:28

going to notice if I, you know, do my

5:30

Etnachta wrong or my Zakhev Katano, my Munach is

5:32

not, it's going to be okay. I'm going to

5:34

be fine. And I walk into

5:37

this room and the first face I

5:39

see is a very major

5:41

Orthodox rabbi who is looking at me

5:44

with a big smile. And I say, oh,

5:46

you see, you're going to be the guy. It's going to be like, nope,

5:48

nope, that's not at all how the music goes. I

5:52

was literally drenched in sweat at the end

5:54

of this thing. It was amazing,

5:56

but I had, I think like something like 19

5:59

per second. Is that the kiddish? Because that was like done.

6:02

But that really brings you back to that

6:04

like 13-year-old boy up there, also hoping

6:06

not to totally screw up in front of people. Yes.

6:09

Which is the point, right? I was a

6:11

bar mitzvah at an orthodox shul, and we

6:13

had a very stern, strict, I guess, the

6:15

gabai would correct everything. And my parents swear

6:17

that mid-laning, we had a

6:19

stare down. And

6:22

then I just withered him until he finally removed

6:24

himself from the beamer, and carried him. And

6:27

that's what you do with directors now, right? No

6:31

notes. It was

6:33

a very joyous occasion. Wow. How

6:35

was your shot? Melina, can you stop that? Whoa,

6:38

whoa, whoa. Is it the opposite of a mic drop?

6:40

It's just like a mic. Just don't

6:43

even try. I was going to say, how

6:45

delighted I am to be here. Last week,

6:47

I went to and spoke. Thank you for

6:49

that epic applause. The one person who acknowledges

6:51

your. I find it very, I

6:53

don't get out of the house a lot, particularly

6:55

with the pandemic these last few years. And

6:58

last week, I went and I spoke

7:00

to the Greater Federation of Greater Naples

7:02

in Florida. It's what

7:04

my friend Ajay somewhat cynically calls

7:06

telling Jews their right for money.

7:12

I call it a speaking engagement. But

7:15

thank you. They paint double if you're telling me you're wrong,

7:18

by the way. Take it from me. There

7:20

we go. So it's always nice to

7:22

meet a new, new to me,

7:25

Jewish community, the

7:27

Greater Naples being a somewhat more permanent one, this

7:29

one being an assemblage, a convening, if you will,

7:33

of Jews from all over. And I

7:35

find it heartening and hopeful and energizing

7:37

to meet other people and discover how

7:39

they live Jewishly. So

7:41

that's I'm excited to be here. Thank

7:45

you for that. Oh, that's

7:49

beautiful. That's beautiful. And now you've just like pander

7:51

to the crowd. I

7:54

have a long history of that. If

7:56

only there was a profession. living

8:00

of pandering to the television. I haven't been

8:03

able to. But you're back. It's

8:05

back. A strike's over. It hasn't

8:07

been ratified yet. Last day of voting is tomorrow.

8:09

We'll see. By the time this is

8:11

out, I will no longer be on strike most likely. I'll

8:13

just be out of work. News

8:18

of the Jews. Oh

8:20

yeah. N-O-T-J.

8:24

News of the

8:27

Jews. Well, my

8:29

first headline of the day is just that London canceled

8:31

Hanukkah. I don't know if you guys saw this. They

8:34

just canceled it. They said no Hanukkah. I'm

8:36

going to read this to you from the Jerusalem Post.

8:39

Havering Council, a municipality located in

8:41

East London, announced that the annual

8:43

Hanukkah installation would not be taking

8:45

place this year due to, quote, conflict in

8:47

the Middle East. This is their

8:49

statement. The council has taken the difficult decision

8:51

to pause the planned installation of the Hanukkah

8:54

menorah outside Havering Town Hall this

8:56

year. We appreciate this is

8:58

a hugely sensitive issue, Hanukkah. But

9:01

in light of escalating tensions from the conflict in the

9:04

Middle East, installing the candelabra now

9:06

will not be without risk to the

9:08

council, our partner, staff, and local residents.

9:10

We would also be concerned with any

9:13

possible vandalism or other action against the

9:15

installation. Blah, blah, blah,

9:17

blah, blah, blah. Seems to me that Havering

9:19

Council perhaps is missing the true meaning of

9:21

Hanukkah, which is

9:24

not hiding the menorah and

9:27

putting it in the window, proudly displaying it.

9:30

Or if I may, of

9:32

what happens to people who try to tell

9:34

Jews that they can't be Jews in public,

9:36

historically, Hanukkah does not end well for them.

9:39

Also true. But here's the thing. I forgot,

9:41

there is a warning story. I love

9:43

the story so much, not because

9:45

it affirms one of my many. I have a

9:47

lot of biases against pretty much every European country

9:49

you can imagine. The same, of course, being the

9:51

worst country in the world. But

9:54

the UK is a very close

9:56

second, really a collection of filthy

9:58

anti-Semites. But the thing that really

10:01

kind of unites or ignites my love here,

10:05

part of my bias is that every time I read

10:07

about anything that takes place in the UK, it immediately

10:09

seems to me like it's part of like a J.R.

10:11

Tolkien Lord of the Rings thing. Here,

10:13

get this. It's literally called

10:15

the Have Ring council. And

10:19

their statement is like, well, you

10:21

cannot install the candelabra. It

10:23

sounds like part of some mythical quest involving

10:26

elves. Like, I'm following Jesus. You're racist. This

10:28

is really insane. Well,

10:30

the great news is that we sped up to

10:32

the end of the movie where they found the true

10:35

meaning of Hanukkah. They reinstalled Hanukkah. The

10:37

candelabra, whatever that is, is going up. Who

10:39

knows how, hopefully it has the right amount

10:41

of branches, just like out of respect to

10:43

our people. But- Gin that

10:45

should have lasted one night lasted eight crazy nights.

10:47

Yes. So I guess an early

10:50

Hanukkah miracle for all of us. And then we can

10:52

update the story when it in fact is vandalized. In

10:54

fact vandalized, yes. God

10:56

forbid. I have a sports related

10:58

headline. Do you want to- I'm sure this belongs

11:00

in news of the Jews? Oh, owners.

11:02

This is about ownership? Oh, okay. Yeah,

11:05

bring it. No, I get it.

11:07

That makes sense. I think this is

11:09

the cabal. Like,

11:11

I think we found it. We're

11:15

here. I've heard about this. I knew

11:17

they were meeting, but I've never actually been

11:19

invited to one. We've

11:22

really made it. Yes, we have. Give

11:25

us sports. Mark

11:29

Cuban selling the Dallas Mavericks

11:31

to Miram Adelson. Jewish billionaire

11:33

and Shark Tank star, Mark Cuban, is likely

11:36

the best known owner in the NBA. Da,

11:39

da, da, da. He is now

11:41

selling his team to The Widow,

11:43

says the JTA story of influential

11:46

Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, who

11:48

just purchased Cuban's ownership of the Dallas

11:50

Mavericks, the NBA team, for a reported

11:52

$3.5 billion. Now,

11:55

first of all, I'm really, really

11:57

ashamed of the Jewish Telegraphic

11:59

Agency. which is ordinarily a fantastic news source,

12:01

but they're really burying the lead because the lead

12:04

is that he bought it for $285 million. So

12:07

we should really calculate the percentage here and be very

12:10

proud of the smart Jew. Yeah,

12:12

that's a shark. That's very, very nice. That

12:14

should be the headline. Jew makes 483% profit

12:16

on investment. But

12:20

don't worry, it's from another Jew. He

12:23

charged interest. I

12:25

don't know, like, good for the Jews, bad

12:27

for the Jews. I feel like this is

12:29

just gonna make people hate the Jews more. I know there's nothing we

12:31

can do about that, but for some reason, I

12:33

feel like, I don't know, because that was like, like, Mark

12:35

Cuban's like a big, loud Jew. I'm

12:38

like Miriam Adelson, who's very tibid and shy

12:40

about intervening and- But I'm saying, like- I

12:42

think it's Adelson. Let me just think

12:44

of Adelson, right? Adelson? I mean, if I had half their money,

12:46

you could call me whatever you want. But

12:49

yeah, I think it is Adelson. It is Adelson, and I've been

12:51

corrected about this before, and I'm sorry. I'm gonna go with Adelson.

12:54

And I guess I did. You say Adelson. I

12:56

say Adelson. Yeah. Is

12:58

this I may? Miriam Adelson? I know

13:00

billionaires pronounce billionaire. That

13:04

one I got. Miriam Adelson was

13:06

my mother's OBGYN back in the day.

13:08

And that's a true story. Really? So

13:10

I get to call her whatever I want. I had no idea it

13:12

paid that well. There you have it. You

13:15

too. Yeah, I should have gotten into that. Go to medical school.

13:17

You too could buy an NVA team one day very soon. Tell

13:20

your friends and daughters. A doctor. The whole thing though

13:22

about really sports owners, like, this is like one of

13:24

my favorite things, because at one and the same time,

13:27

you want to be so proud, like, oh,

13:29

my team is owned by this guy. And

13:31

at the other end, it's like, no, no, please God, no. Maybe

13:34

we own nothing. Like, this is the most

13:36

kind of visibly uncomfortable. You know what I'm

13:38

saying? Because like, first of all, like the

13:40

whole owner status, and like, you have to

13:42

decide everyone's kind of fate and make all

13:44

these decisions. I really don't like

13:47

that, especially in sports, especially

13:49

if I'm in football, which is a

13:51

game I'm growing increasingly uncomfortable

13:53

with by the moment. You

13:55

heard it here first. You know, but I'm Israeli. What

13:57

do I know? By football, you don't mean soccer. I

14:00

do not. Does anyone here share

14:02

this? It is awkward. I mean, it's

14:04

literally you're called an owner.

14:07

Right. You own things. Right. And

14:09

some people. People. Yeah. It's also

14:11

kind of like God like you trade.

14:13

It's also something so you know,

14:16

incredibly just weird about

14:18

the whole thing because like, yes, technically it

14:20

is a business. But to those

14:22

of us who spend way too much of their

14:24

time and money obsessing over sports, it's kind of

14:26

not even a public utility, but almost like, you

14:28

know, like a like a religious outcrop. Like, I

14:31

think of the Mets, you know, in very

14:33

similar terms, like I think about Judaism. They're

14:35

both, you know, exercises in like being in

14:38

really weird historical positions where other people are

14:40

out to get you. And then you escape

14:42

in the nick of time. And then there's

14:44

a miracle. And then you wait another 60

14:46

years until something good happens, etc, etc. But

14:48

like, how could you own that and and

14:50

make it a business and at the

14:52

same time, respect the tremendous emotional

14:54

spiritual investment that these people put

14:56

into these teams? I would

14:59

never want to own a sports team. And

15:01

you probably never will. Yeah, luckily. I'm sorry

15:03

to be the one to say it. Well,

15:06

here's my segue here. And speaking of people hating

15:08

the Jews. Oh, that is an evergreen segue.

15:12

I didn't even know what was coming before that. We'll be using

15:14

that one again. Cornell's

15:16

Jewish president. Did you guys see this? This just

15:19

this seems to just have happened. She would sound

15:21

guilty in a mock trial of

15:23

genocide. That is a thing

15:25

that happened on having held in mock prison. Pro

15:29

Palestinian students occupied day Hall on this is from

15:31

the Cornell Sun. They all

15:34

day on Friday, December

15:36

one, they demanded the university

15:39

adopt policies against doxing a new definition

15:41

of anti semitism and committed to investment

15:43

in companies that support Israel's military. That's

15:45

the most important part. The

15:47

occupation it says ended weird ended on

15:49

Sunday, December 3, after the university agreed

15:52

to set up a meeting between protesters.

15:54

Starting at noon, organizers began a mock

15:56

trial for President Martha Pollack outside of

15:58

day Hall, the administrative building. accusing

16:00

her of complicity in genocide against Palestinian

16:03

civilians, blah blah blah blah blah. Point

16:06

is, I put a picture here, they

16:08

literally printed out a cardboard picture of

16:10

poor Martha Pollock. And surrounded her with money

16:12

bags, that was a nice touch. And they

16:14

just have signs they're charging her with genocide. So this poor

16:16

woman, and I feel like she's Jewish, like it's kind of

16:18

weird. Yes, and Martha Pollock to her

16:21

credit, I think did well and did

16:23

so publicly when Jewish students were threatened.

16:26

And she went and she ate at

16:28

the kosher kitchen and she's been a

16:30

stalwart supporter. So does her being

16:33

Jewish have anything to do with this, do you think? Guys,

16:37

I'm trying, I'm going for naive

16:39

and optimistic. I mean look, I

16:41

for one am shocked that anti-Jewish

16:43

sentiments would erupt on college campuses. And no one

16:45

could have seen that coming. Particularly Ivy League, I

16:48

imagine. For the past, I don't know, 10 years.

16:51

Or so, this is amazing. One

16:53

of the greatest treasures of being a

16:55

paranoid is that occasionally reality would actually

16:57

reward your greatest fears. Be like, yeah,

17:00

no, that was absolutely true. Remember the

17:02

thing when you thought that everyone here

17:04

hated you? Actually, yeah, they kind of all do. Here's

17:08

the money shot in this specific

17:10

thing. The occupation ended on Sunday,

17:12

December 3rd after university agreed to

17:14

set up a meeting between protesters

17:16

and the university chief financial officer

17:18

to discuss their investment concerns. The

17:20

funny thing is that this is actually indicative of

17:23

the greater problem. We think that the big problem

17:25

with American universities is anti-Semitism and

17:27

political. The big problem is that these

17:29

are dumb, big, soulless businesses. Running a

17:32

university right now is like running an

17:34

Arby's. You're basically selling sandwiches and then

17:36

franchises to other countries who would like

17:38

to have NYU Abu Dhabi and Shanghai

17:41

and are willing to pay for it.

17:44

So of course, they're going to treat these people

17:46

like quote unquote customers. Be like, oh, you have

17:48

a complaint about the service here in Cornell? Oh,

17:50

it's about Jews having too much money in power.

17:52

Please come into a meeting and we will discuss

17:54

this in a civilized fashion where we will share

17:56

with you our investment strategy. This

17:58

is a sign of action. absolute moral

18:00

wrath and as always we're the fricking

18:02

canary in the coma. I'd

18:08

say they're upset college students if you can

18:10

get them to accept we'll have a meeting with you.

18:12

Well played. And it's going

18:14

to be at 9am, that's the joke. Right, yeah,

18:17

exactly. And no one's going to come. Why

18:20

did I take this class? I like

18:22

that their version of like I'd like to speak with

18:24

the managers, like I'd like to charge the president with

18:27

genocide. There's

18:30

no, there's no... By the

18:32

way, I'm going to try this next time like some

18:34

restaurant gets my delivery wrong. Hello,

18:37

yeah, you know Hunan Farm, yeah, you just send

18:39

me the chicken lo mein instead of the vegaine

18:42

lo mein. I'd like to charge you with genocide

18:44

for that please. I'd

18:46

like to send you to the fake Hague. I

18:48

think that's all I can stomach for now. All

18:50

the news that are... All

18:52

the news, NYU Arby's, it

18:55

actually sounds delicious. Is there anything at

18:57

Arby's that's kosher? There is no

18:59

kosher Arby's. A lot. There's no fish sandwich,

19:01

it's close enough. Did

19:03

that have fins and scales before you fried it? No.

19:07

Okay. Although I will say, so

19:10

we had a tablet event this summer

19:12

in New York and I was at

19:14

the time elsewhere, 9 hour

19:17

drive away, but it was a really big

19:20

event and so came and then had to

19:22

return to where I was summering. He

19:24

was a verb I never thought I would use. Well

19:26

Jews don't summer, don't say that. For Jews

19:28

it's always like mid to

19:31

late winter. I

19:34

was driving back and it was

19:36

completely famished because for whatever crazy set of

19:38

circumstances it had not eaten the whole day.

19:41

And the only thing that was open was this rest

19:43

stop and it had a McDonald's. Nothing

19:45

I could eat here, it's absolutely nothing I could eat here.

19:48

And I walked in and I had this lovely server

19:50

and I was like, okay, look, here's the thing. I

19:54

keep kosher. Is there any possibility in which

19:56

you could just make a sandwich? Just

19:58

like the buns and the vegetables. and the cheese

20:00

and she looks at me in this like

20:02

profound way and just doesn't say a word just nods

20:04

her head and returns

20:07

like seven minutes later like the

20:09

longest I've ever waited at a McDonald's with

20:12

this like pristine beautiful thing with

20:14

like three kind of like stories

20:17

to it like 17 slices of

20:20

cheese and like very perfectly

20:22

placed like pickles it was

20:25

honestly the best cheese sandwich I think I ever

20:28

had. Here's to

20:30

McDonald's. Was it awkward when you charged her

20:32

with Jennifer? A

20:34

little bit. I was like excuse me you forgot the onions

20:36

so... Shakoos!

20:59

Do you know a teen leader changing

21:01

the world? The deadline

21:03

is approaching for the Diller Teen

21:05

Tikkun Olam Awards which honor young

21:07

changemakers who embody the value of

21:10

Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. 15

21:13

recipients from across the US will receive

21:15

$36,000 each

21:18

to honor their community service and

21:20

leadership. Nominate a teen

21:22

today or they can apply directly

21:24

by January 5th. Learn

21:27

more at dillerteenawards.org.

21:35

Time for some pod biz. Our last live

21:37

appearance of the year will take place on

21:39

December 15th and 16th when Liel and I

21:42

head to Col Ami in Tucson, Arizona for

21:44

a bunch of events all Shabbat long presented

21:46

by the Bill Gray Lecture Series. We're so

21:48

excited and hope to see you there. You

21:51

can find our full schedule at

21:53

tabamag.com/unorthodox live. To bring us to

21:55

your community in 2024 email Tanya

21:57

Singer at tsinger.org. at

22:00

tabletmag.com. While you're listening, how about leaving

22:02

us a review? Apple podcast reviews really

22:05

help new listeners find us. And

22:07

while you're at it, subscribe to

22:10

our brand new newsletter at tabletm.ag

22:12

slash unorthodox newsletter. Welcome

22:33

to our fourth installment of Beautifully Jewish,

22:35

our series celebrating the objects that enrich

22:37

our Jewish lives. As ever,

22:39

I'm here with Tanya Singer, my co-host

22:41

and co-creator on this series. Happy Hanukkah!

22:44

Thank you, and happy Hanukkah to you

22:46

as well. So look, every

22:48

Jewish holiday has objects. For Passover, we

22:50

have the Seder plate and the AFI

22:52

Komen bag, the Purim we have Grogers,

22:55

but no holiday is as steeped in

22:57

material culture as Hanukkah. Each

22:59

night, we like the menorah, just like they

23:01

did in the Hanukkah story. These menorahs are

23:04

objects that for generations have kept

23:06

Jewish crafters and artists inspired, objects

23:08

that reflected both ancient customs and

23:10

the modern sensibilities of the moment. And

23:13

so, for our Beautifully Jewish Hanukkah,

23:15

we're celebrating that most important Hanukkah

23:17

object, the menorah, or Hanukkiah, or

23:19

Hanukkah lamp. First, we welcome

23:22

back Gabriel Goldstein, interim director

23:24

and chief curator of the Yeshiva University

23:26

Museum, to break down the history of

23:28

Hanukkah observance. Then we

23:30

talk to designer Jonathan Adler about putting his

23:32

modern spin on this beloved Jewish ritual object.

23:34

And finally, Tanya and I take a special

23:37

trip to Muncie, New York to visit a

23:39

HUVA dottiner, better known as Homegrown Kosher, who

23:41

teaches us how to spin our own wicks

23:43

for an oil menorah. Let's

23:46

get started with Gabriel Goldstein, who takes us

23:48

all the way back to the beginning. Gabriel

23:53

Goldstein, welcome back to Beautifully Jewish on an

23:55

Orthodox. It's my great pleasure to be here

23:57

once again. Could you give us the story of the book? Hanukkah?

24:00

So the first Hanukkah really emerges

24:02

from a military victory

24:04

that is seen as a miraculous,

24:07

divinely inspired opportunity. And

24:09

that is because in

24:11

the third and second

24:13

century BCE, the

24:16

Seleucids, the Syrian Greeks, controlled the

24:18

land of Israel, Judea.

24:21

And at that point, they imposed

24:23

that the people would have to

24:25

stop celebrating and living Jewishly, learning

24:27

Torah, worshiping the divine God within

24:29

the temple precincts. And the temple

24:31

precincts were forced to become a

24:33

temple to Zeus and

24:36

then arose a movement, a military

24:38

movement to fight against these conquerors,

24:40

these rulers. And those

24:42

are the Hasmoneans, Hasmoneans, and they

24:45

were victorious, which was kind of

24:47

shockingly amazing, right? And this was a rebellion,

24:50

a revolt, which forced out

24:52

a world power and then

24:54

was able to then reclaim and

24:56

rededicate, that is the word Hanukkah,

24:58

to rededicate the temple of Jerusalem.

25:00

And then there's the miracle, but the

25:02

miracle is very heavily, it's al-Haniqim on

25:05

the miracles. The miracles are multiple, not

25:07

one, but the miracle is very much

25:09

about the military victory and the rededication

25:11

of the temple and the opportunity that

25:13

provided for full Jewish life. The other

25:16

miracle that perhaps is well known and

25:18

more legendary and comes down to us

25:20

in the Talmud is that in this

25:22

rededication and the lighting of the menorah,

25:24

lighting of the seven branch candelabram in

25:27

the temple precincts, only

25:29

one cruise of oil was discovered.

25:32

That one cruise of oil was only a one

25:34

day supply. But miraculously, according

25:36

to that Talmud, the oil

25:39

lasted for eight days and that

25:41

eight days of the oil lasting

25:43

allowed for new purified oil to

25:45

be prepared and available to continue

25:47

the practice and the celebration. And

25:49

that became then the miracles of

25:51

Hanukkah that are then celebrated across

25:53

the generations. So part of the

25:55

miracle and the mitzvah of Hanukkah

25:57

is the prisum Hanayz, the publicize

25:59

of the of the miracle. And

26:01

that is why Hanukkah lamps are lit

26:04

and are placed generally in windows, and

26:06

that people then absorb and

26:08

see and recognize that

26:11

light, that miracle, that celebration. And

26:13

that duality is something that's both

26:15

personal and familial, but then also

26:17

public and communal, something that's very

26:19

special with this special

26:21

material culture celebration. In

26:23

many communities, one sees that the most

26:25

perhaps in Jerusalem that's familiar to people,

26:27

Hanukkah lamps are placed outside the home

26:29

in Jerusalem, one often sees them placed

26:31

within special kind of glass between

26:34

special cases outside of

26:36

the home. In many communities, they were

26:38

placed similarly, very blatantly in

26:40

windows, and then something we see

26:43

in America, in other communities, and

26:45

particularly resonant maybe at the moment,

26:47

in times of increased antisemitism and fear,

26:50

there was a different practice of bringing them

26:52

indoors. And then in many communities,

26:55

they were then also placed especially within the

26:57

home in the entranceway in some

26:59

level, and they were placed on the opposite

27:01

the mezozah on a doorpost. So

27:03

people entered into them surrounded by

27:06

this idea of commandment and recognition,

27:08

light and text. We

27:10

are tasked with being a light unto the

27:12

nations. This is such a symbol of that

27:14

light. Certainly the light was shining forth and

27:17

the idea of putting our Hanukkah lamps, our

27:19

Hanukkah celebrations in this kind of

27:21

dual force of being internal and then projecting out

27:23

to the external, that kind of has

27:25

that combination. The menorah lit initially

27:28

not a Hanukkah lamp, a seven

27:30

branch lamp lit in the temple,

27:32

was really within the temple, precincts

27:34

was within the community itself within

27:36

the nation, and there was the

27:38

nation and God. So when

27:40

does Hanukkah become such a big deal for modern

27:42

Jews? It's more

27:44

of a post-war mid-20th

27:46

century experience of American

27:49

Jewry turning Hanukkah into

27:51

a celebration, which is a December

27:53

seasonal celebration, very much a child-oriented

27:56

celebration already in that era in

27:58

the post-war baby boom. There's a great great growth

28:00

in child-centered Judaism. That's like the

28:02

age of the Jew of irrigation,

28:05

and Hanukkah really fit into that. The other flip

28:07

side to that in this same period is

28:10

post-1948, the military

28:12

victory and the independence and the

28:15

rededication became a major storyline of

28:17

Hanukkah within the state of Israel.

28:20

And a newly invigorated, independent,

28:23

strong military presence within the

28:25

state of Israel became

28:28

a Hanukkah story alongside the

28:30

rampantly growing culture of Sufganiyah.

28:33

And that's also a Mizrahi-influency,

28:35

Eastern influence of the fried

28:37

dough foods, which weren't the

28:39

like a potato-based Eastern European

28:42

Jewish food of Hanukkah,

28:44

Rashkenazi immigrants all over the

28:46

world. You also do see in

28:48

Hanukkah lamps in this period in Israel

28:50

and also elsewhere and even earlier, increased

28:53

military motifs and some explicitly

28:56

Sahal, Israeli, depends for

28:58

themes on Hanukkah lamps. It's

29:01

Masada, it's Hanukkah, like these symbols, these

29:03

are big symbols for us. And there's

29:05

also this famous image of a menorah

29:07

in a window in Nazi Germany. Yeah,

29:10

so that's the idea of projecting out to the

29:12

public, but also that's a very much a personal

29:15

statement of faith and belief

29:17

and presence. So in 1995 in buildings

29:19

Montana, there

29:21

was an anti-Semitic episode, a very

29:23

limited anti-Semitic episode in the community

29:25

with very few Jews. And there

29:27

was this town-wide response to

29:30

place images of menorahs in family

29:32

homes throughout the town as

29:35

a symbol of solidarity and connectedness,

29:38

tolerance and hope. I would love

29:40

to see that in every window now, that

29:42

everyone would put that signal and bring light

29:44

with us into the world in this moment.

29:47

I hear Hanukkah lamp, I hear menorah. We

29:49

also know about the Hanukkah. Tell us, break

29:51

down the different terms and what they mean.

29:54

The terminology is tricky like with

29:56

lots of things in the isolated

29:59

community of Jewish. museums and

30:01

Judaica, we use the word in

30:03

English, Hanukkah lamp. That word is

30:05

used in Hebrew language as

30:07

menorah, Chanukah, using the word that's

30:10

lamp, that's menorah, right?

30:12

The menorah refers to

30:14

a multi-branched structure, really

30:17

initially the seven branch menorah

30:20

of the temple or of

30:22

the tabernacle, the Mishkan preceding the

30:24

temple, the Beit HaMikdash. And

30:27

then that form, this multi-branched form in

30:30

its eight branch version with, or with

30:32

a nine, with a central shamash is

30:34

also referred to because of its form

30:37

as a menorah or

30:39

a menorah, right? Menorah is the usual

30:41

term that's used in English, kind of

30:43

common American usage. For Hanukkah

30:45

object, central object, candle oil

30:48

lighting object, and that's fine.

30:50

Hanukkiah is even trickier. Hanukkiah

30:53

is the general contemporary Hebrew

30:55

usage term. There is

30:58

one rare occurrence of the

31:00

term going back into

31:02

the 18th century on a kind of a

31:04

lamp from Holland, but then the term

31:06

isn't really well known. We think it

31:08

probably emerged as a kind of like

31:10

a child friendly new Hebrew term

31:12

in the

31:14

revitalization of Hebrew language.

31:17

And my hunch, though it isn't proven,

31:19

is that it came from Lev and

31:22

Kipnis, who is a very famous children's

31:24

author and songwriter in early

31:26

Israel. And the

31:29

word that we know that's like it

31:31

is shkediah, like an shkediah parakat, the

31:33

almond tree blossoms. That's like the The

31:35

Tubi Shvat anthem. And he created these

31:37

new words with this Yud Hey kind

31:40

of suffix for like a

31:42

growing new Hebrew optimism and

31:45

language and children's culture. Could

31:47

you give a primer for people who each year may

31:49

sort of forget which way to place the candles and

31:51

which way to light? So this is obviously

31:54

like that to me to debate. This was a classic

31:56

to make debate whether the candles should

31:58

be. But if we just start with eight. and

32:00

then go down to 765, kind of

32:03

echoing the way that the oil in

32:05

the menorah in the temple itself burns

32:07

slowly to last the eight days, or

32:09

we increase them like we go according

32:11

to Hillel in that approach, the

32:13

House of Hillel, in that we increase because

32:15

the miracle was stronger each day. The

32:18

right to left thing is tricky because it

32:20

depends which way you use as the format.

32:22

Usually people do it right to

32:24

left facing towards it rather than the viewer

32:26

on the other side of the window in

32:29

terms of the increase, and it's

32:32

the new light for that night which is the

32:34

first one to be lit, so then you're

32:36

lighting from left to right. Love that.

32:39

So I imagine in terms of, I'll call

32:41

it a Hanukkah lamp, I like that, in

32:43

terms of Hanukkah lamps over the generations, do

32:46

we typically see like if you were a

32:48

German family in the 1800s, like are your

32:50

Hanukkah lamps going to look like the popular

32:52

art form at the time in a way

32:55

that now there's so many menorahs that's cued

32:57

to a very like current sensibility. So Hanukkah

32:59

lamps certainly follow current fashions

33:01

as well as traditional practices. They're

33:04

unusual a little bit in the body

33:06

of Jura Samyal objects in that there

33:08

are like really distinct needs. Like for

33:10

a kiddushka, you can use any cup

33:12

or any kind of more lovely goblet

33:14

type of thing, but for something

33:17

which has eight lights and then a

33:19

separate shamash server light, that's

33:21

kind of a very weird process,

33:23

so they tend to need to

33:25

be kind of distinctly made for

33:28

this purpose. They certainly follow current

33:30

fashions. There also are very well-defined

33:32

typologies of different

33:34

Hanukkah lamp styles, formats,

33:37

decorative motifs that are used

33:39

in distinct regions, sometimes in North

33:41

Africa, for example, distinct types

33:43

per town that have been documented and

33:45

well known. Many of them in

33:47

many communities use the menorah

33:50

form or echo a branch,

33:52

multi-branched form as in the

33:55

tabernacle and temple menorah, but many

33:57

many more are bench format. And

34:00

the most common structure is

34:02

that they tend to be architectural. And

34:05

that's important because it does a number of things

34:07

at once. First of all, it

34:09

reflects black on the story why we talked about

34:11

that this is all about the temple itself, right?

34:14

And then also brought into the home. So

34:16

very architectural. And then it's going to

34:18

echo where the Conical App itself is

34:20

placed. So is it placed in the

34:23

window? Is it placed in the doorway?

34:25

Is it placed immediately in front of

34:27

a building? So that's architectural vocabularies are

34:29

very much present within Conical App design

34:31

internationally. Gabriel Goldstein, can I

34:33

be the first to wish you a

34:36

happy Hanukkah? Yes, you are the first. Thank you. And

34:38

I wish it to everyone else as well. So

34:44

Tanya, I have to ask you, what's your

34:46

most meaningful menorah? I imagine you have many,

34:48

but like what's the one for you? I

34:51

do have many. There's one that I'm sure

34:53

no one else has. Just before my son,

34:55

Sams Bar Mitzvah, we did a family trip

34:57

to Israel and did this trip to Beit

34:59

Guvrin, this dig for a day. And a

35:01

lot of people told me this was great.

35:03

It was great. You were part of an

35:05

actual archaeological dig in a community that goes

35:07

back to the actual Hanukkah story. And when

35:09

you're digging, there are tons and tons of

35:11

shards of basically stuff that from a historical

35:13

perspective has no value. But to me, I

35:15

couldn't bear the thought of leaving it when I

35:17

was offered to take some home. And I had

35:20

no idea what to do with it. I'm not

35:22

a person who collects pebbles on the beach or

35:24

shells. I don't keep those things. But these shards

35:26

felt different. Having seen the connection to Jews living

35:29

in this place 2000 years

35:31

ago, like it was just amazing. So I took

35:33

the shards and then I kind

35:35

of channeled my inner third grader and I

35:37

went to town. I made a really flat

35:39

little Hanukkah. I don't actually use it because

35:41

because it's so pretty. But it's all these

35:44

different shards that were from Beit Guvrin. And

35:46

there just these all these different earth tones

35:48

from pottery going back to Hanukkah time. That's

35:50

amazing. So you really channeled it

35:52

into the most relevant object, right? You made

35:54

a Hanukkah out of it. I did. And

35:56

it connects us to Israel, connects my whole family

35:59

to that special moment. that we had, it just

36:02

gives me a good feeling. That's beautiful. Mine

36:04

is less sentimental, but

36:06

I still really, really love it. My favorite

36:08

menorah, my favorite Hanukkah lamp, whatever we're calling

36:10

it these days, is the Jonathan Ether peacock

36:13

menorah. And I actually love it

36:15

so much that I wanted to talk to Jonathan

36:17

himself. So, Tanya and I called Jonathan Ether up

36:20

to learn a little bit more. Shalom!

36:25

It's so nice to have you back on

36:27

the show. I am so happy to be

36:29

here. I am all tablet all the time,

36:31

so it feels shared. By the way, I've

36:33

just exhausted my Yiddish, so don't expect more.

36:37

Tell us what a menorah means to

36:39

you. Menorahs and Judaica in general

36:42

are really an opportunity

36:44

to kind of be

36:46

expressive and abstract. It's

36:48

a strange thing. It's a functional

36:51

object that's kind of unmoored from

36:54

typical form. Like one knows sort of the

36:56

kind of menorahs like my Nana had, where

36:58

it was just like a very typical brass

37:00

thing, but I don't think that menorahs have

37:02

to be like that. You know, they can

37:04

sort of be anything. And I

37:06

think Judaica and anything religious, it's sort

37:09

of an opportunity to try

37:11

to do something abstract and

37:13

to try to soar. You

37:16

know, a picture, if you're going to make

37:18

a picture, it's pretty clear what it has

37:20

to be. It has to have a handle.

37:22

There are very many limitations, whereas there are

37:25

fewer in religious stuff. It's an opportunity to

37:27

do something really daring and

37:30

fantastic. I have your peacock

37:32

menorah and I love it so much because

37:34

it sits out all year and you almost

37:36

don't know it's a menorah. That

37:38

one is my chef

37:40

dove. And guess what? It's

37:43

on sale because people don't love it.

37:45

And I'm like, are you on craft

37:47

people? Like just look at it. It's

37:49

like a sculpture. It's flawless. I don't

37:51

mean to be self-congratulatory because I'm anything

37:53

but typically. But when I designed that,

37:55

I was like, yup. How did you

37:57

design that? How did you make that? The kind of

37:59

inspiration for the Peacock menorah was actually

38:01

I was thinking a lot about Viennese

38:03

secession design, which is like a early

38:06

20th century design movement that was

38:09

really about minimalism, sort of an

38:11

economy of gesture, and

38:13

a bit of gold. I

38:15

think like Klimt paintings, Joseph Hoffman designs.

38:18

So I kind of wanted to do

38:20

something that had the minimalist restraint that

38:22

I associate with that movement, but the

38:25

sense of glamour and ornament that I

38:27

also associate. So that was kind of

38:29

the stylistic genesis. And then it's

38:32

like a very pared down,

38:34

almost abstracted tape on a

38:36

Peacock. The feathers, I

38:38

suppose, are sort of a much

38:40

more rectilinear way. It has this

38:43

rhythm of gold, lines

38:46

and dots. But again, it's kind of reminiscent

38:49

of Vener Verstadt design. And you

38:51

know, it's a Peacock, but it doesn't look like a Peacock.

38:54

And you have a new menorah with you

38:56

right now. I've seen it all over

38:58

my Instagram. Oh, good. I'm being targeted

39:01

by it. Thank God. Yes, I'll hold

39:03

it up for you guys. This

39:05

is, again, another example of how

39:08

weird and abstract Judea can be.

39:10

This looks absolutely nothing like a

39:12

menorah, but it's a menorah. And it's sort of, again,

39:15

an attempt to soar. And as much

39:18

as people think about me, they probably

39:20

think I'm a maximalist because I make a

39:22

lot of stuff. But I'm really a minimalist

39:24

as a designer, I really try to strip

39:26

things down to sort of an economy of

39:28

gesture. And I think I did that with this mystique

39:31

menorah, which is like a

39:33

very abstract composition of bent

39:36

pipes and a giant ball

39:38

made out of marbleized resin.

39:40

And again, it's just sort

39:42

of the genesis of that

39:44

idea was about thinking about just a new way

39:46

to create a menorah in

39:48

a very improbable way, again, using an

39:50

economy of gesture. All right, pipes and

39:53

balls, what can I do? You have the

39:55

the shamash, you write our main candle up top, and that

39:57

seems to be the only reason why I'm doing that. And

39:59

I think that's real thing that you

40:01

need to follow, right? Like the only real

40:03

regulation. Yeah, that's the main

40:06

deal. You gotta keep that guy up. And

40:09

I think I've screwed up a few times. I've

40:11

made my share of menorahs over the years. And

40:13

I think not all of them have been like

40:15

fully kosh, but you know, I

40:17

try. You're so well known

40:19

for your bright designs, your really fun

40:22

jars you make, your sculptures, your candles.

40:25

Was Judaica always part of the equation

40:27

for you when you started making things?

40:29

I think Judaica has always been in

40:32

my heart. It's really

40:34

interesting. I was thinking a lot

40:36

about the craft movement. You

40:38

know, I'm a craft person. I

40:41

started out as a potter. And

40:43

there's no shortage of

40:45

Jewish craftspeople, especially in

40:47

the early parts of the new craft movement,

40:49

which is really in the 50s and 60s.

40:51

A lot of it was Jewy. And

40:53

I think that that kind of happened for

40:55

a few different reasons. One was that there

40:57

was that sort of Tommy Socialist

40:59

Jewish diaspora vibe that was

41:02

very much about like artisans

41:04

and artisanhood. And there was

41:06

sort of a Bauhaus diaspora

41:09

that involved a lot of Jews

41:11

who were making stuff. But I

41:13

also think that the real reason

41:15

is because Jews grow up

41:17

with ceremonial stuff in our houses. I

41:20

was talking to my goyish husband about

41:22

this last night. And I was like,

41:24

what do you guys, what do you have that's

41:26

iconographic? And he's like, I guess like the

41:28

occasional cross in a picture of Jesus. Whereas

41:31

we have holocausters, there's

41:33

the occasional novelty yarmulke, menorahs,

41:36

a go-go, other sort of shabbos,

41:38

candle sticks. There's just a lot

41:40

of craft and Judaica around the

41:42

Jewish home that I think in

41:44

my case definitely

41:47

triggered a desire

41:49

to express myself in Judaica. So it

41:52

does feel like in this moment, there's

41:54

two impulses. One is to

41:56

like hide, right? And say like, Oh

42:00

no, being Jewish is scary, I don't want to

42:02

do it. And the other impulse is to like

42:04

go big, right? And be like, I'm putting on

42:06

the Jewish star, I'm getting the big menorah. It

42:09

does feel like you're in the

42:11

like, go bright, go bold, beautify,

42:14

get the objects, go big. That's

42:16

definitely how I roll design wise and

42:19

in my company. And

42:21

as a Jew, that's very much how I

42:23

am feeling. I think probably

42:25

everybody who's listening to this the

42:27

last six weeks have just been horrible

42:31

and devastating and enraging

42:34

and very, very isolating. I think as we

42:36

all would agree, and I think it's, you

42:39

know, I definitely like to be among my

42:42

Jewish brothers and sisters

42:44

now more than ever. And I'm very

42:47

proud of being Jewish and very much a

42:49

part of me. I love it.

42:51

And as a crafter, what you do for

42:53

everything, but especially for Judaic is just a

42:55

real inspiration. You know, in a

42:57

time when everyone's so frustrated and cannot

42:59

think of anything to do other than

43:01

give money, which, you know, I'm sure we

43:04

all are doing, but craft is almost

43:06

the opposite. It's like a very, very humble

43:08

enterprise. It's taking very humble materials and

43:10

making something out of nothing. It's

43:12

about time and intent and talent.

43:15

We love what you do because you help us

43:17

make these items our own and you help us

43:19

express ourselves through Jewish objects and that we can

43:22

do that and that we can have beautiful Jewish

43:24

objects is so important for everyone to realize. Well,

43:27

that's so nice. And yeah, I love Judaic

43:29

and I love it is a forum

43:32

in which to soar aesthetically.

43:35

And if I were more spiritual, I would

43:37

even say spiritually. What's your

43:39

perfect Hanukkah? Well, I don't

43:42

have kids. I have a nephew. So, you know, I always

43:44

like to spoil him. But I think when

43:46

I think of Hanukkah, of course, I think about my childhood

43:49

and the horrible thing about Hanukkah was

43:51

that I would say there was like

43:54

maybe like three big nights and like

43:56

five fillers. And those suck.

43:58

So my perfect Hanukkah would be eight. nights

44:00

of solid gifts and no I

44:03

think that the nadir of our

44:05

childhood Hanukkah was there's one night

44:07

we'd all get these horrible like

44:10

chocolate oranges which I don't even know

44:12

what the hell that was or why that became

44:14

a thing in my family it seems so random

44:16

we're not chocolate orange people it just was like

44:18

oh the third night's chocolate

44:21

orange night like I don't want your

44:23

stupid chocolate orange so my deal Hanukkah

44:25

would be no chocolate oranges all biggies.

44:28

Jonathan, Heather, Happy Hanukkah. Happy

44:30

Hanukkah, it's such a treat to talk to

44:32

you. Peace out. Thank you for making your

44:34

lives beautifully Jewish. Alright,

44:47

Stephanie, it will come as no surprise to you that I

44:49

follow a lot of craft

44:51

and Jewish things on social media and

44:53

there's someone who lives at the intersection

44:55

of both in the most amazing way

44:57

her name is Ahuva Ghatina also known

45:00

as homegrown kosher people probably know her

45:02

as homegrown kosher she has this incredible

45:04

suburban farm in Muncie New York where

45:06

she has chickens big chicken coop she

45:08

has beekeeping she's a garden she grows

45:11

her own garlic I am

45:13

transfixed by her videos I can't stop watching

45:15

them it's always a good time to talk

45:17

to Ahuva but this had to be the

45:19

time to go she embodies the spirit of

45:21

Hanukkah of Jews standing against the world doing

45:23

our own thing that is her and it's

45:26

also an amazing celebration of objects and we

45:28

found a really cool object to get to

45:30

know so what do you think of when

45:32

you think of Hanukkah and the stuff for

45:34

Hanukkah so I think of lighting the menorah

45:36

every night which for me means candles candles

45:39

are something most of us think about and

45:41

they're certainly ready-made Ahuva doesn't

45:43

do ready-made Ahuva is homegrown kosher

45:45

after all and so she makes her

45:47

own wicks back in temple times and many

45:50

people still today light actual cups with oil

45:52

and put freestanding wicks in the cups and

45:54

that's what they burn for Hanukkah so we

45:56

went with Ahuva to her farm to

45:58

do Hanukkah the home grown way. So

46:11

we're here at the home of homegrown kosher.

46:15

Ahuva's house. Good

46:19

morning Japan. There

46:23

we go. We're

46:29

in Muncie, New York at the home of

46:31

Ahuva Gautiner, who runs Homegrown

46:33

kosher, a popular blog and social

46:35

media town. She's amassed more

46:37

than 75,000 Instagram followers by

46:40

sharing what her world looks like, how

46:42

her Orthodox Jewish life combines with modern

46:44

homesteading. Ahuva's backyard has gardens

46:47

and chickens. It's like Jewish little house

46:49

on the prairie. I feel like these

46:51

are the best fed chickens. They're better

46:53

fed than anyone because they're eating like

46:55

your delicious stock that you

46:57

made yesterday. Probably. 70,000 people watched bubbling

47:02

on your stove. It really looks amazing. But

47:04

the reason we're here today isn't just to

47:06

hang with the chickens. We're going to talk

47:08

about spinning wicks for Hanukkah from the cotton

47:10

that my father grew. It's Hanukkah and Ahuva,

47:13

like the rest of us, needs a menorah.

47:15

But unlike the rest of us, she's doing

47:17

it herself. She's spinning cotton that

47:19

her father grew into wicks

47:21

to be placed into nine little cups of

47:24

oil, the official halakhic way to do

47:26

it, just like they did in the temple.

47:28

Cotton for a little plant. You know

47:31

how a gandelion, like that makes

47:33

that fluff, so it makes fluff. And

47:35

in the fluff is the seeds. I'll show you. This is

47:37

what's inside the flannel once it opens up. And that's a

47:39

cotton seed. So after we've gotten

47:41

our fill of chicken cuteness, we went inside

47:44

and Ahuva showed us her spinning setup. Ahuva

47:46

handed us these little balls of cotton. They were

47:49

the same size as those little cotton balls you

47:51

get at the drugstore. Inside the fluff,

47:53

there's a small seed which has to come out before

47:55

you can do anything else to the cotton. And it's

47:57

hard to get out. The fibers stick the

48:00

feed and don't want to come off. So

48:02

I sit by hand and I pull the feed

48:05

out and then we get a little bit of

48:08

floss like we have I have here in this bowl. So

48:10

then what I need to do is if I was

48:12

trying to make like the perfect fiber

48:15

super thin thread and

48:17

I wanted to make that inside

48:19

of it or something like that it probably

48:21

I would have to be more than zapping about this. Well right

48:23

now what I'm trying to do is get the fibers in more

48:25

or less the same direction.

48:29

These are combs they

48:31

look scary look like a torture implement

48:34

honestly it's a piece of wood

48:36

with like nails sticking sharp nails sticking up

48:38

that's basically what they look like. It almost

48:40

looks like what you groom a dog with

48:42

obviously a lot more intense. Yes I

48:45

have something similar for my rabbits I'll show

48:47

you how it works by no

48:49

means an expert at combing

48:52

cotton. A hoover is more

48:54

familiar with spinning yarn but whenever the fiber

48:57

she prefers doing things the homemade way. So

48:59

for Hanukkah of course she would spin her

49:01

own wicks. Right now I'm

49:03

taking the little links of fiber the

49:06

little locks or they'll actually staple length

49:08

like it's holding cotton and I'm

49:10

putting them on to the comb basically

49:13

all like facing in one direction because

49:17

if you think about it what a fiber is it's

49:19

like a little teeny teeny tiny string so you're

49:21

trying to align the strings more or

49:24

less facing in the same direction. Although

49:27

she's relatively new to spinning cotton this

49:29

homegrown ethos is something Ahuva's had her

49:31

whole life. She grew up in

49:33

Brooklyn where her dad also loved to do things

49:35

a little DIY. He turned their small Brooklyn yard

49:37

into a garden where he grew corn and cucumbers

49:40

and all sorts of things you might not expect

49:42

to see in a big city. When I was

49:44

a teenager we grew wheat for the first time

49:46

and then we did the whole little tiny patch

49:48

of wheat and then went through the whole process

49:51

of threshing it and grinding it

49:54

the whole windowing and grinding it

49:56

and then made I

49:58

mean like a roll at it. It was so

50:00

much fun. There are pictures of me singing an album,

50:02

like, sitting in winnowing in a little

50:05

tiny bit of wheat. And we didn't

50:07

even have, like, a wheat grinder. I grinded my hand

50:09

with a mortar and pestle. It

50:11

was intense, but it was so much fun. So this is what I

50:14

grew up with, the idea, like, let's try to figure out how we

50:16

can do it ourselves. Doing things herself

50:18

like this is how she grew up. In

50:20

some ways, Ahuva has always been like this. She

50:23

stayed the same while the world came around to

50:25

her perspective. I've been like this. I've been interested

50:27

in these types of things forever. I mean, since

50:29

I was a kid. And it

50:31

was considered weird when I was a teenager.

50:33

Like, we went on a school trip

50:36

when I was in high school and I brought a fishing

50:38

rod. We used to do like a place we stayed over

50:40

and I brought a fishing rod and I caught fish. Like,

50:43

that was just like a very interesting thing to do. But

50:45

I was like, we're going, we're just going on a boat.

50:47

I'm just going to go on a boat and roll

50:49

around in circles. I'm going to do something. I'm going to

50:51

catch some fish. So

50:54

whenever someone for

50:56

like, I went to high school with something stops me, like, oh, I

50:58

found this fish when we went to high school together. You're so cool.

51:01

Like, I'm exactly the same as I was in high school.

51:03

It's just now you think what I'm doing is

51:05

cool. But it's more than cool.

51:08

It's a way for her to connect

51:10

with her spirituality. Everything that we have,

51:13

there's so many different factors that could go

51:15

wrong. So so many things. So it's really

51:17

an appreciation that if I have this dress

51:19

that I'm wearing, like, so many things

51:21

had to go right. And God

51:23

runs the world. And he had to

51:25

ensure that everything. Like

51:27

it's mind boggling to think about how

51:29

many things had to be

51:32

arranged. So I can be wearing this

51:34

dress today. You know, we're

51:36

sitting here making wicks for

51:39

Hanukkah, right? There's a very clear Jewish connection.

51:41

But I'm curious, do you think in

51:44

what you're doing, I mean, do you tie it

51:46

back to Jewish ritual to Jewish life to Jewish

51:48

tradition? So because my Judaism is not just like

51:50

we look at we think about is it a

51:52

religion? It's not it's a way of life. It's

51:55

part of my life has to

51:57

do with my Judaism. It's who I

51:59

am. not just what I do.

52:02

So everything ties back to

52:04

that because of that. But

52:06

let's get back to making wicks. After combing

52:08

out the cotton, HUVA pulled the fibers through

52:10

a disc, a disc with a hole in

52:13

the middle, twisting the fibers into one long

52:15

strand. Then

52:18

she feeds that strand into her spinning

52:20

wheel. It's

52:23

got two petals. It doesn't look like the type

52:25

like you think like from, what was

52:27

it? Too fast. Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping

52:29

Beauty, that's the one, thank you. So

52:32

what the spinning wheel does is it

52:34

puts twist in

52:36

to the fiber, and

52:39

it helps turn the fiber into a yarn or a

52:41

thread. While at the

52:43

same time, pulling the fiber,

52:45

the thread that you're creating, onto

52:47

a bobbin and winding it up. So

52:50

at this point, the fiber has been twisted into

52:52

a string that gets wound around the bobbin as

52:54

it goes. Take that string off the bobbin. It's

52:56

actual string now, by the way. It's like what

52:58

you would sew with. And then

53:00

you cut it into little pieces, and then? Each

53:03

of these is a little wick. It's like

53:05

anything else that you do from scratch in such

53:07

a feeling of accomplishment. These

53:10

wicks get placed into cups of oil that get

53:12

lit each night of Hanukkah. In the span of

53:14

a few minutes, we've gone from a little ball

53:16

of fluff to a wick ready for a beautiful

53:18

oil menorah. Doing things by hand like

53:20

this means a lot to HUVA. We're

53:23

so disconnected from where

53:25

things come from right now. First of all,

53:28

the process of making things is

53:30

so fractured. Let's go with, let's say,

53:32

clothing. The fiber's grown in one

53:34

place, and it's transported somewhere else to

53:36

be transyar, and somewhere else to

53:38

be woven into fabric, and

53:41

somewhere else to be sewn far away, and

53:43

then get sold even somewhere else. So

53:45

it used to be that we

53:47

were much more connected, people, with

53:50

where your things came from. Even if

53:52

you didn't, let's say, weave your own cloth, you

53:55

knew where it came from. Things were more local,

53:58

and this lack of... Your

54:00

food also our food is grown who knows where

54:02

like and then Even if

54:04

you just buy your own produce to cook your own food you're

54:07

not really connected to where that is coming

54:10

from and people Really

54:12

crave that feeling of connection and

54:15

this gives them that even if they're not doing it

54:17

themselves And a lot of people are not going to

54:19

do this themselves but now when they use

54:21

a wick or even clothing because now it's made

54:23

out of fiber they can understand more of the

54:26

process that Somebody

54:29

had to go through or a lot of some buddies in

54:31

order to get them and that It

54:34

gives an appreciation That's one of the things like

54:36

on my website like with a tagline that I

54:38

have is a lifestyle of appreciation and connection because

54:40

it's not only about connection it's also about really

54:42

appreciating and Understanding where everything

54:44

we have whether it's food whether it's clothing

54:46

whether it's your phone where it comes from

54:49

that It's there's a process and there's people

54:52

human beings along the way who are involved in

54:54

the process of creating

54:56

it Doing

55:00

things with your hands is very very

55:02

therapeutic I really feel that for

55:05

me personally But I think for everyone even if

55:07

you think you're not a handy person Anything

55:09

you make with your hand is because it

55:11

gives you that connection It's not

55:14

just what you end up with it's the

55:16

process also and when you're doing

55:18

it for someone else That's also a real like

55:20

you're being able to be giving also at the

55:22

same time. I Think right

55:24

now when there's a lot of anxiety and That

55:27

people are feeling helpless That

55:30

being able to do something create something

55:33

with your hands really helps at one

55:36

point during our visit Who would twist it a

55:38

little bit of the cotton fiber by hand no

55:40

spinning wheel just fingers on cotton The

55:43

original spinning was just done by hands

55:45

just putting twist into the fiber. That's

55:47

it just twist And

55:50

it strengthens it and it strengthens it

55:52

because together We're stronger and that goes

55:54

for the Jewish people nation and

55:57

that goes for all people in the world when

55:59

we're together when? When there's fighting, we're not

56:01

strong. When people are together and stand

56:03

together, we're stronger. Simplify

56:17

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started at jcfny.org.

56:52

And now for Mazel Tov. Let's head back

56:55

to Baltimore to hear from the crowd

56:57

at the conservative Mazel Tov Shabbaton and Convening.

56:59

There were so many Mazel Tovs, we couldn't

57:01

run them all. But here are some highlights.

57:12

So the good news is, is now everyone gets

57:14

to line up for Mazel Tovs. So the mics

57:16

are there and there. We're going to keep talking,

57:18

but quietly or not, get up on those mics.

57:21

One line there, one line with me. I'll show

57:23

you how it's done. I would like to

57:25

give a Mazel Tov to the whole team at

57:27

Tablet who just put on an amazing Hanukkah bazaar

57:29

yesterday. It was a beautiful time to just get

57:31

a bunch of Jews in a room, not unlike

57:33

this. And it was really special to have seen

57:35

it and to have been part of it, and

57:38

just really proud of

57:40

everyone. So that's my Mazel Tov. Indeed,

57:44

when the going gets tough, the tough goes shopping.

57:46

I loved the bazaar. It was

57:48

wonderful. I would like to

57:51

extend, just to completely overshadow

57:53

everything and everyone, extend a Mazel

57:56

Tov to my wonderful daughter, Yael Elibesi,

57:58

who became a Bat Mitzvah. earlier

58:00

in the year when we went to

58:02

Israel and she read beautifully from the Torah.

58:04

But yesterday was her bat mitzvah

58:06

party for her friends in New York.

58:08

Now look, I served in the IDF and

58:11

have been in combat in several situations.

58:13

Nothing prepares you for 74 12-year-old girls

58:15

dancing in one space. But

58:18

Mausauf, it's up to you. And Mausauf, it's up to you.

58:20

You survived it. All right, Joshua Molina. Oh, I never

58:22

have anything. Nobody

58:26

in my sphere of influence has accomplished anything worthy

58:28

of note. But my cousin, my

58:31

nephew rather, Ben has a new job.

58:33

Hats off to Ben. Wow. So

58:35

mysterious. We're not going to find out what it is.

58:37

Give it up for Mike Wurvo from Washington, D.C. I

58:42

once served as rabbinic supervision for

58:44

an orthodontist. Thank you very much.

58:47

I don't know if this is a

58:49

Mausauf or a Beshah Tova to Harold

58:52

Kravitz, president of the

58:54

Rabbinical Assembly whose son Gabe

58:57

Kravitz and his wife, Yael Smiley,

58:59

either have recently had or expecting

59:01

a baby any moment. And Mausauf

59:03

to them and to big brother

59:06

Joshua and Yona as

59:08

well. Yeah. And that's

59:10

how it's done. As

59:12

well, a Mausauf to my

59:14

daughter, Maya, collecting her college

59:17

acceptances. Yes.

59:22

Emily Cayman. I'm from Atlanta,

59:24

Georgia. I know, Josh, you probably get lots

59:26

of people loving on you. I

59:29

just want to say I love your

59:31

sister who I get to work with.

59:33

I'm offering a Mausauf to I guess

59:35

myself, but also my daughter who's having

59:37

her bat mitzvah this Shabbat. And I'm

59:39

still here at this conference. Right

59:41

on. Amazing. Auto Mausauf.

59:44

Well done. Love it.

59:46

You're doing it all. Hi, Susan Cass, executive

59:48

director of NAASA, North American Association of Synagogue

59:51

Executives. Thank you. Once

59:54

again, I just want to wish all of our colleagues

59:56

and our auspicious associates a great day.

1:00:00

Association a Mazel Tuff on its

1:00:02

75th anniversary. Woo! So

1:00:08

Rabbi Philip Weintra from Congregation Binaisville in St.

1:00:10

Petersburg. I had fun with Stephanie a little

1:00:12

while ago. Congratulations

1:00:14

to my congregation on 100 years this year. Hi,

1:00:20

my name is Lisa Alpern from Congregation

1:00:22

Binaimona in St. Louis, and we are

1:00:24

so proud because we have a new

1:00:26

senior rabbi. So Mazel Tuff, Rabbi Jeffrey

1:00:29

Abraham who is here, who is our

1:00:31

new senior rabbi. Woo! Mazel

1:00:34

Tuff. Hi, I'm

1:00:37

Rabbi Paula MacDrill, Rockland County, New

1:00:39

York. Mazel Tuff to my son

1:00:42

Josh Drill who became engaged to

1:00:44

Shai Eddin on October

1:00:46

6th in Tel Aviv.

1:00:49

Also to my daughter Sarah

1:00:51

Feinstein and her husband Sagi

1:00:53

Feinstein who had my third

1:00:55

grandson on Wednesday. Beautiful. And

1:01:00

named him importantly Geffen

1:01:02

Nadav and Nadav is for

1:01:04

Nadav Goldstein Zichonol Yivachar who

1:01:07

was murdered on Nier

1:01:09

Oz together with his eldest daughter on

1:01:11

October 7th, one of Sagi's dearest friends.

1:01:14

So healing the world with a brand

1:01:16

new baby. Oh, Hashem, beautiful.

1:01:18

Thank you. Hi, I'm

1:01:20

Mark Givers. I'm here to wish Mazel Tuff

1:01:22

on my wife who is back home celebrating

1:01:25

her 65th birthday while I'm here. Hello!

1:01:32

My name is Sam Sussman. I'm from

1:01:34

Congregation Besterdia in Long Grove, Illinois. I

1:01:37

wanted to wish Mazel Tuff out to

1:01:39

Joyce Judah. Joyce in the back. She

1:01:41

is our USY Alumni Director and she

1:01:43

put together a whole big Shabbaton this

1:01:45

weekend with about 30 young adults. Bring

1:01:48

us back together to reconnect us with the

1:01:50

conservative movement and help regrow the movement. Esther.

1:01:54

Hi, I'm Redwood. I'm

1:02:00

Rabbi Kathy Felix from Bayonne, New

1:02:02

Jersey. I think I've got the

1:02:05

smallest standing congregation. We are a

1:02:07

congregation of 40 individuals, but we

1:02:09

are strong. Hello. And

1:02:14

I am wishing a mazaltov to my

1:02:16

brother, Dan Felix. He

1:02:18

is a huge fan of this podcast

1:02:20

and will be thrilled to have his

1:02:22

name mentioned. Mazaltov to you, Dan.

1:02:24

That is Sister of the Year over

1:02:27

there. Hi, I'm

1:02:29

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal from Gaithersburg, Maryland. We

1:02:35

wish our mazaltov and very happy birthday

1:02:37

to my favorite son. He happens to

1:02:39

be my only son. My favorite son,

1:02:41

Jory Harris Blumenthal, is coming back today.

1:02:45

Hello, my name is Fred Benjamin. I'm the Rabbi

1:02:47

of Congregation Beshlam of the Blue Hills in Milton,

1:02:49

Massachusetts. And I want to wish

1:02:51

mazaltov to my mother, who turns 97 tomorrow. Hi,

1:03:00

I'm Rabbi Rahel Coburn. I'm

1:03:02

the Rabbi Rodif Shalom in

1:03:04

Denver, Colorado. And

1:03:06

I want to wish a mazaltov to my

1:03:09

son, Adeen Coburn Brody, who is just cast

1:03:11

in the part of Lucas in the production

1:03:13

of the Addams Family at

1:03:15

George Washington High School in Denver. Yeah!

1:03:21

Josh, Josh. I didn't even get to read

1:03:23

for it. Hi,

1:03:26

my name is Rabbi Gideon Estes from

1:03:28

Congregation Army in Houston, Texas. And

1:03:32

what I want to give my mazaltov for is

1:03:34

to be at this convening that could be so

1:03:36

amazing for so many LGBTQ folks to be visible

1:03:39

and to be proud and to be within

1:03:41

a concerned movement and be a place where

1:03:43

we can all be a standing boat on

1:03:45

our own. Hello,

1:03:51

I'm Joel Alter. I'm

1:03:53

the Rabbi of Congregation

1:03:55

Beth Israel-Nertameed in Milwaukee,

1:03:58

Wisconsin. This

1:04:00

mouthful of goes to my

1:04:02

twin six-year-old daughters, Ayelle and

1:04:05

Anna Elle, who, while I am here,

1:04:08

are in Brooklyn with her aunt

1:04:10

and uncle, and today enjoyed their

1:04:12

very first mani-pedi. Mom, what's up? Honestly,

1:04:17

a profound Jewish life cycle

1:04:20

event for any Jewish girl. Hi,

1:04:23

I'm Max Silverstone. I'm a cantorial

1:04:25

student at JTS. Whoo! K-T-S,

1:04:28

K-T-S. I

1:04:32

have three mouthful-toves. The first one is to

1:04:34

Rabbi Kevin C. Friedman. Today is his birthday.

1:04:37

So mouthful-tove. The second one, one

1:04:39

of our professors at JTS, Audrey

1:04:42

Edelstein. She's our conducting professor. She

1:04:44

and her husband, Rabbi Colin Chaim Eliezer

1:04:47

Edelstein, just had a baby. Mouthful-tove

1:04:50

to them. Yeah, his

1:04:52

name's Roni Mayer. Roni Mayer,

1:04:54

Edelstein. And the third is a

1:04:57

mouthful-tove to whoever put

1:04:59

the mouthful on the snack table. Mouthful-tove.

1:05:05

I'm a senior rabbi in

1:05:08

Michael Beal's congregation veschalom, Wilmington,

1:05:11

Delaware. Wilmington, Delaware. Thank

1:05:13

you. And I want to wish

1:05:15

Mazel Tov to the entire first state of

1:05:17

Delaware. Four days after October 7, we

1:05:20

pulled together. We stand

1:05:22

with Israel rally quickly, and

1:05:24

we had a love letter from President

1:05:26

Biden. The governor was there. Our senior

1:05:28

senator was there. The head of the

1:05:31

Islamic Society of Delaware was there. We

1:05:33

had a Latin American center there, African-American

1:05:35

leadership there. And it's the first

1:05:37

state of Delaware. What can I say? Mazel Tov to the

1:05:40

first state. The

1:05:43

great state of Delaware. Hey, Muck. Hey.

1:05:46

I'm Chazan Jacob Sandler.

1:05:49

Otherwise, from

1:05:52

where? Otherwise known as Milk. Yes.

1:05:55

OK, great. I am currently serving

1:05:57

as the Chazan at North Suburban synagogue Beth El.

1:06:01

in Highland Park, Illinois. And

1:06:04

I also have a couple of mazel

1:06:06

toves. One is to my dad, Kenny

1:06:08

Sandler, who is known musically as the

1:06:10

Deep Drags. His band, that is really

1:06:12

just him and a few of his

1:06:15

friends, released their most recent single on

1:06:17

Spotify. Shameless plug. He'd be so happy.

1:06:19

My sister, doing the real work, also on a

1:06:22

mazel tove. She has a birthday in a few

1:06:24

days and a PhD thesis defense a few more

1:06:26

days after that. And we'll be getting her first

1:06:28

of two doctorates from Indiana University. We're so

1:06:30

very proud of her. So mazel tove to

1:06:33

my sister, Razel. And nothing for mom who's

1:06:36

actually listening to this right now. I want

1:06:38

to say mazel tove to my mom for

1:06:40

getting her third shout out from me on

1:06:42

this podcast. We love you. Nice.

1:06:46

That's all from me. Nicely done.

1:06:48

Hi, I'm Alexander Davis from Minneapolis,

1:06:51

Minnesota. The other frozen chosen and

1:06:54

my synagogue Beth El synagogue where I serve as

1:06:56

a rabbi is also celebrating 100 years. Hi,

1:07:02

I'm Rabbi Abby Weber of BZBI

1:07:04

in Philadelphia. And

1:07:07

I want to say mazel tove to my

1:07:09

daughter on her third birthday this Sunday and

1:07:11

her first ever haircut, which she badly needs.

1:07:15

I love that. Hi,

1:07:18

I'm Mindy Gordon. I'm the synagogue consultant

1:07:20

for the Central District and also like

1:07:22

Cazan Milk from Highland Park, Illinois. And

1:07:24

I want to wish a mazel tove to my

1:07:27

son and daughter in law, John and Aaron Gordon,

1:07:29

who are huge fans of your podcast on the

1:07:31

birth of their first daughter Eden Raya two weeks

1:07:33

ago. Hi, my

1:07:36

name is Lisa

1:07:38

Stein. I'm the executive director at Hewlett East

1:07:40

Rockaway Jewish Center on Long Island. And I

1:07:42

want to wish a mazel tove to my

1:07:44

daughter Gabriela and her peers who are serving

1:07:47

on their gap here in Israel and have

1:07:49

not come home. Hi,

1:07:53

my name is Candor Daniella Risman. I

1:07:56

serve. Hi, everyone. I'm at the Emanuel

1:07:58

Synagogue in West Hartford. Hartford, Connecticut.

1:08:01

And I want to say a mazel tov

1:08:03

to my father, Larry Risman, who has

1:08:06

a birthday coming up this Thursday. Mazel

1:08:08

tov, Abba. Mazel. Hi,

1:08:11

I'm Barbara Hoff. I'm the

1:08:13

education chair for Congregation Bristol-Lum

1:08:16

in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. My

1:08:18

mazel tov is for our congregation

1:08:20

Reaching 100 this year, and especially

1:08:23

for our

1:08:26

Rabbi Michael Singer, a Rabbi

1:08:29

Michael Singer who is the head of the

1:08:31

Social Justice Commission, and my mazel tov is

1:08:33

for his being. Hi,

1:08:37

my name is Ned Gladstein. I

1:08:39

am from Caldwell, New Jersey. I

1:08:41

received a text message from my

1:08:44

wife about an hour ago with

1:08:46

a video of our youngest grandson

1:08:48

taking his first steps. So

1:08:54

I want to say mazel tov to my

1:08:56

daughter, but really translate that as good

1:08:59

luck. Hi,

1:09:02

everybody. I'm Valerie Thaller, the

1:09:05

Mid-Atlantic District Synagogue Consultant for

1:09:07

USCJ. I

1:09:09

wanted to wish a mazel tov

1:09:12

to my wonderful colleague Linda Sussman

1:09:14

and her husband Howard on the

1:09:16

birth of their newest granddaughter, Lane

1:09:19

Madison Sussman, born a few days

1:09:21

ago in New York. Mazel

1:09:24

tov. Hi,

1:09:26

I'm Bruce Tomar from Benton, New Jersey,

1:09:29

first vice president, Federation of Jewish

1:09:31

Men's Clubs, representing over 14,000 men

1:09:35

worldwide. And I just

1:09:37

wanted to extend the mazel tov to USCJ

1:09:39

for this amazing convening that I'm having an

1:09:42

amazing experience. Thank you. Wonderful.

1:09:48

I'm Tom Sudo from the Jerusalem

1:09:50

and Midwest, Cleveland, Ohio. Mazel

1:09:54

tov to my grandson, Miles, who will

1:09:56

turn four this week. In honor of

1:09:58

his birthday, I bought him a the

1:10:00

12th trainer to begin preparing for

1:10:02

his darling's finale. Hi,

1:10:07

I'm Max LaRaud. I'm the Convening Director.

1:10:16

And I'm Rabbi Ilana Garber from the... Yes! ...

1:10:22

from the Rabbinical Assembly and from West

1:10:24

Hartford, Connecticut. Couple things to

1:10:26

say. First of all, Leo, your

1:10:28

son, I'm able to have, but my little sister

1:10:30

and your family and your daughters got missed for

1:10:32

a party. Thank you. Last night, we're so glad

1:10:35

that you were able to be here with us

1:10:37

this morning today, so Mazel Tov to you. Stephanie,

1:10:40

Mazel Tov to you on being a

1:10:42

voice for our little boys and little

1:10:44

girls to hear. My children

1:10:46

listen to you and they love

1:10:48

hearing the wisdom that you offer

1:10:51

and everything that you teach. And

1:10:53

so thank you, Mazel Tov to you. Thank you.

1:10:56

Thank you. We need those voices. And

1:10:59

Joshua, Mazel Tov to you for finally,

1:11:01

there's a show that my husband and

1:11:03

I can watch together and enjoy the

1:11:05

West Wing. I had never watched it until

1:11:07

you got on to... Unorthodox, so

1:11:09

Mazel Tov to you for that. Thank

1:11:12

you. And I want to add, because here I

1:11:14

am, a rabbi, I've got the mic now. This

1:11:17

is my dream come true to

1:11:19

have you guys, to have Unorthodox

1:11:21

at this convening, to

1:11:24

have this opportunity for our

1:11:26

entire convening to explore Judaism,

1:11:28

explore what it means... Yes,

1:11:30

that was a plug. Explore

1:11:32

what it means to engage

1:11:35

in this conversation. And

1:11:37

I'm just such a fan girl that I'm just

1:11:39

so excited. And when I think of you guys,

1:11:41

I think of what it says in... Oh, look

1:11:43

at that, pure chaos vote. When

1:11:47

it says, hakotsafu'evarashut netuna. Everything is foreseen,

1:11:49

but freedom of choice is granted. And

1:11:53

I think of that when I think of what

1:11:56

you offer us. You come here with

1:11:58

a script, and then you bring... so

1:12:00

much love, wisdom, energy

1:12:03

and passion for what you do.

1:12:05

And we are so grateful to

1:12:07

you for bringing your Torah to

1:12:09

our convening and the

1:12:11

conservative Masorti convening is so

1:12:13

pleased to offer each of

1:12:16

you a copy of our relatively newly

1:12:18

published 5778 Do Some Math, pure chaos

1:12:22

vote for you to continue to do so.

1:12:24

Thank you so much and thank you for

1:12:26

making this possible. And

1:12:29

thank you for having us as part

1:12:31

of this convening. We are so deeply

1:12:33

touched. Thank you so much for it and honestly

1:12:35

look, our job is to tell

1:12:37

Jewish stories and Jewish jokes, sometimes funny, thank

1:12:40

you so so much. But

1:12:42

your job in a moment of complete

1:12:44

seriousness and gratitude, your job

1:12:46

as far as I'm concerned is the most difficult,

1:12:49

most essential and

1:12:51

most absolutely incredibly foundational one

1:12:54

that there is. And

1:12:56

the things that you do day in and day

1:12:59

out, not just once a week on the air

1:13:01

telling a joke but every hour of every day

1:13:04

is what keeps this great big

1:13:06

Jewish family alive. We are

1:13:08

so grateful to you for everything and we are

1:13:10

always here for you with whatever you may need.

1:13:12

Thank you. Yes, on

1:13:14

your beautiful face. Thank

1:13:18

you. Thank you. We'll

1:13:24

be back next week with even more Hanukkah. As

1:13:26

always, Unorthodox is a production of Tablet

1:13:29

Studios. The show is hosted by me,

1:13:31

Stephanie Betnick with Lael Leibovitz and the

1:13:33

stress pickle himself, Joshua Molina. We're

1:13:36

produced and edited by Josh Cross, Robert Scaramucci,

1:13:38

Quinn Waller and Ellie Blier. Our team includes

1:13:40

Tanya Singer, Courtney Hazlett, Jerome Rusquet with hopes

1:13:42

of Sam Hacker and Jordana LaRosa. Our episode

1:13:44

art is by Esther Wurdiger, our logo is

1:13:46

by Jenny Rosbrook, our theme music is by

1:13:49

Golem and our News of the Jews theme

1:13:51

is by Steve Barton. We'd love to hear

1:13:53

from you. Send us emails at

1:13:55

unorthodoxatabblebank.com or leave a message on our listener

1:13:57

line 914-5711. Until

1:14:00

next week, Shalom friends

1:14:02

and happy Hanukkah!