My BFF, the Rabbi

Can you be besties with your rabbi? Rabbi Shira and Hanna answer a letter from a listener who was close friends with her rabbi – think double dates, shared childcare, and life milestones – but eventually let down by synagogue leadership. They talk about healthy boundaries, if and when these relationships work, when they get too sticky and how even rabbis are human.Learn more about Rabbi as Symbolic ExemplarRead more of the Pirke AvotSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How do you talk about “modesty” without body shame, rulebooks, or misogyny? Rabbi Shira and Hanna take on this thorny and familiar parenting dilemma. They explore the Jewish value of Tzniut with a listener looking for advice on raising her daughter to respect privacy and modesty, while still feeling empowered when it comes to sex and the body.Read more about modestySupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How would you respond if your child told you “Jesus is God”? Rabbi Shira and Hanna help a listener who is going through a difficult divorce and trying to coparent with her Pentecostal ex. They talk about a Jewish parents’ obligations to their children, how to emphasize what’s positive and different about Judaism, and when to utilize Monty Python during awkward moments. View the 2020 Pew Study on Jewish AmericansRead more about the Jewish obligation toward childrenRead more about interfaith co-parentingSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We’ve all heard about mixed faith families, but what happens when everyone is Jewish, but one person is more observant? When does this become a burden on the rest of the family? And does that matter?A listener asks Rabbi Shira and Hanna for help as he tries to lean into his Jewish observance – including shutting down on Shabbat – without annoying his wife and children. Read more about Shalom BayitRead more about a Shabbos GoySupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

An all alien round-up episode!  You asked, and we answered:Are aliens kosher? Are angels aliens? And does a belief in extra-terrestrial life strengthen Jewish faith or cause a crisis? Rabbi Shira and Hanna talk about the boundless ways Judaism can stretch to infinity and beyond, with an extra nod to the Jewish roots of the Vulcan salute. Support Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As we mourn the lives lost on and after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, Rabbi Shira and Hanna discuss a problem common for many American Jews this election season: Should you support a candidate who aligns with your values on most everything…except Israel? They’re joined by Nicholas Lemann, Dean Emeritus at the Columbia Journalism School and author of Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries.Read “A Profound Question Haunting Jews Today” by Nicholas LemannRead more about Nicholas LemannRead El Malei Rachamim by Rabbi Sharon Cohen AnisfeldLearn about Values based decision makingSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Fun fact: Rabbi Shira is not only a rabbi, she’s also a therapist! So she’s uniquely equipped to answer this week’s listener question: When should you seek counseling from a rabbi and when should you see a therapist?Shira and Hanna debate the merits of both types of counseling and find themselves asking why do Jews love therapy so much?!Listen to Hanna on Radio Atlantic: How American Became Addicted to Therapy: Read a History of Jewish ChaplaincyRead about how Rabbis act as counselorsSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

🎶No graduation day for you 🎶As Hebrew Schools around the country supply their students with lulavs and etrogs for the upcoming Sukkot holiday, Rabbi Shira and Hanna talk about all things religious education. What’s the goal? Is it working? Is Hebrew School just a B’Mitzvah Factory? (and is there anything wrong with that?). Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal, the Senior Director of Youth and Family Education at Central Synagogue in New York, helps answer these questions and more.Read more on Jewish obligations to teaching childrenSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Even if you can’t make it to Aspen you can hear Rabbi Shira’s sermon for Yom Kippur this year. Drawing on her own experience visiting the Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa, the Yom Kippur Haftarah reading and some Ursula LeGuin, Shira urges us all to “shrink the frame” to a human-sized small town of responsibility, practice Teshuvah and reject willful blindness.Watch this sermonRead The Ones Who Walk Away from OmelasRead the Yom Kippur Haftarah readingSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Chutzpod is back to usher everyone into the New Year! And as we approach 5787, a listener wonders how to show up authentically, even if that means bringing the mood down. Rabbi Shira and Hanna wonder why we feel pressure to have a “happy” new year and encourage everyone not to bring the Jewish equivalent of a sanitized Christmas letter to their high holiday celebrations. Read This Is Real and You Are Completely UnpreparedRead about the Unetanah TokefSupport Chutzpod!Submit a questionContact Chutzpod!Subscribe to ChutzstackFollow Chutzpod on YouTubeFollow Hanna on InstagramFollow Shira on InstagramFollow Shira on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on FacebookFollow Chutzpod on Instagram Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices