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The Ricochet Superfeed

The Back of the Book: Solly’s Special: Thanksgiving and Its Jewish Roots

The Ricochet Superfeed

Ricochet

News, Politics

4.4651 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For this special Thanksgiving episode, Chris is joined by Meir Soloveichik, the Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel (the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States) and the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. They discuss the Jewish origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, the history of Jews in America, and the current plight of antisemitism in […]

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello.

0:13.7

You've made it to the back of the book, America's favorite arts and culture podcast.

0:19.9

I'm Christopher Scalia of the American Enterprise Institute.

0:23.5

Joining me today is Mayor Soloveitchik, the rabbi of congregation Sheerith, the Spanish-Portuguese

0:32.5

synagogue in Manhattan, and the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.

0:38.5

Sali is also the director of the Strauss Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University.

0:45.9

He's the author or editor of several books, including most recently, Providence and Power,

0:52.0

Ten Portraits in Jewish Statesmanship, published by Encounter Books.

0:57.1

Sali, welcome to the back of the book.

0:59.8

Thank you, Chris. It's great to be on with you.

1:01.9

It's great to have you on. You know, I know that you, like me, are a big fan of classic sitcoms.

1:10.4

Yes.

1:10.8

So I thought it would be appropriate to have you on for a very special episode of the podcast,

1:16.7

like when Will Smith gets pulled over or rerun bootlegs at Doobie Brothers concert,

1:22.1

an episode that's especially topical and timely.

1:25.9

Oh, I'm honored, but, you know, often very special episodes are about some terrible

1:30.1

crisis, right?

1:31.2

You know, or something like that.

1:33.1

Right.

1:33.6

Well, there was the important episode of Punky Brewster when a friend got stuck in a refrigerator.

1:39.6

Yes.

1:40.1

Along those lines.

...

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