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Tablet Studios

The Conversion Episode, 2023: Ep. 363

Tablet Studios

Tablet Magazine

Religion & Spirituality, Judaism, Society & Culture

4.61.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Each year for Shavuot, we air our annual Conversion Episode, in which we share stories of people finding their way to Judaism. This year, inspired by our showrunner Courtney Hazlett’s Tablet article, “Don’t Call Me a Convert,” we’re focusing on the Jewish journeys we’re all on. Plus, at the end of the episode, we reveal our new co-host! But first: We’re talking about interfaith relationships, and what we can learn from them, with Dr. Keren McGinity, interfaith specialist at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and a research associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. She consults with Jewish clergy and congregations and has written two books about intermarriage: Still Jewish: A History of Women & Intermarriage in America and Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood. Next we talk with Vicki Messler, who works at a Jewish day school, helps with programming at her local JCC, and is raising a Jewish family, all while not being halachically Jewish herself. She tells us why she’s committed to creating Jewish community, and about her own faith journey. Then we hear a candid conversation between our own Liel Leibovitz and his wife Lisa Ann Sandell, which was excerpted from their appearance on Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin’s 18Forty podcast. Liel and Lisa, who are both Jewish, discuss what happened when Liel started living a more observant life about a decade ago, keeping kosher and praying regularly, and taking on a host of other practices that Lisa hadn’t necessarily signed on for as his spouse. Their honest and intimate discussion reveals how we’re all evolving in our Jewish practice, and how those changes play out within ourselves, our families, and our communities. Finally, we call up the listener who wrote to us asking, as an “aspiring Jew” going through the conversion process, whether she would ever feel Jewish enough. Spoiler alert: We’re all Jewish enough. We want to hear from you! Send us emails and voice memos at [email protected], or leave a voicemail at our listener line: (914) 570-4869. Remember to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from. Check out our new Unorthodox tees, mugs, and hoodies at tabletstudios.com. We’re back on the road! Find out about our upcoming events at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive. To book us for a live show or event, email Tanya Singer at [email protected]. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Join our Facebook group, and follow Unorthodox on Twitter and Instagram. Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is on Orthodox, the universe's leading Jewish podcast.

0:06.2

It's me, Stephanie Butnik, joined by my co-hosts, tablet editor at large, Liel Liebowitz.

0:12.1

Shalom to you.

0:13.8

Today on the show, it's our annual conversion episode.

0:16.7

And at the end of this episode, we are going to announce our brand new co-hosts.

0:23.0

Yay!

0:24.0

It's going to be quite an episode.

0:26.4

This year, around the holiday of Shavuot, we air an episode devoted to the stories of people

0:31.3

who found their way to Judaism, who weren't necessarily born Jewish, but had some kind

0:35.8

of journey towards becoming Jewish.

0:38.7

And so here we are on the eve of Shavuot.

0:41.5

And how are you feeling, Liel?

0:43.2

First of all, I just love that a people who have a genetic predisposition to not being

0:48.4

able to process dairy have an entire holiday in which all we eat is dairy.

0:54.1

It's just the most gorgeous thing.

0:56.2

So walk us through this holiday, Shavuot, we know dairy, we know Torah, we know conversion.

1:02.3

Here's the TLDR version.

1:04.3

It is the holiday, 50 days from Passover.

1:06.9

We prepare ourselves mentally like a kid counting down the days to her birthday.

1:11.8

Here we are counting down the days to having received the Torah, the greatest gift anyone

1:17.8

has ever or will ever receive.

1:20.6

And on this holiday, not only do we eat blinces and cheesecake, but we also read the book

...

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