There’s No One Way to Orthodox with Jewish TikTok Star Melinda Strauss
Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Jonah Platt
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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Melinda Strauss is a modern Orthodox Jewish influencer and food blogger who passionately believes that Jewish joy is resistance and Jewish presence is power. Her digital journey began with a singular mission: to share, educate and enlighten others about the richness of Orthodox Jewish life. Feeling consistently misrepresented and misunderstood, Melinda took it upon herself to authentically showcase Orthodox Jewish identity to the world.
What started with kosher recipe videos quickly grew into a powerful platform that highlights Jewish traditions, such as putting on Tefillin or wearing a Yarmulke. Her content has been met with some hate - but more curiosity and compassion. Today, Melinda Strauss is a vocal advocate for Jewish people, using her voice to increase visibility, fight anti-Jewish bigotry and celebrate Jewish heritage and culture globally — and she’s only just getting started.
In this conversation with Jonah, Melinda discusses:
- The current climate and safety concerns facing the global Jewish community
- Melinda’s upcoming kosher cookbook Eat Jewish: 100 Recipes That Blend Jewish Heritage, Modern Flavors and Family Traditions
- Her personal journey living with Type 1 Diabetes
- Her nuanced thoughts on certain Jewish laws, including The Get
- The rich, diverse, and evolving tapestry of Orthodox Jewish identity
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Host & Production Team
Host/Creator: Jonah Platt; Produced by Rainbow Creative (Executive Producer: Matthew Jones; Story Producer: Sasha Nelson; Content Director: Alexandra Fugère; Associate Producer: Sean Leviashvili); Editor: Kai Patterson; Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild; Graphic Designer: Noah Bell
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Shalom, Kavarim, Banot, and welcome to another very special episode of the world's number one Jewish podcast. |
| 0:08.1 | I have to ask for a small favor. |
| 0:10.4 | As an independent show, we don't have a massive marketing machine behind us. |
| 0:14.6 | Our growth is purely organic, fueled by dedicated viewers and listeners like you. |
| 0:19.5 | So if you would be so kind, please take 30 seconds, |
| 0:24.0 | head over to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, find this show, and leave me a five-star rating and a short |
| 0:30.0 | written review. I love seeing all of your thoughtful and generous feedback. Some of it has even |
| 0:35.0 | made it onto the show and may again. And as of this recording, |
| 0:38.7 | we are just eight ratings away from hitting 500 on Apple. Crossing that threshold would be a huge |
| 0:44.3 | milestone for us. It's a small mitzvah on your part, but it really is the fuel that allows us to |
| 0:50.0 | keep these amazing conversations going. So thank you in advance. Unless you don't leave a rating, |
| 0:56.1 | in which case you're a butthead. Hey guys, it's Jonah here. Before we jump into today's episode |
| 1:01.4 | of 30 minute mentions, I have a favor to ask. We have a new listener survey out, and I would |
| 1:06.2 | really appreciate it if you could take a couple minutes to fill it out. We're doing a little |
| 1:10.2 | market research, and we could really use your help. So you can find the survey in the show notes, |
| 1:14.7 | the description for today's episode, as well as on our Instagram at Being Jewish podcast. |
| 1:20.4 | In the bio, we will have a link there. Thank you so much to Darabah and enjoy the episode. |
| 1:25.2 | What's something you wish more people understood about the Orthodox community? |
| 1:29.3 | That I can be Orthodox and not look like what people think Orthodox is supposed to look like. |
| 1:34.3 | I think that's sort of the number one key to fighting anti-Jubigotry. |
| 1:38.3 | Complain all you want, but unless you're doing something about it, you're just complaining. |
| 1:41.3 | That first night when you get home from the mikfa? |
... |
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