Unwrapping Hannukah & Food Personality Jake Cohen
Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Jonah Platt
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s Hanukkah! In this cozy episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, Jonah is joined by culinary expert, social media darling, and New York Times-bestselling cookbook author Jake Cohen for a conversation about Jewish food, ritual, and the unifying power of gathering around the table. Known for zhuzhing up traditional Jewish cuisine with a distinctly modern yet reverent flair, Jake reflects on how food has become his spiritual practice and creative outlet for expressing Jewish identity.
Jake shares how hosting Shabbat dinners became his primary avenue to building community and all the celebrity pals he has welcomed to his table, from Benny Blanco to Shoshana Bean to Katie Couric to Isaac Mizrahi. He opens up about his journey from being a self-described “High Holiday Jew” to becoming a leading voice in contemporary Jewish food culture, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, hospitality, and incorporating Jewish values into everyday life.
The conversation also touches on Jake’s three best-selling cookbooks — Jew-ish, I Could Nosh and Dinner Party Animal — which aim to make Jewish cooking accessible, joyful, and inviting to Jews and non-Jews alike. Jonah and Jake explore the intersection of Jewish and queer identity, the importance of inviting dissenting opinions to your dinner table, how to host an epic dinner party, and Jake’s hopes for a more connected and peaceful future. It’s an episode filled with comfort, laughter, and the unmistakable warmth of Hanukkah.
A special thank you to this episode’s sponsor:
American Friends of the Hebrew University and the podcast The View From Mount Scopus
MENTIONS
Dinner Party Animal: Recipes to Make Every Day a Celebration
Hanukkah Antisemitism vs. Purim Antisemitism
The Surprising Origin of The Dreidel
The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center
Ethiopian Jewish Chef and Restaurateur Beejhy Barhany on Her New Cookbook, “Gursha”
Nanny’s Rosh Hashanah Apple Cake
Tokin’ Jew Lemon Sumac x Jake Cohen
Quick Challah Recipe Demo in Under 1 Minute!
“The Nanny” Is the Kind of Celebratory, Unabashed Representation Jewish Women Deserve
Left Behind – A Project Opening up Little-Known Holocaust Histories as well as New Tools
Jews of Liège under the Occupation (1940-1944)
Jake Cohen and Benny Blanco bagel Instagram post
Curb Your Enthusiasm “Bad Middling” Scene
These New Yorkers were in Israel when the war with Iran began. Here’s how they made it home.
Which three celebrities are living together in New York?
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Watch Being Jewish on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/@beingjewishpodcast
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For Sponsorships, please email:
jonahplattinfo@gmail.com
To contact us & all things BJJP:
Follow Jonah on:
Instagram - @JonahPlatt
X - @JonahPlatt
Follow Being Jewish on:
Instagram - @BeingJewishPodcast
TikTok - @BeingJewish
Written and Hosted by Jonah Platt, Executive Producers: Steve Hein, Jonah Platt, Chief Business Officer: Kenyon Laing, Production Manager/Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild, Research Associate: Samantha Greenwald, Production Associates: Rachel Stern, Charlie Zuker, Production Interns: Sasha Nelson, Emma Webb, YouTube Consultants: Jason Al-Samarrie & Zac Stein, Post Production by TIMEWEAVER, Creative Director: F. Brian Scofield, ACE, Lead Editor: Noam Klement, Editor: Gray Clevenger, Joe King. Graphic Designer: Noah Bell, Theme Music by Gabriel Mann, Performed by Jonah Platt
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. This episode is brought to you by American Friends of the |
| 1:01.1 | Hebrew University. To learn more, visit aphu.org today. |
| 1:06.0 | Hey guys, just popping in to let you know that today's episode was recorded before the tragic first night of Hanukkah this past weekend that saw violent attacks on Jews in Amsterdam, Redlands, Providence, and of course on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. |
| 1:20.6 | My heart goes out to the victims and their families, to our Jewish brothers and sisters all over the world, and to all of you who I know |
| 1:28.3 | are feeling the same pain, frustration, devastation, and determination that I am. |
| 1:34.6 | Today's monologue is all about Hanukkah, but I wanted to explain why none of those events |
| 1:39.2 | are mentioned. So without further ado, Khag Samayakh, happy New Year, and please enjoy the episode. |
| 1:46.2 | I'm spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica. |
| 1:51.8 | I'm wearing sandals, lighting candles by the sea. |
| 1:57.6 | Hi, I'm Michael Jubilee, and here's a little Hanukkah-themed monologue to mark the occasion. |
| 2:02.8 | One of the most incredible things about the Jewish story is that there are endless reflections and connections we can mind to bring meaning into our lives wherever and whenever we engage with the past. |
... |
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