Tisha B’Av may have come and gone, but just because we can listen to music again doesn’t mean we need to stop listening to podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to entertain and educate, and there are so many different genres that there’s surely something for everyone. Below is a list of five great Jewish podcasts, ranging from the informative to the humorous.
Nachi Gordon is the creator of “The Meaningful Minute,” an app, Instagram page and WhatsApp group that offers posts and minute-long videos that share Torah ideas and inspirations. Yaakov Langer and Gordon started the related app “Meaningful People,” and both serve as co-hosts. In March 2020, more than 50 full-length podcasts, each lasting between 50 and 90 minutes, were posted. Each consists of an interview with a different Jewish personality, ranging from rabbis to authors to CEOs, and even to comedians and popular singers. Guests share insights from their personal lives and unique connections to Judaism. Discussions are lively, conversational and informative. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS Feed, Stitcher and meaningfulpeoplepodcast.com.
For those looking for a comical, easy listen, try the “Back of the Shul Podcast.” Started in May 2020 by Shlomo Grossman, Joseph Grossman and Menachem Schoenfeld, the podcast is “giving voice to those whose voices are always heard”—namely those who sit in the back of the shul. The trio discusses topics that are familiar to shul-goers, from dragged-out drashas to slow services. The first 17 episodes are on Spotify; for the other episodes one must join the podcaster’s WhatsApp group.
“Behind the Bima,” hosted by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, Phillip Moskowitz and Josh Broide, sees the hosts casually discussing contemporary issues and conducting informative interviews with guests ranging from Benny Friedman to comedian Modi. The podcast allows listeners to become familiar with both the issues and the guests. It is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin’s podcast, “18Forty,” features discussions about “contemporary issues, openly and honestly.” 18Forty deals with serious and important topics such as depression, grief and the effect Torah has on our daily lives. Listen on Apple Podcasts and their website at 18forty.org.
Podcasts are also a great opportunity to learn about Jewish history. One in particular to check out is “Jewish History Soundbites.” In this podcast, tour guide, lecturer and Yad Vashem Researcher of Jewish History Yehuda Geberer discusses different Jewish events, movements and personalities, such as the Chofetz Chaim, Proto-Zionism and the Civil War and American Jewry. One particularly entertaining series on the channel is “Great American Jewish Cities,” which currently has 28 episodes, covering various Jewish communities in North America. Find it on
jsoundbites.podbean.com
Jonathan Hirschhorn is a student at Yeshiva University and a summer intern at The Jewish Link.
