Join Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback as he talks with an eclectic variety of thinkers, artists, and change-makers about their experiences (Jewish or otherwise) and their own search for meaning and purpose in their lives.
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Episodes
Israel: A beacon of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Middle East
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback June is known as Pride month in America as an acknowledgment of the transformational change in perception around LGBTQ+ inclusion over the past five decades since the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969. What was once considered shameful by so many has now become a matter of pride and celebration. We have come a long way and there is indeed much to celebrate. I am particularly proud to be part of a religious tradition that is dynamic and adaptive in this regard. What our Biblical ancestors and other civilizations considered an “abomination” three thousand years ago is increasingly accepted across the denominations of Judaism. Our own Reform movement and Stephen Wise Temple are fully inclusive when it comes to LGBTQ+ marriage, ordination, and participation in the religious life of our community. Israel is a beacon of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Middle East and beyond. Israel's LGBTQ+ [...]
UTLA misses mark on anti-Israel resolution
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback My father is a retired surgeon. Whenever he would hear about a fellow doctor opening a restaurant or some other, non healthcare related business, he’d offer up these words of caution: “Son,” he’d tell me, “it’s important in life to ‘stay in your lane,’ to focus on your area of expertise and experience.” I thought of my dad‘s wise advice when I read that the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) will be voting on a resolution in September calling for the suspension of home evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, the cessation of United States aid to Israel, and an endorsement of “the international campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.” The resolution includes a “rationale” that is riddled with inaccuracies and logical fallacies. It claims that the IDF initiated the violence this past May in Gaza, ignoring the fact that [...]
Naming antisemitism when we see it
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback The other day a friend of mine who lives on the East Coast reached out to me about a disturbing email exchange she had with the head of her child’s private school. She had written to the headmaster expressing her disappointment and concern that the school had not once sent out an email decrying the terrifying uptick in antisemitism over the past year, particularly over the past few weeks during the heightened tensions in the Middle East. She noted that the school, with her full support, had previously sent out messages regarding acts of racism and anti-AAPI violence. He replied that he didn’t feel comfortable “taking sides” in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Imagine a similar situation—war breaks out between India and Pakistan. At the same time, there are incidents of bigotry and hatred (possibly sparked by the violence thousands of miles away) directed at the local community [...]
John Oliver fails Natan Sharansky’s “3D Test”
by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback Last week the comedian John Oliver devoted a segment of his HBO show to the Israel-Palestine conflict. He acknowledged at the start that conversations about the Middle East are fraught. As he put it, “If I may quote the riskiest thing you can say on a first date: ‘Let’s talk about Israel!’” The Israel-Palestine conflict is indeed extremely complicated, which is why so much of what has been said and posted online over the last few weeks is riddled with inaccuracies. Oliver admits that it is confusing and difficult and acknowledges that he cannot hope to recap such a rich and complex history in a ten-minute segment. But then he attempts to do just that—and joke about it. In doing so, he distorts the most recent conflict. His main point seems to be that because Israel is the more powerful player with a much more sophisticated [...]