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This episode was originally published for Rosh Hashanah on October 9, 2024.

One of my nearest and dearest non-Jewish friends asked if she could join me for Rosh Hashanah last year, and we thought it would be useful to other Jew-curious listeners to share some of her questions and thoughts about that experience.

You may know Rosh Hashanah as the Jewish New Year, and you're mostly right (it's technically the anniversary of creation), but there's much more to it than that! Check the original show notes for tons more info, but I've copied some of the highlights below. Also, check out the Happy Jew Year! episode from 2023, with my mother and brother who are both Jewish educators, to learn even more. They teach me something new every time we talk.

Thanks to my friend and to all the non-Jewish friends who ask questions rather than make assumptions, and everyone who, regardless of creed, cultural background or affiliation, shows up with curiosity and openness in the world. You are welcome here, and the world needs you. Special thanks to Washington Hebrew Congregation, and may you all be inscribed in the Book of Life!

Quick note: my friend and I have known each other a long time, and I can assure you she is a real, credible person. But, because of the nature of her work, we kept her anonymous so she could speak freely and ask all her questions. Also, neither she nor I represent any organization or individual's perspectives or opinions, and all the errors I may make are based on my own lived experience and are entirely my own.

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Rabbi Shankman’s Sermon at Washington Hebrew

The Bimah Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2196108/episodes/12958722

Ancient History of Jews in Israel: there is some evidence of up to 5000 years of the people who became Jews in Israel (Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva, Israel Museum), but 3000 is a more generally accepted number than the one I say in the show. More here, and here.

For a deeper understanding, there is no better source than my beloved stepdad, William G. Dever, widely considered the world's foremost Biblical archaeologist (I am biased but this is true). Here is a talk on how archaeology and history shape understanding.

From the "Happy Jew Year! What does Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mean" episode (check the link for more):

Mitzvot: Often translated as “good deeds,” the word actually means “commandments.”

Shofar: The horn of a kosher animal, often a ram, ceremonially blown on Rosh Hashanah and

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Right after a flurry of activity around Israel and Gaza on the Hill, I connected with Congressman Greg Landsman, one of only 32 Jews in Congress (9 in the Senate, 23 in the House). Landsman has been a voice defending Israel and demanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, and like myself, does not believe the two are mutually exclusive. In June, he declined an invitation to his staff from Qatar, saying they could discuss how to end the war in Gaza instead, and since recording, he joined a bipartisan Congressional delegation visit to Israel. We talked on August 1, as Congress went on recess, and much has happened since then that won't be covered in the episode, obviously. But we did cover a lot, including growing up as a Nice Jewish Boy (he has sisters) in Ohio, raising cool kids, and some of the work he is most proud of. More about Greg, his beloved Ohio, and other stuff:

Hebrew Union College was established in 1875 to train rabbis, and is generally considered the birthplace of American Reform Judaism.

Sally Priesand was the first Reform woman rabbi, ordained at HUC in 1972, but the first woman rabbi is Regina Jonas, ordained in Berlin in 1935, and murdered at Auschwitz with more than a million others.

The team now known as the Cincinnati Reds fielded the first known professional team in 1869.

McDonald’s first Filet o’ Fish was sold in 1962 in Cincinnati, developed for Catholic patrons observing Lent.

In 2016, Landsman led the Cincinnati Preschool Promise ballot initiative guaranteeing two years of quality preschool to 3- and 4-year olds in the city, the first voter-approved initiative of its kind.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: an unequivocally false, debunked, and antisemitic forgery printed in Russia in 1903 that has been used to bolster and give language to countless conspiracy theories and antisemitic acti

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Jews and money and babies, oh my! Our mission of destigmatization continues with a look at IVF, and some Jewish perspectives on fertility--and infertility--with Sarah Shah, Director of Operations for the Jewish Fertility Foundation.

Appropriately enough, this episode is late because I just had my own egg retrieval as part of my IVF journey; which was aided in part by a JFF grant, as well as by the Hebrew Free Loan Association, which you'll hear more about in another episode. So, after I took a little time to recover, it seemed right to pay it forward by sharing about these resources, including a bit about both of our journeys (Sarah too!), and the amazing support--not just financial--from the JFF and the HFL, resources individuals and organizations in the Jewish community have worked to provide for one another. Infertility and IVF are hard, but it's even harder alone. Glad you're here.

GLOSSARY

Mi Shebeirach: a Jewish prayer for healing

Kinahora: a Yiddish expression meaning "not the evil eye" said to ward off bad luck

Niddah: Purity laws restricting when couples can have sex around a woman’s menstrual cycle.

IUI: Intrauterine insemination, an infertility treatment that places sperm directly into the uterus.

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More on the attacks outside the Capital Jewish Museum and in Boulder, CO.

In 2024, Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF were to be treated as children under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is more than double other high-income countries, and twice that again for Black women.

NCJW: National Council of Jewish Women

The "Jews have horns" myth originated from a mis-translation of the Hebrew Bible into Latin by St. Jerome.

Jews in academia: While studies have shown Jews to be over-represented among intellectual elites, including Nobel laureates, we have also long been the target of antisemitic tropes attributing success to conspiracies rather than individual achievement, and a history of antisemitic actions in education, including quotas and conversion requirements.

IVF in Israel

Pres. Trump's

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