Episodes
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
EPISODE 135: ABBY NORMAN AND THE POWER OF LAMENT
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Episode 135 of a Jew & a Gentile Walk into a Bar…Mitzvah finds the intrepid trio welcoming back to the podcast Rev. Abby Norman. You might ask, Abby who? (If you didn’t get the previous movie reference then you need to watch Young Frankenstein. Seriously.) Abby Norman is a writer, blogger, speaker, and licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her writing has been featured in Huffington Post, SheLoves Magazine, and The Mudroom. Abby lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her college sweetheart, two daughters, and a very bad dog. She comes to share about her new book “You Can Talk to God Like That: The Surprising Power of Lament to Save Your Faith.” To skip our opening mishigas begin listening at the 33:10 mark.
Praise is the only path to God–at least this is what many of us have been taught. But the notion that we have to be positive all the time, putting on a happy face through anger, frustration, and pain, hinders our ability not only to heal ourselves and society, but to have an authentic relationship with the Divine.
We long to connect with God over the very real sorrow in our lives and in the world around us, but so many of us were never shown how. This lack of knowing how to lament–an ancient practice of expressing anger and pain to God–damages us personally and spiritually.
Pastor Abby Norman is here to tell us that we can talk to God like that. In her fresh, tell-it-like-it-is voice, she unpacks the power of lament, providing us with the tools and the grace-filled permission to heal the problems we have been ignoring for too long. She shows us how to express our laments to God and to each other when things are definitely not okay. And through this process we will discover a richer connection with God–who has wanted nothing more than our whole selves from the start.
Saturday May 15, 2021
Episode 134: Women and Mental Health
Saturday May 15, 2021
Saturday May 15, 2021
Episode 134 of a Jew & a Gentile Walk into a Bar...Mitzvah, the Podcast, welcomes back Jory Micah as she joins the gang to talk about women and mental health. What follows is a bold, courageous, and honest conversation between Jory and our very own Ampersand of Reason, Rev. Helena. (And if you have time, and if you're listening to us you likely do, check out Jory's first visit to the podcast in Episode 121.) Jory is a Christian Writer, Theologian, Preacher, Intersectional Feminist & Lover of Humanity. She speaks for progressive faith and politics. Jory is working on her forthcoming book “Breaking the Glass Steeple.” Find her on social media (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) and check out her site. If you'd like to skip our opening mishigas start listening at the 19:15 mark. However, you'll miss hearing about the Ampersand's latest edition to her menagerie, hermit crabs.
Sunday May 02, 2021
Episode 133: Talking Jewish Racism with Tema Smith
Sunday May 02, 2021
Sunday May 02, 2021
Episode 133 of a Jew & a Gentile Walk into a Bar…Mitzvah the Podcast features advocate, author, and trainer Tema Smith who joins the The Jew, The Gentile, and the Ampersand of Reason to discuss racism within Judaism (yes, Jews can be racists too), Jacques Derrida, and The Dead Parrot Sketch. Tema is dedicated to building a meaningful and inclusive Jewish community through research, training, writing and relational engagement work. She is currently the Director of Professional Development at 18Doors (formerly InterfaithFamily), and a contributing columnist at The Forward. Check out her site and visit her on social media. To skip our opening mishigas skip to the 23:53 mark. However, you’ll miss bits about a sex store in Climax, NC and the no-context-hashtag of the episode “parrot hole” if you do.
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Episode 132: Complementarianism is Heresy
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Episode 132 finds your favorite podcasters joined by the one and only, J Dana Trent. The group talk about JDT’s letter to Beth Moore that was published in Religion Dispatches. JDT challenges Moore’s departure from the Southern Baptist Convention and her ending her relationship with Lifeway Publishing. JDT is herself a Southern Baptist clergy person, author, and educator. In her letter, JDT calls out Beth Moore for her apology for promoting complementarianism as reeking of complementarianism. What’s complementarianism? Complementarianism is the erroneous belief that men and women have different complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, and religious leadership. Not surprisingly, men have the headship roles while women have support roles. If you want to skip our opening mishigas start listening at the 22:50 mark. However, you’ll miss some great 4/20 humor. We also recommend that you check out JDT’s article in Christian Century entitled “Drop.”
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Episode 131: You can be a Pretty, Pretty Princess
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Sunday Mar 28, 2021
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Episode 130: A Jew & a Gentile & a Buddhist
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Sunday Mar 21, 2021
Thursday Feb 25, 2021
EPISODE 129: TALKING PURIM WITH DR. RABBI RUTH ABUSCH-MAGDER
Thursday Feb 25, 2021
Thursday Feb 25, 2021
Episode 129! Be Joyous, It’s Adar. In this joyous episode we put on our masks and discuss all things Purim with very special guest, Dr. Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, Education Director and a Rabbi-in-Residence at Be’chol Lashon. Topics broached include Mordechai’s sexploitation of Esther, Esther using what ever power allowed he to defeat Haman, how cute The Ampersand of Reason was as a 4-year old Queen Esther, and how The Gentile is now haunted by visions of The Jew in drag. To skip our opening mishigas start listening at the 7:25 mark. However, you’ll miss this episode’s no-context-hashtag “self geeking.”
Saturday Feb 20, 2021
EPISODE 128: TALKING FAITH & MENTAL HEALTH WITH SHEOLOGIAN
Saturday Feb 20, 2021
Saturday Feb 20, 2021
Episode 128 of a Jew & a Gentile Walk into a Bar…Mitzvah the Podcast finds the intrepid trio again discussing faith and mental health. We are joined this week by the Sheologian Sarah Isaacs. Sarah, a Raleigh native, is a therapist who is passionate about LGBTQ issues, self-advocacy and boundary work, and eating disorder recovery. Sarah holds both a M.A. in Mental Health Counseling and M.Div. from Campbell University. To skip our opening mishigas skip to the 11:05 mark.
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Episode 127: Faith and Mental Health
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Sunday Feb 14, 2021
Thursday Feb 11, 2021
Episode 126: Interfaith Marriage
Thursday Feb 11, 2021
Thursday Feb 11, 2021
Episode 126 of A Jew & Gentile Walk into a Bar…Mitzvah the Podcast welcomes Rabbi Emily Cohen. Rabbi Emily is the Rabbi of West End Synagogue: a Reconstructionist community on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She is also the producer/host of the Jew Too Podcast. Together, we discuss interfaith marriages. Specifically, what can institutional Judaism do to keep interfaith families in the community? (The discussion references “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” from the Pew Research Center.) If you want to skip our opening mishigas start listening at the 19:35 mark. Know that you will miss Rev. Helena trying to podcast through the haze of her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.