The Dybbukast
Jewish Podcast | Jewish Diaspora | Jewish Arts | Jewish Literature | Jewish History
What do poems, plays, and other creative texts from throughout history tell us about the times in which they were written? And what do they reveal about the forces still at play in our contemporary societies?
Jewish communities, for a good deal of recorded time, have been spread across much of the globe, often existing as minority groups within a variety of dominant cultures. As such, the creative works generated, read, and listened to in these communities can provide glimpses into the ways in which people navigate challenging cultural waters.
Through a combination of performed readings and interviews with artists and scholars, The Dybbukast brings these creations and their historical contexts to life, all while revealing their relationships to issues still present today.
New episodes are released on the second Friday of every month.
Now also available on YouTube!
Season 1
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S1 E1 "I-Tell-You"
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S1 E1 bonus "I-Tell-You...More"
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S1 E2 "The Book of Enoch"
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S1 E3 "The Death of My Aunt"
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S1 E3 bonus "Translation and The Death of My Aunt"
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S1 E4 "The Murdered Jewess"
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S1 E5 "The Protocols, Henry Ford, and The International Jew"
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S1 E5 bonus "A Fine Ford Vehicle"
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S1 E6 "How to Hide"
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S1 E7 "Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives"
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S1 E8 "In Defense of Women"
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S1 E9 "The Book of Bovo"
Season 2
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S2 E1 "I Sing and I Pray"
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S2 E2 "The Book of Job"
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S2 E3 "Sing This at My Funeral"
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S2 E4 "The St. Thomas Split"
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S2 E5 "The New World"
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S2 E6 "The Temple Bombing"
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S2 E7 "Sound in the Silence"
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S2 E8 "Adapting Exagoge"
Season 2 of The Dybbukast is generously supported by a grant from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.
Season 3
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S3 E1 "Years Have Sped By"
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S3 E2 "Why I Was a Zionist and Why I Now Am Not"
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S3 Guest "The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages"
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S3 E3 "The Chronicles of the Rabbis" coming February 10
Season 3 of The Dybbukast is generously supported by a grant from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.
Latest Episode
"The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages"
A Conversation with Geraldine Heng
Season 3, Guest Episode
In this special guest episode from the American Academy of Religion, Dr. Geraldine Heng discusses the obstacles in conceptualizing race in premodernity and the evidence for racialized thinking in the European medieval period. Dr. Heng is professor of English and comparative literature, with a joint appointment in Middle Eastern studies and women’s studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the founder and director of the Global Middle Ages Project.
In this interview, she talks with Dr. Kristian Petersen about the research in her book The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won AAR's 2019 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Historical Studies.
Coming up on The Dybbukast
Beginning in February, we're excited to be in collaboration with the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS) at Brandeis University to present a five episode series as part of the third season of The Dybbukast. Each episode will feature a single scholar from the NEJS Department, with the first episode coming February 10, 2023 and the concluding one on June 9, 2023.
COMING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
"The Chronicles of the Rabbis"
Season 3, Episode 3
In this first of our five-episode series with the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University (NEJS), we explore a satirical text from 1897 titled The Chronicles of the Rabbis: Being an Account of a Banquet Tendered to “Episcopus” by the Rabbis of New York City upon the Anniversary of his 70th Birthday. Written by J.P. Solomon, the editor of a popular Jewish newspaper, under the pseudonym “Ben F. Rayim,” the text spoofs the banquet thrown that year on the occasion of the 70th birthday of New York’s foremost Reform rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, Gustav Gottheil.
Intercut with readings from the satire, Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, takes us through the text, translating the tensions it presents of a rabbinate on the cusp of change and its intersections with the popular culture of its time.
This episode is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
Season 3
Season 3 of The Dybbukast is generously supported by a grant from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.
Season 2
Season 2 of The Dybbukast is generously supported by a grant from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.
Season 1
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Thank you to the Covenant Foundation for its support of The Dybbukast and related educational resources.