The Orthonomics Podcast

Rabbi Yehuda Albin grew up as a Reform Jew in Scarsdale, NY. He was exposed to Judaism and his father ran several secular Jewish camps for youth. He became religious in Jerusalem, after graduating Bowdoin College with the highest honors. Then he studied the Torah and the Talmud for nearly a decade in Jerusalem, before returning to the states, and moving to Chicago. In Chicago he established a Torah teaching and counseling practice, focused on successful businesspeople and professionals. He has been doing this for 30 years wearing two different hats in the process. He melds the best of two worlds … Torah learning and personal coaching … providing a unique perspective to help people manage business, family and every type of unique problem, and to improving themselves and living a happier, more spiritual, life. To get a feel for his engaging approach and command of subject matter, you can listen to him at https://www.theemberfoundation.org/. —— In our “What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we talk about six distinct and important groups within the Jewish and Orthodox community that are very much under-researched and where significant thought and creativity is needed to better understand them. Let me know what you think, at mark@nishmaresearch.com. I wish you all a Pesach Chag Kasher v’Sameach.

Jacob Kornbluh is the senior political reporter for the Forward. Kornbluh, a member of the Hasidic community in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, covers politics with a Jewish angle and regularly interviews government officials, political commentators and security experts on issues that matter to the broader Jewish American community. He previously worked as a national politics reporter for Jewish Insider, covered the 2013 NYC mayoral race for the Yeshiva World News, and was featured by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as one of the top Jews to follow on Twitter. In this episode, we discuss his unique role in Jewish/Orthodox world reporting and some of the seminal issues he has covered, including the Orthodox world’s political views, reactions to coronavirus restrictions, secular education mandates in yeshivas, and more. ----- The Nishma Research Pesach Survey! And now, for something completely different: we’re undertaking a timely broad survey dealing with Pesach … the first such survey ever conducted. If you would like to participate in the survey, it will be online through April 9, at: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7774034/The-First-Ever-Pesach-Survey. Results will be available before Pesach at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html.

Baruch Lytle is an African American Orthodox Jew from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he identifies as a Satmar Chasid. He describes his conversion to Judaism as the defining moment of his life and greatest accomplishment. He is also an award-winning journalist, having written nearly 200 articles for the largest Jewish newspaper in America, The Jewish Press. In 2023, he won the Simon Rockower Award – the Jewish journalism version of the Pulitzer – for Excellence in Journalism. His favorite writing assignments deal with self- improvement, and he has worked extensively with the developmentally disabled at agencies throughout New York State. In this episode we discuss his personal religious journey, and some of the interesting issues in the Orthodox community that he has covered. Baruch and I also discussed our recent Orthodox Political survey, and I discussed the variations within Modern Orthodoxy and the “silo effect”: Report – A Survey of Orthodox Jewish Political Attitudes and Behaviors: Haredi and Modern Orthodox Sectors Article – Despite What Some Want to Believe, Modern Orthodoxy is Indeed Politically Split Some of Baruch Lytle’s Jewish Press articles referenced in this podcast: Study Finds Frum Jews Financially Secure – And Stretched The State of Orthodox Singles: It's Complicated Interview with Middle East Intelligence Expert Avi Melamed Book Review: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Antisemitism

Michael Feldstein is a keen observer and commentator on all aspects of the Orthodox Jewish community, and his weekly columns in the Jewish Link newspaper draws an enthusiastic readership. His upcoming (January 2024) book, "Meet Me in the Middle," is a collection of 75 of his essays and, in this episode, we discuss five of them: • Prayer, Politics and the Pulpit • The Changing Geographic Face of Orthodoxy in America • The Culture of Fear in Orthodoxy • Time for a Jewish Vocational School • Seven Things I Would Change about Jewish Weddings In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we expand on our brief conversation about living in a smaller Orthodox community. Here is a LINK to our study of the cost of Orthodoxy, and check out page 46, where get into the smaller town cost data. We want to hear from you, so you can contact us at this link to offer comments and questions about the Jewish community: http://bit.ly/areas-of-interest Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

This episode is an exploration of a pioneering study of people who have left the Orthodox community, as we examing journeys, practices, beliefs, identity, community and relationships, across Chasidic, Yeshivish and Modern Orthodox segments of the population. In this episode, we review many highlights of this study, including: 1. Why People Leave Orthodoxy 2. How Do They Now Identify Jewishly? What Have They Held Onto? 3. What About “Double-Lifers”? 4. How Are Their Family Relationships? What are their Levels of Acceptance? 5. How Widespread Is This Phenomenon? 6. Final Thoughts and Reflections … In Their Own Words: – a) Many people don’t well understand those who have left, or may leave, their Orthodox community of origin. What do you want to tell people about this group? – b) Looking back at your experiences, what if anything would you have done differently? – c) In conclusion, what advice would you give to others who are considering leaving their Orthodox community, for a more modern lifestyle? The full report and many of its contents are available at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the section of files dealing with “Survey of Those Who Have Left Orthodoxy.”

In this episode, we first look at how Covid affected a shul and community, and we discuss with Rabbi Brander the creativity, innovations, and possible lasting changes that took place. We then discuss with a leading demographer the impact that Covid had on the Jewish community in terms of actual mortality and death statistics. While we are typically aware of things that happen within our community and within our families, there is only speculation as to how the community as a whole did. Dr. Staetsky will disclose his ground-breaking research on this topic. We want to hear from you, so you can contact us at this link to offer comments and questions about the Jewish community: http://bit.ly/areas-of-interest Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

In this episode, we speak with Benyamin Cohen, news director at The Forward, author of “My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith,” named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly, “The Einstein Effect: How the World's Favorite Genius Got into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds,” and a man of diverse and fascinating interests and explorations. In our brief film discussion, I recommended “Fill the Void” as my favorite Jewish movie of the past decade. Check it out and let me know what you think. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we discuss some findings from our just-released report “The Nishma Research 2023 Jewish Community Profile” - Beliefs, Practices, Attitudes and Priorities Across the Jewish Community With a Focus on U.S. Modern Orthodox and Haredi (Chasidish and Yeshivish) Sectors. Specifically, we discuss how some communal priorities have shifted significantly in recent years, and how there are some significant priority differences between the Modern Orthodox and Haredi sectors. We want to hear from you, so you can contact us at this link to offer comments and questions about the Jewish community: http://bit.ly/areas-of-interest Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

In this episode, we speak with the noted Jewish world demographer Dr. Daniel Staetsky about population trends, particularly in the Haredi world. Dr. Staetsky is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (London), and has published widely on Jewish, Israeli and European demography and social statistics. He has written many popular columns in the Times of Israel. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. These include our recent article “Nishma V’Naaseh?” and our just-released report “The Nishma Research 2023 Jewish Community Profile” - Beliefs, Practices, Attitudes and Priorities Across the Jewish Community With a Focus on U.S. Modern Orthodox and Haredi (Chasidish and Yeshivish) Sectors. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we answer a listener question that has been posed a few times, and we suggest that the question needs to be more nuanced if we were to pursue research on the issue raised. As presented to us: “Why does the Chasidic community refuse to provide a proper education for its students?” What Do You Want to Know? – We want to hear from you, so you can contact us at this link to offer comments as well as letting us know what questions you suggest we explore in future research: http://bit.ly/areas-of-interest Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

In this episode, we speak with Prof. Naomi Seidman about people leaving Orthodoxy and the related stories, experiences and misconceptions. She shares what she personally learned in leaving her Haredi community, as well as the insights of many others. We also draw upon the 2016 study “Starting a Conversation: A Pioneering Survey of Those Who Have Left the Orthodox Community,” in which 885 people recounted their experiences, and we include some verbatim quotes from some of these people, explaining what motivated them and what they want the Orthodox community as a whole to know about their leaving. Recommended: Prof. Seidman’s excellent limited (four episodes) podcast series, Heretic in the House, from the Shalom Hartman Institute. A couple of very worthwhile books are: Shulem Deen’s All Who Go Do Not Return, a National Jewish Book Award winner. Prof. Schneur Zalman Newfield’s Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we answer a question we are often asked … how many people are leaving Orthodoxy. We cite Rabbi Zvi Grumet’s 2018 study of high school graduates. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

In this episode, we speak with Keshet Starr about the agunah (“chained wife”) problem and what is being done to resolve it. Hot off the press (from a large-scale survey that had not yet been released as we recorded this episode), we have new data on the agunah situation and some fascinating verbatim comments from women and men about their divorce difficulties, which we will read and discuss. Link to ORA to find out more, at http://getora.org. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we answer a question we are often asked … why do we do research? Why do we even get into “these issues”? Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. The document we referred to (things people most love, and those that cause unhappiness, relating to Orthodoxy) is located at this LINK. The infamous and often debated quote alluded to, by Rebbitzen Blu Greenberg, is: “Where there's a rabbinic will, there's a halachic way.” Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

Elana Silber is CEO of Sharsheret (https://sharsheret.org), a national non-profit organization that improves the lives of Jewish women and families living with or at increased genetic risk for breast or ovarian cancer, through personalized support and educational outreach. We address such issues as: which Orthodox groups are at higher risk, what advances are being made, and how can people be helped in facing health, emotional, financial and family impacts? The Sharsheret website has much valuable information and informative links. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we examine the cost of an Orthodox life in New York City as compared to the Midwest … and is there a difference in how Orthodox households perceive their overall financial situation? The report "Finances of Orthodox Jewish Life (December 2021)” is downloadable at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com.

In this episode, we speak with Prof. David Myers, co-author (with his wife) of the fascinating book "American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York,” and founder of the new Haredi Research Group, a multi-disciplinary group that is aiming to help us all better understand the American Haredi (Chasidic and Yeshivish) community. Information on this fascinating book is at https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691199771/american-shtetl. "The Haredi Moment Has Arrived” by Eli Spitzer – https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/jewish-world/2022/01/the-haredi-moment-has-arrived/ Link to the newly created Haredi Research Group. In our "What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we hear back from a Haredi attorney who tells us that our research is flawed due to an inability to properly reach his community. So we offer an explanation and it seemed that he was reasonably satisfied. You be the judge! Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com).

In this episode, we speak with Rabbi Shimmy Trencher, MSW, who has been an Orthodox Jewish high school dean of students and principal for the past 15 years, has had leadership positions at NCSY, and is the founder of a Jewish high school student self-development program that has positively affected the lives of hundreds of teens. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free, at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. We cited some of this research in this episode: click on “REPORT - The Successes, Challenges, and Future of American Modern Orthodoxy (2019)” (page 24) and “REPORT - 2017 Nishma Research Profile of American Modern Orthodox Jews” (pages 56-57) for more information on how the community sees its day schools. The survey data assessing day schools may be found on pages 55-58 at this link: http://nishmaresearch.com/assets/pdf/Report%20-%20Nishma%20Research%20Profile%20of%20American%20Modern%20Orthodox%20Jews%2009-27-17.pdf Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com

In this episode we explore key issues that intrigue us, with an emphasis on hearing what people think in their own words. Let's turn the microphone over to you, our listeners! We will hear people’s thoughts on such questions as: What are the things in your Orthodox community that most bother you … the “pain points”? Is there someone you go to for spiritual guidance? Who and how is this working out for you? Are you and your spouse “on the same page” religiously? Thinking broadly, do you have any questions, issues, or thoughts relating to sexual attitudes, behaviors, practices, halachot, etc. as they affect you? Are there aspects of Orthodox practice where you find yourself being more machmir/ stringent or more meikil/lenient compared to other people in your religious community, and what are they? And more. This episode is also being presented on the Franciska Podcast. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com

In this episode, we speak with Prof. Sam Heilman, who has been studying all sectors of Orthodoxy for almost 50 years. We talk about major shifts that have been taking place and speculate about future directions. Voice of the Kehilla – Tell us what you think about key issues facing Orthodoxy. We will be doing a joint podcast with The Franciska Show and will report back to you on what we hear back from the community. Take our 6-minute confidential survey at http://bit.ly/Franciska-Orthonomics and you might hear us share your comments. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free, at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo and for giving me (as a birthday present?) a great framed print of the logo; and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com.

In this episode, we speak with Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman about her wealth of research in the Orthodox community, and especially her just-released report: “Responding to the Realities of Single Modern Orthodox Jews”; as well as a new survey of 300+ Orthodox (Modern and Haredi) singles, exploring various aspects of their lives. What do you want to know about the Orthodox community? Each episode includes listener questions and answers. Email us at orthonomics@nishmaresearch.com to let us know what areas of the Orthodox community you’d like us to explore. You ask the questions … we’ll try to come up with answers. In this episode we respond to a question about demographic growth rates: Is American Modern Orthodoxy growing? If so, how quickly? What about a Haredi Jewry? Are they growing more rapidly than Modern Orthodoxy, suggesting that the balance between the two branches of Orthodoxy is shifting? Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free, at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Research discussed in this episode is also available at http://poratonline.org. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com.

In this episode, we speak with shul rabbi, former shul president, outreach leader and generally super-engaged Orthodox Jew, Rabbi Elly Krimsky. Our conversation touches on many issues, including the “comings and goings” of today’s Orthodox community. What do you want to know about the Orthodox community? Each episode includes listener questions and answers. Email us at orthonomics@nishmaresearch.com to let us know what areas of the Orthodox community you’d like us to explore. You ask the questions … we’ll try to come up with answers. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free, at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com.

In this episode, we speak with Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer. Rabbi Gordimer is a rabbinic coordinator at OU Kosher, where he specializes in the dairy industry. Rabbi Gordimer is the chairman of the OU Dairy Committee, and he manages the OU kashrus programs of over 100 certified dairy companies. He is the Chairman of the Rabbinic Circle at Coalition for Jewish Values, a member of the Rabbinical Council of America, and a member of the New York Bar. Rabbi Gordimer’s articles about Torah topics and issues in contemporary Orthodoxy are featured in many publications, including Israel National News, Cross-Currents, Times of Israel and Yated Neeman. Rabbi Gordimer has also been an enthusiastic and helpful advisor to several of Nishma Research’s communal studies.

In this episode, we speak with the Honorable Rabbi Dr. Dov Zakheim, a former very high level government official, involved in many key government programs as well as the CFO for the largest budget in the country, consultant, author and rabbi. In a wide-ranging conversation, we will discuss the state of Modern Orthodoxy and how well we are melding our religious observance with participation in secular society. What do you want to know about the Orthodox community? Each episode includes listener questions and answers. Email us at orthonomics@nishmaresearch.com to let us know what areas of the Orthodox community you’d like us to explore. You ask the questions … we’ll try to come up with answers. Many of the Orthodox community research studies we reference in this podcast are available and downloadable free, at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html. Thanks to Leora Trencher for designing our logo, and to Elana Trencher and Aliza Levy for their audio support. Orthonomics is produced by Scott Kahn of JCH Podcast Productions (http://jchpodcasts.com). Music: “Rumble” by bensound.com.