Episode
S2E10 Are Jewish People "A People"?
- Published
- Nov 5, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 2295
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Summary
Rabbi Josh Rose and Rabbi Jeffrey Weill open with quick banter about The Clash—correcting a claim that Allen Ginsberg wrote broadly for Combat Rock (it was a spoken-word feature on "Ghetto Defendant")—then pivot to their real topic: Jewish peoplehood. They trade personal moments that made peoplehood feel tangible: a wild wedding hora, a teenage son's ecstatic trip to Israel, and the fantasy of a synchronized, worldwide Shema. Both admit strong, visceral bonds to other Jews, yet note how personality, humor, music, and shared culture can sometimes trump tribal ties in day-to-day affinity. They then interrogate whether "peoplehood" exists or is better treated as an aspirational story worth preserving despite deep political and theological fractures. Weill recalls an Israeli guide who felt more kinship with an Arab Israeli bus driver than with U.S. Jews, raising questions about nationhood vs. Jewishness. He references Eric Alterman's We Are Not One to underscore disunity, while Rose argues the dream still has value even if the facts don't add up neatly. They close by distinguishing love for the Jewish collective from friction with particular Jews, debating "myth" vs. "dream," invoking (and nitpicking) Herzl's "If you will it…" line, and, fittingly, ending where they began—on music.