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Tales of the Unbound - Episode 1: Jewish Enough

Episode 1: Jewish Enough

06/05/24 • 27 min

Tales of the Unbound

Episode 1 - "Jewish Enough" follows the stories of Ari and Josh, two men pursuing Jewish conversion while incarcerated. Despite facing obstacles and judgments, they find belonging and community within Judaism. The episode explores themes of identity, conversion, and belonging, shedding light on the challenges and joys of practicing Judaism behind bars. Through their journey, listeners witness the power of faith, resilience, and the pursuit of personal transformation. Join us on this heartfelt exploration of Judaism and the human spirit.

[1] Miriam mentions that Jewish conversion is forbidden by traditional Jewish conversion practices.

[2] Miriam briefly mentions that the guys were meeting for Shabbat. This mostly involved using prayerbooks without transliteration, guiding themselves through the service, and lighting electric candles. Amy changes all that—she brings in challah and juice, teaches them how to sing, and helps them navigate the meanings behind the ritual. But in the beginning, it’s just 3-5 men working their way through the prayerbook as best as possible.

[3] You’ll hear a lot more from (and about) Ari in episode 3, but he’s amazing. The first language he learned while incarcerated was German, inspired by an employee in another correctional facility who would practice with him. He never painted before in his life, but a mentor in a different prison took him under his wing and taught Ari. One trend you’ll notice is that Ari is a voracious learner, a true embodiment of learning for learning's sake. He wants to be an attorney and is currently studying law.

[4] Ari learns Hebrew by tapes and CDs. If you’re interested in learning on your own, check out this great book for adult learners , Aleph Isn’t Tough, or try out prayer karaoke, you can practice with just about any liturgy, this one is for the Shema prayer, which you hear Josh say during the conversion ritual.

[5] Josh is featured in episode 4. He’s super into support animals. He makes beaded jewelry of Magen David stars, earrings, and bracelets. Here’s a tutorial, if you want to try and make some too! He also co-authored a few books, including this one: Incarcerated Individual’s Pathway to Restorative Justice.

[6] We briefly mention the COVID pandemic. It cannot be stated enough how difficult it was to be incarcerated during those initial 18 months of the pandemic, particularly in Washington State, where the first USA cases emerged. There are all kinds of studies around what happened in congregant living situations. Here’s one report from Washington State Institute for Public Policy. For the folks on this podcast, life meant restricted movement. Including confinement to pods if you were healthy, or if you contracted COVID you might be moved into an isolation unit, also used for solitary confinement, to reduce the spread. Yet, COVID spread quickly. There were mass deaths. It was an incredibly difficult time. One positive element, is that tablets were made available for every individual that included books, podcasts, access to video and email communication (through a restricted and monitored service). This made passing the time more manageable, reduced loneliness, and encouraged education. There are mixed experiences with the tablets, as you see here and here, but for Ari and Josh, the tablets were the gateway to the Jewish community and Jewish learning.

[7] We make a big point not to declare that a certain way of converting or being Jewish is THE only way to convert or be Jewish. But that statement in itself is a radical declaration. What Judaism Unbound took on in this case, is counter to many denominational requirements and processes around Jewish conversion. Huh... not a huge surprise that Judaism Unbound is counterculture! We will dig deeper into how the Judaism Unbound approach differs from many mainstream approaches.

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Episode 1 - "Jewish Enough" follows the stories of Ari and Josh, two men pursuing Jewish conversion while incarcerated. Despite facing obstacles and judgments, they find belonging and community within Judaism. The episode explores themes of identity, conversion, and belonging, shedding light on the challenges and joys of practicing Judaism behind bars. Through their journey, listeners witness the power of faith, resilience, and the pursuit of personal transformation. Join us on this heartfelt exploration of Judaism and the human spirit.

[1] Miriam mentions that Jewish conversion is forbidden by traditional Jewish conversion practices.

[2] Miriam briefly mentions that the guys were meeting for Shabbat. This mostly involved using prayerbooks without transliteration, guiding themselves through the service, and lighting electric candles. Amy changes all that—she brings in challah and juice, teaches them how to sing, and helps them navigate the meanings behind the ritual. But in the beginning, it’s just 3-5 men working their way through the prayerbook as best as possible.

[3] You’ll hear a lot more from (and about) Ari in episode 3, but he’s amazing. The first language he learned while incarcerated was German, inspired by an employee in another correctional facility who would practice with him. He never painted before in his life, but a mentor in a different prison took him under his wing and taught Ari. One trend you’ll notice is that Ari is a voracious learner, a true embodiment of learning for learning's sake. He wants to be an attorney and is currently studying law.

[4] Ari learns Hebrew by tapes and CDs. If you’re interested in learning on your own, check out this great book for adult learners , Aleph Isn’t Tough, or try out prayer karaoke, you can practice with just about any liturgy, this one is for the Shema prayer, which you hear Josh say during the conversion ritual.

[5] Josh is featured in episode 4. He’s super into support animals. He makes beaded jewelry of Magen David stars, earrings, and bracelets. Here’s a tutorial, if you want to try and make some too! He also co-authored a few books, including this one: Incarcerated Individual’s Pathway to Restorative Justice.

[6] We briefly mention the COVID pandemic. It cannot be stated enough how difficult it was to be incarcerated during those initial 18 months of the pandemic, particularly in Washington State, where the first USA cases emerged. There are all kinds of studies around what happened in congregant living situations. Here’s one report from Washington State Institute for Public Policy. For the folks on this podcast, life meant restricted movement. Including confinement to pods if you were healthy, or if you contracted COVID you might be moved into an isolation unit, also used for solitary confinement, to reduce the spread. Yet, COVID spread quickly. There were mass deaths. It was an incredibly difficult time. One positive element, is that tablets were made available for every individual that included books, podcasts, access to video and email communication (through a restricted and monitored service). This made passing the time more manageable, reduced loneliness, and encouraged education. There are mixed experiences with the tablets, as you see here and here, but for Ari and Josh, the tablets were the gateway to the Jewish community and Jewish learning.

[7] We make a big point not to declare that a certain way of converting or being Jewish is THE only way to convert or be Jewish. But that statement in itself is a radical declaration. What Judaism Unbound took on in this case, is counter to many denominational requirements and processes around Jewish conversion. Huh... not a huge surprise that Judaism Unbound is counterculture! We will dig deeper into how the Judaism Unbound approach differs from many mainstream approaches.

Previous Episode

undefined - Trailer

Trailer

In its inaugural season, Tales of the Unbound follows the Jewish journey of two incarcerated individuals, their chaplain, and the community they co-created in the most unlikely of places. It happens to be within a prison context and about Jewish conversion. Yet, it is also a case study for all of us, regardless of where we are in our lives, about how we can transcend barriers to the life we want to lead through possibility.

Next Episode

undefined - Episode 2: Yes Way!

Episode 2: Yes Way!

Tales of the Unbound: Episode 2 – Yes Way! explores the role of prison chaplaincy in cultivating a sense of belonging and Jewish connection among incarcerated people. This episode specifically follows Amy, the Jewish sponsor and chaplain at Monroe Correctional. We talk about what it felt like to first enter the space, how she cultivated a thoughtful community, and where the boundaries lay around Jewish identity.

[1] Do you love this music? We do, too! Ric Hordinski created special tracks for each interviewee, along with intros and outros. He’s amazing, and it’s worth checking out his many phenomenal works, including The Silence of Everything, Arthur’s Garden, and some of the Jewish music he created for JustLove, like this one based on Psalm 23.

[2] The garden at Monroe Correctional is beautiful. You can learn more about gardening as a practice through the Evergreen State College and Washington State Department of Corrections: Sustainability in Prisons project.

[3] Hineni, Here I am. Is a term we see through the Hebrew Bible. First, when God is searching for Adam in the Garden of Eden, Adam calls out to God “Hineni”. And when, Abraham is responding to God’s request to sacrifice his son, Abraham says “Hineni”. Hineni, as a response of readiness to do God’s will shows up 178 times in the Bible. And in Jewish pop culture from the song, “You Want It Darker” by Leonard Cohen to the book “Here I am” by Jonathan Safran Foer, Jews use this term to reference a response to a higher calling.

[4] Amy talks about where she couldn’t start from -and then goes on to name some Hebrew phrases that relate to the Jewish liturgy. She says “Kabbalat Shabbat” referring to the songs sung to help usher into Shabbat. It also means Friday evening – or the first stage of Sabbath.

[5] Siddur is the Hebrew word for prayerbook. Every Jewish denomination and community of Jews has a prayerbook for their specific group. The difference might range on whether English is included or transliteration (the phonetic way to process the Hebrew words in English letters). Some prayers are omitted, some have pictures or chords to sing, while others are all in Hebrew with no directions on where to stand or sit, respond, or sing along. There is a wide variation of what is included, but in most, you will find prayers (sung or read) for welcoming the Sabbath, gathering as a community of practice, healing, and mourning. The specific one that Amy refers to is likely the “Weiss Edition Siddur” which is provided free of charge by the Aleph Institute to those in the military and those incarcerated.

[6] Ari and Josh talk a lot about Amy’s singing. All the guys do. Jewish prayer includes lots of chanting and singing. But almost no organized Jewish prayer has a hymnal. There might be a projector with words or a song session with a songbook after services, but for the prayers itself, learning how we sing them outcomes primarily through osmosis. For Ari, he never had prayed Jewishly in song before Amy.

[7] Shalom Aleichem is the song that Amy is singing in this piece. The prayer calls on the angels of the Sabbath to join us. We welcome them and ask for them to reside among us. You can find the words here, a great traditional rendition here, and a powerful one by Debbie Friedman here.

[8] Amy talks about nurturing and damaging ... She says the damage part tongue in cheek. Meaning it in how we raise all our children – doing our best to do well and teach goodness, and still, our kids have plenty to complain about. So too it is with the guys. She nurtures, encourages, and loves them, and she’s very firm about boundaries and is careful about what she teaches.

[9] Hippocratic oath is the ethical oath physicians take to do their best only to pursue beneficial treatments. Typically, when we refer to the Hippocratic Oath outside of the medical field, we talk about the commitment to “first, do no harm.” Or in the Greek, primum non nocere. It’s actually not part of the Hippocratic Oath – it’s part of a different Greek writing called “Of the Epidemics”. But for our purposes, what Amy is talking about is to avoid harm or double down on trauma and the suffering that the guys have already been through and use Judaism solely as a tool for personal betterment and strength.

[10] Miriam references Pirkei Avot 1:1, which you can read in more detail here.

[11] ...

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