What Does Being Jewish Now Mean?

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Ask a Jewish question, get a Jewish answer: It's complicated. It would be impossible to fully represent the richness and variety of Jewish experiences, but who better to try than a bunch of writers? So, author, publisher, and podcaster Zibby Owens took on the task in her anthology, "On Being Jewish Now" (see what I did there?); also a Substack where anyone can submit an essay. You may know Zibby from her long-running podcast, Totally Booked, (formerly Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books) which started in 2018 and has hosted more than 2100 authors since then. Zibby is a gifted interviewer, but she's also a fascinating guest!

GLOSSARY and More:

The global Jewish population is just under 16 million people, or about 0.19% of the global population. Nearly half reside in Israel, the Jewish ancestral homeland, from which they were expelled by the Romans in 70 CE after residing there for centuries, of which there is recorded history going back to at least 1200 BCE. The Jewish population of the U.S. is approximately 7.6 million, or about 2.4%.

Reform Judaism is a branch of modern Judaism that grew out of early-19th Century assimilationist sentiments in Germany, instituting various reforms including mixing genders in the synagogue, including music and using local language to lead services (as opposed to Hebrew).

Am Yisrael: meaning "people of Israel" appears frequently in the Torah in reference to the Jewish people. The text of the Torah is dated to 1000-1500 BCE. The earliest recorded reference to a state of “Israel” is from the Merneptah Stele, dating to about 1203 BCE.

The 5800 years reference: The Hebrew Calendar year is counted from the traditional biblical date of creation, currently 5785, similar to how Christian custom counts from the traditional date of Jesus' birth. To learn about the archaeological evidence of “Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?”, check out the book by that name, by famed Biblical archaeologist Bill Dever (who is also, full disclosure, my stepdad!).

More on Tikkun Olam with Rabbi Shankman in Episode 1!

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