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. This great article on www.myjewishlearning.org breaks down some basics and denominational differences.[8] We make a strong statement about how we d