GOLDA Girls
A podcast for Jewish women with a lot to say.
GOLDA founder Stephanie Butnick sits down with journalist Gabby Deutch, novelist Esther Chehebar, and Rabbi Diana Fersko each week to talk culture, community, identity, and the everyday moments shaping modern Jewish life.
GOLDA Girls
Back to Basics
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GOLDA founder Stephanie Butnick, novelist Esther Chehebar, and Rabbi Diana Fersko are joined by Mamaleh Jewelry founder Dara Katz to kick off 5787. The Girls talk about the behind-the-scenes stress of the High Holidays, the Macklemore drama, and more.
They also go back to basics and dig into the Shema prayer, with some help from the Simchat Torah Challenge’s Shema Initiative. And of course, there’s jewelry involved: join the Shema Initiative and enter to win a Shema bracelet by Oriya Jewels. Sign up at SimchatTorahChallenge.org/Golda.
This week’s recommendations:
Mamaleh’s Yente nameplate necklace, mahjong tile charm, and challah charm.
Good for the Jews:
Stephanie: Sydney Sweeney spotted at synagogue on Rosh Hashanah.
Dara: Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts’ daughter Kai Schreiber walking the Thom Browne runway at New York Fashion Week.
Esther: Dara Horn’s new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Letter to the Living.
Diana: Miznon’s Bag of Green Beans.
Upcoming events:
September 22, 2026 — New York City: Diana interviews Zibby Owens about her new book Between Chapters at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan; https://www.mmjccm.org/event/between-chapters-zibby-owens-in-conversation-with-rabbi-diana-fersko
October 14, 2026 — New York City + virtual: Stephanie in conversation with Matti Friedman at 92NY (in-person and streaming); https://www.92ny.org/event/matti-friedman-with-stephanie-butnick.
October 15, 2026 — New York City: Save the date for the next event in our Harmonie Club residency, all about redefining Jewish jewelry and Judaica and featuring some of our favorite designers and artists.
October 19, 2026 — New York City: Stephanie interviews Rabbi Rachel Ain for the launch of her book, Watch How You Go: Jewish Wisdom for Your Journey Ahead, at Sutton Place Synagogue; spsnyc.shulcloud.com/form/rrabooklaunch.
Find out about all of our upcoming events at goldaguide.com/p/events.
Subscribe to GOLDA at goldaguide.com and follow us on Instagram at @goldaguide.
Where you can find the GOLDA Girls:
Sign up for Diana Fersko’s print newsletter, Modern Jewess, at modern-jewess.com, and buy her book, We Need to Talk About Antisemitism, at rabbidianafersko.com/books.
Get Esther Chehebar’s novel Sisters of Fortune at bookshop.org/a/110357/9780593734544, and her children’s book I Share My Name, at bookshop.org/a/110357/9781532432187.
Buy Stephanie Butnick’s book, The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, at bookshop.org/a/110357/9781579658939.
GOLDA Girls is a production of GOLDA Media. The show is executive produced by Ariel Shapiro and edited by POLDHU.
Sponsors:
GOLDA Girls is presented by Nu Reads, a new Jewish book subscription series curated by the Jewish Book Council that brings remarkable literature straight to your door. Get 15% off your subscription with code NuGolda. Visit NuReads.org to get started today.
This episode is also sponsored by the Simchat Torah Challenge’s Shema Initiative, created in collaboration with NJOP. The Shema Initiative invites us to reconnect with Judaism’s most foundational prayer through beautiful videos, art, inspiration, and even a free Hebrew Reading Crash Course. Join The Shema Initiative and you can enter to win a beautiful gold-plated Shema bracelet handmade by Oriya—a piece of jewelry designed to remind you to keep this foundational prayer top of mind and close to your heart. Learn more and sign up at SimchatTorahChallenge.org/Golda.
Intro
SPEAKER_01Gold again, you know I love our presenting sponsor, New Reads, the Jewish book subscription series that brings remarkable literature straight to your door. I happen to know there's a new book coming your way as we speak. So look out for the latest New Reads shipment in your mailbox. And I'll be interviewing that mystery author on the show soon. With the New Reads subscription, you're getting books, of course, but you're also getting access to exclusive experiences with authors and a community built on a shared passion for Jewish storytelling. New Reads is offering Golda Girls listeners 15% off their subscription. Just use the code NUGOLDA, N-U-G-O-L-D-A at checkout. Head to Newreads.org. That's n-u-re-a-d-s.org to get started today. Welcome to Golda Girls, the podcast for Jewish women with a lot to say. I'm Stephanie Butnick, the founder of the Jewish lifestyle guide Golda, and I'm joined by novelist Esther Shehabar. Hi, Shana Tabah. And Rabbi Diana Fersco.
SPEAKER_02Feeling very golden this morning.
SPEAKER_01Joining us in a bit will be Derek Hatz from Mama La Jewelry, one of my favorite fun Jewish brands. We'll also be doing another segment in partnership with our friends at the Simco Torah Challenge, all about their Shema initiative. I'm feeling very 5787 in this moment. Ugh, so good. What does that feel like? It feels amazing. It feels like crisp apples, crisp air, everything's fresh. Potential, possibility, joy. Come on. I love all of it.
"Cool Jewish Girly Pop"
SPEAKER_01But first, before we even catch up, I need to tell you guys I got the best bit of feedback from a listener. And I moderated an event at the JCC on the upper west side of Manhattan. And the reason I love doing events like this is because you get to meet actual people. And so someone came up to me after the event and she said, I have to tell you, I love your podcast. She's like, I feel like it's just cool Jewish girly pop. And I was like, Yes. She's like, I don't know if that is that a bad thing to say. And I was like, no, that is the perfect thing to say.
SPEAKER_00She's like, the best thing you can hear.
SPEAKER_01And she's like, you just make everything seem just so accessible. The way you guys talk about everything is exactly the way that I talk about it. And she's like, it's just so refreshing to hear that. So I wanted to share that with the two of you and just say, like, cool Jewish girly pop.
SPEAKER_00I'll take it. I think that should be our new tagline. Cool Jewish girly pop. But yeah, I feel like we want the podcast to feel like you just dropped into one of our living rooms or whatever. So mission accomplished. That's great.
SPEAKER_01I love it. So I need to check in with both
The secret stress of the High Holidays
SPEAKER_01of you because both of you hosted. I did not host. Esther, you got your 40-plus person lunch. Diana, you did your first ever Rosh Hashanah dinner. I just, I've been waiting, like, I've been waiting to find out. I didn't want to ask you over text. I need to know on the air.
SPEAKER_02To be honest with you, I nailed it. I don't know what else to say, except that I basically decided, okay, if I'm not going to be like master of the Bima anymore, I am going to be like master of my Rosh Hashanah table. So I told you I went crazy with Goldeguide. I had all the things. I had the pomegranate table runner. I had, you know, the honey lollipops for every guest that they could eat at any time, which I thought was special, something sweet at any moment, not just dessert. The food came out beautifully. Shout out to my mom, who's my number one helper who cooked a ton. My girls helped. We said the blessings, obviously. We went to shul. It was so beautiful and wonderful and crazy for me. Very, very different, but I felt so nourished. And that was really like just wild.
SPEAKER_00I'm so happy to hear that and not surprised at all that you nailed it. I need some of that energy over here. I've just got back literally from a walk with my best friend, and we were both recapping our meals. We both hosted big lunches, and we both found that we had cried multiple times over the holiday. We were just talking about the insane pressure, I think, that we put on ourselves to host these very, they're not like elaborate or anything, but these delicious meals. We have big families, our husbands have big families in Syrian culture. Like we all have big families, we all invite everybody. And I think whereas in my grandparents' generation, it was more of a laid-back affair where everybody chipped in and the expectation was that the food be good and that was it. Now with our generation, it's the food has to be good, but also the table decor has to be beautiful, and the kids have to be behaved, and the weather outside has to be amazing, and we just have to perform this meal with just hit every note, basically. And I found myself over the course of the three-day holiday just so overwhelmed by the menu that I had come up with and the amount of people that I was having, on top of taking care of my three young kids and getting them ready for shul and all the things. And I know that this holiday is supposed to be this time of joy and happiness. And I was mentioning to Diana that what part of the rabbi's sermon in Shul was about how whatever attitude you put forth on Rosh Hashanah is that attitude, that's going to be a reflection of your whole whole year, basically. And so I'm paraphrasing and I'm probably not doing I know I'm not doing the rabbi sermon justice, but he basically said, if you want to have shalom bai for the whole year, if you want to have your a nice relationship with your partner, try not to fight on Rosh Hashanah. And I was like, that's one in the gutter.
SPEAKER_01But also, yeah, host 100 people and yeah, like how could you not? And not fight.
SPEAKER_00And also don't scream at your kids because then you'll be screaming for the next 363 days. And I was like, that one's in the gutter, too. So now I'm 0 for 2 basically. My year is gonna be shit. And I'm just like, excuse my language. And I was just, I found my I felt really down on myself and really sad. And then it started raining, and it wasn't normal rain. It was the flood rain that we've been having all summer because that's what rain looks like now. And I was supposed to host this meal outside because I can't fit 43 people in my house. So I was moving my bridge tables and just and listen, it all worked out and it was amazing, and the meal was incredible and it was delicious, and everyone had a great time. The kids were so happy and running around and being kids, and it was festive, and the meal lasted, you know, from 12 to 6 is when people left. And it was like meals do, and it was great. But on my reflective walk with my best friend this morning, we were just talking about this pressure that we put on ourselves, and particularly in this holiday, Rosh Shana, this the beginning of the new year. And I would just like to see, I mean, it's something that I'm trying to work on, you know, like not everything has to be perfect, and it's okay for things to not go as planned. But I would I would love to hear, Diane, it doesn't sound like you cried much, and I'm I'm very glad to hear that. But I would love to hear, even from like our listeners, maybe. Did you guys have any like not to harp on low moments at all? We should all be happy. But I'm sure that I can't be the only one that feels this pressure and that places these expectations on myself.
SPEAKER_01I think this is sort of the perfect storm of like perfectionism. I think that is gonna sound familiar to a lot of our listeners. This idea that everything we do should be perfect, plus Instagramification of all of it. And then also the pressure of the holiday. My version of that is I have a five-year-old and a one-year-old, and I wanted to take them to services and they start at 8:45. We got there at nine. It is hard to get everyone out there and out the door and on time. And we're lucky to have family nearby. We did the first night in New Jersey with my in-laws, and we did the second night at my sister's house up in Westchester, and it's amazing, but that drive is a lot. I'm so happy to go there, and my kids love being there, and I wouldn't do anything to be there. But packing, like getting the stuff for, oh, what's the food? Do we have a bottle? Like there's a lot that goes into that that's logistical. And it's funny because my mother-in-law always says, you know, her mom, who my second daughter is named for, always said, you can't nap on Rosh Hashanah. That's the one thing. The one day of the year you can't nap because then you're gonna sleep through the new year. And that's a lot like what you're saying, Esther, about like how you act on these holidays is the way portends how the year is gonna be. And you know what happened on that drive up to Westchester? I passed out. I was so exhausted. And I had this then feeling thing, like, oh no, did I ruin my year? And here's what I'm gonna say. I know, Rabbi, Diana, you're the rabbi, so you can give the dispensation, but I'm gonna offer my Jewish podcaster dispensation. Let's not do that. That is an enormous amount of pressure to place on ourselves. I think we're gonna have a great year. I hope we're gonna have a great year. I don't think that us getting snippy or being hungry, think about Yom Kippur, we're all gonna be fasting and in the worst mood. Like, there's so much pressure on the holidays. And the one thing I wanna say that I saw that I love, which is Avital Goldschmidt, who runs Altnoi, this new synagogue on Upper East Side. I love her. She's very real about the life of Rabbit Sinnarabi's wife. And she's also running, she's like a startup founder essentially, running the synagogue. And she posted something the morning of Rosh Hashanah, which was a picture of all these kids' toys. And it says, the kids' toys and prizes are starting to arrive. Army of nannies on its way, because childcare and shul ensures that there's 100% participation, not 50%. And I love what she's saying because she's like, I did something that allows the women in my congregation, in my community, to be full participants. And I just, let's just give ourselves a break. There's so much going on. And I just want us to say, like, deep breath, we got this. Let's cut the superstition. Let's just embrace how amazing we're doing this and the imperfections that come and like and lower the pressure on ourselves.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, not to mention the the pressures of the implications of the actual holiday, right? Of like trying to like, you know, be what whatever, you know, resolution you took upon yourself to whether it's to be a better Jew or a better mom or some some goal that you want to fulfill or to better yourself in whatever way, there's also that pressure, right? Of the actual, what the expectation of the holiday is. And I just, I do feel like for me, that got clouded a bit by the all of the external pressures that, like you said, we place on ourselves and like this veneer that we feel like we have to put on where everything's perfect. You know, the first thing when I looked outside and I saw the rain, I'm like, who nah has me? Like, who has me? I've been talking about this meal. I said it on the path.
SPEAKER_01I know the sentiment, but what does it mean?
SPEAKER_00Who gave me the evil eye? You know, like who brought the rain after I said I was hosting my meal outside on beautiful farm tables that I couldn't use.
SPEAKER_02Those farm tables are legendary. Like everyone in my universe is like, she rented farm tables. I don't know what to say. I rented farm tables that I couldn't use. That's the best part. Holidays bring pressure. I also feel like you guys are in a particularly hard stage of life because you have young children. And there's no getting around that. Like the children make the holidays what they are for better and for worse. It's like they are the drivers. So I just think what you're describing is totally normal. And that um obviously you're both amazing all-stars who like we would all be so lucky to be like. But um, I I don't know. I I I just think it's a common experience of women feeling like crushed and pressured and torn. And the game is like, can you build a supportive community to like cheer you on? And are you doing the things that actually matter to you and your family? You know, I I think like those are the the guideposts to getting through it.
SPEAKER_01Um, should I say Shana Tova? Yeah. But I I do think that it's worth just saying all of this. We're not gonna solve it, and maybe we can figure out how Yom Kippur, again, let's add no food to this, and also maybe preparing for a hosting a breakfast or getting to a breakfast. But these are taxing days, and I think that we need to just say that and say, like, we see it. I wonder maybe if we just sort of like embrace the chaos a little bit and say, like, nothing is perfect.
SPEAKER_02I just feel like my grandma would always say, like, you have to have a sense of humor about everything. It's a little funny that like there was a monsoon when Esther rented like the perfect farm table. You know what I mean? Like, it's like Alanis Morissette would have something to say about this. Yes, there's a give-in element.
SPEAKER_00I will give myself credit and say that when I saw rain at 12 o'clock and I was expecting everyone like to come out of shul at 12:30 and be ready to eat at one and be starving. I immediately pivoted. Like, I didn't sit there paralyzed. Like, what do I do? I got the mahjong tables out. I put whatever cloth I could find. It was beautiful. And I put like all of the adults, if you were like age 45 and older, you got to sit on the big table. Pivoted right away. And I thought to myself, I got this. And it was great. And 100%, I walked into the meal. I opened the door with a smile on my face, with a good attitude. And back to what Stephanie was saying, the sentiment that I 100% agree with. I know that there will come a day, hopefully, that I will miss the chaos of like my three kids under the age of eight running around with their cousins, screaming, making a mess. There's spaghetti on the walls, like whatever it is. I'm not trying to be like sappy or like saccharin about it, but I know that there's gonna come a time where you're gonna miss that. And so embrace the chaos.
SPEAKER_01Embrace the chaos, 5787. I love it. We did it. We managed the perfect Instagrammable ending. We made it look great.
Dara Katz of Mamaleh Jewelry
SPEAKER_01Today we are joined by a very special guest, Darek Katz, the founder of Mamala Jewelry, and the co-host of the Dunn podcast, which I highly enjoy and feel like I'm a proud listener of that show. Dara, welcome to Golda Girls.
SPEAKER_03Hi, I'm so excited to be here, and I'm a proud listener of Golda Girls. So thank you for having me. And I can't believe we haven't met in real life. I feel like we have met on some plane and some universe.
SPEAKER_01I feel like people say the internet is bad for a lot of things. The internet is great for like strong friendship. You like some stuff, you're like, I love this, you become friends.
Macklemore drama
SPEAKER_01Exactly. We have to talk about Macklemore. I don't even know how to say that. I've never actually said that out loud. Macklemore? Macklemore? Macaless. Macaless, thank you. If you follow any like Jewish Instagram people, you know this story, which is that Macklemore was the opening act for Ed Sheeran, who's on the US leg of his tour. And as part of Macklemore's act, he he plays the song Heinz Hall, which is about the encampments at Columbia. On the screen during his performance, he's projecting Free Palestine. There's a lot of footage from Gaza. It's a very sort of intense experience. And people saw that for the first two nights of the tour and were surprised and shocked, especially given that Ed Sheeran's concerts are like very par of, right? It's family friendly, it's happy, it's fun. And a lot of people were coming to these shows and getting this very intense political message. People got really, really mad. I think we can all sort of know where this is going. People resurfaced the fact that 2014 at these concerts, McLemore put on these prosthetic nos and looked a little bit like he was performing as an orthodox Jew. It was like a sort of a garish, grotesque performance. He said, You know, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't mean that to be offensive. Anyway, let's fast forward a few days after the internet outrage. Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium, which is the next stop on the tour, says, McLemore can't come here. He's got to leave the tour. Mcklamore posts on Instagram, basically. So they're censoring me, Ed Sheeran. You know, he tries to be non-political. Ed Sheeran's like, it's not my fault, it's the promoter's fault. A whirlwind, chaos. I hate the story. I hate that I had to say all of those words. I had to hate that I had to explain it. I don't even want to talk about it anymore, but we need to.
SPEAKER_00And then Steph, afterwards, update the story a little bit. The two other openers who were Phineas and I forget his first name, Ro. His last name's Ro, pulled out as openers and said, in solidarity with Macklemore and in support of Free Palestine, I guess we will not be performing.
SPEAKER_03This is a weird concert.
SPEAKER_01This is a really weird. It's like Billie Eilish's brother is opening. Like, what is happening?
SPEAKER_00Well, they're all Irish.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_00Well, Macklemore is Irish. Phineas is Irish. Et Sheron's Irish. I did not know that Macklemore is Irish. He I looked it up because I was like, where is this guy from? I want to know everything about him and nothing at the same time. Part of the defense, I guess, is like as an Irish person, we know a lot about oppression. We know from.
SPEAKER_03Oh, like the troubles. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So that's a narrative that's being peddled, which so much false equivalency there that we could talk about. It's just so funny to see like little Ed Sheeran caught in the middle. Like a part of me feels I I do feel bad for him. Am I am I wrong to feel that way? For Ed Sheeran.
SPEAKER_01Someone had a great take, which is like, your free speech is real. Like you could say whatever you want, but you also were like existing in a marketplace where like people might not like it, and people who are paying for tickets to something else and seeing it, that backlash is also legitimate. You're being paid to provide a service. This is just one of those stories that just is bad for the Jews, though. It's bad for the Jews. It's like it reeks of Galeano, right? Where we're like, oh, this thing happened. Oh, we're gonna, we obviously have to say something. Oh, it's gonna, it's gonna come like there's gonna be something changed. Yes.
SPEAKER_02What's interesting to me, Steph, is part of when I hear you framing these things and talking about them, part of what I hear bothers you is that people don't like quote the Jews when we are the ones sort of fighting back or shutting up someone that is guilty of hate speech. I'm only calling you out on that because I think that sort of like instinct is something that's happening a lot in the Jewish community right now. And I guess my question is, can you live with that?
SPEAKER_01I got called on this recently by a friend who I really respect. I forget what instance it was, but I was like, oh, the the pushback on this is almost as annoying as what's happening. And she was like, Well, what should we do? Nothing. And I was like, Yeah, it is really hard. That what I'm reacting to is this perception that like powerful Jews behind the scenes said they didn't like something.
SPEAKER_02I think it's ingrained in you. And I'm again, not you, but I'm just using it like generally. I think Robert Kraft doesn't like hate speech. He has a long history of disliking hate speech and doing things to condemn hate speech. I think that it's like we as American Jews need to get comfortable with standing up for ourselves and having people tell other stories about what that means. That's the way to move forward from this, is just to say, great, we did the best we could in an absolutely awful situation on to the next. And it's not the worst thing in the world if people dislike us for that. It's more important to stand up for ourselves than it is to be afraid that more people won't like us.
SPEAKER_00I relate to Stephanie and I and I totally hear what you're saying. When you see such like an obvious flex of power and it's and it's effective, right? Not only does it confirm the stereotype, but it forces, you know, regular Jews who are just like walking around like being Jewish, living their Jewish lives, to take a stance. It's not that you want to just shut up and pretend that these problems don't exist, but you just want to live your life. And I think like when these cataclysmic events happen that sort of like center Jews and Jewish stereotypes, like when they occur, it just stops you from doing just that, from just living your regular normal life. But I will say, as like an avid concert goer, I hate any political messaging at a concert of any kind. I don't care if I agree or disagree. Like when I'm going to a show, and of course, like art is political, musicians are political. I'm not naive. Understand that a lot of the messaging under like my favorite songs and my favorite artists are political messages. And a lot of times I agree with them, but I just appreciate subtlety and I appreciate things coming through in the music subtly. And I don't want to go to a show, regardless of if I whether I agree with the message or not, and feel like I'm getting hit over the head with a political baseball bat. I want to go and I'm going for like escapism also on some level, right? I think that's what art provides us with. Part of me is upset just for that reason alone, like regardless of the issue and of the political message itself. And I think I think that's what Ed Sheeran was getting at in his game. It was like, I love how you called it par of Stephanie because it's that's a perfect way to describe Ed Sheeran. There's children at his concerts, there's moms with their kids, teenage couples like starting out in the new relation, and they just want to have like a positive experience listening to some sappy songs, like on some level. And why does everything have to be? I don't want to sound like that person, like, why does everything have to be political? But yeah, why does everything have to be political?
SPEAKER_03Ultimately, I'm just like, I don't like going to concerts. I hate it, I hate crowds. I need to be serenaded one-on-one. And did you hear that? I guess like one, if you go to a concert and you're bringing your kids, I don't know. Do you what are you owed? I don't know. Tickets, they are so expensive and ridiculous. And it doesn't say like in this fine print, like, you will not be treated to a two-minute political slideshow, which is interesting. Like, you don't think about that before you step into a space with your child. But at the same time, like, I don't know, I don't really care what Macklemore says. I don't really, that's what his thoughts are his thoughts. I do believe in free speech and the consequences of free speech, whatever that means. There's also like, if you don't want to make a big deal out of something, don't make a big deal out of it. It's called the Streisand effect. If you make a bigger deal out of something, people will remember it more than you wanted it to. So now this whole thing is like snowballed into us talking about McLemore, Ed Sheeran, three Irishmen on a concert. And no one's spoken about Macklemore since he had one hit, guys. I thought he was like a weird ale Yankovich of white rappers. I forgot who he was. And now he's like probably the voice of Palestine now. So we have given him all of this on a platter. So if we don't want him to have more power, let's just stop talking about it.
SPEAKER_01It's funny because I think the thing we can all agree on, everyone in the whole world, is that no one came to that edge sheer in concert hoping to hear about Israel. The tension of this moment almost seems for the Jewish community to be like, what are we going to speak out against? And how are we going to use our power or our influence? And what are the ramifications of that? And I love that we actually do feel differently about that. And we also feel like uncomfortable about that. I love Diana that you called me on the idea of the perception of the Jews and that being something that I'm so concerned with. Cause I think it's such a piece of this moment. There's the text of what's happening. And then, like the subtext. We are in this incredibly complicated moment where it seems like every public figure wants to talk about issues that are very important to our community. Sometimes we don't want them to, but they are. And I think that how we react as a community is going to be something that we are all thinking about and watching. And I imagine there's gonna be more incidents like this. We'll be here to talk about it and break it all down. All right, we want to hear from you. What are you thinking about all this? Send us a note hi at goldeguide.com and help us keep the conversation going. We'll be back after this with a special segment in partnership with our friends at the Simcotorah Challenge.
Upcoming events
SPEAKER_01Golda Gang, we have so many events coming up. On Wednesday, October 14th, I'll be in conversation with Mati Friedman at the 92nd Street Y. And then on Monday, October 19th, I will be at Sutton Place Synagogue interviewing Rabbi Rachel Ain about her new book, Watch How You Go: Jewish Wisdom for Your Journey Ahead. You can find links to register for both of these and find out about all of our upcoming Golda events at Goldeguide.com/slash P slash events and also in the show notes.
Trending: The Shema
SPEAKER_01We are back. We've been talking a lot about the ways that we are preparing for the new year and the self that we are trying to bring into the new year, not just on those one-off high holiday days, which can be stressful, but throughout the rest of the new year. I'm excited to share something from our friends at the Simcoe Torah Challenge. So basically, what the Simco Torah Challenge is doing, in addition to their weekly newsletters that are bringing you the parsha of the week, the Torah portion of the week, and making it relevant to your modern lives, they also just launched something called the Shema Initiative. And this is in partnership with N-Jop. And this is designed to connect us with the Shema, the Foundational Jewish Prayer. So this initiative is trying to get people to commit to saying it twice a day. And I love it because it's so simple, but it's also so radical. And I have to admit that I do not think about the Shema regularly. I haven't actually thought about it. I yeah, I'm coming clean here on Golden Girls. I do want to say though that this past weekend when I was at the family service of day two Rosh Hashanah, and we heard the Shema and we closed our eyes and we said it. It was one of these moments where my daughter looked at me and was like, what are we doing now? What's everyone doing? And I had this moment of, oh, this is foundational. This is powerful. And I love the idea of just sort of like reclaiming this as something that's part of our daily lives. So, Diana, I need to go to you. You are our in-house rabbi. Tell us about this new prayer I just heard, the Shema.
SPEAKER_02Right. It's trending. The Shema is trending. No, the Shema is one of my top two favorite prayers.
SPEAKER_03Oh. Wait, what's the other one?
SPEAKER_02The other one, and this is a deep dive, is Elu Divarim, which is a list of sort of the most important mitzvah that you can do beyond measure. But that's for another day, guys. You'll have to wait. Stay tuned. So the Shema, we call it the watchword of our faith. We're deed over creed people, but if we had a creed, it would be this because it affirms the oneness of Hashem. This one God idea that we're bringing into the universe. Personal level, I just love the Shema. I use it as an almost mantra. Before I'm going into a hospital room, I'll say the Shema to myself. Before I'm giving a big sermon, I'm super nervous about, like I'll use the Shema as a way to just center myself and like bring that oneness within. I love teaching the Shema to children. I have hand motions, guys. I love that moment during prayer, where as you mentioned, Stephanie, you close your eyes and you just pause. The beginning, we were talking about all the running and the pressure and the meals and the mom life of it all. And the Shema is a moment of quiet. And so I think it makes sense that Simchatora Challenge is putting it out as sort of a way to say, like, hey, center yourself, take a pause, and we know how to do it. It's through this beautiful one-line prayer we call the Shema.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think the Shema to me is like a prayer of safety. It's the first prayer that I learned as a kid. It's the first prayer that my kids have learned, like even before Modellani, they learn the Shema. You put your right hand with the three fingers over your forehead and you say Shema. And I say it with my kids every single night before bed. They will not let me leave their rooms until we have said the Shema. And then the next prayer that we say is Hamal Acha Goel, which is like a also a prayer of protection. And they feel like they have a nightmare or they're feeling like scared of the dark. I don't know if it's like a parenting hack, but it's definitely something where I'm always looking for those hacks, guys. But like I'll go back to and I'll say, no, no, no. We're gonna say the Shema tonight. And then we're gonna say the extra prayer of Hamal Achal Gael, and you will be safe in your beds. My brother, my I have one brother, he's the oldest of four. And every single night when we were little, I don't know if it was because he was paranoid or he himself had bad nightmares, but he would literally go to each of my sisters, and I have two sisters, go to each of our beds, put his own hand over our foreheads and say the shema so that we would be protected. And we recently resurfaced this memory at the family dinner, and we were all laughing about how paranoid my brother was, but also about how sweet it was that he would say the shema over our foreheads every night. So I love the Shema. Huge fan. That's really sweet.
SPEAKER_03I had a friend growing up who in the morning would do the Shema when she woke up, and then before bed, she would do the Shema. And then she wouldn't talk between those two. Is that a thing? Well, that's a new thing for me. She wouldn't talk all day long. No, no, she wouldn't talk when she did the Shema at bedtime. She was like out of sleepover. She was like, Oh, okay. Umstituting that rule at home.
SPEAKER_00Guys, we can't talk. That's so good. That's so good. Right. I've heard Aurora doesn't work, guys. Children. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I feel like I growing up was never truly like connected to the Shema or anything like that. I was in a Jewish traveling singing group and we would go, Shema. Can you hear from the, you know, that. But the whole thing.
SPEAKER_02Please lead with that. I don't know much about the Shema. Nothing to say. I only have a song, you know, with motions.
SPEAKER_03I was more into like the musical theatricality of that. But now that I'm hearing you guys like a cappella? No, there was music. Okay. There was music to it. Now that I'm hearing you guys talk about it, it's I feel like with my brand and the connections I've been making through Jewish internet friends and stuff like that, I am kind of entering Judaism through like an adult lens. And it's interesting to like kind of rediscover these things and fold it into my life again as a mom and as an adult. And it's really beautiful and kind of exciting to see how I can do this stuff, kind of reparent myself with new things.
SPEAKER_02That is such a common and beautiful experience, Dara. Like I feel like so many Jewish adults right now are like, wait a minute, I missed out on some things as a kid. And perhaps I'm gonna dip my toe back in. I also want to say I there's a funny confluence happening at this very moment between jewelry, the Shema, and Dara, who's a wonderful jewelry maker, because I'm wearing a Shema necklace. Which is the Shema. I know, I just I didn't even plan this. It's the Shema all broken up into all the letters into different pieces, and I got it as a gift from my mika when I became a rabbi.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's beautiful. That is amazing. Yeah, that is creative. There is jewelry involved with the Shema Initiative. It is my obligation to tell you, yes, they knew. They were like Golden Girls. The confluence is real. Yes, when you tell people about the Shema Initiative, make sure they know that if you join the Shema Initiative, you can enter to win this beautiful Shema bracelet. It's a gold-plated bracelet by Ourea. And the idea of it is sort of just like your necklace. It's a piece of jewelry designed to remind you to keep this prayer top of mind and close to your heart. Okay, so obviously, this is exactly a perfect confluence, the Shema jewelry, all the things that we are going to adorn ourselves with in this new year. Head to simkhatorachallenge.org slash Golda to sign up and enter to win that bracelet.
Good for the Jews
SPEAKER_01All right, it's time for Good for the Jews, where we each share something we've discovered or embracing, rediscovered, that is good for the Jews. I will kick us off because I heard about a celeb sighting at Temple Shalom in Greenwich, Connecticut this weekend. And that was Sydney Sweeney in the pews with her boyfriend Scooter Braun. I feel conflicted that information was shared publicly. It then appeared in page six as part of an article about how serious they're getting. But I do just want to say Sydney Sweeney at Shule, good for the Jews.
SPEAKER_00It's funny that you mentioned Sydney Sweeney and not the naked football ad.
SPEAKER_01You know what else? In that naked football ad for this the sports betting app, do you hear the song at the end?
SPEAKER_00You clued me into this. I did not even notice it.
SPEAKER_01So Sydney Sweeney, she's in addition to showing up at Rosh Hashanah services, she did this sports betting ad where she's fairly naked and covered up by various sporting equipment. And this is just an ad for a sports betting company, and it's obviously being talked about because it's provocative. But the funniest thing is that the last 10 seconds of the ad, the music switches and it's hatikfa. It's like sort of like jam, like a like a guitari riff, and you're like, I know those bars. So anyway, I don't know who's it hot like minor chords. Yes, it's it's but it's like sort of like a no-y thing. I can't explain it. It's like, no, no, no, no. I think it's like sporty, cool sports. No one's figured that out yet. And we're heading there. What do you guys got? Darrow, can I put you on the spot? What do you have? You can put me on the spot.
SPEAKER_03Some other good for the Jews. We have Kai Schreiber, daughter of Lib Schreiber and Naomi Watts, had her first big modeling runway show, New York Fashion Week, in her Tom Brown down the runway. Gorgeous girl, Jewish, obviously, her dad. Just gorgeous, beautiful, like good for the Jews. We love it. Does that count? 100% that counts.
SPEAKER_00We spoke about Ella Rubin for like 20 minutes last week. Okay. Also another beautiful Jewish girl from the Upper West Side.
SPEAKER_02All right, Diana, tell us what's good for the Jews. Okay, my good for the Jews this week are the Misnone green beans. For those of you that don't know, Miz None is an excellent Israeli chef-led and owned restaurant in New York City with several branches, and I believe there are other places besides just New York. And they have these green beans that are not regular green beans. They come in a bag and they're amazing. I hope this is not an insult to them because they're so beyond. The way they're served, it's almost like a profoundly upscale French fry. And you can just pick one out and eat it, and they just make me so incredibly happy. What could be better for the Jews?
SPEAKER_01I love it. A nice crunch. Yes. A delicious crunch. I love that.
SPEAKER_00Okay, my Good for the Jews is bringing in another Dara, and that is Dara Horn, because I am reading her new book with the very provocative title, The Final Solution. To the Jewish Question. To the Jewish Question. I'm actually listening to the audiobook, something I rarely do, but Dara has a very great, unique voice. I was told that I was gonna feel uplifted and optimistic after reading this book. I'm not finished yet.
SPEAKER_01You're not there yet.
SPEAKER_00Thus far, I'm still in the ditches. But for like all of these Jews and non-Jews all over the world to basically recount their experiences with anti-Semitism, this is how she begins the book. And then, of course, it being a Dara Horn book, she talks about how she became the unlikely receptacle for all of our brethren's experiences with anti-Semitism and how she's dealing with that and the conclusion she's coming to after years of basically listening to Jews recount terrible, awful experiences. And supposedly the book does offer some solution, and I'm looking forward to getting there. I've just begun. There will be no more problems or solutions after this. But I recommend it. I read enough to recommend it already. Dara's work is so important, and we love her. So, Dara Horn, good for the Jews. Big week of Dara's.
SPEAKER_01Dara Katz, also good for the Jews. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me. It was so fun.
Outro
SPEAKER_01Golda Girls says production of Golda Media. The show is hosted by me, Stephanie Butnik with Diana Fersco, Esther Shahaber. And this week, Dara Katz of Mamala Jewelry, Mamala Jewelry.com. Get your Jewish bling. Ariel Shapiro is our executive producer, and we're edited by the team at Poldu. Get more Golda and subscribe to our newsletter at Goldeguide.com. Follow us on Instagram at Goldeguide. In our show notes, you can find links to everything we talked about and recommended on today's show. You can also find links to Diana's newsletter, Modern Jewess, Esther's novel, Sisters of Fortune, my book, Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, and my favorite Mamala jewelry pics. Send us all the mail. Send us your ask golden questions. Hi at Goldeguide.com. Thanks for listening and stay Golda. That's a Golda podcast.
