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This is a Holocaust survivor story you haven't heard. It is the story of Cantor David Wisnia, a man whose vocal talent saved him from certain death at Auschwitz. Featured in the new award-winning documentary, How Saba Kept Singing, David's story from a child in the Warsaw Ghetto to a survivor who shares his voice at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Liberation is one not to be missed. This week, Rabbi Pont speaks with David's grandson, singer/songwriter Avi Wisnia, about the truly remarkable man who was his Saba.
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During a first of its kind meeting of Holocaust survivors in Israel Syd Mandelbaum realized that he had to change the world. What followed is a lifetime dedicated to ridding the world of hunger. Enter Rock and Wrap it Up, an organization that takes food from concerts, stadiums, schools and feeds thousands of hungry people every year. Don't miss this episode about someone who has truly set out to make the world a better place.
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The fourth season of For the Love of Judaism kicks off with a special episode in honor of the 23rd anniversary of September 11th, 2001. In this episode, Rabbi Pont interviews retired New York City firefighter Dave Smentkowski whose experiences on 9/11 and in the days and years that followed will give chills to all of us as we remember tha fateful day.
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It has been an amazing third season of For the Love of Judaism. To send us off into the summer Rabbi Pont shares two recent sermons, one about his trip to the Nova Festival Exhibit in New York and the other about Father's Day and the many ways fathers impact our lives. Two very different sermons but both with inspiration to carry us through to September.
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Lots of kids are into sports but few get to live out their dreams as an NFL beat reporter for ESPN. This week's guest, New York Giants beat reporter Jordan Raanan, is one of those lucky few. Don't miss this far reaching conversation about what it is like to travel the country with an NFL team, the importance of relationships in the pursuit of your dreams, and what Jordan thinks is coming down the road for NFL fandom.
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Last month Rabbi Pont's daughter Emma graduated from the University of Michigan School of Nursing. As was reported across many news outlets, U of M's graduation ceremony was one of many that was disrupted by protestors.
A replay of a recent sermon, this episode features Rabbi Pont as he shares his experience in Ann Arbor from the perspective of a proud father and a proud Zionist. -
On this Yom HaShoah, the Day of Remembrance, we recall the six million who died at the hands of the Nazis. Among them was Greta Grunberg, a mother of two young boys who befriended a young German girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Greta lived in the same building, had breakfast together nearly every day and lit Shabbat candles, even after it was made illegal by the Nazis.
Some 82 years after Greta was deported from Germany, Elizabeth Umlandt, now 88 years old, remembers her friend and still holds on to the picture of Greta and her husband in hopes that their descendants will come and claim the picture the way Greta wanted. -
What happens when a working single mom from D.C. has the opportunity to live out her dream in the midst of a pandemic? She buys a farm in rural North Carolina!
That's the story of Wendy Rhein, owner of Chutzpah Hollow, a self-made homesteader who is part of a growing movement of Jewish farmers. This week Wendy took some time to chat with Rabbi Pont about how she came to move her family from the life they knew to the life she'd dreamed of in 2021, when the whole world was changing around her.
Don't miss this fascinating conversation. -
On Yom Kippur 2023 Rabbi Pont delivered a sermon commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. In late September, it was widely viewed as one of the worst wars that Israel has had to fight in its 75 year history. We had no idea that the Jewish world was about to be changed forever.
This week you can listen to this same sermon, knowing now what would come to be just two weeks after Yom Kippur. -
Ever wonder how the Conservative movement came to allow driving to Synagogue on Shabbat? Or whether it feels differently about driving electric cars on Shabbat? Or how it was decided that a livestreamed minyan was OK during the COVID-19 pandemic?
This week Rabbi Pont talks to Rabbi David Fine of Ridgewood, New Jersey who sits on the Halacha Committee for the Rabbinical Assembly and has been a part of many of the recent decisions that shape our movement.
Don't miss this fascinating conversation about the intricate process for deciding was is and is not acceptable in the ever-changing world of Conservative Judaism. -
In the early morning hours of October 7th, Hamas stormed Kibbutz Holit, a small kibbutz in southern Israel. As the terrorists went house to house, Adi Kaploun Vital hid with her two small children while her father hid two houses away. Adi’s actions on that fateful morning saved the lives of her father and her children, Sadly, Adi was murdered by Hamas in her shelter. In the aftermath, Adi's parents, Jacqui and Yaron Vital are on a mission to tell their daughter’s story and raise awareness to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
On February 25th, the Marlboro Jewish Center community had the opportunity to hear Adi's story. This episode is a replay of that heart wrenching yet inspiring event.
To contribute to the Adi Kaploun-Vital Memorial Fund visit: https://www.geerz.site/en/project/adi-kaploun-vital-memorial-fund/. -
Part of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Marlboro Jewish Center is doing an act of chesed, or kindness, for those less fortunate than you are. Every year, our 7th graders find new and exciting projects that are special to them and use those projects to give back to their community.
This week Rabbi Pont gave our 7th graders the chance to tell you, the For the Love of Judaism audience, about their projects. -
What is the best way to leave a legacy? Inspired by wanting to make sure that his daughter always knew the family from which she came, Jeff started writing down the memories of his childhood and the family myths that had been passed down through the generations. Those stories turned into a great new book, The Black Hole Pastrami and Other Short Stories, released last summer.
This week, Jeff joins Rabbi Pont to talk about his stories and how he went from a career in finance and accounting to an award-winning author. -
In the Conservative Jewish world, few Rabbis have their fingers on pulse like Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Rabbi Blumenthal serves concurrently as the CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly through a strategic alignment between the two organizations.
This week, Rabbis Pont and Blumenthal have a wide ranging organization on everything from the laws that govern conservative Judaism, interfaith marriage, the war in Israel and much more. Most importantly, they share their vision for the bright future of the movement that both of them have helped lead in their communities. -
For more than three months, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been engaged in a war with Hamas that feels like a defining moment for the present and future of the state of Israel. Few can offer the perspective of today's guest Aaron Cooper, an American who made moved to Israel after high school, joined the IDF, was in the West Bank on October 7th and has been fighting with his fellow soldiers in Gaza since.
Aaron and Rabbi Pont touch on all things related to the war and the IDF including Aaron's perspective on what might come on the day after. This is an episode not to be missed. -
By day, Sam Levine is a music teacher at Lloyd Road School in Matawan, New Jersey. At Marlboro Jewish Center, Sam Levine is a talented musician who leads Tot Shabbat and plays in the Shabbat Unplugged Band. On October 2023 he added another title to his name, Wheel of Fortune contestant.
On this episode Rabbi Pont explores what led Sam to the Wheel of Fortune stage and what it was like to walk away the big winner! They discuss how years of watching gameshows with family and doing word puzzles with friends turned into an appearance on the 41st season of Wheel of Fortune and a dream come true for this talented musician and puzzle master! -
What is the best gift you've ever given? It probably doesn't top what Chrissy Esptein, a young mother of two beautiful daughters, gave to her friend Kieran this past September when she donated her left kidney to save his life.
Shaped by the loss of her father on September 11th, 2001, Chrissy always knew that organ donation was something she wanted to explore. And when her friend's husband faced a sudden life or death emergency, it was Chrissy who answered the call and gave her friend the greatest gift one can ever receive...the gift of life.
Rabbi Pont had the chance to chat with Chrissy last week about organ donation, losing her father and the process she went through for making this life-changing decision. -
This week Rabbi Pont is joined by Rabbis Lindsey Healey-Pollack and Andrew Pepperstone, hosts of the podcast Sacred Realms. Sacred Realms discusses the intersection between Judaism and a wide range of sci-fi and fantasy books, movies, and television shows. Each episode, Rabbi Lindsey and Rabbi Andrew discuss what they have been watching or reading recently, do a deep dive into a main topic, bring out from "the Geniza," something from the not-that-distant past, and more.
Whether Sci-Fi is your thing or not, you are sure to enjoy this conversation about the many overlaps between a popular genre and Judaism. -
Few movements in the Jewish religion have been as successful as that of Jewish camping. Each year thousands of Jewish children participate in an immersive Jewish experience that brings them closer to their religion and builds a lasting Jewish identity that is unmatched by any other youth program.
This week Rabbi Pont talks to Rachel Wisniewski, a photo journalist whose article on Jewish summer camp appeared in the Washington Post this summer. They are joined by mother-daughter duos Sarah and Carly Kreisler and Susie and Nili Suissa who experiences at Camp Nah-Jee-Wah Rachel followed for her article. -
On this week's episode, Rabbi Pont welcomes Dr. Stacy Gallin back to the podcast. Dr. Gallin is the founder of The Ferencz Institute for Human Rights, Ethics and the Holocaust, a non-profit organization doing the important work of using the lessons of the Holocaust to rid our world of hate of all kinds. Dr. Gallin's current projects include Athletes Against Antisemitism and Discrimination, a program focused on helping college athletes use their platforms to give back to local, national and international communities.
This summer, Dr. Gallin and Rabbi Pont led Marlboro Jewish Center's Journey of Remembrance to Poland and Greece. On this episode, they are joined by Micah Spero, the youngest participant on the journey, whose presence helped create a unique bond between him and congregants fifty years his senior. - Se mer
