Ep. 5: Judaism (Extra Credit)

By: Neal Pollack, Elijah Pollack

When his 13-year-old son decides not to have a Bar Mitzvah, writer Neal Pollack plans an emergency cultural trip to "The Jewish American Homeland" -- New York City -- with decidedly mixed results.©2016 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2016 Audible Originals, LLC

I didn’t learn anything new

The episode didn’t seem to address what Judaism is, how it started, what traditions they have, or their history. As an ethnicity, I would at least expect to have some history explained. And the difference between the religion and the ethnicity, as well as the difference between the Jewish religion and other religions.

Shabbat dinners are the best!

I love that Neil takes Elijah on these quests for knowledge and this episode had some of his family history entwined in their journey.

I took a world religions class in college and practiced Tai Chi at a Buddhist Temple, ate some kind of food at a Sikh Temple, and walked past a Catholic Church, all of which were just a few blocks from each other in Stockton, CA. The Sikh people and Buddhist monks were super chill. The Sikh’s didn’t speak a word of English, and I didn’t speak their language, but we just kinda knew each other.

Stockton, California is not the safest area to be wandering around, but those were incredible experiences that I absolutely loved! Just throwing it out there if you wanted to take Elijah on a world religions journey!