Recorded February 12, 2026 Photo: courtesy

Sarah Villanueva is a Jew, a doula, a congregational leader, and an human with a passionate and compassionate heart. In graduate school she took a course on World Religions which the professor introduced by saying that the best case scenario would be that you want to convert every time you learn about a new one. Take a listen and you will hear how her own strong faith has shaped her path.

Notes:

Beth Jacob Synagogue is “… an inclusive, community-led congregation fulfilling the spiritual, educational and social needs of its members by nurturing a range of religious practices and traditions, Jewish values, and Tikkun Olam.”

Learning on one foot: Sarah refers to the text While Standing on One Foot: Puzzle Stories and Wisdom Tales from the Jewish Tradition, by Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin, Henry Holt and Co, 1996 which was used in her conversion class.

The story of standing on one foot is this, per Chabad: “One famous account in the Talmud tells about a gentile who wanted to convert to Judaism. This happened not infrequently, and this individual stated that he would accept Judaism only if a rabbi would teach him the entire Torah while he, the prospective convert, stood on one foot. First he went to Shammai, who, insulted by this ridiculous request, threw him out of the house. The man did not give up and went to Hillel. This gentle sage accepted the challenge, and said:

" ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!’" (Shabbat 31a)

Death doula is defined as a non-medical companion focused on holistic, emotional, and spiritual need.

Hind Rami Iyad Rajab was five years old and fleeing Gaza City in their car when she and six members of her family were attacked by Israeli forces on January 29, 2025. Only Hind remained alive, calling for help, for three hours. It took 12 days for searchers to find her and the bodies of two Red Crescent paramedics killed while trying to rescue her. More at the link along with information on how her story was covered and investigated and with links to three award-winning films by Dutch-Syrian, Tunisian, and Jordanian-Palestinian filmmakers.

Recorded January 13, 2026

Photo: Liora & Circus Smirkus courtesy photo

Miki describes himself as a circus performer, specifically, an acrobat and clown. It was in that capacity that he had his first encounter with Palestinians in a Jewish/Palestinian collective in the Galilee when he was in 5th grade. Today he provides an Israeli perspective on America – and an American perspective on Israel. We spoke while he was back in Norwich, Vermont, on break from his last year as an undergrad at New York University.

Notes:

• Circus Smirkus Miki’s circus alma mater
• Roth Center for Jewish Life: home of the Upper Valley Jewish Community
• Kolot Chayeinu New York City temple where Miki and Mamdani attended Yom Kippur services this past fall.
• Standing Together is a joint Palestinian/Israeli movement that seeks ““A society in which we all enjoy real security, adequate housing, quality education, good healthcare, a liveable climate, a decent salary, and the ability to age with dignity.” See also their podcast, The Long Answer.
• Silent protests: where Israelis lined up insilence carrying poster-board sized photos of Gazan children killed in the war, documented in the Oscar-nominated short film Children No More (link goes to trailer and it’s streaming now). You can read aboutthe protests in this story from NPR and this article Don’tpress the button: A peaceful protest against Gaza bombings from the Vatican News.
• Unapologetic: The Third Narrative (UTTN): Was this quote on taking a train from Haifa to Beirut in Season 2,Episode 8, the conversation with Sally Abed? I asked the creators and they replied that at 1:22:34 of Episode 8! Sally Abed mused: "How does our life look like? Will we have like, I don't know, a train to like Beirut again?" And continues to say, "We need political imagination."
• It’s Time They are “…over 60 peacebuilding and shared society organizations, working together with determination and courage to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement that will ensure both peoples' right to self-determination and secure lives. “Because it’s time. Now, amidst our anger, griefand pain, after long years of fear and violence, of struggle, of occupation and of terrorism. The war that broke out on October 7th must be the last war, and it can be: the war after which will come peace.”

Recorded November 20, 2025 Photo: Sandy withbook, by Liora

Among her many role, Sandra Gartner has been co-producer of Vermont Actors’ Repertory Theatre for 20 years, an actor with the company, and is co-producer with filmmaker Nora Jacobson on her latest project. Sandra also writes for RutlandMagazine and other publications. Not surprisingly, she has a wonderful way of telling stories. In this conversation she picks up threads of her life in Vermont and New York City; her life in theatre, journalism, and the Rutland, VT Jewish community.

• Sandra was a Youth Ambassador to Israel in 1966, at 16 years old, and “came back a changed person”. She maintains great affection for the land and people not withstanding that the current situation “doesn’t sit well” with her. The book she is holding in this photo is To Life: A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women, based on an oral history project she undertook with Ann Zinn Buffum and which was contributed to the Jewish Women’s Archive. S2 E3 Notes: NFTY (NationalFederation of Temple Youth) is based on the tradition of European youth movements and pursues “tikkun olam [repair of the world], personal growth, youth empowerment, and deep connections, all rooted in Reform Judaism.”
• AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is the heavy weight political lobby for Israel maintaining unwavering support for the Israeli government.
• Peace Now, established in 1978 by 348 Israeli senior reserve army officers is “the largest and oldest movement in Israel that works to promote peace through a two-state solution for two peoples”. Three years later, Americans for Peace Now (APN) was established to support it. With century old ties to labor movements and progressive causes, Ameinu, (Our People) “was founded in 2005 to reimagine the role of a progressive Zionist voice in the American Jewish community.” Ameinu perceived the need to strength ties with their Israeli counterparts via The Third Narrative. While Peace Now remains active in Israel, in 2024, APN and Ameinu merged forming the New Jewish Narrative promoting peace, justice, and a progressive Israel.
• Jewish Women’s Archive/To Life: A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women Follow the link to see Sandy’s work.

Recorded November 12, 2025 Courtesy Photo: Irit

Irit Librot takes us through her early years in Haifa immediately following the creation of the State and the subsequent move to the US where “the streets are paved with gold” (spoiler: didn’t turn out that way). We get a strong andinspiring picture of Irit’s mother, Rachel Dziecholska Rotkovitch, who lived, studied, and worked in Poland, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and the US. You can read aboutRachel in the alumni magazine of the American University in Beirut, photos p.51, write up p.64.

Irit’s own experience of October 7 and the war is temperedby her time in Israel and the reactions of those in her close community here, where, as you can see from the show notes, her life is infused with music and dance.

S2 E2 Notes:

• UVJC Healing Circles, discussed in Season 1 Episode 4: Gene Kadish.

• Mussar: The book Irit refers to is Everyday Holiness, by Alan Morinis, Trumpeter, 2007, and the course is from the Mussar Institute.
• Vivian Silver: Here’s a link to the GroundWork episode “Vivian Silver’s Legacy: From Grief to Action”, an interview with her son, Yonatan Zeigen.
• Holding Liat, the film referenced on the captivity and release of Liat Beinin Atzili.
• The orchestra referenced is Firqat Alnoor (“Orchestra of Light/Fire”) “an Arabic classical music orchestra composed of Jewish and Arab musicians from diverse social and geographical backgrounds across Israel.” Enjoy.
• Umm Kulthumm. Can’t say enough. Check her out on Wikipedia and I dare you not to listen to The Voice.
• The singer Irit references is Ziv Yeheskel and here’s a link to him singing Sawaah with The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West. And the dance is the Dabka. Looks simple enough. And then… (first link is Wikipedia, second one is a lesson)
• Times of Israel is, indeed, both a publication and a podcast. I’ve heard it critiqued from more than one perspective, so, maybe it is, as Irit, claims, presenting all sides.

Recorded November 7, 2025 Courtesy Photo: Keshaand baby, VT Statehouse

Kesha Ram-Hinsdale, as we establish at the outset, is ourVermont Senate Majority Leader, and yet here, she is not talking state politics – she’s just an ordinary Jew. Her story, as a self-proclaimed HinJew, is awash with streams of migration and displacement on both sides of her family. Looking at the origins of Israel, we focus often on the fallout from the mid-century dissolution of the British Empire. At the same time, Kesha’s family was uprooted by the divisions left on the Indian subcontinent by the British exit.

She speaks movingly about the legacy of her grandfather, Sir Ganga Ram, the role of art in giving her a sense of place in Israel, and how her dual legacy has shaped her thinking on democracy and human rights.

Hi! I’m happy to be back with a second season of OJT. Here, in Episode 0, I have a few words about the "why” of the podcast and some thoughts on this season in the short S2E0 audio.

And let me tease Episode 1 – we start out with a great conversation with VT Senator Kesha Ram-Hinsdale.

I’ve been asked a few times why I’m doing this podcast and I'd be glad to tell you. I felt from the beginning of the Gaza War that I needed a better connection with other Jews. I had been part of the Upper Valley Jewish community, and then I wasn't.And it was, and still is, such a fraught time and so confusing with the rise in antisemitism, the rise in pro-Palestinian sentiment, and no end to conflict in sight. I was trying to sort out my own history and my own feelings, and I started going back to the UVJC and what I realized was that it wasn't just me – a lot of people just really needed to sort things out.

And it’s not because there is a shortage of analysis andexpertise. There's great stuff online, really knowledgeable people from a historical perspective, theological, social perspective. But I feel that it isn’t just the experts who need to have these conversation – it’s also us ordinary Jews. Moreon this topic, including online resources, with a soon-to-be-linked Substack.

Happy listening, and please, do, subscribe! Thank you.