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The Genesis: Conversations About Jewish Arts and CultureAuthor: Joshua Rose
We are right at the beginning of what some have called "The 21st Century Jewish Cultural Renaissance," and The Genesis is the podcast watching it unfold, in real time and up close. Each week Rabbi Josh Rose has a conversation with a different Jewish artist or cultural figure to explore questions of artistic creativity, individual Jewish identity, Jewish expression and how Jewish arts are reshaping what it means to be Jewish. Our main focus in on the artists from Art/Lab: Innovating Jewish Arts and Culture, and Jewish artists in the Pacific Northwest. Rabbi Josh also engages national leaders (Rabbi Shai Held of Hadar, Seth Pinksy of New York's 92nd Street Y) about the broader world of Jewish culture. So, if you're interested in 21st century Jewish life, Jewish ideas, Jewish arts or just good conversation, you're in the right place. *The Genesis was originally a podcast of Co/Lab, founded by Rabbi Josh. Today the Genesis is a production of Art/Lab where Rabbi Josh continues to shape its unfolding. Language: en-us Genres: Religion, Religion & Spirituality Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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S3E29 How 17th Century Yiddish Prayer Shaped a Modern Jewish Writer (w/ Eve Bernfeld)
Episode 29
Thursday, 8 January, 2026
In this episode I sit down with writer, poet, and Alexander Technique teacher Eve Bernfeld to talk about what it means to sustain a creative life in the middle of parenting, teaching, and everyday obligations. We talk about discipline and devotion — daily writing practices, working through creative resistance, and what happens when you take yourself seriously as an artist even when time, energy, and certainty are in short supply. Our conversation moves through Jewish prayer, fairy tales, and Jewish magic as living creative resources rather than abstract traditions. Eve reflects on discovering tkhines (vernacular women's prayers), writing contemporary poetic prayers that emerge directly from domestic life, and finding her way back to speculative and magical fiction rooted in Jewish sources. Along the way we talk about vulnerability, belonging, the body as part of artistic practice, and how creativity can be a way of reclaiming parts of ourselves we thought we had left behind. Show Notes Art/Lab (Portland) — https://artlabpdx.org/ Eve Bernfeld's Website: http://www.evebernfeld.com/ Tkhines (Yiddish women's prayers) — YIVO Encyclopedia — https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article.aspx/Tkhines The Artist's Way (Morning Pages origin) — Julia Cameron — https://juliacameronlive.com/the-artists-way/ "Shitty first drafts" https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10332/bird-by-bird-by-anne-lamott/ Alexander Technique (general overview) — AmSAT — https://www.amsatonline.org/alexander-technique/what-is-the-alexander-technique/ Omer: A Counting https://www.ccarpress.org/shopping_product_detail.asp?pid=50132 Grimm tale "The Jew in the Thorns https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm110.html The Genesis is created, produced and edited by Rabbi Joshua Rose and is supported by Art/Lab: Innovating Jewish Arts and Culture. Theme music composed by Rabbi Joshua Rose
