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

My guest today is journalist Rebecca Clarren. Her work has appeared in Mother Jones, High Country News, The Nation, and Indian Country Today. For her reporting, she's won a Hillman Prize, received an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship, and earned multiple grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. But as you'll hear in our conversation, she's much more than a journalist.

Her debut novel, which we touch on, is Kickdown, which was shortlisted for the PEN Bellwether Prize. Clarren is also a published poet; her work has appeared in North American Review, Catamaran, CutBank, and Poetry Northwest.

We spend most of our time talking about The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance, an extraordinary book in which she turns her journalistic eye on her own story—and her family's. It was named a Best Book of 2023 by several publications, won the Will Rogers Medallion Award, and was shortlisted for the High Plains Book Award and the Great Plains Book Award.

Rebecca and I talk about Jewish identity and values, and how those shape her work. She has a passion for amplifying marginalized and silenced voices—and for uncovering the stories that get buried beneath the dominant narrative. We talk about storytelling, contested truth, and what it means to hold multiple perspectives at once.

We also talk powerfully about grief and loss, and how they've informed her life and her work. Israel and Gaza come up because we're talking about competing narratives and moral urgency—and she offers a striking framework for balancing truth and compassion, rooted in learning with her rabbi.

It's a rich conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it. This is my conversation with Rebecca Clarren.

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

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Links & Show Notes

Art/Lab: artlabpdx.org

Rebecca's website: https://www.rebecca-clarren.com/

Indian Land Tenure Foundation: https://iltf.org/

Peter Beinart's Being Jewish Adrer the Destruction of Gaza: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/775348/being-jewish-after-the-destruction-of-gaza-by-peter-beinart/

A Christmas message (!) from Rabbi Josh

Rabbi Josh Rose sits down with writer Nikki Schulak to talk about humor as survival strategy, artistic method, and truth-telling device. What begins as a discussion of comedy quickly opens into an exploration of trauma, Jewish family life, grief, and the way humor can both conceal and reveal what hurts most. Nikki reflects on how comedy functioned in her childhood, in her eccentric Jewish family, and in the complicated dynamics between piety, cruelty, affection, and love.

The conversation moves into Nikki's radical commitment to honesty on the page. Known for writing with almost no filter, Nikki talks openly about shame, depression, sex, marriage, mental health, and the personal costs of telling the truth publicly. From her seventh-grade journals to her current Substack, vulnerability wasn't a strategy she adopted—it's who she's always been. Along the way, she shares the story behind her Prozac tattoo, her experience with depression, and why making mental health visible matters to her.

Josh and Nikki also dig into questions of marriage, intimacy, and unconventional family structures. Nikki speaks frankly about her long marriage, having an affair, the therapy that followed, and the surprising, hard-won equilibrium her family ultimately found. The discussion is not theoretical or ideological—it's grounded in lived experience, with all the discomfort, humor, and tenderness that entails.

The episode closes with reflections on parenting, teaching preschool, politics, and why humor remains an essential tool for surviving a tragic and absurd world. It's a conversation about truth, timing, and courage—about what happens when you refuse to look away from your own life, and insist on telling it as clearly and honestly as you can.

Links

Art/Lab artlabpdx.org

The Genesis on Youtube: youtube.com/@thegenesisjewishpodcast

Nikki Schulak's Website: nikkischulak.com

Her Substack: nschulak.substack.com

I sit down with Art/Lab director Shoshana Gugenheim—my longtime collaborator—to clarify what changed since Co/Lab went on hiatus and Art/Lab spun out as its own org and we tackle the basic question: why a Jewish contemporary arts fellowship, and why now? We talk about creativity as core to being human and Jewish, and how Art/Lab serves artists and audiences who don't always find a home in synagogues or legacy institutions.

We reflect on October 7 and the year that followed: how Jewish artists across the country were censored or sidelined, and how our cohort became a rare room where people could bring divergent views, grief, and complexity without an ideological litmus test. That experience also shaped the (paused-for-now) gallery vision: a space for experimentation and public-facing work by contemporary Jewish artists in the Pacific Northwest.

Then we lay out what Art/Lab looks like today: the flagship nine-month fellowship (this year's theme: memory), public workshops drawn from our growing network of 38 artists, this podcast, deep partnerships with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Eastside Jewish Commons, and new educators joining our text study series. We also share two big updates: Art/Lab's selection for the 2026 Jerusalem Biennale and fresh support from CANVAS—along with the real-world fundraising trade-offs arts programs face.

Finally, Shoshana name-checks what she's loving right now and we close with some breads-and-spreads talk and an open invite to learn more, get involved, or support the work.

Links from the Show

• Art/Lab website — artlabpdx.org

• CANVAS — bycanvas.org

• Jerusalem Biennale — jerusalembiennale.org

• Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education — ojmche.org

• Eastside Jewish Commons — ejcpdx.org

• Guerrilla Girls at the Getty — "How to Be a Guerrilla Girl" (Getty Research Institute) — getty.edu

THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4TH AT 7:30 PM AT THE EASTSIDE JEWISH COMMONS IN PORTLAND YOU CAN COME LEARN IN PERSON WITH THE GUEST ON THIS EPISODE, RABBI ADINA ALLEN. GO TO ARTLABPDX.ORG FOR TICKETS. DON'T MISS THIS WONDERFUL TEACHER!

*This is a re-release of Episode 20 from this season.*

On this show I've continued to explore the boundary between Jewish culture and Jewish religion. We've talked about for example the flourishing of Yiddish artistic culture in the 19th and 20th century, boldly, undeniably Jewish and largely secular. But we've also found links between Jewish religion and culture, like the continued focus on peoplehood, or the texts of the Jewish tradition, or the urge for transcendence. Today's conversation is all about the place where that line between Jewish creative culture and Jewish spirituality disappears, or is reimagined and leapt over - or something. Rabbi Adina Allen is the co-founder and creative director of the Jewish Studio Project. The work of this influential and growing organization is based on Jewish Studio Process, a unique methodology that unlocks creativity through the fusion of art and Jewish learning that has been embraced by thousands of organizational and community leaders, educators, artists, and clergy across the United States. I recently read her book The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom. I thought it was going to be a book that just encouraged a creative approach to Jewish learning. It is much much more than that. As you'll hear today, it's something like a theology of making that is grounded in Jewish learning. Her work is profound and inspiring. In this conversation we talk about creativity as spiritual technology: a disciplined path to encounter the divine and build a community that is grounded in individual expression. We go into some depth about the Jewish Studio Process so you'll why this work is something original and powerful. We also discuss how this work has been used not only to help individuals deepen their connection to and understanding of Jewish sources but also how it is working its way through schools, synagogues and other organizations. I think you'll really like hearing about this meeting point between creativity, religious experience, and Jewish learning.

Finally, RabbiAllen will be here in Portland on December 4th at 7:30 pm, for a book talk sponsored by Art/Lab and co-sponsored by the Eastside Jewish Commons, The Portland Jewish Federation, and the Jewish Studio Project. More information at artlabpdx.org Enjoy my conversation with Rabbi Adina Allen.

Links: Art/Lab: www.artlabpdx.org Jewish Studio Project: www.jewishstudioproject.org Rabbi Allen's Personal Website: www.adina-allen.com Pat Allen (Rabbi Adina's Mom): www.patballen.com Ayin Press: www.ayinpress.org (where you can find Rabbi Adina's book and many other wonderful Jewish titles)

Don't miss Art/Lab's special guest Rabbi Adina Allen (a guest in episode 20 of this season) IN PORTLAND THIS THURSDAY at the Eastside Jewish Commons. Go to artlabpdx.org for the registration link.

In this week's episode, I talk with puppeteer and theater maker Ora Fruchter about what actually happens when an object comes alive on stage. Ora walks me into the inner mechanics of puppetry in a way that has nothing to do with tricks or clever engineering. Instead, she talks about breath, presence, and the strange collaborative agreement between performer and audience—the shared moment when everyone decides that a piece of tissue or wood is breathing. Hearing her describe how she "listens" to an object and lets it guide the next movement was one of the most arresting parts of our conversation.

As we keep talking, something deeper opens up. Ora grew up in a Modern Orthodox world steeped in text study, and although she doesn't label her art "Jewish," the parallels are unmistakable. She and I explore how puppetry resembles Torah in its basic structure: nothing comes alive unless the community brings its imagination to it. Meaning isn't delivered; it's co-created. The act of witnessing becomes the act of animating. That connective, interpretive, breath-driven space is where Ora locates her spirituality, and it's where she feels most present and most herself.

We also talk about her family, which turns out to be a full ecosystem of artists—writers, musicians, rabbis, makers. Ora shares the new collaborative project she's building with her siblings: Boy of the Sea, based on her sister's invented Jewish folktales, a set of stories that feel both ancient and entirely original. She describes the early stages of translating these tales into puppet theater and how she's thinking about ancestry, Shabbat tables layered across time, and the echoes of past generations that move through the work.

Finally, we explore another show she's developing with a collaborator in Portland, You're Doing It Wrong, a family performance about animals and natural creatures who are inexplicably terrible at what they're "supposed" to be good at. The piece, like much of Ora's work, uses humor and lightness as a way into more serious questions—how we handle discouragement, how we show up for each other, and how we stay human in difficult times. Throughout the episode, I found myself struck by how naturally Ora weaves craft, spirituality, and community into a single practice. It's a conversation about puppetry, yes, but also about presence, lineage, imagination, and the things that really make us come alive.

Links

Art/Lab: artlabpdx.org

Ora's Website: orafruchter.com

The South Philadelphia Shtiebel (synagogue of Ora's sister Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter): southphiladelphiashtiebel.org

Sandcatchers (Ora's Brother's Band): sandcatchers.bandcamp.com

City of Laughter (Novel by Ora's sister) Book Review in NYT. Click Here.

Ronnie Burkett: https://www.johnlambert.ca/ENGLISH/ronnie-burkett/

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

In this episode I sit down with illustrator Youki Iimori for a frank conversation about the realities of building an artistic life—creative identity, comparison, intention, and the pressure to make work that "sells." Youki was part of Art/Lab: Jewish Arts and Culture's third cohort. Youki talks openly about early talent, hitting a wall of self-comparison, an ADHD diagnosis that arrived much later, and the long aftermath of trying to make art while fighting a loud inner critic.

We get into how animation, manga/anime, and gaming shaped Youki's visual instincts, and why intent—not medium, not market—determines whether something is art. That takes us through Duchamp's urinal, bananas duct-taped to gallery walls, the economics of contemporary art, and why a game like Undertale can carry more artistic coherence than many prestige museum pieces.

We also talk about Youki's Jewish upbringing, the Jewish ideas that sit under the surface for Youki—not as symbols or motifs but as conceptual frameworks—and how those Jewish concepts might surface more clearly in long-form work like comics or animation. And throughout the conversation, we keep returning to a central question: what happens to an artist's work when they stop comparing themselves to everyone around them and start making the things they actually enjoy?

You'll hear about the challenge of finding one's voice, the pull between pure creativity and professional expectations, and the choice to relieve financial pressure so art can breathe again.

Show Notes:

Art/Lab: artlabpdx.org

Youki Imori (Ee-mori): yiillus.com

"Why Undertale is a Timeless Masterpiece" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79TiRMgLmw (note: this is not a recomendation from Youki)

Museum of Modern Art page on Barnett Newman (painter) https://www.moma.org/artists/4285-barnett-newman

The podcast is a production of Rabbi Josh Rose with support of Art/Lab. Theme music created by Rabbi Josh Rose