The Orthonomics Podcast Podcast

The Orthonomics Podcast

Mark Trencher
The Orthonomics Podcast explores issues of importance to the Orthodox Jewish community, through the dual lenses of data – drawn from a wide range of sources – and informed conversations with knowledgeable and often opinionated experts. Each episode also includes a segment titled “What do you want to know about the Orthodox community?” In which our guest, as well as our listeners, get to pose their questions on issues that intrigue them, and we answer your questions.
(28) Moish’s Believe It or Not! Bet you didn’t know that about Orthodoxy ...
In this episode we present some surprising facts about Modern Orthodoxy and the Orthodox community as a whole, based upon Nishma Research surveys between 2016 and 2024. We explore the size and growth of the community, religious beliefs and practices, political views, the finances of living an Orthodox Jewish life, the role of women in Modern Orthodoxy, and the levels of optimism vs. pessimism among several denominations across the American Jewish community.        Did any of this surprise you? Do you have questions or suggestions for future research or podcast episodes? Would you like a follow-up episode sharing additional factoids? Contact us at [email protected]. All of the research cited may be found at this LINK.
Feb 3
28 min
(27) Researcher and Founder of Mispar, Dina Goldman
Dina Goldman has spent over a decade working in marketing and advertising within the Orthodox Jewish community. Seeing how many businesses really lack solid information that they need, she founded Mispar – The Jewish Community, a Story of Numbers, a company focused on providing rich, timely data to help businesses and non-profits make informed decisions. Dina and her team conduct all kinds of studies, and she often uses creative methods to reach the Orthodox community … and that can be challenging. Mispar has also Orthodox Jewish research panel, giving researchers and businesses access to authentic voices within this community. In this episode we discuss how Orthodox and Charedi businesses and non-profit organizations can better understand their customers and the public, to develop and sell products, and meet their need. We also discuss some of the really fascinating issues she has explored, such as Orthodox finances, the businesses that Orthodox people are involved in and the related challenges, Shidduchim, and lots more. Raised in a Chassidic family, Dina now lives in Monsey with her husband and their happily blended family of four. In the episode closing we discuss some of our political research, which can be found in our 2023 Study and 2024 Study.  
Jan 7
25 min
(26) The First-Ever Community Middot Report Card
Middot (and we’re talking mainly about interpersonal behaviors) are so important, especially in these stressful days. So we are pleased to present this as a dual-platform episode, being released on both Orthonomics and The Franciska Show … both covering important issues in the Orthodox Jewish world, and both available at all podcast platforms. Much of this episode deals with findings from the recent survey: The Middot “Report Card”: How We See Our Community and How We See Ourselves Across 19 Middot “Bein Adam L’chavero.”   This episode is being co-hosted by Mark Trencher of Orthonomics, and David Sheril, a member of the Franciska Show Discussion Group. (Thanks to Franciska for recommending David to participate.)    David Sheril grew up in Chigwell, a suburb of London. His family became baalei teshuvah when he was nine years old.  When David was eleven, his family moved to the Bayit Vagan in Jerusalem. He moved to the U.S. at age 22, in 2005. David’s yeshivah education includes Mir Yerushalayim and Ner Yisroel. He served as a rebbe at a Russian-American Jewish high school in Brooklyn for several years before going to law school. He is currently General Counsel for a privately-held real estate transactional, management, and lending company. David resides in Clifton, New Jersey, with his wife Miriam (formerly an officer at the Federal Reserve Bank and now Head of Product at an international fintech startup) and their three children. 
Dec 22, 2024
37 min
(25) Author, Educator, Coach, Speaker … Ruchi Koval
Ruchi Koval is a parenting coach and motivational speaker who has inspired personal transformation in thousands of people. She is the co-founder and Associate Director of JFX (Jewish Family Experience), an innovative community in Cleveland, Ohio. She has been a Jewish educator for two decades, leading self-development groups for adults and teens, and mentoring educators around the world. Ruchi is also a musician, author, mother of 7, and grandmother. She is a Momentum Educator, inspiring thousands of women on their journeys in Israel. She is also the author of three books: "Conversations with God," “Soul Construction,” and her newest book, “Soul Purpose: Your Daily Dose of Wisdom from Pirkei Avot.”    Find Ruchi on Facebook and Instagram; on her blog at outoftheorthobox.com; and her two podcasts. Download her “Ruchi Koval” app to listen to many of her lectures online.
Dec 2, 2024
26 min
(24) Interview with an Orthodox therapist, Dr. Chaya Lieba Kobernick
Dr. Chaya Lieba Kobernick is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Founder and Director of The CBT/DBY Center (https://www.thecbtdbtcenter.com/ … email  [email protected]), with clientele in both Israel and the U.S. She received her doctorate at Long Island University, and also trained at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Northwell Health, and Rutgers University.   Among the topics discussed are her services and types of clients within the Orthodox community, attitudes toward getting mental health treatment (stigma?), how she melds her personal Orthodoxy with her treatment and the value that brings to the table, the rise in mental health issues among teenagers, the impact of the war, and more.
Nov 12, 2024
26 min
(23) The Issues We Raise; the Questions We Ask … with Halachah Headlines Author and Podcaster Dovid Lichtenstein
Dovid Lichtenstein is the founder and host of the Halacha Headlines podcast, an amazing and very popular podcast with a huge listenership that is indeed "The most listened to Torah Program in the world.”   Halacha Headlines delves into contemporary issues and current events through the lens of Torah and Halacha (Jewish law). Each episode features discussions with Rabbis, lay leaders, and professionals from around the world, covering a wide range of topics, and the lineup of personalities interviewed includes both Haredi and Modern Orthodox leaders. Those with a deeper background in Jewish text study will gain more from the podcast but I believe everyone will find it interesting.  Just a few examples from its 476 episodes to date include dealing with traumatic times, raising unspoiled children in a spoiled world, Alexa and electronics on Shabbat, assassinations and targeted killings in Halacha, Shemirat Einayin – including issues of young people and access to pornography, the issue of Israeli Haredim serving in the military, people frum on the outside and struggling on the inside, and much much more! He has also authored several volumes of a series titled "Mishna Acharonah" on the "Mishna Berura" as well as the "Headlines" book series based on the podcast, and is involved in many charitable projects and organizations​. In our conversation, you’ll get a taste of his huge Jewish knowledge. Finally, Dovid Lichtenstein is the founder and CEO of the Lightstone Group, one of the largest privately-held real estate companies in the United States, and he is a highly respected business and civic leader.   Here is a link to an article “Nishma v'Naaseh?” which was published in early 2023, and discusses some of the issues mentioning in this podcast episode.
Aug 8, 2024
25 min
(22) Prolific Commentator Joseph Kaplan … Modern Orthodox and Feminist
Joseph Kaplan is perhaps the most prolific writer anywhere on topics relating to Modern Orthodoxy. He has written hundreds of articles in The Baltimore Jewish Times, The Jewish Week, Edah Journal, Sh’ma Magazine, New Jersey Jewish Standard, and the Times of Israel. He has written many letters-to-the editor of many publications including 19 that were published in the New York Times. He recently released a book titled “A Passionate Writing Life,” (https://www.judaicahouse.net/passionate-writing-life) and it starts with the two sentences: “I'm a Modern Orthodox Jew. And a feminist.” He writes extensively about those two topics, and also about politics, the Covid and Trump years, the culture wars, church/state legal issues, Jewish divorce law, liturgy, ritual and much more. Joseph is a retired lawyer, who practiced as a commercial litigator in New York for 46 years. He and his wife Sharon live in Teaneck, NJ, and have been blessed with four daughters and five grandchildren.
May 21, 2024
30 min
(21) Rabbi Yehuda Albin … Melding Torah Teaching and Personal Coaching
Rabbi Yehuda Albin grew up as a Reform Jew in Scarsdale, NY. He was exposed to Judaism and his father ran several secular Jewish camps for youth. He became religious in Jerusalem, after graduating Bowdoin College with the highest honors.  Then he studied the Torah and the Talmud for nearly a decade in Jerusalem, before returning to the states, and moving to Chicago. In Chicago he established a Torah teaching and counseling practice, focused on successful businesspeople and professionals. He has been doing this for 30 years wearing two different hats in the process.    He melds the best of two worlds … Torah learning and personal coaching … providing a unique perspective to help people manage business, family and every type of unique  problem, and to improving themselves and living a happier, more spiritual, life. To get a feel for his engaging approach and command of subject matter, you can listen to him at https://www.theemberfoundation.org/.   ——   In our “What Do You Want to Know?” segment, we talk about six distinct and important groups within the Jewish and Orthodox community that are very much under-researched and where significant thought and creativity is needed to better understand them. Let me know what you think, at [email protected].   I wish you all a Pesach Chag Kasher v’Sameach.
Apr 9, 2024
23 min
(20)Jacob Kornbluh – Senior Political Reporter at The Forward; and Member of the Brooklyn Hasidic Community
Jacob Kornbluh is the senior political reporter for the Forward. Kornbluh, a member of the Hasidic community in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, covers politics with a Jewish angle and regularly interviews government officials, political commentators and security experts on issues that matter to the broader Jewish American community. He previously worked as a national politics reporter for Jewish Insider, covered the 2013 NYC mayoral race for the Yeshiva World News, and was featured by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as one of the top Jews to follow on Twitter. In this episode, we discuss his unique role in Jewish/Orthodox world reporting and some of the seminal issues he has covered, including the Orthodox world’s political views, reactions to coronavirus restrictions, secular education mandates in yeshivas, and more. ----- The Nishma Research Pesach Survey! And now, for something completely different: we’re undertaking a timely broad survey dealing with Pesach … the first such survey ever conducted. If you would like to participate in the survey, it will be online through April 9, at: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7774034/The-First-Ever-Pesach-Survey. Results will be available before Pesach at http://nishmaresearch.com/social-research.html.
Mar 27, 2024
25 min
(19) Baruch Lytle – African-American Convert, Satmar Hasid, and Award-Winning Jewish World Journalist
Baruch Lytle is an African American Orthodox Jew from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and he identifies as a Satmar Chasid.  He describes his conversion to Judaism as the defining moment of his life and greatest accomplishment.  He is also an award-winning journalist, having written nearly 200 articles for the largest Jewish newspaper in America, The Jewish Press.    In 2023, he won the Simon Rockower Award – the Jewish journalism version of the Pulitzer – for Excellence in Journalism. His favorite writing assignments deal with self- improvement, and he has worked extensively with the developmentally disabled at agencies throughout New York State.  In this episode we discuss his personal religious journey, and some of the interesting issues in the Orthodox community that he has covered.  Baruch and I also discussed our recent Orthodox Political survey, and I discussed the variations within Modern Orthodoxy and the “silo effect”:  Report – A Survey of Orthodox Jewish Political Attitudes and Behaviors: Haredi and Modern Orthodox Sectors  Article – Despite What Some Want to Believe, Modern Orthodoxy is Indeed Politically Split   Some of Baruch Lytle’s Jewish Press articles referenced in this podcast:  Study Finds Frum Jews Financially Secure – And Stretched  The State of Orthodox Singles: It's Complicated  Interview with Middle East Intelligence Expert Avi Melamed  Book Review: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Antisemitism 
Nov 28, 2023
33 min
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