Daniel Taitz

I grew up in a relatively conservative household, I went to shul every Saturday, and celebrated Shabbat every week.  My parents and their parents are all originally from South Africa, so I grew up around a huge South African Jewish population in the suburbs of Chicago.  The Judaism with which I was raised has shaped me into the person I am today.  I attended Jewish day school all the way through high school.  Judaism has played a huge roll in my life.

I heard about The Podcast Fellowship this summer.  I participated in a Tamid Fellowship, which is an internship program that takes students from all around the world to Israel to work and immerse themselves in the culture.  We were on a day trip to Jerusalem and someone at the Kotel mentioned TPF to me and I signed up the next day.

As someone who went to Jewish day school, the idea of getting paid to listen to Jewish podcasts that covered a variety of topics and then have the opportunity to meet with a rabbi and discuss them, it was a win-win for me.

I'm not gonna lie, the stipend was definitely a big pull for me in terms of starting with the Fellowship.  I think it's a great way to bring students in, obviously.  $15 per podcast is a great deal for something that's genuinely interesting.

The process has been very straightforward.  It was a very easy sign-up through a quick WhatsApp call.  The mentor I've been meeting with is Yerucham Katz.  He's been amazing.  He's very responsive.  He's easy to find time to meet with.  He genuinely helps me to be intrigued with the learning and he brings a lot of insight.  There's a lot of great dialogue regarding these concepts.  He has a better understanding about how they relate to Jewish law and Jewish texts but I feel he gives me room to expand on my own opinions and form my own take-aways from the podcasts as well.   It's been a fantastic relationship so far.

So far, my favorite podcasts are the talks about spirituality and finding our place in the world; what it means to be here, what it means to be made in the image of G-d, how we can live our lives to the fullest extent and be god Jews, be good neighbors, be good friends.  Committing to a better world.

I think that the biggest thing The Podcast Fellowship has done for me so far is it's given me a different outlet to express and learn about my Judaism.  Going to Jewish day school and shul every week, as much as I enjoyed it, it was learning with the same people over and over again.  This has given me a completely new set of people and topics to learn about.  It's really opened new doors for me to exponentially grow my relationship with my Judaism and topics as they relate to Judaism which I would have never considered before.

I would say for the most part that my observance level has remained the same.  I did grow up in a household that most people would consider somewhere between conservative and orthodox.  I go to Chabad regularly on campus.  What I really enjoy about TPF is that it offers more spiritual stuff, not necessarily "by the books".  I think that's where I'm going with my Judaism right now; learning about spirituality and everyday things as they relate to Judaism that you would never even consider.

"It's a great way to stay engaged with your Judaism while you are on campus or going through the early stages of your career, and it's a good way to pay for your dinner."