Ezra Furman: Judaism Unbound Episode 298 - Judaism, Inconveniently Itself - Ezra Furman
Musician and songwriter Ezra Furman, whose albums include Twelve Nudes (2019) and Transangelic Exodus (2018), and whose work serves as the soundtrack to the Netflix series Sex Education, joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about her spiritual journey, weaving the ancient with the new, breaking Judaism out of its "glass box," and more. Throughout, Furman speaks to the importance of creating a world in which every person is "inconveniently themselves," and Judaism, in parallel fashion, is "inconveniently itself."
Furman is the co-host of another podcast in the growing Jewish-podcasting ecosystem. Check out Two Queers, Four Questions here!
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[1] You can follow Ezra Furman on Twitter via @EzraFurman or on Instagram via @Ezra.Furman.Visions.
[2] Check out a variety of articles about Ezra Furman and her relationship to Judaism here.
[3] Furman references the work of Joy Ladin. For a past episode of Judaism Unbound featuring her as a guest, click here.
[4] You can purchase Furman’s 2018 book, Transformer, about Lou Reed, by clicking here.
[5] Listen in to the episode of 2 Queers, 4 Questions that Furman discusses a bit, about the “8th-day-of-a-7-day-holiday” (Shemini Atzeret) here.
[6] Dan brings up the idea of “de-cluttering Judaism.” For more on this, see Episode 174: Tidying Up Judaism.
[7] Furman references the 19th-century rabbi known as the Chofetz Chayim. Learn more about him, and his work on lashon hara (“evil speech”) by clicking here.
[8] Lex mentions the prayer Elohai N’tzor, one of the only prayers in the traditional Jewish prayer-book that is writing in the first-person singular, using “My” and “I” pronouns. Check out the text of this prayer here.
[9] Furman, toward the close of the episode, gives a shout-out to a biography of Leonard Cohen. Purchase I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons, at this link.