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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/58314/full/58314/synagogues-homespun-podcasts-are-heard-worldwide/ <br /><br /> <b>Synagogue’s homespun podcasts are heard worldwide</b> <br /> Thursday, June 3, 2010 | by amanda pazornik <br /><br /><p>There’s a growing, virtual Jewish community within Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. And it has nothing to do with Facebook.</p> <p>“Your Jewish Neighborhood” is the Reform synagogue’s weekly podcast, a five-minute foray into Jewish life and learning with listeners popping on their headphones in the Bay Area and around the world.</p> <p>“I really didn’t know what audience we would be reaching,” said Rabbi Roberto Graetz. “It’s extraordinary to learn that we’re heard all over the world. Jews who live in isolated areas will e-mail and respond to what we’re saying. It’s very encouraging.”</p> <p>Each week, volunteer producer Michele Holtz sits down with Temple Isaiah clergy, educators or staff to explore issues and topics of general interest to affiliated and unaffiliated Jews, or anyone intrigued by the Reform movement.</p> <p>She’s gearing up for the 200th episode of “Your Jewish Neighborhood,” which, as of April, had been downloaded or listened to more than 402,000 times.</p> <p>The free podcast is available on iTunes, via an RSS feed or on Temple Isaiah’s website. People can download or listen instantly on their computers, iPods and other mobile devices.</p> <p>Holtz said new listeners are finding the podcast every day, which keeps the number of total downloads climbing. People tend to skip around with regard to the episodes, selecting topics that appeal to them.</p> <p>The latest episode features Holtz interviewing Graetz about how American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came by his knowledge of the Talmud.</p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 360px;"><img alt="BApodcast" class="left" height="241" src="/images/uploads/y_photos_2010/zc06_04_10/BApodcast.jpg" title="Producer Michele Holtz works on a podcast in her Concord home." width="360" /> <div class="caption">Producer Michele Holtz works on a podcast in her Concord home.</div> </div> Other topics have included how melodies are chosen for specific services, how Reform Judaism approaches homosexuality and how to talk to children about anti-Semitism. There have also been interviews with prominent national Jewish figures. <p>“This is the kind of information people just aren’t getting other places,” Holtz said. “Maybe they’re embarrassed to ask a basic question or some subject strikes their fancy. Poetry lovers may find the Longfellow one particularly interesting.”</p> <p>Temple Isaiah has received a variety of feedback, from  one person who was enlightened by an episode about tefillin to a listener from Africa saying the podcast was his only connection to Reform Judaism.</p> <p>To Holtz’s knowledge, Temple Isaiah was the first Reform synagogue to create a podcast. It was her idea back in 2005, and one that Graetz and Rabbi Judy Shanks were receptive to and enthusiastic about. The first podcast was Aug. 11, 2005 — at a time when “most of the congregation had no idea what a podcast was,” Holtz said.</p> <p>“There wasn’t anything that I could see on Jewish podcasting about Reform Judaism,” Holtz said. “We wanted to put out some good information, and thought this was the best way to reach a large number of people at the same time.”</p> <p>In fact, the clergy, including Cantor Leigh Korn, Rabbi Alissa Forrest and Rabbi Nicki Greninger, educators and staff have been hands-on regarding topic selection. Once a month, Holtz records several podcasts at the synagogue to be used as needed.</p> <p>“We always have to figure out how to be concise and transmit something in a capsule,” Graetz said. “Podcasts are short, brief in time, and different from a sermon, which is more expansive. For members of our congregation, they get a little more voice.”</p> <p>Some podcasts include songs from Jewish musicians (that can be downloaded for free) and stories read by synagogue librarian/storyteller Val Morehouse.</p> <p>“As long as it’s tied to Judaism,” Holtz said, “anything goes.”</p> <p>Holtz was no stranger to podcasts when she launched “Your Jewish Neighborhood.” Her husband, Shel Holtz, was already producing a public relations and technology podcast called “For Immediate Release,” so he had equipment and expertise to share.</p> <p>Holtz is basically a one-woman show. She coordinates and conducts all of the interviews, then spends a few hours editing the recording. She takes out the coughs and “ums,” and does some editing if someone isn’t pleased with what they said. The entire process takes place at her home in Concord.</p> <p>When Holtz is at Temple Isaiah, she said congregants constantly approach her with input about “Your Jewish Neighborhood.” She equates all the chatter with success.  </p> <p>“When you want to communicate with a large number of people, a voice and a topic will attract them more than a mass mailing,” Holtz said. “If you stick to e-mail, you’re not reaching everybody. With a podcast, people all over the world can say, ‘That’s interesting. I will listen.’ ”</p> <p><strong>“Your Jewish Neighborhood”</strong> is available at <a href="http://www.temple-isaiah.org">http://www.temple-isaiah.org</a>. Scroll to the “News and Communications” tab and select “Podcast” for an index and directions for downloading or instant listening.</p>

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