Alef Bet
Hosted by Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie
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Alef Bet explores the big ideas, core concepts, tough questions, essential values, and evolving practices of Jewish life through the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Hosted by Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, Alef Bet reimagines ancestral Jewish wisdom for right now. Drawing on the Torah, Talmud, mysticism, poetry, philosophy, and modern voices, the series offers both timeless teachings and contemporary reinterpretation—no prior knowledge or Hebrew needed.
Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, Jew-jacent or Jew-curious, all are welcome. Grounded in the God-optional, everybody-friendly, artist-driven approach of Lab/Shul, Alef Bet is for anyone seeking a deeper, more personal connection to Jewish life.
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Episodes
- Ten generations after Adam and Eve, after Noah and the flood, Abraham shows up and starts to walk away from the past and into the pages of history. Join Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie on a guided tour of the eternal, internal journey following in the footsteps of the first father and the founder of our monotheistic […]
- Did you hear the one about the Jewish guy who answered every question with a question?In this opening episode, we explore the art and power of questioning as the raison d’etre for how and why Jewish wisdom still survives.03:35 Ayeka? The first divine question from the Garden of Eden: God asks Adam and Eve, and […]
- Welcome to Alef Bet, a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom, reimagined for right now. This is a podcast for anyone and everyone. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point – no prior knowledge required. Just bring your questions and explore what it means to get to know, embrace, or wrestle with […]
- Welcome to Alef Bet, a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom, reimagined for right now. This is a podcast for anyone and everyone. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point – no prior knowledge required. Just bring your questions and explore what it means to get to know, embrace, or wrestle with […]
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About the Host
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie (he/him) is a social activist, storyteller, writer, community leader, and the Co-Founding Spiritual Leader of the Lab/Shul community in NYC. He is also the creator of the ritual theater company Storahtelling, Inc.
Israeli-born, he has lived in New York since 1998 and received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2016. He represents the thirty-ninth generation of rabbis in his family—and the first to be openly queer.
Rabbi Amichai is the subject of Sabbath Queen, Sandi DuBowski’s documentary film twenty-one years in the making, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024.
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Rabbi Amichai serves on the Executive Board of Rabbis for Human Rights and is a cofounding member of the Jewish Emergent Network and a founding faculty member of the Reboot Network.
He serves on the Advisory Board of the Sulha Peace Project for Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers, the Leadership Council of the New York Jewish Agenda, the Advisory Council for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and as an advisor to Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance.
He has been described as “an iconoclastic mystic” by Time Out New York, “a calm voice for peace” by NPR, a “rock star” by the New York Times, a “Judaic Pied Piper” by Denver Westword, a “maverick spiritual leader” by the Times of Israel, and “one of the most interesting thinkers in the Jewish world” by Jewish Week. In 2017, he was named one of America’s top fifty rabbis by The Forward.
In June 2017, Rabbi Amichai published The JOY Proposal, which offers a response to the reality of intermarriage and discusses his resignation from the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement.
In 2022, Rabbi Amichai began publishing Below the Bible Belt, a daily digital project extended over forty-two months, critically queering and rereading all 929 chapters of the Hebrew Bible.
Amichai is Abba to Alice, Ezra, and Cai-Hallel.
For the latest updates, follow Amichai on Instagram @amichailaulavie.
This project is made possible with the generous support of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.