COMING SOON
aN AUDIO SERIES IN SEVEN CHAPTERS
Coming soon, wherever you get your podcasts
RECENT UPDATES
12/31/25: It’s “Finished”
11/12/25: Oil burned for five days
10/29/25: Not Impossible!
9/26/25: Here’s the trailer!
9/7/25: Pintele’s Progress
7/13/25: You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet
7/5/25: Challenges Schmallenges
6/2/25: Pintele Update 8
4/20/25: Pintele Update 7
3/13/25: Four Great Grandparents
WHAT IS
?
Pintele is an exploration of Jewish identity, and the question of what it means to be Jewish. Some of it is family and personal history; some of it is about religion, culture, philosophy, and politics. It’s an audio series in seven chapters, filled with comedy, tragedy, and music.
I’ve realized, in the course of working on Pintele, how personal this is. I’ve also realized that just seeing it as personal — rather than, say, handed down in stone — is already a personal take, and a challenge to tradition.
What I meant to say is that Pintele is an exploration of my Jewish identity, and what it means to me.
Or, in the old Yiddish folk saying: Every man has his own mishegoss.
EPISODE
DESCRIPTIONS
1 Straight Outta Anatevka
We begin with the story of how I found my identity in great American musicals. Then we return to the Pale of Settlement, follow my great grandmother across the ocean, and explore the difference between Judaism and Jewishness, as represented by her two daughters.
2 GOD AND OTHER GODS
In the second chapter, many deep and spiritual questions are asked, including: Is there a god? How can we discuss Jewish identity if nobody knows what it is? And what if Jesus had been a Borscht Belt comedian?
3 A VERY BRODY PASSOVER
Bloomfield, Connecticut, nineteen-eighty-something: Come with me to the home of my great aunt and uncle for a Passover seder. Then stick around for an historical perspective on the Exodus story, and thoughts on the future.
4 you ain’t heard nothin’ yet
What follows the family to America at the end of Fiddler on the Roof? In this discussion of tradition and uncertainty, we consult such sacred texts as “Good Night, World,” The Jazz Singer, Abie’s Irish Rose, and the work of the Marx Brothers.
5 THE OLD JEWISH MAN OF UNITY
My personal Jewish history continues in South Florida, where I contend with antisemitic school bullies. Meanwhile, a portal to an enchanted world opens before me, and I cavort through the promised land with Mel Brooks and other 2,000-year-old men. We conclude with a drama, entitled Death in the Catskills.
6 TYRANTS DISAPPEARING
We finally face the challenging subject of Israel and Palestine. Then, just to lighten things up, we discuss the current rise of religious autocracy, and ask what it means to be a Jewish American when fascists occupy the White House.
7 NEXT YEAR IN MANHATTAN
Pintele concludes with a look backward and forward. Still pursuing answers, we consult Jewish sages like Maimonides and Aunt Sarah. We recall the genesis of this very series. And we begin to understand who we are as Pintele Jews.
The Pintele Haggadah is a concise, modern Haggadah which points the way forward to a Passover celebration of liberation, free of religious dogma or historical inaccuracy. The Pintele Haggadah is based on suggestions in Pintele 3, “A Very Brody Passover,” and Pintele 7, “Next Year in Manhattan.” It will be available for purchase when Pintele 3 is released. I hope you’ll consider buying a copy and incorporating it into your Passover tradition — or using it to start one.
BLOG
Pintele Update: It’s “Finished”
It’s the final Pintele update of 2025, and guess what: It’s “finished!” Now it’s just a matter of removing those quotation marks…
Update: Not Impossible!
Here’s an update on recent progress, and an entirely possible plan for completing this project in 2025.
Update: Here’s the trailer!
A progress report at the end of September — and here’s the trailer!
Update 11: Pintele’s Progress
Riding a burst of momentum, the project suddenly seems to be coming together, with approximately half of the material now fully produced, and a clear path toward… well, let’s not get hysterical.
Pintele Update 10: You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet
A little distance from One and Two, and a lot of work on Three and Four, are the high notes in this latest aria about my progress on Pintele.
Pintele Update 9: Challenges Schmallenges
This update includes a bold statement about Parts One and Two, a discussion of the specific challenges of Part Three, and other tidbits guaranteed to make you hope I finish this project soon and stop posting updates about it!
Pintele Update 8
The view from early June, as work on the Pintele series continues, and the project gets closer and closer to your ears.
Four Great Grandparents
Here are four great grandparents, my grandmothers' mothers and fathers, all of whom crossed an ocean before the age of thirty to flee oppression and likely annihilation and start life all over again in a strange new place.
Pintele Update 6
Here’s the latest Pintele update, which is actually seven mini-updates, on the developing state of each of the seven chapters of Pintele.
Pintele Update 5
A mid-February Pintele update, with information about the recording process, and which sections are the most challenging.
The Road to Pintele
Another photo from that celebrated production of Fiddler on the Roof which ran for years in my family's various living rooms.
Pintele updates 1 - 4
Here are the first four official Pintele updates, published between December 3, 2024 and February 1, 2025.