Rob Kutner is not the most, shall we say, “traditionally male-coded” of men. He’s the family cook, he cried more than his wife did at their son’s recent Bar Mitzvah, and as for sports – when a cousin recently sent him a picture of his new Kansas City Chiefs jersey, his first response was, “Ah yes, Taylor’s fiancee’s team!” These are interesting times for men, to say the least. For Jewish men, when they look back to the Jewish Patriarchs, it’s hard to know how to model themselves. That’s why Kutner is co-hosting Mamas’ Boys, a new podcast devoted to “Jewish men having real talk.” The very first command that Abraham, the O.G. Jewish man-bro, was given was Lech Lecha, which the Rabbis have often interpreted to mean “Go into yourself.” It’s been 4,000 years, but Abe, I think we’re finally ready to go there. Read more about the new Mamas’ Boys podcast.
When Noam Dromi attended Limmud, the sprawling UK festival of Jewish learning and culture, he encountered a Jewish world that refused simplification. Learning and argument, music and prayer, identity and contradiction all coexisted in the same space. It offered a lived answer to a question that has been sitting with him for some time: what does Jewish cultural life look like when it refuses to flatten itself?
That experience sharpened a tension Dromi has been grappling with in his work as Managing Director of Reboot Studios. While Jewish life on the ground is messy, plural, and expansive, Jewishness in film and media is too often sanded down in the name of “universality.” His work is not simply about telling more Jewish stories, but about expanding what Jewish stories are allowed to be — moving beyond Holocaust-only narratives, Ashkenazi default settings, or Jewishness reduced to background texture.
He left Limmud convinced of something essential: there is an audience for complexity. Not a niche audience. A human one. Read more in “The Jew-Shaped Hole: What Gets Lost When Jewish Stories Try to Be Universal.”
As we start a new year, we’re reflecting on the work we are so proud of at Reboot, blending ancient wisdom and traditions with contemporary culture, sparking curiosity and creating spaces where people from every background can explore Jewish life in meaningful, imaginative ways. From unforgettable rituals to powerful films, from feminist Talmud takes to the world’s most inquisitive kosher dill pickle, we are shaping the cultural conversation about Jewish life and identity. Our work travels through media, art and ideas that invite people in and expand what Jewish culture can look and feel like today. Nearly 8 million people participated and viewed our projects in the past year and we watched our community grow to more than 50,000 Instagram followers. Across all social platforms, we have 100,000 followers now engaging with Reboot’s creative, courageous Jewish exploration. Read more highlights from Reboot
Writer and producer Lauren Schaffel—known for her work as a child actor in Will and Grace, Still Standing, and as the voice of Lucy in the Peanuts series—shares the deeply personal and sharply funny story behind her award-winning short musical comedy film Catalogue of Noses. Inspired by her own experience growing up Jewish in Hollywood and getting a nose job at 16. Reboot helped create educational materials for Catalogue of Noses, to open up conversations about identity, beauty,and authenticity. In this piece for Reboot, Schaffel reflects on what it means to reshape ourselves to fit in, and how storytelling can help us reclaim those pieces we’ve lost along the way. Read more on Catalogue of Noses and get the guide here.
The new book, My Year of Really Bad Dates, mixes heartbreak, humor and a whole lot of chutzpah to turn romantic disaster into deeply Jewish art. In this candid and sharply funny memoir, Rachel J. Lithgow, a veteran of Jewish cultural life, shares how a Jewish lens shapes not just her love life, but her entire way of finding meaning (and comedy) in the chaos. She shares with Reboot a reminder that telling our stories, especially the messy ones, is a sacred act of survival and connection. Read more from Lithgow here.