What’s Cookin’?

This week on Unorthodox, we’re calling the lox-smith.

Our Jew of the week is Massachusetts State Sen. Eric Lesser, who worked for the Obama campaign and administration and helped bring the first Seder to the White House. He’s now running for lieutenant governor, and he joins us for some western Massachusetts Jewish geography and Friendly’s reminiscences.

Then we share a segment from our producer Quinn Waller. She’s converting to Judaism, and with her first Passover coming up, she’s getting into the kitchen and learning how to do it right.

Get prepared for Passover with Tablet’s Passover Haggadah: An Ancient Story for Modern Times. Our publisher is offering discounted sets at tabletm.ag/passover.

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Upcoming events:

April 7 — Unorthodox live show at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, with schmoozing and book-signing afterward. 7:30 p.m. Eastern; get your tickets here.

April 11 (virtual) — Stephanie Butnick will be in conversation with authors Lisa Bar­r (Woman on Fire) and James McAuley (The House of Frag­ile Things: Jewish Art Col­lec­tors and the Fall of France). 7 p.m. Eastern; register here.

May 15 — Mark Oppenheimer will be discussing his book Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood at Temple Beth Israel in Skokie, Illinois. 10 a.m. Central; tickets here.

May 22 (virtual) — Stephanie Butnick will be in conversation with authors Gary Shteyngart and Claire Stanford as part of the Jewish Book Council and the Jewish Museum’s Unpacking the Book series. 7 p.m. Eastern; register here.

Get all our events info at tabletmag.com/unorthodoxlive.

Check out The Tab, Tablet magazine’s new printable weekly digest: tabletm.ag/tab.

Want to book us for a live show or event in your area, or partner with us in some other way? Email Tanya Singer at [email protected].

Unorthodox is produced by Tablet Studios. Check out all of our podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Sponsors:

KOL Foods offers healthy, sustainable, kosher meat and poultry. Use code UnorthodoxPesach for 10% off your order at kolfoods.com.