“I had a sudden thought one day, while walking in the rain, that it should be a podcast about women rabbis, and that Marci would be the perfect co-host,” says Rabbi Emma Gottlieb, one of the rabbis at Temple Israel in Cape Town, South Africa. Rabbi Marci Bellows, spiritual leader at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek (CBSRZ) in Chester, was thrilled when Emma asked her to begin a biweekly podcast with her, now in its second season, highlighting the stories of a variety of women rabbis from all over the world. Marci and Emma are close friends who share a love for Broadway and pop culture. They also take being rabbis very seriously, while not taking themselves too seriously.

“Rabbi Bellows continually inspires our congregation with her knowledge, wisdom, enthusiasm, and it is such a joy and honor for us that she shares that with the world through her podcast,” says current CBSRZ President, Andy Schatz. The podcast has listeners in at least 34 different countries around the world.

Emma brought this idea to Marci: to showcase female and female-identifying rabbis of all kinds, from different streams of Judaism and different parts of the world and on different career paths, not just the rabbis who make the top-10 lists. And they’ve succeeded! The podcast has broached topics such as Liberal Zionism, Lesbian Rabbinates, Why Women Need a Rabbinic Network of Their Own, Racial Diversity in the Jewish Community, Being a Student Rabbi during the Pandemic, and they even interviewed Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, the rabbi who officiated at Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s funeral.

“As an avid podcast listener, a Jew, and a feminist, I feel proud of our community every time I listen to our Rabbi’s podcast. I love that our community’s values are reflected out for the world to see, and I love that Rabbi Bellows is helping to break down stereotypes and to promote a new paradigm about spiritual and Jewish leadership,” says Izzi Greenberg, Incoming President at CBSRZ in Chester.

“Women Rabbis Talk” can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast streaming service.