Storytelling. Innovation. Jewish Values. Leadership. Midrash. Entrepreneurship. Mixology. Community. Engagement. Torah.
This is a podcast about YOU. Each week we invite an incredible guest or two (or more!) to join us in conversation about the values that drive their incredible work and how a tumbler of Torah might make a magnificent mixed drink. We’re shaking—not stirring—things up with a classic twist on a millennia-old tradition. So raise the volume and your glass each week with Drinking and Drashing: Torah with a Twist. L’chayim!
Drinking and Drashing is the passion project of three friends who work everyday to make Judaism accessible, relevant and resonant. With a real belief that there’s “no one way to do Jewish,” we aim to break down barriers (both placed and self-made) which stop people from finding Jewish community and continuity on their own terms and in their own time. Have you ever thought “I’m not Jewish enough to…?” Fantastic—we’re here for you—and hope that you find a story that might resemble and/or inspire your own.
Translating Torah into true and tangible tactics isn’t often easy, but it’s always an adventure. Whether you’re interested by innovation, engaged by entrepreneurship, lean into learning and leadership, or are just wading into the weekly parasha, we’re so excited that you’re joining us.
Who are we?
Amanda K. Weiss
Co-Host
Amanda is currently the full-time Assistant Rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Fulton, MD. A lifetime lover of learning she received her rabbinic smicha and MAHL from HUC-JIR after receiving an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, graduate certificates in Jewish Education Specializing in Adolescents and Emerging Adults from HUC-JIR and Jewish Nonprofit Management from Gratz College, and a BA in Psychology and Judaic Studies from The George Washington University. Amanda has worked in the field of experiential Jewish education for over two decades across the country and has a love of making Judaism accessible, relevant, and resonant for learners of all ages. With a passion for Judaism, leadership, innovation, and relationship-building, Amanda has managed to double engagement in each of her organizations throughout her career. She was thrilled to have explored a new avenue for community-building through podcasting with her partners in podcasting Gabe and Edon, and her incredibly supportive mini-Bernedoodle, Tekiah.
Gabe Snyder
Co-Host
Gabe is a cantorial student at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He currently serves as the student cantor at Temple Beth Shalom in Arnold, MD. Having grown up in Wellesley, MA, he is a proud product of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, URJ Eisner Camp, and NFTY Northeast. Gabe earned his BA in Religious Studies at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where he also studied music and voice, participating in several operatic and choral productions. Gabe has worked at a handful of synagogues and youth programs, mostly teaching and working with children. His favorite thing is to be silly with kids.
Gabe got into this podcast for the same reason he is pursuing the cantorate: connection. He believes that nothing is more sacred than the relationships between people, at no time more-so than a global pandemic. Putting his education in religious thought and text to good (if not slightly sacrilicious) use, Gabe hopes that this project can bring us all a bit closer together around a common center, shared by generations of ancestors before us: the Torah.
Gabe lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his fiancé Lindsay, and cat CJ.
Check out Gabe’s personal profile at gabesnyder.me
Edon Valdman
Executive Producer
Edon grew up in South Florida and the Chicago suburbs, before spending 4 years in the city of Chicago studying at Columbia College Chicago. At Columbia, he got his degree in Music Technology, focusing on audio, music, and iOS app development.
A lifelong Conservative Jew, Edon first sparked an interest in Jewish learning during his time at various Jewish day schools throughout elementary and middle school. Edon is a proud Ramahnik, having spent 2 summers as a camper and 6 on music staff at Camp Ramah Wisconsin, where he taught lessons in various instruments and audio tech. He describes his time at camp as “instrumental” to his Jewish identity and particular love for Jewish music.
After spending over a year as the Head of Audio/Visual Production at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, NY, Edon now lives in Oak Park, IL, where his wife Agnes is the cantor at Oak Park Temple.
Edon works as a full-time freelancer, doing a variety of work as an audio engineer, musician, iOS app developer, and video editor, and spends his free time playing video games, watching TV, and hanging out with Cantor Valdman and their dog, Momo.