It has been one month since the launch of The Wondering Jew, and the first thing I want to say is…
THANK YOU.
The support this newsletter has received has surpassed all my expectations.
I sincerely appreciate everyone who has subscribed, read, commented, shared, and generally helped make this new community flourish.
And now that we’re four weeks in, I thought I'd pull back the curtain and offer an FAQ on where we are now, and where I hope we will go next.
Q: What has the response to the first month of newsletters been like?
Extremely generous.
As a writer, I never take feedback like this for granted.
But what’s been equally encouraging is the way posts have resonated with people.
For example, here’s a response I got to the newsletter about Chalamet being Jewish, and the pride Jews take in the achievements of the tribe:
Readers responded to the post about making challah with recipes of their own. I heard from tons of parents in response to “Dad, Did Moses Really Part the Red Sea?”, sharing stories of talking to their own kids about Judaism, faith, and Torah.
And I also want to say I was touched by how many of you reached out with words of sympathy for me and my extended family in response to the newsletter about grief.
Q: Any posts you think deserved more attention?
Yes! When I launched The Wondering Jew, I wanted to have a few pieces on the homepage so that everyone could get a fuller sense of what the newsletter is all about.
Consequently, I never emailed out this piece on Jewish humor. And I think it is, well, pret-tyyyy funny.
Q: Is The Wondering Jew for non-Jews?
Absolutely! I have been touched by the response of non-Jewish readers who are appreciating the newsletter — because they want to learn about Judaism, or they want to engage with religious and spiritual questions.
Curiosity and an email address are all that’s required.
Q: What about the data?
For the stat-heads…
As you can see, we’re among the fastest-growing Substacks in the category.
And The Wondering Jew is being read all over the map:
We have readers in twenty-four states and eleven countries — though if anyone can help me with outreach in the Great Plains and northern New England and so on, I’d be grateful.
Q: What do your parents think about all this?
My mother says the questions in the newsletters are profound and meaningful, and she wants to discuss them all further; my father said the post about the Talmud “looked a little long.”
Q: What are the benefits of a paid subscription?
Starting next month, we’ll be launching the book club, which will be available to paid subscribers only. Plus, if you subscribe at the Maccabee Level, you’ll get access to our Zoom text discussions, which are going to be a fantastic opportunity to learn and discuss and argue with incredibly smart and knowledgeable people, like yourself.
And to pull back the curtain a little further here, I’d originally intended to paywall more of the early posts, but I got some pushback on that. I do want to make as much content as possible available to as many people as possible — while also balancing my desire to provide value to the people who pay to subscribe.
So where I’ve landed is this: Certain types of premium content (recipes, reading lists, and some other fun material I have planned) are going to be paywalled, while the twice-weekly newsletters will remain free for the time being.
So you can still experience The Wondering Jew at the basic level, but the full experience will require a subscription.
Q: Josh, what’s the goal of this newsletter?
This is the most frequent of the frequently asked questions. Some version of, Why did I launch The Wondering Jew? Where do I want to take it? What does success look like?
Well, my wife recently called me “the Carrie Bradshaw of Judaism,” which is one of those goals you don’t realize you have until you accomplish it.
But in all honesty, when I started this newsletter, my hypothesis was that there was a real hunger out there for writing about Jewish life that was open, accessible, and engaging.
I’m happy to say that from your response, I believe that hypothesis is proving correct.
In our post-October 7th world, in which antisemitism can feel out of control — in which everything can feel out of control — more than ever, people want to be having meaningful conversations about Judaism, about spiritual life, about the deeper dimensions of ourselves, which are so often neglected.
I want this newsletter to help meet that desire, as best I can, for as many people as I can.
And yes, I know there are lots of topics I don’t write about. I don’t cover the headlines. Believe me, I feel the same heartbreak, frustration, fear, and occasional bursts of hope that all of you do when I read the news. But there are many places you can go for far more informed takes than I could give you.
It’s my belief that the best way I can support the Jewish community right now is to write about the areas that I know best, and where I just might be able to offer readers something different and insightful.
Q: So what are you writing about next?
Friday we’ll have a post related to the Fourth of July, and a woman who made an indelible contribution to the American story… And she’s Jewish!
Later in the summer, I’ll be writing about the connections between Judaism and hip-hop. Down the road, there’ll be a series about Jewish thinking and the movies of the Coen brothers — The Big Lebowski, A Serious Man, Fargo…
Plus, as you might expect, this fall we will be doing a ton of coverage around the High Holidays. Personally, I can’t wait for the Jewish calendar to kick into high gear.
But over the past month, I’ve been guided not just by my own curiosity, but by yours.
So if there’s a topic you’re wondering about — whether it’s spiritual, historical, cultural, culinary, or just something you don’t feel comfortable asking your rabbi — I’d love to hear it.
The Wondering Jew is meant to be a conversation. So please leave a comment, send me an email, ping me however, and let’s keep the conversation going.
Count me among those who fund your columns so far some combination of insightful, thought-provoking and amusing/hilarious. (And the Talmud one was *not* too long!😊). Looking forward to so much more.
Incredible! Much continued success!