20 | JANUARY 11 • 2024 J
N

OUR COMMUNITY

T

hey may seem like an
unlikely duo, but an
Orthodox rabbi and a
former atheist offer the perfect
complement to one another
in a new Metro Detroit-based
Jewish podcast.
Together, Rabbi Alon Tolwin
of Aish Detroit and financial
planner Gary Rosenberg of
Huntington Woods, a self-
proclaimed “skeptic,
” blend
thoughts, ideas and perspectives
in “
A Rabbi and a Skeptic Walk
Into a Podcast.
”
Available on Spotify and
other streaming platforms, the
podcast released its first episode
in August of this year and has
since released 13 episodes, one
a week.
While the duo may come
from different worlds, Tolwin
and Rosenberg are an unlikely
pair that cover the ins and outs
of timeless Jewish wisdom
and knowledge with grace and
humor.

THE PERFECT FIT
As decades-long friends, Tolwin
and Rosenberg go way back.
Rosenberg was a longtime
participant in Tolwin’s former
weekly lunch-and-learn
program at the Detroit Jewish
News, and the pair previously
traveled to Israel for a nine-day
study trip.
“He’s so dynamic and I
learned so much,
” Rosenberg
says of his friend and podcast
co-host. “I got so much out of
it.
”
While no longer an atheist,
Rosenberg still calls himself
skeptical, though he says he’s
“not the biggest skeptic in the

world.
”
He notes Tolwin, meanwhile,
is flexible and understanding,
and holds diverse viewpoints on
ancient Jewish wisdom.
Tolwin says the same about
Rosenberg, explaining that the
duo both “believe in the power
of ideas.
” In addition, they share
a deep love for music.
While they still tend to
disagree, Tolwin says the reason
“
A Rabbi and a Skeptic Walk
Into a Podcast” works as well
as it does (and has generated
hundreds of listeners in its
short time on the internet) is
because of its “three pillars”
— Rosenberg, himself and the
listener.
“Someone once told me if
you ask a policeman why they
have three antennas on their
car, it’s because of triangulation,
”
Tolwin explains. “You have
three points, and you can’t
figure anything out location-
wise unless you have three.
”
“I look at the podcast as
triangulation between the
listener, Gary and myself,
”
Tolwin continues. “You listen to
the ideas and make a decision,
otherwise you’re stuck.
”
The moment there’s a third-
party, he says, it creates “more
dynamic tension.
” That healthy
tension can be felt throughout
the podcast’s 13 episodes, which
cover a wide range of topics that
include intermarriage, death,
antisemitism and the meaning
of life.
“I don’t want it to get
political,
” Rosenberg says of
the podcast, which is ad-hoc
and off-the-cuff — a true
conversation between two

individuals. “I don’t want to talk
about current events. I want
Tolwin’s great-grandchildren to
listen to this 20 years from now
and have it still be relevant.
”

SHARING WISDOM
With topics that stand the test
of time, Rosenberg explains
that the podcast is meant to be
mostly philosophical. “I hope
that other people hear it and
find it enjoyable to listen to, and
at the end of it learn something
new,
” he says.
In future episodes, Tolwin
hopes to discuss education, a
topic near and dear to his heart
as a scholar and teacher.
Rosenberg, meanwhile, wants
to dive further into the basics
that he says “aren’t restricted
to this moment,
” such as the
nature of the existence of God
and other talking points that
aren’t temporal.
“We talk about some intense
issues,
” admits Rosenberg,
who recommends the episode
about death to new listeners as
one that’s particularly moving.
Tolwin also enjoyed the episode
about intermarriage and plans
to revisit antisemitism in the

near future.
Tolwin says the podcast
works because of two factors:
its content, and hearing
perspectives from two people
with what he calls “such
disparate backgrounds.
”
“We have to find some
things we disagree on more,
”
he jokes of his friendship
with Rosenberg. “It’s an
ever-evolving conversation.
Sometimes we go off-topic
and start laughing, and we can
have a good time [despite the
seriousness of the topic].
”
At the end of the day, it’s all
about having fun for the fast
friends and podcast duo.
“We have a really neat
relationship,
” Tolwin says.
“We’ve gotten really good
feedback.
”

An Orthodox rabbi and a former atheist
host a new podcast on Judaism.
Unlikely Pair

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Gary Rosenberg and Rabbi Alon
Tolwin in Israel about 10 years ago

To listen to A Rabbi and a Skeptic

Walk into a Podcast, go to www.

buzzsprout.com/2236704/share.

Email Rabbi Alon Tolwin at

Rabbi2skeptic@gmail.com.