GOLDA founder Stephanie Butnick, journalist Gabby Deutch, novelist Esther Chehebar and Rabbi Diana Fersko talk mahjong vs. canasta, Sephora products coming to Israel, and the challah wars unfolding in the GOLDA Girls groupchat.

Sportswriter Matthew Futterman, whose new book is The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis, joins the hosts to break down tennis vs pickleball, Novak Djokovic’s dinner order, and how tennis tells the story of post-war American Jewish life.

Send us your Ask GOLDA questions at hi@goldaguide.com. You can also send them as a voice memo; be sure to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from.

Good for the Jews picks: 

Stephanie: People mishearing Ella Langley’s Choosin’ Texas lyric “he’s choosin’ Texas I can tell” as “there’s Jews in Texas I can tell” 

Gabby: Jane Bordeaux’s Hebrew cover of Choosin’ Texas 

Esther: The upcoming Leonard Cohen tribute concert organized by the late musician’s family 

Diana: David cards

Upcoming events: 

Tuesday, August 18  — Southampton, NY: Join GOLDA for a special kids Mini Mahj event at ColorPop Workshop’s Southampton studio. Beginners welcome! Ticket includes one adult + one child (6 and up); sign up at luma.com/dggc7sfe.  

Thursday, September 17 — New York City: Stephanie Butnick interviews Dr. Beth Ricanati at the launch event for her book The Braided Prescription: Seven Practices for Living Well from the Ancient Practice of Making Challah. 7 p.m. at The Strand Columbus; register here.

Find out about all of our upcoming events at goldaguide.com/p/events. 

Subscribe to GOLDA at goldaguide.com and follow us on Instagram at @goldaguide.

Where you can find the GOLDA Girls:

Subscribe to Gabby Deutch’s Substack at gsdeutch.substack.com. Get Gabby’s new Golda hat from LVL III—use code IYKYK for $5 off. 

Sign up for Diana Fersko’s print newsletter, Modern Jewess, at modern-jewess.com, and buy her book, We Need to Talk About Antisemitism, at rabbidianafersko.com/books.  

Get Esther Chehebar’s novel Sisters of Fortune at bookshop.org/a/110357/9780593734544, and her children’s book I Share My Name, at bookshop.org/a/110357/9781532432187. 

Buy Stephanie Butnick’s book, The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, at bookshop.org/a/110357/9781579658939.

GOLDA Girls is a production of GOLDA Media. The show is executive produced by Ariel Shapiro and edited by POLDHU. 

Sponsors:

GOLDA Girls is presented by Nu Reads, a new Jewish book subscription series curated by the Jewish Book Council that brings remarkable literature straight to your door. You can check out Stephanie’s interview with Nu Reads featured author Portia Elan about her new novel, Homebound, in the GOLDA Girls feed. Use code NuGolda at checkout for 15% off your subscription. Visit NuReads.org to get started today.