
The Reel Schmooze on 'Roommates' and 'How to Make Challah': Different slices of Jewish American pie
From The Times of Israel Daily Briefing by The Times of Israel
May 2, 2026 · 45 min
About this episode
The episode discusses two films, 'How to Make Challah' and 'Roommates', while reflecting on Jewish American culture and entertainment.
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan , where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use. This week, before diving into our two films for this week, we revisit the 1960 film "Exodus" with a few reflections based on listeners' responses -- and Hoffman's musing while sweeping. We then hear about the movie maven's night out enjoying the Boss, Bruce Springsteen, and the E-Street Band's longtime Jewish musicians. The first film we chew over in this week's episode is a short, 13-minute indie production called "How to Make Challah" by Sarah Rosen. The intergenerational look at New York Jewry is framed within footage filmed by Rosen's aunt of her grandmother making challah in 1975. Now #1 on Netflix in Israel, Sadie Sandler's new "Roommates" left the team almost speechless, but they valiantly rallied at the sight of Jewish acting greats Natasha Lyonne, Nick Kroll and Carol Kane. Chloe East stars as Celeste, joined by Sadie Sandler as Devon. Does her apple fall far from the Adam Sandler tree? Stick around to see if "How to Make Challah" and "Roommates" got an "oy," "meh" or "not bad" in this week's…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jordan Hoffman, Amanda Borschel-Dan
Topics covered
- Jewish American culture
- film reviews
- independent films
- intergenerational stories
- entertainment news
Keywords
- Jewish films
- How to Make Challah
- Roommates
- Jordan Hoffman
- Amanda Borschel-Dan
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Times of Israel, E-Street Band
Books & works: Exodus, How to Make Challah, Roommates
Places: Israel
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