Episode Details

This conversation with author Bruce Feiler could not have happened at a more opportune time.

I am in the process of retiring from the full time congregational rabbinate. I am in the process of finishing up a pulpit career that lasted more than forty years.

Over the last few weeks I have found myself repeating the words of my rabbi. Peggy Lee, who sang plaintively: “Is that all there is?” 

Is that all there is to being a rabbi? You build relationships; you teach Torah; you embody; you represent; you symbolize – and then, you reach the end of your work years – and then, what?

All of my friends who are retiring, no matter what the career, find themselves asking the same question.

For some, it is: I wake up in the morning; now what do I do?

But for others, it is more like: I wake up in the morning; now who am I? Who am I if not my title and if not my job description?

Is that all there is?

Join me in my conversation with Bruce Feiler, media personality and the author of many books -- some on biblical topics ("Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses," "Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths," "Where God was Born: A Daring Adventure Through the Bible's Greatest Stories"); on the contemporary family ("The Secrets of Happy Families: Surprising New Ideas to Bring More Togetherness, Less Chaos, and Greater Joy"), and now, on the nature of the meaning of work in today's world -- "The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World."

This is what we discuss:

• Why two-thirds of Americans say they’re unhappy with their work; why three-quarters say they plan to look for new work over the next year, and why unprecedented numbers of Americans are quitting their jobs.
• How the very idea of "career" might be dead -- or at least, the idea of a single career.
• Why professional success no longer requires climbing, but digging.
• Why you should realize that you might be living a “nonlinear life.”
• The meaning of the "workquake," and how you would recognize it if you felt it.
• Why so many people are willing to trade in their earnings for meaning in life. (Spoiler alert: a study in 2018 that was published in the Harvard business review found that 90% of workers were willing to give up a quarter of their entire life earnings in exchange for work that was meaningful.)

But, throughout the podcast. I found myself smiling, because this conversation and Bruce's book reflect many things that I wrote in my own book, written almost thirty years ago (!) -- "Being God's Partner: How To Find the Hidden Link Be