Podcast Episodes

Why Rain Comes From Above: A Conversation with Dr. Devora Steinmetz and Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Dr. Devora Steinmetz joins Rabbanit Leah Sarna in conversation around the release of Dr. Steinmetz’s book Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in …

1 year, 7 months ago

R. Tali Adler on Parashat Bereishit: Home, Exile, and How to Wander Together

Human beings don’t have to be told that we are living outside of paradise.  

It’s not just the fact that the world is not perfect: it’s that deep insi…

1 year, 7 months ago

R. Micha'el Rosenberg on Simhat Torah: Joy and Trembling

We tend to think of Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah, which conclude the somber and at times terrifying High Holiday season, as a time of tremendous …

1 year, 7 months ago

R. David Kasher on Parashat VeZot HaBerakhah: A Shared Inheritance

The first verse in the Torah I ever learned by heart comes from its final parashah.  When my brother and I would go visit our father in New York for …

1 year, 8 months ago

R. Shai Held: The God of the Hebrew Bible is a God of Love

It is one of the last acceptable prejudices in American culture: the God of the "Old Testament" is a God of vengeance, focused on strict justice rath…

1 year, 8 months ago

R. Avi Strausberg: Midrashim of Destruction

In its time, the destruction of the Temple, habayit (the house), brought with it tremendous violence, loss and suffering. In this session, we'll turn…

1 year, 8 months ago

R. David Kasher on Parashat Ha'azinu: The Poetry of Torah, Part 2

Last week, we discussed the significance of the poem that God tells Moshe to write down in Parashat VaYelekh, "Now, write for yourselves this poem an…

1 year, 8 months ago

R. David Kasher on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelekh: The Poetry of Torah, Part 1

In Parashat Nitzavim Moshe’s grand oratory comes to a close, and in Parashat VaYelekh he turns to the process of writing the Torah down.  The parasha…

1 year, 8 months ago

R. Shai Held: Teshuvah and Transformation Part 2

To prepare ourselves for the approaching Days of Awe, we'll engage in two sets of reflections. In this second part, we'll consider some of the very d…

1 year, 8 months ago

R. David Kasher on Parashat Ki Tavo: Wellsprings of Torah

In Parashat Ki Tavo, Moshe and the elders of Israel command the people, on the day they arrive into Land, to set up twelve large stones, and “to writ…

1 year, 9 months ago