Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchR. David Kasher on Parashat Noah: Naming Noah
Noah is a notoriously difficult character to pin down. Is he being presented as one of our heroes, to be emulated for his exceptional virtue, or as …
2 years, 10 months ago
The Joy of Belonging: The Tisch with Dena Weiss #16
At Sinai, people hear God’s voice. But a Midrash records that what they were most impressed by a glimpse of the entire community of the angels in hea…
2 years, 10 months ago
R. David Kasher on Parashat Bereishit: The Grammar of God
The Torah signals to us from the start that words have great power. A book that opens with an account of a world created through divine speech acts …
2 years, 10 months ago
R. Avi Strausberg on Simhat Torah: Becoming Torah
At the end of the day, or perhaps at the end of the Jewish calendar year, am I actually a better person as a result of the many hours given over each…
2 years, 10 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer on Parashat VeZot HaBerakhah: Blessing - A Purifying Pool of Water
In our prayers, we often call God “ברוך - blessed.” What images might this word evoke, and how might it deepen our connection to God, the source of …
2 years, 10 months ago
R. Avi Strausberg: Holding God Holding Us
For much of our lives we are unable to receive or offer the holding and embracing that we need. Sukkot is yhe holiday that invites us to pause—to hol…
2 years, 11 months ago
R. Avi Killip: Forgiveness, Intimacy, and the Eternal Search
The search for God will span a lifetime. But once a year the dynamic is different. If Judaism offers up life as a giant game of hide and seek with th…
2 years, 11 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer on Parashat Ha'azinu: Praying for Resurrection, Literally and Figuratively
The idea that God can revive the dead became central to our prayers and Jewish theology in general. But what does this “resurrection” entail? Do we…
2 years, 11 months ago
R. Jamie Weisbach: Eating as if You’re Fasting
There is a halakhic obligation to eat on the day before Yom Kippur. What is the nature of this obligation? Where does it come from? What can it teach…
2 years, 11 months ago
R. Tali Adler: Sacrifice - What It Is, What It Could Be, Why It Matters
Akeidat Yitzhak, the Torah reading for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, is usually seen as the ultimate Jewish model of personal sacrifice. But is wi…
2 years, 11 months ago