Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchR. Elie Kaunfer on Parashat Lekh Lekha: Searching for Unexpected Moral Heroes Through Prayer
In this week’s parashah, we meet a character who teaches us a lesson in morality, and also ends up in the first blessing of the Amidah, one of our mo…
3 years, 9 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer on Parashat Noah: Praying a Few Words at a Time
What happens when we try to pray, but we just can’t make it work? Is there any hope, or any strategies, for those of us who can’t always reach the he…
3 years, 10 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer on Parashat Bereishit: Relational Prayer
From the beginning of the Torah, humans have a fraught relationship with knowledge. The essence of da’at—knowledge—in Adam’s world is the tree of kno…
3 years, 10 months ago
Dena Weiss: Can We Reverse the Irreversible?
We repent in order to go back to the way that things were, to repair what has broken, and to retrieve what we have lost. We often think of teshuvah a…
3 years, 10 months ago
R. Mich'ael Rosenberg: Return, Ascent, and Bloodied Wings
The High Holidays are a murky time of transition. How can we balance the need to both take stock of our past and look forward to the future? In this …
3 years, 11 months ago
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Nitzavim: Torah of Teshuvah, Part 1
Parashat Nitzavim falls in the thick of the season of teshuvah in the calendar. This is no coincidence—it is the primary source in the Torah for the …
3 years, 11 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer: The Deeper Meaning of Avinu Malkeinu
Where does Avinu Malkeinu come from, why do we say it on Rosh Hashanah, and what does it mean to call God “Our Father, Our King?” Rabbi Elie Kaunfer …
3 years, 11 months ago
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Ki Tavo: Reenacting Sinai
In Parashat Ki Tavo, Moshe instructs the people to do an extensive ceremony when they come to a specific mountain after they enter the land. Many asp…
3 years, 11 months ago
R. Elie Kaunfer: Who By Fire? The Most Controversial Prayer in Jewish Life
Rabbi Elie Kaufner explores the themes and intertextual references in Unetaneh Tokef. This lecture was originally recorded in Elul 2021.
3 years, 11 months ago
R. Aviva Richman on Parashat Ki Teitzei: Sexual Ethics - Consent, Community, Covenant
Exercising leadership means taking responsibility. At the end of last week’s parashah, Shoftim, elders of a town closest to an unsolved murder procla…
3 years, 11 months ago