In this episode, Rabbi Kath Vardi returns for a discussion about one of the most famous stories in the Babylonian Talmud: the legend of Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish.

We were hoping to get through the whole episode in one sitting, but time got the better of us, so we will be bringing out Part 2 of this episode on Thursday.

Click here to read the legend on Sefaria.org.

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any talmudic stories you would love Elliott and Kath to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this special solo episode, Elliott delves into legends from the Talmud in which rabbis kill with their eyes, and considers what it says about rabbinic power, and whether there is a possibility that – in a small way at least – the rabbis are laughing at themselves.

Click here for a source sheet to accompany this episode.

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any talmudic stories you would love Elliott and Kath to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

Next time: Rabbi Kath is back, as we consider another story about Rabbi Yochanan, this time it will be the famous story of Rabbi Yochanan and his relationship with Reish Lakish. 

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this episode, Elliott is once again joined by Kohenet Yael Tischler, who is a student rabbi in her fourth year at Leo Baeck College in London. After the last two episodes, Elliott asked Yael if they could talk about some women who fought back. Yael thought about it, and these were the two women she chose: Devorah and Yael.

Click here for a source sheet with the texts they discuss in this episode. If you want to follow the story on Sefaria, click here.

Next week, Rabbi Kath Vardi returns for another conversation about rabbinic power dynamics. Before that, on Thursday, a solo episode from Elliott on a related subject he recently taught about at Limmud: Rabbis who kill with their eyes.

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any biblical stories or any biblical women you would love us to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

You can also now join the conversation on Facebook and Bluesky.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this episode, Elliott is once again joined by Kohenet Yael Tischler, who is a student rabbi in her fourth year at Leo Baeck College in London. They discuss the story of She'ilah, the daughter of Yiftach, who is sacrificed by her own father after he makes a frivilous vow to God. They talk about the way in which her story has been told and retold, and why it’s important to us today.

Click here for a source sheet with the texts they discuss in this episode.

To find out more about Dirshuni, the collection of modern midrashim that is mentioned in this episode, click this link: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/D/bo156863971.html

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any biblical stories you would love Elliott to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this episode, Elliott is joined by Kohenet Yael Tischler, who is a student rabbi in her fourth year at Leo Baeck College in London. They discuss the story of Shelomit bat Dibri, the only woman to be named in the book of Leviticus. They talk about the way in which her story has been told and retold, and why it’s important to us today.

Click here for a source sheet with all the texts they discuss in this episode.

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any biblical stories you would love Elliott to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this episode, Elliott is again joined by Rabbi Kath Vardi, in the second episode looking at rabbinic legends in the Babylonian Talmud - legends that cause us to reflect on the power of the rabbis and the boundaries they put in place around learning. This week, Elliott and Kath read the story of Rabbi Eliezer, who is excommunicated by the other rabbis. It’s a story about what happens when an individual challenges the majority, and as ever there is much to learn for our contemporary lives.

Click here to read the legend on Sefaria.org.

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any talmudic stories you would love Elliott and Kath to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

Next time: Elliott is joined by Student Rabbi Yael Tischler, and they will be discussing the only woman to be named in the Book of Leviticus: Shelomit bat Dibri.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All Else Is Commentary is a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt.

In this episode, Elliott is joined by Rabbi Kath Vardi, in the first in a series of episodes looking at rabbinic legends in the Babylonian Talmud - legends that cause us to reflect on the power of the rabbis and the boundaries they put in place around learning. This week, Elliott and Kath read the story of Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabban Gamliel. It’s a story about what happens when individual leaders can become too powerful; it’s about the way in which we can get stuck when we put narrow limits on who can learn and who can be involved in decision-making; and it’s a profound commentary on how communities should operate and thrive (or not). 

Click here to read the legend on Sefaria.org.

If you are heading back to this episode for an explanation of what the Talmud is, there's a time stamp for that!

1:48: What is the Talmud?

If you have any comments or questions, or if there are any talmudic stories you would love Elliott and Kath to talk about, please be in touch with us at [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.

All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the very first episode of All Else is Commentary, a new podcast of Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective and presented by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt, and in this first episode he is joined by the author, Toby Lloyd, to talk about his highly acclaimed new book, Fervour, described by Jonathan Coe as 'A fearless look into the dark heart of family politics' and by the New York Times as 'Magnificent, indelible [...] a lasting allegory of our dark historical time.' It’s a book full of Jewish references from biblical stories to the Zohar. Elliott and Toby talk about all those, and they also get into issues of antisemitism and mental health. 

You can find out more about Toby's book here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/toby-lloyd/fervour/9781399724616/

There will be more discussions like this in the future. A reminder of what we have coming up: I’m excited to speak to the lawyer Anthony Julius about his new book on the biblical figure of Abraham. I’m going to be discussing with Rabbi Kath Vardi the way in which the rabbis of the Talmud drew boundaries around learning, and Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris and I are in the process of recording a four-part series on the Book of Ruth.

If you have enjoyed this episode and want to know more about what’s coming up, you can visit our website (https://www.alyth.org.uk/learn-us/adult-learning/all-else-is-commentary/), and you can get in touch with Elliott at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.