Former Congressman Andy Levin sits for a truly wide-ranging interview about the election, his concerns about the incoming Trump administration, Israel and so much more. The passionate Reconstructionist also discusses his Jewish identity, spiritual practice and how he has cultivated courage in public life. He offers honest assessments of his 2022 losing reelection bid and what lessons Democrats can draw from November’s defeat. He also offers a refreshingly candid take on courage in politics and the calculations politicians often make.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Rep. Andy Levin.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36
• Read Andy Levin's Evolve essay, "Courage Has a Life of Its Own"
• Evolve's Practices for Defending Democracy essay symposium
• Bryan's 2018 interview with Andy Levin
• From The Forward, "How Andy Levin’s defeat in Michigan was — and wasn’t — all about AIPAC"
• From The Detroit Free Press, "Andy Levin focuses on Gaza and Lebanon as he renews faith for Jewish New Year"
• Register for the event, "“All of the People Israel are Responsible for One Another”: Reconstructionist Values That Shape Our Relationships with Israelis and Palestinians"

Democracy holds a special place in Reconstructionist teachings, liturgy and practice — though most Jews have embraced American democracy as hospitable to Jewish life. Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., and Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D., dive deep into Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s — the founding thinker of Reconstructionist Judaism — thinking on democracy and pluralism and why it matters today. Each shares thoughts on the prospects for liberal democracy at a time when the form of government is under strain across the world — and what it might mean for Jewish communities. As a bonus, Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., who directs the Evolve podcast, shares the process behind Evolve’s series of essays on democracy.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guests: Rabbi Bill Plevan, Ph.D. and Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D..

Support Evolve

Links:

• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Read Rabbi Deborah Waxman's Evolve essay, "A Jewish Embrace of Democracy: Early Reconstructionist Judaism and America’s Promise"
• Read Rabbi Bill Plevan's Evolve essay, "Sustaining Democracy Amid Cultural Pluralism: Mordecai Kaplan’s Vision"
• Explore the full symposium: Practices for Defending Democracy
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
• American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century by Gary Gerstle
• Also on Evolve, "The Year Since October 7" essay collection
• From the Wisconsin Examiner, "A prescription for overcoming our dangerous political divisions
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36
• Learn more about "Memory Lights The World," Ritualwell's memorial wall

Tareq Abu Hamed, Ph.D., and Rabbi Michael Cohen talk about the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel’s Negev region. The nearly 30-year-old academic and research institution brings together students and faculty from Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and elsewhere to build relationships and solve pressing environmental challenges. Arava is partnering with a Palestinian organization on a new plan to meet needs for water, sanitation, hygiene and energy in a devastated Gaza Strip that’s years away from being rebuilt. Abu Hamed and Cohen each share how they hold on to hope in a seemingly hopeless time for those dedicated to regional peace.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guests: Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Rabbi Maurice Harris, and Rabbi Michael Cohen.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Read the Evolve essay, "Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza: The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies"
• Also on Evolve, "The Year Since October 7" essay collection
• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36
• Learn more about the Arava Institute
• Register for "Holding Each Other," Ritualwell's weekly Monday afternoon minyan
• Remembering October 7: Resources from Reconstructing Judaism
• From The Times of Israel, "Israelis, Palestinians to launch joint bid to bring humanitarian aid to post-war Gaza"
• Explore Sukkot resources from Reconstructing Judaism

It’s not easy to talk about and process the first anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023, when war continues to widen, hostages remain in Gaza and a ceasefire seems less and likely. This episode aims to model such a conversation. In a wide-ranging interview featuring Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D., interim vice president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Elliott Glassenberg, senior educator at BINA: the Jewish Movement for Social Change, they and Bryan discuss Oct. 7 and how Israeli and American Jews have been impacted. They also explain the relationship between RRC and BINA and how it may be more important than ever for rabbis serving in the Diaspora to devote time to better understanding the dynamics of Israeli society.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guests: Elliot Glassenberg and Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D..

Support Evolve

Links:

• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36
• From Evolve: The Year Since October 7
• Register for Ritualwell's "A Day of Memory: Holding Each Other on October 7th, 2024"
• Explore October 7 Resources from Reconstructing Judaism
• Explore Evolve's essays
• BINA - The Jewish Social Movement for Change
• Learn more about RRC's faculty summer study tour of Israel

If we embrace Judaism, what do we do with passages from Torah and elsewhere that seem to directly undermine our worldviews and values? Human rights attorney turned rabbinical student Maria Pulzetti makes a compelling case that we should deal with these problematic biblical passages head-on. Maria and Bryan also examine reproductive justice, as well as the legacy of slavery and systemic racism, through a Jewish lens. Later, they discuss what motivated Maria to become a rabbi, her opposition to the death penalty and her time, in the early 2000s, as a human rights worker in Russia.

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Maria Pulzetti.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Read the Evolve essay, "Remember, Retell, Resist: Reading Difficult Biblical Passages"
• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Register for the Resilience Boost from Ritualwell
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36

Marc Dollinger has seen a thing or two. In his academic career, the historian of American Jewry has been labeled a “self-hated leftist Jew” and “right-wing Zionist colonialist.” He’s been criticized for failing to capture the full nuance of black-Jewish relations and been abandoned by his publisher for suggesting that Jews bear some responsibility for the continuance of American racism. And, while he studied leftist anti-Israel sentiments for decades — focusing on its origins after the Six Day War — he’s been utterly shocked by the virulence of anti-Israel sentiment on campuses since Oct. 7, 2023. In this packed interview, Dollinger addresses the nature of academic freedom, the importance of DEI work in Jewish communities and the lines between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. He also talks about his previous book Black Power, Jewish Politics and his forthcoming memoir of his campus intellectual battles.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Marc Dollinger.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Read Marc Dollinger's Evolve essay: "Anti-Israel, Anti-Zionist, Antisemitic: Reflections on the San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond) after Oct. 7"
• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Support Evolve with a donation of $36
• Register for the next Evolve Web Conversation: What If We Stopped Assuming That the Human Species is the Chosen Species?
• Buy Marc Dollinger's book, Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s
• Explore Evolve's essays about the Israel-Hamas war
• Explore Evolve's essays about antisemitism
• Read the open letter, "Brandeis University Press is silencing debate"
• Read Brandeis University Press' response letter

For a certain generation of Jewish Americans, Israel and the memory of the Holocaust represented twin pillars of civil religion, argues Louis Newman, a scholar of Jewish ethics and religion. While these pillars may have shown cracks for decades, Newman says they came crashing down on Oct. 7,2023. Israel had failed its most basic function: keeping Jews and all its inhabitants safe. What does a people do when its faith is shattered? What can we learn from our history? Where do we go from here? Newman discusses all this and more in a thought-provoking interview. The author of a new book on how to succeed in college also gives his take on campus antisemitism, anti-Israel protests and what colleges might do to restore both safety and the free exchange of ideas and expression.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Louis Newman.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Read Louis Newman's Evolve essay, "Living in a Time of Shattered Faith"
• Where We Stand: The Reconstructionist Movement, Israel and Zionism
• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Support Evolve with a donation
• Explore Evolve's essays about the Israel-Hamas war
• Register for Evolve's upcoming web conversation, "The Right-Wing Extremists Are In Charge In Israel" — Rabbi Jonathan Kligler will discuss why he no longer supports a continuation of the war in Gaza despite his passionate commitment to a liberal, democratic Israeli state.
• Purchase Louis Newman's new book, "Thinking Critically in College"
• Read Louis Newman in Newsweek: "Look to the Liberal Arts to Lower the Temperature of Campus Culture Wars"
• Also by Louis Newman for Evolve, "The Other Jewish View of Forgiveness"
• Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001
• 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War
• 1949: The First Israelis
• Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict
• Read Rabbi Amy Eilberg's Evolve essay, "Lovingkindness in a Time of War" — Louis Newman is married to past Evolve guest and contributor Rabbi Amy Eilberg.
• Listen to Rabbi Amy Eilberg's Evolve interview, "Lovingkindness in a Time of War" — Louis Newman is married to previous Evolve guest and contributor, Rabby Amy Eilberg
• Book Review | Noah Feldman Explains Us To Ourselves

Rabbi Katie Mizrahi is a Zionist who was beyond devastated by Hamas’ mass killings, rape and kidnapping on October 7th. She reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself. And she explains why she is opposed to how Israel has conducted its war and why she joined calls for a bilateral ceasefire. She expands on this line from her essay, “But here is the heart of the matter. I am not ready to become monstrous to defend my people from monsters.” We talk about the difficulty of interpreting events and the deluge of information and making informed decisions about where one stands. She shares how B’nai Havurah Denver Reconstructionist Congregation has responded these last seven months and how Zionists and anti-Zionist still inhabit the same community. Bryan and Rabbi Katie reminisce about what it was like to be in Israel in the 90s a time of hope and optimism. She shares her experience working against Israeli demolitions of Palestinian home and the trauma of witnessing the shooting of a Palestinian man. This episode is dedicated to Bryan’s late father, Robert.

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Rabbi Katie Mizrahi.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Read Rabbi Mizrahi's Evolve essay, "Zionist Rabbi For Ceasefire"
• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Explore Evolve's essays about the Israel-Hamas war
• Published in the Forward: "I run the Reconstructionist movement. We believe in Israel’s right to exist but reject litmus tests on Zionism"
• Read Reconstructing Judaism's public statements about the Israel-Hamas war
• Resources for Shavuot from Reconstructing Judaism
• The Art of Rebuke (a Sefaria source sheet)
• Sign up for Ritualwell's free Omer writing workshops
• Sign up for Ritualwell's in-person immersion, "Count On Telling Your Story"

It’s a supersized Passover edition of Evolve! First, Rabbi Nathan Kamesar drops by to discuss his recent essay, "The Legitimacy of the State of Israel: Surviving in a Hostile Region." Bryan and Nathan reflect on their respective relationships with Israel and Israeli politics. Nathan opens up about what it’s like being a pulpit rabbi and spiritual leader during wartime and how he’s been approaching his job the last few months (5:00). Nathan and Bryan offer some of their personal opinions about the Israel-Hamas war and war in general. Nathan shares which of the many unknowns he would most like to know in order to make sense of things. Bryan asks Nathan about his response to the recent Atlantic Magazine cover story “The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending” (31:05). Nathan reflects on how he’s thinking about Passover this year, how he’s trying to center empathy and why it’s impossible to avoid politics at the seder table (42:30). Then, for a special bonus interview, Reconstructing Judaism’s own Rabbi Maurice Harris stops by for a conversation with Sam Wachs about all things Moses, including his starring role in the new Netflix Docudrama Testament: The Story of Moses (54:30).

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guests: Rabbi Maurice Harris and Rabbi Nathan Kamesar.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Sign up for Evolve's free newsletter to stay up to date on the latest essays, videos and podcasts
• Read Rabbi Nathan Kamesar's Evolve Essay, "The Legitimacy of the State of Israel: Surviving in a Hostile Region"
• Also from Rabbi Nathan, "Building Community is Most Essential"
• From The Atlantic, "The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending"
• Buy Rabbi Maurice Harris' book, "Moses: A Stranger Among Us"
• Read Rabbi Maurice Harris' Evolve essays
• Read Bryan's behind-the-scenes story about how Rabbi Maurice Harris was cast in a hit Netflix show
• Watch "Testament: The Story of Moses" on Netflix

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David, an activist and author, shares what it is like to live in Israel – and be a parent - right now, with all the heartbreak, confusion and glimmers of hope. In this conversation, the author and spiritual director discusses the personal losses she suffered on October 7 and after (9:18) She also shares anxiety about living in Israel’s north and how and why she’s recommitted herself to interfaith peace activism (22:10) and her work with the Standing Together, the grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace . With views on the conflict becoming ever more entrenched, Ner-David’s perspective is refreshingly iconoclastic. Whatever your perspective, left, right or center, she says something to challenge you.

Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb

Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org

Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss

Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1

This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Rabbi Haviva Ner-David.

Support Evolve

Links:

• Reconstructing Judaism joins call for ceasefire, release of all hostages and increase in humanitarian aide to Gaza
• Sign up for Evolve's newsletter to receive exclusive content
• Celebrate 10 years of Rabbi Deborah Waxman's leadership
• Support Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
• Rabbi Haviva's website
• Rabbi Haviva's memoirs, novels, and more
• Read Rabbi Haviva's February 2024 Evolve Essay, "The Other Side of the Rain: At a Cemetery in the Galilee"
• Read Rabbi Haviva's October 2023 Evolve essay, "Let Not Our Anger Blind Us: Jews and Palestinians in Israel"
• Read Rabbi Haviva's August 2023 Evolve essay, "Standing Together: A Redemptive Vision for Palestinian-Jewish Partnership"
• From JTA: "I’m an Israeli advocate for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. We’re still in this together."
• From Rabbi Haviva's Times Of Israel blog: "Minding Our Own Business, and that of the Country"
• From Rabbi Haviva's Times of Israel Blog: "This is a Story to Open Your Hearts. Are you Willing?"
• Next Evolve Web Conversation: Against Free Will