Evolve

Evolve

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Evolve episodes

  • Episode 22: Hope as an Ethical Imperative

    In Barbara Breitman’s telling, hope isn't "some fluffy thing." It's an essential Jewish practice. Hope enables leaders to imagine a different world and work to bring it out about no matter what obstacles stand in the way. Breitman, a spiritual director, therapist and scholar of religion, cites Moses, Noah and Mordechai as Biblical characters who embody this kind of hope. How can ordinary people emulate these examples?

    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/22

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

    Special Guest: Barbara Breitman.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Read the Evolve essay: Hope as an Ethical Imperative
    — Having faith in the power of an ethical/spiritual vision guides our action and activism toward revitalization, justice and compassion.
  • Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives
    • — Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives invites readers into the lives of twenty women for whom Jewish language and texts provide a lens for understanding their experiences. The authors don't just use religious words (texts, theologies, or liturgies) like a cookbook. Instead they serve readers something closer to a real meal, prepared with love and intention. Each essay shares one piece of its writer's heart, one chapter of experience as refracted through the author's particular Jewish optic.
  • Jewish Spiritual Direction: Fundamental Assumptions
    • — Our view of reality can be transformed when we ask, “Where is God/the Holy in this?” and “What is the invitation/opportunity at this moment?” Gradually, we can build a relationship with what is beyond our ability to conceive.
  • Jewish Spiritual Direction at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
    • — Through spiritual direction, rabbinical students cultivate their ability to discern God’s Presence in their lives — to notice and appreciate moments of holiness, to maintain an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things and to explore ways to be open to the Blessed Holy One in challenging and difficult moments as well as in joyful ones.
  • Psychology Today: Barbara Breitman
    • 53 min
  • Episode 21: Fighting Antisemitism and Racism in Minneapolis

    “People are really still antisemitic? I thought you all were just regular white people now.” When social justice activist Carin Mrotz heard those words from a Black activist, Mrotz knew she had even more to do: Educating non-Jewish progressives about antisemitism, putting antisemitism on the progressive agenda, building alliances to tackle antisemitism, racism and all expressions of white supremacy. In this interview, Mrotz, executive director of Minneapolis-based Jewish Community Action, discusses how the murder of George Floyd and subsequent conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin has impacted her work. Mrotz also talks about her working relationship with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. And, just to mix things up, we get into how the Miami punk rock scene of the 1980s shaped her worldview.

    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: Carin Mrotz.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Evolve - Fighting Antisemitism is a Critical Piece of a Racial Justice Agenda
  • Democratic melee as US pro-Israel group picks fight with longtime Jewish leader | The Times of Israel
  • Dukakis and the Tank - POLITICO Magazine
  • Keith Ellison anti-Semitism controversy, explained | The Times of Israel
  • Glenn Danzig - Punk Wouldn't Happen With Today's 'Woke Bulls--t'
    • 49 min
  • Episode 20: America's First Bat Mitzvah

    The first American bat mitzvah took place on March 18, 1922. As its 100th anniversary nears, we’ve got something of a departure for our podcast. We’re running an episode that we co-sponsored of Adventures in Jewish Studies, a podcast of the Association for Jewish Studies. In it, guest scholars Rabbi Carole Balin, Melissa R. Klapper, and Rabbi Deborah Waxman consider the history of the bat mitzvah and its evolution over time. They also explore how the bat mitzvah helped pave the way for greater inclusion of women in public Jewish ritual and practice and helped shape American Jewish life.

    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/20

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

    Special Guest: Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D..

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • ‎Adventures in Jewish Studies Podcast from the Association for Jewish Studies
  • Judith Kaplan celebrates first American Bat Mitzvah ceremony | Jewish Women's Archive
  • Sally Gottesman | Jewish Women's Archive
  • A bat mitzvah girl debuts a new way for blind Jews to participate in an ancient tradition - The Washington Post
  • My Beautiful, Kaleidoscopic Jewish Life (Gina Drangel)
  • This Teen Had a Gender-Neutral 'B Mitzvah' – Kveller
  • Melissa Klapper, Ph.D. (Rowan University)
  • Carole B. Balin (Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion)
  • Association for Jewish Studies
    • 34 min
  • Episode 19: Environmental Justice and Race

    We talk with Rabbi Rebecca Richman of Philadelphia’s Germantown Jewish Centre about environmental justice and the legacy of environmental racism, particularly focusing on her adopted hometown of Philadelpha, whose refinery – which recently made national headlines with a massive conflagration – has harmed Black and brown residents' health for decades. She addresses how the Torah can help us conceive of environmental justice and identify environmental racism. And in an emotional segment, we discuss parenthood in a world that seems spinning out of control. “As a parent...if I don’t take care of this place today, then there is no life for my children. And, if I don’t teach my children to take care of this place, then there will be no capacity for them to have children.”

    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: Bec Richman.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Evolve - Environmental Racism: A New Year, An Ancient Call for Breath
  • Pollution Is Killing Black Americans. This Community Fought Back. - The New York Times
  • How Redlining Segregated Philadelphia – Next City
  • Dr Robert Bullard – Father of Enviromental Justice
  • Prof. Laura Goldin | Brandeis University
  • Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
    • 44 min
  • Episode 18: Liberating Your Passover Seder

    At 87, Rabbi Arthur Waskow still proudly calls himself a radical. His most revolutionary act may have taken place 52 years ago, when he wrote, published and organized the original Freedom Seder. Celebrated, debated and criticized, the Freedom Seder upended the contemporary seder by incorporating contemporary, non-Jewish liberation struggles. We talk about the origins of the Freedom Seder and what it means today. We explore Waskow’s life of activism, including his personal interactions with Rev. Martin Luther King Junior. And Waskow shares what keeps him turning out books and, at increasing risk to himself, taking to the streets and facing arrest. He also offers some practical advice on how to make a Zoom seder more compelling and how to take first steps as an activist. And we ask the burning question (no pun intended): is civilization as we know it headed for collapse?

    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 Arthur Waskow.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Liberating the Future: Passover and Beyond (Evolve)
  • The Plagues of Exodus and Today: Facing Our Plagues in an Earth-Healing Activist Passover (Evolve)
  • Original 1969 Freedom Seder | The Shalom Center
  • Dancing in God's Earthquake: The Coming Transformation of Religion (Amazon)
  • Liberating Your Passover Seder - Beta 2021 Edition
  • In Freedom Seder, Jews And African-Americans Built A Tradition Together (NPR's Code Switch podcast)
  • At 87, activist rabbi Arthur Waskow is still protesting - and still getting arrested (JTA story)
  • A Controversial and Beloved Figure Celebrates 80 (Jewish Exponent, by Bryan Schwartzman)
  • Dick Gregory, 84, Dies; Found Humor in the Civil Rights Struggle (New York Times)
  • Daniel J. Berrigan, Defiant Priest Who Preached Pacifism, Dies at 94 (New York Times)
    • 57 min
  • Episode 17: Human Composting: Good for the Environment, But Is It Kosher?

    Natural Organic Reduction — or, more colloquially, human composting — is not only legal in Washington State, but also happening, right now. People are choosing to have their remains rapidly converted into soil. How will Jewish leaders and communities respond to a practice that, on some level, is challenging to Jewish law, to centuries of burial practices, and, maybe, to people’s sensibilities?

    In this live episode, recorded as part of the 2021 Big Bold Jewish Climate Festival, we speak with Rabbi Seth Goldstein and Rabbi Adina Lewittes, two religious leaders who’ve thought deeply about human composting, the green burial movement, and what each means for Jewish communities. We discuss how the adoption of the practice may make a real difference in reducing carbon emissions and how the practice realizes important Jewish values. We get into the details of human composting works and bust some myths about death, burial, and what’s required under Jewish law.

    Note: Since we include an audience Q & A, moderated by our executive producer, Rabbi Jacob Staub, this episode is substantially longer than our typical show.

    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 Adina Lewittes and Rabbi Seth Goldstein.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Human Composting: A Reconstructionist Rabbi’s View (Evolve essay)
    — Recently legalized in Washington state, human composting is a new alternative to burial and cremation. How do Reconstructionists balance tradition with innovation in this case?
  • Recompose — Ecological Death Care
    • — Website for alternative burial program discussed in this episode
  • Recompose, the first human-composting funeral home in the U.S., is now open for business | The Seattle Times
  • Biodegradable burial pod turns your body into a tree - CNN
  • America's First Composting Funeral Home Is Finally Open | Gizmodo
  • Alternative Kevurah Methods (PDF) - Rabbinical Assembly
    • — Conservative movement responsum by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky
  • Concurring Opinion on "Alternative Kevurah Methods" (PDF) - Rabbinical Assembly
    • — First concurrence to Kalmanofsky responsum
  • Concurrence to Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky’s Paper on Alternative Modes of Burial (PDF)
    • — Second concurrence to Kalmanofsky responsum - Rabbi Elliot Dorff
    1 hr 7 min
  • Episode 16: Silver and Gold: Reparations and Judaism

    Since Ta-Nehisi Coates published his influential Atlantic essay “The Case for Reparations” in 2014, a number of thinkers have made explicitly Jewish arguments for (and against) reparations for American slavery. Discussions have addressed concerns ranging from West German reparations to Israel, to Talmudic arguments, to the Jewish obligation to pursue justice. Educator and activist Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein argues in an article on Evolve that the case for reparations is presented clearly in the Torah itself. In this episode, Bernstein explores this claim, and what he thinks it means for present-day policies and politics. “I would love to reach a point where it is totally incoherent to be a politically-conscious Jew who cares about Torah at all, who isn’t in favor of reparations because it is the core political principle of our own religious identity.”

    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 Aryeh Bernstein.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Live Podcast with Evolve! “Human Composting: Good for the Environment, But Is It Kosher?”
    — This event is a live podcast recording of Evolve, happening in the context of The Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest. We'll be discussing Jewish burial practices and their relationship to current environmental concerns. The event will take place on Friday, January 29 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern.
  • The Torah Case for Reparations: A Jewish View (Evolve Essay)
    • — The biblical narrative of the Exodus from slavery understands the reparations taken by the Israelites to be an essential part of the redemption from servitude.
  • The Torah Case for Reparations. (Longer Medium post)
  • The Rod and the Whip: Accountability for Law Enforcement (YouTube)
    • — Activist and Torah scholar, Aryeh Bernstein, explores what the Torah has to say about accountability for law enforcement, how the existing police contract is antithetical to it, and why it's so vital according to our tradition that we get this right.
  • The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
    • — Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
  • We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy - Ta-Nehisi Coates (Amazon link)
    • — “We were eight years in power” was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time.
  • H.R. 40: Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act (2019; 116th Congress H.R. 40) - GovTrack.us
    • — This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements, the commission shall identify (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.
  • Jon Burge | The Marshall Project
    • — Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his crew tortured false confessions out of hundreds of black men. Decades later, the survivors fought for reparations.
    44 min
  • Episode 15: Jews and Money: A Frank Conversation

    Endowments and donor-advised funds: They may sound like boring financial terms, but they're actually part of a fascinating history of philanthropy in the Jewish community. They reflect the ways in which individuals and organizations use financial resources to impact the Jewish community and democratic society writ large.  For half a decade, Lila Corwin Berman has been raising eyebrows, and sparking conversation, with her writings about wealth and charitable giving, Jewish communities, and democracy. In this interview with Berman, we explore the origins of both endowments and donor-advised funds, and examine how they have shaped communal decision-making.  

    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: Lila Corwin Berman.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Philanthropy in a Time of Crisis—and Why History Matters (Evolve essay)
    — How might we re-envision philanthropy so it is less a handmaiden to capitalism and more an agent of the broad citizenry of democracy?
  • The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex: The History of a Multibillion-Dollar Institution (Amazon link)
  • How Norman Sugarman Became $50B Godfather of Charitable Funds – The Forward
    • — If you asked most people why the year 1969 was important in American life, few would mention that year’s federal Tax Reform Act. But Norman Sugarman’s fingerprints on that document may have had as much of a lasting effect on this country’s history as Neil Armstrong’s feet on the moon.
  • Jewish philanthropies acted as if their work was above politics. Until now. - The Washington Post
  • Lila Corwin Berman (Temple University faculty page)
    • 46 min
  • Episode 14: Fixing Broken Policing: What Does Judaism Say?

    Does the Talmud offer a perspective on police reform, and whether it makes sense to, as the slogan says, defund the police? Rabbi Aryeh Cohen, a Talmudic scholar and an advocate for redirecting police funding, explains what ancient Judaism does and doesn’t have to say about policing. After a quick post-election debrief, Cohen lays out the case for a new approach to policing, one in which far fewer officers would carry arms. He addresses questions about armed guards protecting Jewish institutions during a time of rising antisemitism and touches on how his experience as a soldier in the first Lebanon War shaped his anti-violence worldview.

    Read Rabbi Cohen’s Evolve essay: "What Happens When Everything Is Broken? Grappling With #DefundthePolice"

    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/14

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

    Special Guest: Rabbi Aryeh Cohen.

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Evolve Essay: What Happens When Everything Is Broken? Grappling With #DefundthePolice
    — The entire paradigm underlying contemporary policing in the United States is broken. Jewish sources provide a way forward to a new model of policing.
  • Justice in the City: An Argument from the Sources of Rabbinic Judaism (Amazon link)
  • ‎Daf Shvui/Weekly Daf: Give me forty minutes or so and I'll give you a daf or so on Apple Podcasts
    • — I know that all the cool kids are jumping on to the daf yomi bandwagon. However, if you are looking for something a bit more mellow, a bit more curated, less a part of the rough and tumble of the daf yomi speedway—I invite you to daf shvu'i, a weekly page of Talmud. In about 40-50 minutes you can learn a page of Talmud. No previous experience required.
  • Justice in the City | Thinking about Judaism and Social Justice (Blog)
  • Murder with Impunity | Washington Post
    • — In the last year, The Washington Post has gathered data on almost 55,000 murders over the past decade in 55 of America’s largest cities. The analysis goes beyond what is known nationally about the unsolved cases, revealing block by block where police fail to catch killers.
  • Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America (Amazon link)
    • 49 min
  • Episode 13: COVID-19 and Jewish Ethics

    How can Jewish ethics shape how people make decisions about daily life during a pandemic? Rabbi Mira Wasserman, who directs the Center for Jewish Ethics, explains how ethical considerations have shaped her own decisions — such as whether to drive her child to school or send him on the school bus — and how they should operate on a communal level. She also addresses the narrowness of questions of medical ethics such as best use of limited hospital resources, arguing that a true ethical response to crisis goes beyond the mechanics of triage to address the structural inequities in our health care system that lead to scarcity in good times as well as crises. She and Bryan also cover how Hollywood action movies' model of heroism reflect a warped model of heroic individualism that neglects less flashy, but vital and sustaining contributions. Is it time to rethink the actions and behaviors celebrated by American 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/13

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

    Special Guest: Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D..

    Support Evolve

    Links:

    • Jewish Values and the Coronavirus | Reconstructing Judaism
    — This guide to values-based decision making collects and curates sources from the Jewish ethical tradition and insights from today’s leading ethical thinkers.
  • Against Apocalyptic Ethics: Human Responsibility Before, During and After a Pandemic (Evolve essay)
    • — Jewish ethics regards every human life as having absolute value. What follows from this is a vision of how society must be structured all the time, rather than a prescription for ER triage
  • Values-Based Decision Making | Reconstructing Judaism
    • 40 min

About Evolve

From the publisher's feed

Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations features interviews with thought-provoking rabbis, leaders and creators about the urgent issues faced by Jewish people today. As a part of Reconstructing…