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Evolve
Evolve episodes
- Episode 2: Congregation Planting in Baltimore
In episode 2, we speak with Rabbi Ariana Katz of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl, a new congregation that harkens back to an Eastern European, hyper-local vision of Jewish community. Katz, an under-30 rabbi who once lived in an anarchist collective, describes her efforts to organize a new, intergenerational community convened around spirited prayer and social justice activism. Rather than seeking to overturn the synagogue model, Katz explains she is seeking to revitalize an older model. We also discuss how building an explicitly progressive spiritual community creates an atmosphere that welcomes people whose political views on race, LGBTQ issues, and Israel/Palestine have left them marginalized or excluded from other Jewish communities.
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/2
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Ariana Katz.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Hinenu
- Here we are: congregation planting in Baltimore
- Creating a Progressive, Inclusive, Egalitarian Jewish People
39 min - Episode 1: Reimagining Synagogues and Communities
This inaugural episode features Rabbi Rachel Weiss of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. The discussion focuses on Weiss’s Evolve essay “21st Century Judaism: Reimagining Synagogues and Communities” (You can find the link in show notes, below).
In this inaugural episode, we speak with Rabbi Rachel Weiss of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. Weiss describes her community’s effort to remain relevant at a time of great change in Jewish life and North American life more generally. From deep and respectful dialogue on divisive issues, to the transformational use of post-it notes, Rabbi Weiss shares a window into her synagogue community’s ongoing evolution.
“Can you have a conversation, a discussion, a difference of opinion about Israel/Palestine, and then can you still show up next week at the shiva of person you disagree with?...If we come together out of a place of shared humanity …. I think that is vital.”
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 Rachel Weiss.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Evolve: Re-imagining Synagogues and Communities
— Rabbi Rachel Weiss challenges the assumptions of how a synagogue should operate by highlighting multi-generational programming and interfaith activism at Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (JRC) in Evanston, Ill.- Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
— Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations, an initiative of Reconstructing Judaism, seeks to promote the ongoing evolution of the Jewish community by launching conversation about the urgent issues of our day. This platform offers conversation-sparking essays from thought-leading rabbis, lay leaders and creators. Explore the best thinking on pressing, contemporary questions.- Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation
46 min - Coming soon...
Coming in late September, this new podcast brings Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations to life. In this preview trailer, Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., and Bryan Schwartzman, an award-winning journalist, offer a taste of what’s to come. How does Judaism continue to evolve?
Be part of the conversation: Visit our home on the web, Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.orgTheme 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
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Support Evolve
3 min - #TrendingJewish 27: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
All good things must come to an end. In this final all-banter episode of #TrendingJewish, Bryan and Rachael go behind the scenes of podcast production. Highlights are reviewed, kudos are given, and take-aways are taken away. And last but not least, stay subscribed to this feed for a new podcast coming in September: Evolve.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
- Kehillat Israel Podcasts
— Torah study, sermons and seminars on Jewish topics presented at Kehillat Israel, the largest Reconstructionist congregation in the world.- Judaism Unbound podcast
— Listen in as Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg analyze pressing issues for 21st century American Judaism. Mixing their own analysis with interviews of leading thinkers, practitioners, and even "regular Jews," Dan and Lex look to push past the bounds of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.- Unorthodox podcast
— Unorthodox is the world’s leading Jewish podcast™ - but you don’t have to be Jewish to love it! Hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz of Tablet Magazine, each episode we bring you interesting guests (one Jewish and one gentile), News of the Jews, and so much more.- BimBam Bids Farewell: Press Release Announcement
- Song Exploder
— Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made.- Freakonomics Radio: The Most Interesting Fruit in the World (Ep. 375)
— The banana used to be a luxury good. Now it’s the most popular fruit in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the production efficiencies that made it so cheap have also made it vulnerable to a deadly fungus that may wipe out the one variety most of us eat. Scientists do have a way to save it — but will Big Banana let them?- Weezer Made A Video For Its 'Africa' Cover, And Of Course It Stars 'Weird Al' Yankovic : NPR
26 min - #TrendingJewish 26: The Jewish Camping Brand
This is the second of a two-part series in which we explore contemporary trends in the Jewish camping world. In this episode, Jeremy Fingerman, CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, shares his journey from corporate executive, working for well-known brands Campbell’s Soup and Manischewitz, to building the collective brand of Jewish day and overnight camps. He discusses ways the foundation has sought to raise the profile of some 160 Jewish camps, while offering training and leadership development for camp directors. He illustrates how Jewish camps are trying to keep up with trends in general camping, including shorter sessions and increased specialization. He also discusses how camps, long known as a setting for summer romances, are responding and recalibrating in response to the #Metoo movement.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Jeremy Fingerman.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Foundation for Jewish Camp
- How Jewish summer camps are talking about consent in the age of #MeToo - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- Havaya Summer Programs
54 min - #TrendingJewish 25: Life Without Screens
Rabbi Isaac Saposnik, executive director of Havaya Summer Programs, discusses the latest trends in Jewish camping, from shorter sessions to the rise of specialty camps like Havaya Arts. Saposnik makes the case for the valuable role of Jewish overnight camp in developing campers’ Jewish identities and overall sense of self. The discussion focuses on ways to make camps welcoming and embracing for children of all different gender identities and sexual orientation. And yes, he proudly outlines his two camps’ "no screen" policies, and tells us how kids adjust to being separated from their smartphones and iPads.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Isaac Saposnik.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Camp Havaya | Be you, Boldly
— Our campers form bondsthat last a lifetime.- Havaya Arts | A High-Quality Arts and Summer Camp Experience
— Havaya Arts is where top-notch arts and summer camp meet. Join us as we create a place where vibrant Jewish communal life enhances our art, which in turn enhances Jewish life and identity. It’s where you can be the best version of you.- Havaya Israel | The Israel Experience
— Fly together to Israel for four weeks of touring the land and living the experience.51 min - #TrendingJewish 24: The New American Judaism
Noted historian Jack Wertheimer, who is affiliated with the Conservative movement, discusses his newest book The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today. Wertheimer discusses his research into how “ordinary” Jews are experiencing Judaism in the 21st century. He talks about synagogue efforts to revitalize services, the emergence of new communities and the observance of Judaism in unconventional spaces, such as the annual Burning Man music festival. Considered something of a traditionalist who has sounded alarms about certain trends within American Jewry, in this conversation he talks about his encounters with dozens of vibrant communities and innovative rabbis, wondering if their efforts will be enough to stem the tide of disaffiliation.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Jack Wertheimer.
Support Evolve
Links:
- Jack Wertheimer
- The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today (Amazon link)
51 min - #TrendingJewish 23: Forming Rabbis
Bryan and Rachael sit down with Elsie Stern, Ph.D, vice president for academic affairs at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Stern, who is the daughter, granddaughter, sister and sister-in-law of rabbis, discusses her surprisingly circuitous route to leading a rabbinic training program. Stern explains that rabbis are formed rather than made, and that while some methods to training rabbis are constant, others are being reimagined. Stern also recounts her fascination with the Bible, how it’s been transmitted through the ages and how it is taught and understood in Jewish settings today. “Judaism is what happens at the intersection of Torah and the Jews. Torah is always there as material for us to draw on, and in every generation, the folks who are Jews are changing. It's when those two come together that the Judaism at any moment is born.”
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Elsie Stern.
Support Evolve
Links:
- About the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
— In an increasingly diverse Jewish world, we’re a progressive seminary that prepares students from all walks of life for the rabbinate.- Our Approach to Rabbinical Formation
— At the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, we train rabbis to bring the wealth of Jewish tradition to help contemporary Jews and communities make meaning of their lives, draw closer to the sacred, and work toward a more peaceful and just world.51 min - #TrendingJewish 22: Leave Your Solution At The Door
What does social entrepreneurship look like in a Jewish context? How can concepts honed in a business context be employed in a spiritual fashion? And can the beit midrash, the traditional Jewish house of study, be reinvented for a new generation of spiritual seeker and Jewish learner? Bryan and Rachael raise these questions and others with guests Cyd Weissman, Reconstructing Judaism’s assistant vice president for innovation and impact, and rabbinical student Bec Richman. Cyd, who also teaches entrepreneurism, delves into the basic principles and how it is embodied in a grant program she administers. One thing she teaches is for entrepreneurs to “leave solutions at the door” and learn what “customers” actually want and need. Bec, a serial social entrepreneur who looks to Cyd as a mentor, discusses the process behind launching a new beit midrash geared for learners at different levels.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guests: Bec Richman and Cyd Weissman.
Support Evolve
Links:
- The Auerbach Entrepreneurial & Reconstructionist Incubator Grants | Reconstructing Judaism
- SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva
— SVARA is a traditionally radical yeshiva dedicated to the serious study of Talmud and committed to the Queer experience.- Hadar's Rising Song Institute | Hadar.org
- Ritualwell | Tradition & Innovation
51 min - #TrendingJewish 21: Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations
Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., who directs Reconstructing Judaism’s new Evolve project, explains why the website came into being. Structured around a series of essays that tackle questions that rabbis said were most pressing to their congregants, Evolve is meant to serve as a model for civil discourse at a time unprecedented societal divisions. As the former editor of the Reconstructionist, he explains how he hopes Evolve can emulate the level of discourse and innovative thinking that existed in the legacy print publication. Co-host Bryan reveals his fascination with Israeli historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, and asks Rabbi Staub to respond to some of Harari’s critiques of religion and Judaism.
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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D..
Support Evolve
Links:
- Evolve
— Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations, an initiative of Reconstructing Judaism, seeks to promote the ongoing evolution of the Jewish community by launching conversation about the urgent issues of our day.- Sowing the Seeds of Constructive Evolution
— What can we in the American Jewish community do to infuse our conversations with a tone of mutual respect and open-hearted listening, even when we disagree? The Jewish world needs a number of models to approach these conversations. Here is one way that digital technology can be utilized to advance sacred dialogue.- The Reconstructionist Journal (1996-2007)
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
46 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…
Judaism’s multimedia Evolve project (http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/), this podcast models respectful, sacred conversations about challenging topics.