Jew Oughta Know

Joy. Attachment. Intention. The Baal Shem Tov - Master of the Good Name - inspired millions of Jews in Eastern Europe by uniting ideas in mystical Judaism with daily life. He turbo-boosted Jewish identity with the notion that every individual could be closer to God and play a role in the redemption of the world. Through stories and legends his fame grew into a new movement known as Hasidism, adopted by half the Jews of Europe.

Baruch Spinoza, it is said, wrote a book "forged from Hell by the Devil himself," rejecting 1600 years of medieval philosophy in favor of pure reason. He so angered the religious authorities that his Amsterdam Jewish community excommunicated him. He advocated for free speech, expression, and worship, ushering us all into the modern age way back in the 1600s. Today we're exploring some of his radical ideas.

Isaac Luria is taking us into the realm of the visionary and mysterious. We’re looking into the role of kabbalah — mystical Judaism — in our everyday lives. How can an infinite God create our finite universe? How can we mere humans repair a broken world? How did the city of Tsfat in Israel end up as the center of mystical Judaism?

Maimonides says that you might be perplexed. Your intellect tells you that the stories in the Hebrew Bible can’t be scientifically true, but your faith tells you that they are. Maimonides is here to help! He revolutionized Judaism — from law and theology, to ideas about God and approaching Torah with a rational and universal mindset, there’s something for everyone in Jewish history’s greatest philosopher.

In 1141 CE, Judah HaLevi mysteriously disappeared on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, giving rise to legends about the scholar who became Judaism's most celebrated poet. He wrote the Kuzari, a stirring defense of the Jewish faith at a time when the Jewish golden age in Spain was under threat from Muslims and Christians vying for control of Andalusia.

Saadia Gaon single-handedly saved Judaism from splitting apart in the 10th century. He was the first great Jewish medieval philosopher and the spiritual father of Judeo-Arabic culture, defending Rabbinic Judaism against sectarianism and insisting that reason and revelation together seek the truth.

Starting off Season 6 with one of the all-time greatest Jewish thinkers: Hillel the Elder, from the 1st century BCE. The sage who summarized the entirety of the Torah while standing on one foot, Hillel's wisdom was preserved by his greatest admirers, giving us a portrait of a man wise, humble, and inspirational.

Season Finale. What does it mean to be an Israelite? A Jew? A Hebrew?