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Live from the JCC in Manhattan: Torah and #MeToo. In this recorded live episode, we ask: What is a Jewish response to #MeToo? Can laws of modesty and yichud play a role in preventing sexual assault and harassment? Is affirmative consent a Talmudic concept? When is it okay to publicly shame an alleged abuser? Plus […]

Is protest a Shabbat-appropriate activity?

This month on the podcast we’re talking about Jewish music, about prayer, and about what happens when these things come together. These three interrelated topics are an amalgam of various conversations we’ve been wanting to have with one another, spurred in part by renewed discussions about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, famed composer of many Jewish liturgical […]

Recorded live at Brandeis University! “Be fruitful and multiply” is the first commandment in the Torah and a central value of the Jewish community, but what about those who go against the grain and choose to be child-free? Rabbi Dov Linzer and Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus dive into this question. Then, a lively and wide-ranging […]

This month on the podcast we got a request from a listener to discuss the graphic novel Unterzakhn by Leela Corman. For our second segment we’ll be discussing the recent triple wedding in New York of couples who couldn’t or wouldn’t get married in Israel under the rabbinate. Further reading Unterzakhn Buy Unterzakhn by Leela […]

The passage from the Torah describing Sota (Num. 5:11-14) – a woman suspected of adultery – elicits a brief but wide-ranging discussion about the gendered nature of jealousy, home DNA tests, and the surprising reason some Orthodox communities forbid sperm donation.

IUDs, condoms, the pill, oh my! We break down the pros and cons of these and other common birth control methods and the halachic considerations that render some forms of contraception more acceptable than others. Then we hear from internationally renowned educator Rivkah Slonim, the Chabbad rebbetzin at SUNY Binghamton, about her three decades of […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking about the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a new show on Amazon Prime, and we’re talking about what it’s like to be Jewish during the (secular) holiday season. Further reading The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Is the Ultimate ‘Winning the Breakup’ Fantasy by Anna Silman in The […]

Cautionary tales from the Talmud illustrate the power of sexual temptation to lead even the most revered rabbis astray… But do these stories make too much of desire? Hosts Rabbi Dov Linzer and Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus and moderator Rebecca Honig Friedman discuss a passage from Kiddushin 81a-b. Click here to follow along with the […]

This month on the podcast we’re talking about awesome historical Jewish women that we didn’t learn about when we were kids. And we’re going to talk about Jewish rituals that we wish existed, and ones we could do without. Further reading Awesome Jewish women in history Take the Prominent Jewish Women in History quiz from […]