Jewish Quest

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Dr. Angela Roskop Erisman joins Simon to discuss the biblical text of Numbers 12, focusing on Miriam and Aaron's criticism of Moses for marrying a Kushite woman

Dr. Angela Roskop Erisman is owner of Angela Roskop Erisman Editorial and was the founding editorial director of the Marginalia Review of Books. She earned her M.A. in Hebrew and Northwest Semitics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in Bible and Ancient Near East at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is the author of The Wilderness Itineraries: Genre, Geography, and the Growth of Torah (2011), for which she won a Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise in 2014. Her most recent book, The Wilderness Narratives in the Hebrew Bible: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation (2025) is available from Cambridge University Press.

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Reverend Patrick Moriarty joins Simon to discuss the Ten Commandments and their significance for Western civilization. Rev Moriarty, who previously served as head teacher at JCOSS (Jewish Community Secondary School) from 2012 to 2022 and currently works as rector of the parish of Harpenden, explores how the Ten Commandments function as "moral grammar" in modern society, emphasising the value of faith-based education in forming ethical human beings, concluding that modern society most urgently needs to rediscover the ability to live with mystery and uncertainty rather than seeking complete understanding.

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Rabbi Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism in the UK, joins Simon to talk about Bamidbar, the spiritual potential of the desert, the environment and ecology, and the wisdom of Rabbi Louis Jacobs and others for our current moment. 

Jonathan Wittenberg was born into a family with a long rabbinical tradition going back several generations in Germany and Eastern Europe. Having earned his degree in literature at the University of Cambridge, he studied for the rabbinate at Leo Baeck College in London, and in Jerusalem. He is the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism since 2008 and was the Rabbi of New North London Synagogue for over 25 years. 

Rabbi Wittenberg loves Judaism, literature, history, plants, animals and people. Interfaith work and pastoral care interest him deeply. He writes and speaks about the Jewish faith, moral issues, his love of nature, the spiritual search, human responsibility, and the transience of life. His books include Walking with the Light: From Frankfurt to Finchley, The Hidden God, The Three Pillars of Judaism, The Eternal Journey: Meditations on the Jewish Year, The Silence of Dark Water: An Inner Journey and Listening for God in Torah & Creation. Rabbi Wittenberg was awarded an OBE in December 2023 for his services to interfaith relationships and the Jewish community.

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Newly-minted Rabbi Zachary Bernstein-Rothberg joins Simon to discuss Shemittah and agriculture as we focus in on Parashat Behar. Rabbi Bernstein-Rothberg has recently been appointed the rabbi of  South Herts and Edgware Masorti (SHEMA) in the UK and will be moving to the UK with his husband this Summer. 

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Dr. Adriane Leveen received her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from the University of California and her M.S. in Social Work from Columbia University. She served as Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible at Hebrew Union College until June, 2024. She is the author of Biblical Narratives of Israelites and their Neighbors: Strangers at the Gate (2017) and Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers (2008) and has contributed essays to the Oxford Handbook to Biblical Narrative and The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. She is currently at work on a modern reception history of the book of Job. She is a volunteer and founding member of Jewish Climate Action Network–NYC, on the steering committee of Third Act Faith, serves on Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Council, and a former facilitator of JTREE USA, now part of Adamah

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David Frankel is Associate Professor of Bible at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. He has been on the faculty since 1992. He earned his PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of Prof. Moshe Weinfeld. His publications include “The Murmuring Stories of the Priestly School,” and “The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel.”  From 1991 to 1996, Frankel was rabbi of Congregation Shevet Achim in Gilo, Jerusalem.

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Rabbi Ariel Abel discusses both the physical and spiritual implications of Tzara'at (leprosy)

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Dr Rabbi Joshua Garroway discusses the rationale for the dietary laws at various junctures in Jewish history and he also asks whether personal interpretations remain secondary to the enduring act of obedience.  

Dr. Rabbi Joshua Garroway is the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. from the Religious Studies Department at Yale and ordination from HUC-JIR in Cincinnati. He is the author of, The Beginning of the Gospel: Paul, Philippi, and the Origins of Christianity.

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Rabbi Alex Matthews asks what the perpetual altar fire symbolises. 

Rabbi Alex Matthews has been part of the Congregation Ahavas Achim in Newburyport since 2015 and has been serving as its congregational leader since 2019. Rabbi Matthews was ordained at Hebrew College in June 2023. He serves part-time as a staff chaplain at Beverly Hospital. He completed the 18 Doors Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship focused on interfaith engagement, as well as the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies Machloket Matters fellowship, focused on working toward and through constructive disagreement.

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Dr Jeremy Tabick is senior editor and faculty at Hadar. Jeremy received his PhD in Talmud at JTS, writing "'Our Holy Rabbi': A Reassessment of the Historical Evidence about Rabbi, His Role in the Rabbinic Movement and in Reconstructing Late Antique Jewish History". He graduated from the University of Manchester (in the UK) with a Masters in Physics, and is an alumnus of Yeshivat Hadar and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He lives in Riverdale with his wife and three children.