Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 4th 2023 on Clubhouse. This week’s Torah portion is Emor.  In it we come across the source for the tradition for Jewish men to grow beards and Peyot (side curls) and the prohibition to cut the corners of the beard. We are struck by a recurring theme of the holiness of the corner whether in beard grooming, agricultural laws or in the four-cornered garment and we wonder whether there is something more at play.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/484211

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/05/04/rounding-the-corner-2/

Join Geoffrey Stern ansd Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on April 27th 2023. This week’s Torah portion is Achrei Mot-Kedoshim.  It contains what is known as the Holiness code which describes and prescribes pretty much every sexual deviation. It is the perfect opportunity to celebrate and review a radical responsa that was published earlier this year. It was written by Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, and called Gay Women (Nashim Mesolelot) A Teshuva and published by Maharat Yeshiva. So join us for Women who love women who love Torah.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/482838 

Direct Link to the Responsa: https://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/gay-women-teshuva 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/04/26/women-who-love-women-and-the-torah-a-responsa/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on Thursday April 20th. – We peel away the stigma of leprosy from the biblical Tzorat and instead look at it through the lens of the death-averse Tumah/Taharah paradigm …. with some insights into life.

Sefaria Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/480513

Transcript: https://madlik.com/2023/04/19/cosmetic-theology/ 

Passover has finally come to an end and we are putting away our Passover plates and unboxing our Hametz.  What a great opportunity to revisit one of our favorite episodes recorded in 2021 where we challenge our Rabbis and ourselves to re-imagine our Synagogue Services after Covid.  Join us for a replay of Prayer and Services and the Sickness unto Death.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/313001

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 29th 2023. We continue our exploration of Haggadot that break with the past.  Today we will focus on Kibbutz Haggadot which were written, for the most part, by secular Jews who had a deep understanding of Jewish texts and traditions. In these Haggadot these self-proclaimed "New Jews" reimagine the message of the Seder and inspire us to do the same.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/477153 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/03/28/protest-haggadah-cont/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Avraham Bornstein recorded on Clubhouse on March 24th 2023. This week’s Torah portion is Vayikra. Vayikra is a call to action. In every generation we are admonished to imagine ourselves overthrowing the Pharaoh of our day and liberating the People of Israel.  Today we’ll survey haggadot that take this challenge to heart and re-imagine the Haggadah in their time and for their time. As Israelis take to the streets, we challenge ourselves to join this tradition and write a new Hagaddah.

Sefira Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/475511 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/03/23/protest-haggadah/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recordeed on March 16th 2023 on Clubhouse. The craftsmen and craftswomen building the Tabernacle are commanded to weave curtains showcasing images of two Cherubs and fashion golden statues to match. We wonder how these winged-creatures differ from the Golden Calf and the forbidden images that the Bible ridicules with such scorn?

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/474160 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/03/15/man-made/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 9th 2023. The Torah commands the Priests to wash their hands and feet before conducting the Temple service. The Rabbis command hand washing upon waking, before prayer, before eating and on multiple other opportunities. When I studied in the Yeshiva, I had a bowl and cup of water under my bed so that I could wash my hands before my feet touched the floor.  If you’ve been to an Orthodox wedding or a rest room in Israel you’ve likely seen a washing cup with two handles.  What’s with all the washing you say.  I say, watch your mouth and….. Wash your hands!

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/472460 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/03/08/wash-your-hands/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on March 2nd 2023. We survey the prophetic and Rabbinic re-imagining of a Temple culture without a Temple but we also continue our discussion from last week where we noted how Jewish Messianism includes an often violent break with accepted practice, intentionally breaking moral and Rabbinic norms to hasten the end. We explore how after the Six Day War, but specifically after the Oslo Accords previous Rabbinic guidance relating to the sanctity of the Temple Mount has been cast aside. 

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/470857 

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/03/02/temple-politics/ 

Join Goeffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on February 24th. Last year when we discussed the creation of the tabernacle, we explored a powerful theological concept called Tzimzum where God creates the world by contracting his presence.  This year we continue the discussion from a historical, ideological and political perspective.  We explore how after the expulsion from Spain this concept profoundly impacted every aspect of the Jewish Journey into modernity and up until the current political crisis in Israel.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/469103

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/02/23/when-god-gets-small-cont/ 

Last year's Podcast: WHEN GOD gets small: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/madlik/WHEN_GOD_gets_small.mp3