Join Geoffey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Clubhouse recorded on Thursday July 21st 2022 for another episode of Madlik disruptive Torah. The Torah uses a term associated with harassment, pain, siege, and tsuris and we are intrigued, because it is also associated with being bound up in the bundle of life. In a week when we mourn our losses we explore the connections.

Sefaria Source Sheet: 

Transcript: https://madlik.com/2022/07/20/the-circle-of-life/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on July 14th 2022. We read the story of Balaam and note the selective use of the generic “God-Elohim” and the particular name of the God of Israel – “YHVH”. We wonder if it is simply stylic variation or does it have significance. In the process we compare traditional Rabbinic solutions to the so-called Documentary Hypothesis and consider whether the Torah is comprised of different literary voices edited together.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/418965

Transcript on episode web site: https://madlik.com/2022/07/13/god-whats-in-a-name/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded July 7th 2022 on Clubhouse. In a parsha dedicated to death and with much attention on the enigmatic law of the Red Heifer we also witness the death of Moses and his siblings; the primary protagonists of the Exodus. Miriam dies in two verses and Moses and Aaron are sentenced to death with Aaron quickly dispatched. Which leads to the age-old question: Who Done it and why?

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/417920

Transcript on Episode Website: https://madlik.com/2022/07/07/murder-in-the-desert/ 

Join Geoffey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on June 30th 2022 on Clubhouse as we take a fresh look at Korach’s rebellion. Dathan and Abiram refer to Egypt as a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey and defy Moses even were he to offer fields and vineyards in a land flowing with milk & honey. What does the Biblical “Flowing with Milk & Honey” mean?

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/416706

Transcript: https://madlik.com/2022/06/30/milk-and-money/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse June 23rd, 2022 as we discuss parshat Shelach.  We ignore the headline story of the spies who lacked vision. We overcome the urge to defend the מְקֹשֵׁ֣שׁ עֵצִ֑ים the gatherer of sticks on Shabbat.  We even pass up a chance to enjoy the blue indigo of the tzitzit. Instead, we focus on the lowly loaf of challah and explore how it saved the Jews. So join us as we Make Challah!

Sefariah Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/415522

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/06/22/making-challah/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on June 16th 2022. The Torah breaches the subject of a Ger (Convert alt. resident alien) celebrating the Exodus from Egypt. Jews-by-birth praise God who took “us” out of Egypt and we wonder along with Nachmanides and Maimonides whether a convert can or should consdier him/herself a part of past Jewish historical experience as well as part of the Jewish People. In the process, we discover an ambivalence Judaism has to converts and we explore this ambivalence through history and up to the present.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/414358

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/06/15/joining-the-tribe/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on June 9th 2022 as we read the text of the weekly portion through the eyes of the iconic Torah Commentator; Rashi. Keep in mind that Rashi was the proud father of four daughters (no sons) and had a day job as a vintner. Did this affect his treatment of the Sotah (Unfaithful Wife) and the sober Nazirite? Grab a glass of wine and let’s discuss. L’chaim!

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/412925

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/06/08/rashi-women-wine/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on as we meet a man named Nachshon ben Aminadav. A man with only a insignificant walk-on role in the text of the Torah but an iconic presence in Jewish religious and secular thought, culture and mythology.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/410450

Transcript on episode web site: https://madlik.com/2022/06/01/nachshon/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on May 26th 2022. This week we see the flip side of not owning our land. We are exposed to exile and alienation, both physical and emotional. But mostly, we are struck by the almost too rich vocabulary and overly haunting imagery the Torah exhibits for a people without a land.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/408510

Transcript on episode website: https://madlik.com/2022/05/25/as-a-driven-leaf/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on May 19th 2022. The earth is the Lord’s resonates throughout the Torah nowhere stronger than in the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. We explore what a Promised Land means when land ownership is only temporary.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/406956

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/05/18/this-land-is-my-land/