Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse as we review the literature on the obscure word "Atzeret" which can variously mean an assembly, a captive audience, a day-off from work or an after-party. With particular focus on "after-party" we use Atzeret as an opportunity to explore the concept of The Feast in the Ancient Near East and in the Torah.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/497992

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/07/05/party-on/

Join Rabbi Adam Mintz and Rabbi Avraham Bronstein recorded on Clubhouse. This week while Geoffrey is Island hopping in Greece Madlik hosts a lively discussion between his two favorite co-hosts as they discuss the dramatic episode of Moses seeming disregard for God's command to talk to the rock and his fatal decision to strike it.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/497433

Transcript on episode page: https://wordpress.com/post/madlik.com/4231

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse. We sense that Korach's rebellion has something to do with correct governance and even democracy, it's just not clear what the message is and whose side we're on. Join us as we survey Classical Jewish and philisophic literature on Korach and the enigma of Democracy.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/496058

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/06/21/the-people-v-korach/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on June 15th 202 on Clubhouse. The Biblical Spies looked like grasshoppers to themselves and so they imagined in the eyes of others. We review Rabbinic and later Zionist texts as we explore the pitfalls of a Slave and Ghetto mentality up until today.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/494982

Transcript of episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/06/14/the-grasshopper-mentality-and-the-new-jew/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on June 8th 2023 on Clubhouse. Pesah Sheni, the makeover Passover has been adopted by the Orthodox LGBTQ community as a Biblical holiday to accept different pathways, identities and evolutions amongst the Jewish People. We review the sources and celebrate!

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/493778

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/06/07/kosher-queer/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on June 1st 2023. We compare and contrast the Biblical Sotah (Suspected Woman) and the ritual of the bitter waters to the trial by ordeal found in ancient societies up until the Salem Witch Trials. We ask, what we can learn from this primitive form of justice.

Sefaria Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/492460

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/06/01/truth-or-dare/

Join Geoffrey Stern for live Shavuot night learning on Clubhouse. We'll prove, with the help of Yehudah Halevi, and beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Torah was given at Sinai. In the process, we hope to share an insight into the meaning and challenge of Sinai.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/489667

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/05/24/the-echo-of-sinai/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 18th 2023 on Clubhouse. The Torah counts every able-bodied male to serve in the army and to pay their share of taxes and we look at the Haredi demand that they be exempt from military service and subsidized by the State and wonder…. why?

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/487982

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/05/18/god-wants-you-to-serve/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 11th 2023 on Clubhouse. We marvel at how Rabbinic Judaism modified if not totally abrogated explicite Biblical injunctions against selling land in perpetuioty and taking interest on loans. Using the Pruzbol and Heter Iska as case studies we explore the audacity of Rabbinic Judaism.

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/486023

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/05/10/prozbul-and-iska-llc/

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/