Orthodox Conundrum

By Scott Kahn

The Orthodox Conundrum is a forum in which we look honestly at the Orthodox Jewish community, identifying what works well and what does not, so that, through an honest accounting, we can find solution... more

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The podcast currently has 339 episodes available.

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Number 1: Passionate Moderation in an Age of Extremism: Rabbi Norman Lamm's Message for Today, with Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky (302)
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! Rabbi Norman Lamm was one of the towering figures of Modern Orthodoxy in the twentieth century: a brilliant rabbi and orator, a major Jewish thinker, and the longtime president and chancellor of Yeshiva University. But perhaps the most important reason to revisit Rabbi Lamm today is not simply to appreciate what he accomplished, but also to ask what he still has to teach us today. My guest this week is Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky, Rabbi Lamm's grandson-in-law and a scholar who has spent years studying his writings and working through his extensive personal archives. And our conversation focuses on an idea that Tzvi argues was central to Rabbi Lamm's worldview: what Rabbi Lamm called "passionate moderation." That phrase can sound almost contradictory. We often associate moderation with compromise, caution, or a reluctance to take a strong stand. Rabbi Lamm meant something very different. His moderation demanded the ability to hold multiple values at once, to recognize complexity without sacrificing conviction, and to combine passionate commitment with intellectual and theological humility. And that approach feels remarkably relevant right now. We discuss Rabbi Lamm's Religious Zionism, his "messianic agnosticism," and how that phrase has been misunderstood; his belief that loving Israel does not mean refusing to criticize it; his warnings about extremism and irresponsible rhetoric; his approach to antisemitism and Jewish pride; and his conviction that strong Jewish leadership sometimes requires saying things that your own community does not want to hear. Underlying all of this is a larger question: What can Rabbi Norman Lamm teach an Orthodox community living in a moment when moderation is often mistaken for weakness, certainty is confused with faith, and complexity can seem almost like a betrayal of principle? Rabbi Lamm believed that it was possible to be passionate without being extreme, confident without being dogmatic, and deeply committed without pretending that every difficult question has a simple answer. Perhaps that vision of passionate moderation is something we need today more than ever. Click here to visit The Lamm Legacy online. Rabbi Sinensky's Reasonable Judaism substack is available here, and his daily WhatsApp on Parashat HaShavua, From the Beginning, is linked here. Talli Rosenbaum and I have just released Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults, powered by Intimate Judaism - a new ten-part podcast series designed to give young Jewish adults the kind of honest, thoughtful and Torah-based guidance about relationships, sexuality, and intimacy that too many of them simply aren't getting. We talk about emotional intimacy and vulnerability, dating and physical boundaries, attraction and sexual desire, anatomy and sexual response, consent and communication, pornography, love and marriage, niddah and building intimacy within marriage, some of the difficult questions surrounding sexual orientation and Torah, and more. All ten episodes of Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults are available now; just click here to get it on Spotify or Apple. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com
August 24, 20261h 29min
Number 2: Loving Israel When Israel Disappoints You: Yossi Klein Halevi on Zionism, Criticism, and Hope (300)
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! For many Jews who care deeply about Israel, the past few years have created a painful tension. We know that Israel is routinely judged unfairly, that much of the criticism directed against it ignores the extraordinary circumstances it faces, that many charges leveled against Israel are absolutely false and libelous, and that some of its loudest critics are interested not in changing Israel, but in delegitimizing it altogether. Context matters, and Israel cannot be judged honestly without taking that context seriously. At the same time, loving Israel does not require us to pretend that Israel always gets everything right, or that every criticism is necessarily unfair. So how do we hold those truths together? How do we defend Israel against accusations that are false or distorted, while remaining willing to confront genuine failures when they occur? And how do we acknowledge disappointment without allowing that disappointment to undermine our commitment to Zionism itself? Yossi Klein Halevi has spent a lifetime thinking about Israel, Zionism, Jewish identity, and the divisions within Israeli society. In this conversation, we discuss that difficult balancing act, the crisis some Diaspora Jews are experiencing in their relationship with Israel, the changing face of Religious Zionism, and whether a deeply divided Israel can recover a shared sense of purpose and a compelling vision for its future. Talli Rosenbaum and I have just released Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults, powered by Intimate Judaism - a new ten-part podcast series designed to give young Jewish adults the kind of honest, thoughtful and Torah-based guidance about relationships, sexuality, and intimacy that too many of them simply aren't getting. We talk about emotional intimacy and vulnerability, dating and physical boundaries, attraction and sexual desire, anatomy and sexual response, consent and communication, pornography, love and marriage, niddah and building intimacy within marriage, some of the difficult questions surrounding sexual orientation and Torah, and more. All ten episodes of Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults are available now; just click here to get it on Spotify or Apple. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com
August 10, 20261h 15min
Number 3: A New Chareidi Party Challenges the Status Quo: The Draft, Daas Torah, and Israeli Society, with Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein (303)
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! The Chareidi draft issue has become one of the most contentious questions in Israeli society, and the established Chareidi political parties have largely presented a united front: protecting the existing system and opposing efforts to draft Chareidi men into the IDF. But a newly formed Chareidi political party, HaTzibbur HaChareidi, is offering a very different approach. Its platform says that those who genuinely devote themselves full time to Torah study should be protected and allowed to continue learning, while those who don't should serve the country in some capacity. But the party's challenge to the Chareidi status quo goes well beyond the draft. It argues that many working Chareidim, Chareidim who have served in the army, and those who want greater participation in Israeli society are no longer adequately represented by the existing Chareidi political establishment. Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is supporting HaTzibbur HaChareidi, and in today's conversation we discuss what this new party stands for and whether it has a realistic chance of changing Chareidi politics. We talk about the draft, who should qualify as a full-time Torah learner, whether yeshiva attendance should be monitored, Chareidi service in the IDF, Daas Torah, government funding, and the relationship between Chareidi society and the State of Israel. Rabbi Adlerstein describes the party's vision as a "new old Yiddishkeit." The question is whether that vision can offer a genuine alternative to the Chareidi political status quo. Talli Rosenbaum and I have just released Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults, powered by Intimate Judaism - a new ten-part podcast series designed to give young Jewish adults the kind of honest, thoughtful and Torah-based guidance about relationships, sexuality, and intimacy that too many of them simply aren't getting. We talk about emotional intimacy and vulnerability, dating and physical boundaries, attraction and sexual desire, anatomy and sexual response, consent and communication, pornography, love and marriage, niddah and building intimacy within marriage, some of the difficult questions surrounding sexual orientation and Torah, and more. All ten episodes of Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults are available now; just click here to get it on Spotify or Apple. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com
August 31, 20261h 9min
Number 4: Does Orthodox Judaism Have a Fear Problem? Rethinking Religious Anxiety Before Rosh Hashanah, with Rabbi Dr. Judah Goldberg (304)
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! Fear can be a powerful religious motivator. It can push us to repent, reinforce commitment to halakha, and help communities maintain standards from one generation to the next. But what happens when fear becomes part of the culture of Orthodox Judaism itself? As Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approach, Scott speaks with Rabbi Dr. Judah Goldberg about the anxiety that often accompanies the Yamim Noraim, and about what that anxiety may reveal about Orthodox life throughout the year. They discuss the hidden messages we transmit through education, the role of charismatic religious authority and Daas Torah, whether our fear of losing religious commitment causes us to rely too heavily on fear itself, and what it would mean to build a religious culture grounded instead in love, trust, awe, and a secure relationship with God. But there is a genuine risk on the other side as well: if we deemphasize fear and stress God's unconditional love, might commitment to halakha suffer? This is a conversation about much more than how to feel differently on Rosh Hashanah. It's about what motivates Orthodox Jews, what kind of relationship with God our communities are trying to create, and what we might gain, or lose, if we choose trust over fear. Talli Rosenbaum and I have just released Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults, powered by Intimate Judaism - a new ten-part podcast series designed to give young Jewish adults the kind of honest, thoughtful and Torah-based guidance about relationships, sexuality, and intimacy that too many of them simply aren't getting. We talk about emotional intimacy and vulnerability, dating and physical boundaries, attraction and sexual desire, anatomy and sexual response, consent and communication, pornography, love and marriage, niddah and building intimacy within marriage, some of the difficult questions surrounding sexual orientation and Torah, and more. All ten episodes of Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults are available now; just click here to get it on Spotify or Apple. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com
September 07, 20261h 11min
Number 5: Emphasizing the Good: A Solution or Part of the Problem? A Conversation with Rabbi Judah Mischel (305)
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and members get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! As Yom Kippur approaches, we naturally think about what's wrong: our failures, our mistakes, and the ways that we, and the Jewish community as a whole, need to change. Rabbi Judah Mischel challenges us to pay attention to something else as well: the nekudah tovah, the point of goodness in ourselves, in other people, and in the Jewish people. He argues that focusing on what's going right, magnifying it, and building upon it can be a far more effective path toward growth than constantly emphasizing what's wrong. I find that idea deeply inspiring. But I also struggle with it. Because sometimes things really are wrong. Sometimes people are hurt. Sometimes communities develop unhealthy patterns that desperately need to change. And if we become so determined to emphasize the good that we hesitate to call out the bad, are we encouraging growth, or are we actually becoming part of the problem? In this pre-Yom Kippur conversation, Rabbi Judah Mischel and I wrestle with these questions while also discussing the extraordinarily difficult, and extraordinarily hopeful, moment in Jewish history in which we are living. We talk about optimism and realism, judging people favorably, confronting wrongdoing, criticizing communities without condemning them, and how we can work toward meaningful change without losing sight of the tremendous good that already exists. As we approach Yom Kippur, perhaps the challenge is not to choose between seeing the good and confronting the bad, but to figure out how to do both in a way that actually makes us, and the Jewish community, better. Talli Rosenbaum and I have just released Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults, powered by Intimate Judaism - a new ten-part podcast series designed to give young Jewish adults the kind of honest, thoughtful and Torah-based guidance about relationships, sexuality, and intimacy that too many of them simply aren't getting. We talk about emotional intimacy and vulnerability, dating and physical boundaries, attraction and sexual desire, anatomy and sexual response, consent and communication, pornography, love and marriage, niddah and building intimacy within marriage, some of the difficult questions surrounding sexual orientation and Torah, and more. All ten episodes of Intimacy and Sexuality for Emerging Adults are available now; just click here to get it on Spotify or Apple. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). If your business is interested in advertising to our engaged Orthodox audience, or if you'd like to sponsor an episode in honor of a loved one or simcha, please reach out to [email protected] to support meaningful Jewish conversations. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to [email protected] to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com
September 14, 20261h 3min