If redemption begins with seeing, what are we choosing not to see?

In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Daniel Reifman explore Parshat Shemot as a story shaped by anonymity, forgetting, and the struggle to know—God, others, and ourselves. They trace how the absence of names and divine presence gives way to redemption through acts of moral seeing, from the midwives to Moshe. The conversation asks how awareness, responsibility, and truly seeing others become the first steps toward knowing God and breaking cycles of oppression.

What does Jewish leadership demand in uncertain times?

In this episode, a conversation on Jewish leadership and communal responsibility explores how Torah values shape philanthropy and public life today. Zvi Hirschfield speaks with Pardes alumnus Marc Baker about moral vision, collective obligation, and translating Jewish texts into action, reflecting on how learning, community, and purpose guide Jewish leadership in a complex contemporary moment.

Who carries our collective memory when others forget?

Is Yosef testing his brothers—or struggling to reclaim his own identity?

How does unresolved grief shape the choices we make—and the people we become?

Can confronting ourselves be the key to transformation?

Can we truly change—or do we grow by struggling with who we already are?

In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Raphael Polisuk explore Parshat Toldot through the lens of prayer, blessing, and the extraordinary power of human speech. They discuss Yitzchak’s deeply active model of prayer—la’ator, a language of turning reality—and how the rabbis imagine his tefillah transforming both himself and God. The episode then turns to the drama of the blessings, asking why words matter so profoundly in Torah and how language can create, heal, or harm.