Parsha in Progress

This week, we conclude the full cycle of parshas with a candid reflection on the end of the podcast, and a consideration of what makes poetry a powerful vehicle for divine messages.

This week, we discuss the poetic insistence of the Bible that every Jew should be able to feel ownership over the Torah's message.

This week, we have a lot of questions and few answers as we read some of the Bible's more unsettling passages, and consider what we could learn from situations we hope never actually happen.

This week, we debate what it means to "not shut your heart" against the needy, and why compassion is no substitute for justice when it comes to righting social wrongs.

This week, we discuss the importance of Mount Sinai in collective Jewish memory, and why Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, even though he led the people out of Egypt.

This week, we discuss whether it was a betrayal to make the Exodus generation die in the desert, and debate whether their sin of doubting the goodness of the land earlier in the Bible is similar to Jews hesitant to move to Israel today.

This week, we consider whether one can ever take the law into their own hands, and the pitfalls of vigilante justice.

This week, we look at the rebellion of Korach, who tried to oust Moses as leader by claiming he was no holier than the rest of the Israelites, and consider Moses' unique reaction.

This week, we look at one of the Bible's most severe punishments, that of being "cut off" from the people, and consider what actions today might separate someone from the Jewish community.

This week, we return to Mount Sinai to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, and debate what it means to say that every day, Jews must recommit to the contract.