What does it mean to help someone without taking away their dignity, and is it harder — and holier — to give a loan rather than a gift?

On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain speaks with Rabbi David Rosenn, President and CEO of the Hebrew Free Loan Society, about Jewish ideas of dignity, episodic poverty, and prevention.

They interrogate the Torah’s fixation on interest-free lending and why Jewish tradition insists on seeing the whole person in moments of financial crisis. A provocative and important conversation that begs the question: when (and when isn’t) charity the most ethical form of Jewish giving?

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Hebrew Free Loan Society

Ogen in Israel

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On Passover, Jews celebrate freedom, but for many this year, the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America casts a shadow over that celebration. On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain speaks with Noah Gottschalk, Chief External Relations Officer at HIAS, about why the Haggadah teaches that the Egyptians first chose cruelty through demonization rather than labor oppression, and what our texts call on us to do in response. Together they explore how fear and dehumanization of immigrants echo ancient patterns and how Jewish values compel us to recognize and defend human dignity today.

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When war erupts again and again, how do Israeli families and communities live with constant loss? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Hartman research fellow David Dishon turn to the book of Vayikra and to David’s experience as a bereaved grandparent of a soldier killed in the Israel-Hamas War. Together, they examine how sacrifice shapes grief by transforming loss into enduring presence, and offer a framework for spiritual resilience.

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What turns a crowd into a mob, and what does the Torah teach us about moments when communities unravel? In Parashat Ki Tisa, the Israelites form a mob and build the Golden Calf in Moses’s absence. On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and The Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer unpack how fear, identity, belonging, and fragile institutions shape collective behavior. Drawing on social theory, campus encampments, and the contrasting leadership models of Moses and Aaron, they consider what keeps communities grounded, what pushes them toward rupture, and why those dynamics feel especially urgent today.

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In Parashat Terumah, the Israelites are commanded to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Why construct something so exquisite and detailed in the middle of a desert? And what can building something so valuable, then and now, teach us about living through uncertainty? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Hartman research fellow Tamara Mann Tweel turn to the rabbinic tradition to explore how building can ground us, offering practices that shape who we become.

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What do we owe the generations that came before us, and what do we want future generations to inherit from us? When do we preserve the past, and when do we break from it? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Hartman research fellow Tamara Mann Tweel dig into Parashat Yitro, uncovering how the commandment to honor parents is about more than caretaking; it’s about learning to see the past with weight, reverence, and generosity.

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What happens when the stories we cherish no longer fit the world that we and our kids see? Elana Stein Hain and Hartman research fellow Tamara Mann Tweel turn to Parashat Bo to contend with the challenges of parenting in treacherous times and the power of narrative to create meaning and resilience in an incoherent world.

We are grateful to Micah Philanthropies and the Walder Charitable Trust for their generous support of TEXTing IRL.

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How do we stay invested in Israel when it exhausts and challenges us? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, recorded live at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Winter Leadership Conference, Elana Stein Hain welcomes Ronit Heyd, Hartman Vice President and Director of the Center for Israeli & Jewish Identity, to read the work of Amos Oz and to discuss why relationships between Israelis and within the Jewish people must be committed: loving, honest, and critical.

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From debates over politics, antisemitism, and public representation to disagreements over kugel recipes, Jews are not immune to the profound polarization that characterizes society today. How do Jews relate to each other—and the world—when disagreements run so deep? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, examine the growing fractures within Jewish communal life through the lens of Parashat Vayiggash, wrestling with questions of relationship, unity, and advocacy.

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After two-plus years of agony and hardship, what can Judaism teach about the role of faith and the presence of God in times of suffering? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Dani Segal of Mabua: Israeli Beit Midrash mine the lessons of Parashat Vayeshev and Joseph’s descent to Egypt. Drawing on rabbinic interpretations, modern experiences, and stories of soldiers and hostages, they explore how faith can operate as moral clarity and personal motivation during the long and often painful arc of Jewish history.

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