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Rabbis Michael Knopf and Jesse Olitzky are lifelong friends, pop culture fanboys, and lovers of all things Jewish. Join them every other week for a conversation about what’s going on in pop culture from a Jewish perspective and about Judaism through the lens of pop culture.

The new Netflix film ‘Don’t Look Up,’ starring a host of Hollywood A-listers, is a satire about climate change, climate denial, political ineptitude and our collective failures to confront the significant challenges that face us. Rabbis Knopf and Olitzky are joined by legendary Jewish social justice leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow to explore how we as Jews should be thinking about the issues the film raises about the climate crisis, the media, social media culture, and our broken politics.

How do you listen to PopTorah? You have a lot of options you know? iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, RSS, it’s your choice!

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Dr. Joshua Kulp looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 15.

This daf lists fourteen practices of mourning, and compares them with laws related a person who has been excommunicated or a person with skin disease (tzaraat). Most of these mourning practices either deprive the person of regular comforts or remove him/her from the community. One custom though seems to be different–overturning the bed. In today’s daf we learn about the symbolic meaning of this ancient mourning custom.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Dr. Joshua Kulp looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 14.

Today’s daf is the first daf of the third chapter, a chapter which is concerned mostly with the laws of mourning. The passage upon which I focus today deals with the issue of standardization of halakhah. When an activity has been prohibited in order to steer people’s behavior in the right direction does the prohibition still apply when there is no such concern. Specifically, the Talmud addresses the issue of shaving/cutting hair during the festival. This is usually prohibited because the rabbis wanted people to get their hair cut/shave before the festival, so that they could look good from the beginning. But what if something happened to prevent the person from going to the barber before the festival, something out of his control? Can he go during the festival? And what will people say?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Abby Sosland looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 13.

Should the sins of the fathers be visited upon the children? Theologically, perhaps, but the rabbis have a different understanding of how things should work–practically and ritually– in the world of here and now.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Abby Sosland looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 12.

May a non-Jw do work on Shabbat or Yom Tov that is forbidden for a Jew to do? Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi imagines a world where Jews and non-Jews do favors for one another, and where the “Shabbos Goy” may occasionally be a friend around the corner.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

This week, the guys talk about anti-maskers, mask and vaccine mandates, and venturing back out into the world. They also talk about the death of the iconic singer Meat Loaf and how far people are willing to go to prove their anti-Covid restrictions bona fides. Happy listening!

You can listen to The Amen Corner in lots of ways. On iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or your favorite RSS aggregator.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Abby Sosland looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 11.

The concept of “Marit Ayin”– how things look to the eye of the observer– can be traced back to the idea on our daf. Even when we may be acting within the law, we have to be careful about appearances. The Talmud makes clear: leaders have different standards.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Sarah Shulman looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 10.

In Moed Katan 10 we will study the power of intention in actions during and beyond the festival week– what do our actions look like and how do we intend them?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Sarah Shulman looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 9.

In Moed Katan 9 we will explore what happened to the people of Israel when they broke Yom Kippur and the surprising response of the bat kol, a heavenly voice.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Sarah Shulman looks at Masechet Moed Katan Daf 8.

In Moed Katan 8 we will explore the essence of simcha and how we mind find joy even in mourning.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.