Discover the 26 Paths of Jewish Heroism and what it means to be a hero in Rav Mike’s newest podcast series, The Jewish Heroism Project.

There are good things worth fighting for. But what is good? The first class of the Jewish Heroism Project introduces the Torah’s definition of heroism as mesirut nefesh l’man tov, going beyond limited self for the sake of good. It is a call to set out on the twenty-six paths of Jewish heroism, to uncover the heroic face of Torah and make it your own.

After the intro, tov is framed as the essential good of creation and as the gateway to the Torah’s heroic paths. Then we meet Moses, first hero and guide to the good, who brings down a portal for its light that can teach the world to make the goodness of creation shine. Last comes a call to action, to engage the practice of recognizing good and pursue it along our own heroic life journeys.

The Jewish Story Special: A 9 Days Conversation featuring Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz

The Israeli Judicial Reform protests come the same week 18 years after the Gush Katif protests and 2,000 years after the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. What can we learn from Tisha B'Av and the Nine Days about modern Jewish and Israeli unity? Sometimes the echoes of history are so loud that they seem to drown out the present. This conversation with Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, former Jerusalem City Council member, was recorded in Jerusalem at a Jewish unity tent with the sounds protesters in the background.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 21 – The Final Episode of The Jewish Story

There is no way to give closure to six seasons of a story, but you have to try! Here is an interview with Rav Mike Feuer that looks back on the lessons of Jewish history and reflects on the challenges of today. It also announces tomorrow’s new project – so stay tuned for more amazing stories with the Jewish Heroism Project.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 20 – The Temple Mount Part IV

Was Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 the trigger for what the Arab community calls the Al Aqsa Intifada? Or was this a pre-planned assault orchestrated by the likes of Marwan Barghouti, Raed Salah of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and even the Palestinian Authority?

In this final installment of the Temple Mount series, learn about the assassination attempt against Rabbi Yehudah Glick, the lynching of two Israelis in Ramallah, the rejection of Jewish history by PLO leader Yasir Arafat during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, the and the rioting that took the lives of thousands including that of Muhammad al-Durrah during the Second Intifada. Plus, Yehuda Etzion and the Hai Vekayam movement who sought to ensure Jewish people had the right to pray at the Har HaBayit, the site of the Beit HaMikdash.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 19 – The Temple Mount Part III – The Narrative War

Why is the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism a lighting rod for terrorist attacks and central to Israeli-Arab peace negotiations? Learn about how the Har HaBayit shifted from being acknowledged by Muslim leaders in the 1920s as a Jewish site to a complete denial by Yasir Arafat by the 1990s. The Oslo Accords, the Camp David Summit and reactions of President Bill Clinton. Plus, the history of the destruction of Jewish antiquities by the Muslim Waqf and the creation of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude - Future of American Zionism

Rav Mike Feuer speaks at Valley Beit Midrash in an event co-sponsored by Temple Chai entitled “Is There a Future for American Zionism? American Zionism in the Era of the Ethnic State.”

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - Interview with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz

Rav Mike Feuer interviews educator and activist Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and discuss what it means to be both progressive and orthodox in the Jewish world, as well as his vision of the Jewish story, Israel and Zionism past present and future.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 18 – The Temple Mount Part II – The Status Quo

Should Jews be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount? Or will it inflame Muslim sensitivities? Learn the history of this debate from the Six Day War in 1967 when General Moshe Dayan argued with Rabbi Shlomo Goren on the issue, to the fire started by Australian tourist Denis Michael Rohan, the shooting by Allan Goodman, through the 1980s up until the riots in 1990. Plus learn more about Zionist philosopher Shabtai Ben-Dov, radical activist Yehuda Etzion, Gershon Salomon and the Temple Mount Faithful. What Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif and Al Aqsa Mosque and what Jews call the Har HaBayit and Beit HaMikdash have ramifications for today’s conflict.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 17 – The Temple Mount Part I – The Hinge Point

Every tale has a point around which it revolves, and for the Jewish Story that is the Temple Mount. Here is the opening round in a new series tracing the way in which the sacred mountain in the middle of Jerusalem is still at the center of our story.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - The Crisis of Israeli Sovereignty

A live webinar on behalf of for Fuel For Truth: Israel Education & Advocacy Training, on “The Crisis of Israeli Sovereignty.” First Rav Mike lays out his innovative approach to three dimensions in which sovereignty is exercised – territorial, economic and cultural. Then in the question and answer he engages the judicial reform protests, the purpose of Israel, what it means to be a Jew in modern society and whether or not one can believe in both the Nakba and in the miracle of Israel’s founding.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty