This week, Uri and Rivky discuss a recent Tablet article: “Secular Synagogues Take Root in Israel.” (Thanks to astute Tach-head Adi for the tip!) As the article documented, there is a recent rise of non-observant Israelis looking for deeper spiritual connection to Judaism, and they're finding it in new ways, like through secular synagogues. But is a secular synagogue an oxymoron? Is this movement inspiring, or sacrilegious, or both? And could/should such a movement exist here in the United St...

97. What Is A Secular Synagogue?

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How should we really be talking about Israel - in the classroom, or anywhere else? This week, Uri speaks to Dr. Noam Weissman, Executive Vice President of OpenDor Media, where he spearheads the educational vision and leads content creation across all divisions. Noam heads a team of content creators and educators for the Unpacked brand which reaches millions of young Jews each year with articles, videos and social media content. He is also the host of the popular Unpacked podcasts “Unpacking I...

187. Rethinking Israel Education With Dr. Noam Weissman

NY Times - the gift that keeps giving. Last week, you may have read: “For Strictly Observant Jews in Brooklyn, the Sabbath Expands," an article that highlights the new, expansive eruv covering most of Brooklyn. Within hours, there were hundreds of comments on the article, many of which were disparaging and mocking towards Orthodox and Chasidic Jews. This week, Uri and Rivky break down the article and comments, but they also go further - are loopholes a bad thing? And just as importantly, what...

186. Why Do Some People Hate Eruvs?

The new Netflix movie “You People” is a romantic comedy centering around Ezra Cohen, a white Jew, who falls in love with Amira, a black Muslim. Very much in the style of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or Fiddler on the Roof, there are culture clashes and tension, much of which stems from Amira’s dad, played by Eddie Murphy, and Ezra’s mom, played by Julia Louis Dryfus.The movie touches on a lot of hot button issues that are very much in the news (or, "the culture"), and much negative feedback in t...

185. What Do You Mean, You People?? (The Movie)

This week Uri is joined by Aliza Abrams Konig.  They start by reminiscing about Aliza's previous appearance on Talking Tachlis, and they touch on a number of hot button issues including lab grown meat, the Netflix movie You People, and Joe Rogan's recent antisemitic comments.  They then spend most of the conversation discussing Aliza's experience having a child with a surrogate, including various issues relating to Jewish law, and common misconceptions.  This is a different pod...

184. My Surrogacy Journey with Aliza Abrams Konig

Last week, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier released a thoughtful, interesting piece about a new vision he entitled Ethical Orthodoxy. In this episode, Uri and Rivky sit down with Shlomo to ask him about this manifesto. They ask what its impetus was, what failures he sees in the religious world, and the practical ways he would want to build an Orthodox community around this worldview.Read more here:Ethical Orthodoxy: A Manifesto: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0fjD6QnfLBJDtzLz...

97. What Is A Secular Synagogue?

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