YUTOPIA

An ambiguous pronoun in Genesis 37:35 leads to a discussion about how we might share in someone else’s grief

This week’s midrash explores if experiencing fear means one lacks faith and if it’s possible to have too much faith in the face of danger.

This week’s midrash explores the possibility of conflict being essential to speiritual growth.

Not even the righteous are immune from the corrupting influence of bribery

This week’s midrash addresses the psychology of losing a leader with a theology of hope in continuity. Plus, a correction to last week and a bonus midrash.

In this week’s Midrash on Parashat Vayeira, Rabbi Yuter turns to the Talmud for the perks and pitfalls of lying for the sake of peace

This week Silicon Valley veteran Elissa Shevinsky pops in to talk about missing persons. Check out a book Elissa edited: Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-Up Culture. Midrash Rabbah – Genesis XCIV:9 9. ALL THE SOULS BELONGING TO JACOB… WERE THREE-SCORE AND SIX. AND THE SONS OF JOSEPH… WERE TWO SOULS. ALL THE SOULS OF THE HOUSE OF JACOB THAT CAME INTO EGYPT WERE THREESCORE AND TEN (XLVI, 26 f.).   R. Levi said in the name of R. Samuel b. Nahman: Have you ever seen a man give his neighbour sixty-six glasses, then give him another three and count them seventy? But the extra … Continue reading →

This week the multi-talented Yael Shahar joins the podcast to talk about fatalism and faith. Check out Yael’s writings and art at her site Memory & Redemption and her book A Damaged Mirror: A story of memory & redemption      “And it was the end of two years…” “He sets an end to darkness…”(Iyov 28:3) He gave a set time of how many years the world would be in darkness. And what does it mean “he set an end to the darkness”? …  He gave a set time for Joseph of how many years he would be in darkness in prison. Once the end [of that time] arrived, “Pharaoh … Continue reading →

Rabbi Avraham Bronstein returns to talking about parental favoritism and how to talk to people with whom you don’t get along. בראשית רבה פרשת וישב פרשה פד ח [לז, ג – ד] וישראל אהב את יוסף, רבי יהודה ורבי נחמיה, ר’ יהודה אומר שהיה זיו איקונין שלו דומה לו, ר’ נחמיה אמר שכל הלכות שמסרו שם ועבר ליעקב מסרן לו, ועשה לו כתונת פסים, ר”ל בשם רבי אלעזר בן עזריה אמר צריך אדם שלא לשנות בן מבניו שע”י כתונת Midrash Rabbah – Genesis 84:8 8. NOW ISRAEL LOVED JOSEPH MORE THAN ALL HIS CHILDREN, BECAUSE HE WAS THE SON OF HIS OLD AGE-ZEKUNIM (XXXVII, 3). R. Judah said: It means … Continue reading →

I’m on my own this week, discussing a Talmudic midrash on turning away a convert from B. Sanhedrin 99b אחות לוטן תמנע מאי היא תמנע בת מלכים הואי דכתיב (בראשית לו) אלוף לוטן אלוף תמנע וכל אלוף מלכותא בלא תאגא היא בעיא לאיגיורי באתה אצל אברהם יצחק ויעקב ולא קבלוה הלכה והיתה פילגש לאליפז בן עשו אמרה מוטב תהא שפחה לאומה זו ולא תהא גבירה לאומה אחרת נפק מינה עמלק דצערינהו לישראל מאי טעמא דלא איבעי להו לרחקה What is the purpose of [writing], And Lotan’s sister was Timna? — Timna was a royal princess, as it is written, alluf [duke] Lotan,17 alluf [duke] Timna;18 and by ‘alluf’ an uncrowned … Continue reading →