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I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in its words, but like the text says, "there's nothing new under the sun. "Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, new to text and maybe even Judaism, or a longtime yeshivanik, I hope you’ll make a few minutes of my Torah part of your week. Thanks for listening, and Shabbat shalom.
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This week, I was reading about the final stages of the plan to remove the Confederate Veterans Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial, if you’ve never seen it, is atrocious. It’s the tallest structure in the cemetery, for starters, and it’s covered with racist, apologist imagery that glorifies the Southern cause. The monument is scheduled to be removed this month, and relocated to a Virginia state park at the site of the Battle of New Market, in the Shenandoah Valley. But the p...
Sometimes, when I'm feeling bored in shul I flip to the back of the book, and read Pirkei Avot. There's a particular passage, in the fifth chapter, that I often find myself turning to, especially in weeks that I'm feeling old. Like this week. Because this year, and this week's Torah portion Miketz, marks 25 years since my Bar Mitzvah on December 19, 1998. Music by Chillhop Records: Aves - Cruisin' https://chll.to/60c1dd59Blue Wednesday - Slow Burn https://chll.to/fdcaa474I’m not a rabbi, so ...
I went to graduate school at Brandeis University, and if I hadn't, I would've gone to law school at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, in Louisville, KY, where the first Jewish justice to sit on the Supreme Court was born, and raised. But what if I told you that story was almost wildly different. That the first Jewish nominee to sit on the bench was almost put forward almost 60 years before Brandeis was nominated, but he turned down the nomination. And thank goodness, otherwise the first Je...
Obadiah, Ovadiah. Obadi-ah. However you pronounce it, you might not remember it, but Obadiah is the name of the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, and the Haftorah portion the rabbis chose to pair with this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach. Music Courtesy of Chillhop Records: Leavv, Maduk - Company https://chll.to/db033300Ian Ewing, Maduk - Stay Like This https://chll.to/2d387f49Masked Man - Joop https://chll.to/f6126588Poldoore, Maduk - Transformations https://chll.to/1b193db7I’m not a rabb...
This week, I'm all about cucumbers. This humble vegetable, which the Talmud calls a delicacy of kings, became an internet craze a few years ago when Macka B released his "Cucumber Rap." Check it out in my source sheet for this episode. The Talmud has a lot to say about cucumbers, including a discussion about whether or not they're good for your body, even if they did grace the table of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. In the end, they opt for a compromise, and all of it is driven by one line in this wee...
I updated my phone this week, which made it a great time to repost this episode, from two years ago. What does it mean to actually have choice? Are the choices we see the actual choices that we have? Are we supposed to pick a path through the woods, or turn around, or just sit in the mud and cry? I have a new episode coming later this week, in time for Shabbat as normal, but wanted to revive this old episode. I hope you enjoy. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and t...
There's a poem I've been reading recently, a long form epic poem originally written in Yiddish, about a Jewish blacksmith who settles down in rural Kentucky, in the mid-19th century. It's part of a project called 72 Miles, which I'm about to release, but this week I couldn't get away from a scene in the story that seems ripped from the headlines of this week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah — The Life of Sarah. Go deeper with my sources for this episode on Sefaria --- Music courtesy of ...
This might be a bold statement, but there are probably few things in the world that cause people to pray more than children. We pray for their health, their safety, their growth, that they’ll find their place in this chaotic world. Even if you don’t have kids, you’re probably praying for them, and if you’re trying to have kids you’re definitely praying, and praying harder the longer you keep trying. Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria --- Music Courtesy of Chillhop Records: Philanthrope -...
It took me a while, these past few weeks, overseas, In Israel, and here at home. It took a while to figure out what was going on and why I felt so strongly, feelings that seem to move, strangely, in too many directions at once. It wasn’t until President Biden’s speech in Israel, and his warnings about the mistakes our country made earlier this century, that it clicked for me. Because we’ve been here before, certainly. But more specifically I’ve been here before. Go deeper with my sou...
I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to weigh in on the current crisis in Israel. In the end, I couldn't not, and I found myself turning as I often do to the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Shabbat Shalom. -- Music Provided by Lofi Girl: Promise Due - Kinissue & Artemis Flow Wicked Thoughts - Kinissue & Tibeauthetraveler Farewell - Kinissue Watch on YouTube Listen on Spotify -- I’m not a rabbi, s...
It's a critical question that the rabbis debate, partially in response to last week's Torah portion, and partially in response this week's parsha. "Is emerging backwards still emerging?" "Well no," says Rabbi Shmuel, "and here's why." "I agree that the answer is no, but not with how you got there," replies Abaye. "Emerging backwards isn't emerging, and here's why." "You're both wrong," says Rava, "emerging backwards is absolutely emerging, and here's why." Hear the answer to this fascina...
We're still on leprosy this week in the Torah portion. There's beauty in things that peel, as we see in nature. I ordered some trees this week that shed their bark in beautiful curls of golden and orange, because I want to bring that beauty into my yard, even if it looks to some like the trees have been struck by disease. ————— I'm not a rabbi, so every week I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the modern world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each ...
In this week's Torah portion, Aaron is invested as high priest, as are his sons, in a lavish ceremony before the entire Israelite community. It's a high moment for Aaron, a week before his world will fall apart. I don't know why the rabbis segmented the Torah portions this way, but perhaps its a reminder to keep everything in balance, and to focus on the good at times, even—or perhaps because—you know rough waters are coming up ahead. Shabbat shalom. ————— I'm not a rabbi, so every week I ...
It's been a long wait, but shows are starting to pop up in my media stream again. One of my favorites returned after a long hiatus (what else is new?) for it's 5th and final season. Watching the first few episodes, I couldn't escape its relationship to this week's Torah portion, and the work of asking for help, guidance, and strength from the divine, and the challenge of hearing an answer. Thanks for listening, and shabbat shalom! ————— I'm not a rabbi, so every week I look at our Torah po...
We're halfway through November, which means the end of 2021 is coming up quickly. With a few weeks left in the year, I took a moment this week to reflect on some goals I'd set at the start of the year, how much progress I've made towards them, and where I find myself as the year wraps up. The Torah this week finds Jacob journeying to the house of Laban, where he serves as a laborer for 14 years before marrying Laban's daughter Rachel. Along the way he marries Leah, which wasn't part of his p...
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. This week, I put Robert Frost's famous poem—"The Road Not Taken"— in conversation with our weekly Torah portion, Toldot. The parsha covers the story of Isaac, including the exchange between his sons Jacob and Esau, where Esau sells his birthright to his younger brother. Jacob's actions are often explained away by the rabbis, and Esau is commonly demonized as wild and wicked so Jacob c...
I finally set my television up after moving in, which meant last Sunday morning was the perfect time to break in the new space with a fine home cinema experience. Naturally I picked Ferris Bueller's Day Off, because I love it, and because it's leaving Netflix at the end of this month. What I didn't expect was to spend the whole movie reflecting on the similarities between the movie and this week's Torah portion—Parsha Vayera. I couldn't get the comparison of Cameron and Sarah's journeys out...
1Getting to this episode has been a journey. I took a break in May 2021, after producing 59 episodes, with plans to return in September 2021, at the start of the Jewish New Year. Then my wife and I bought a house, and life got busy with housework. Then my mother's illness took a turn for the worse and life got busy with life. My mother died on September 14, 2021. We buried her a few hours before Kol Nidrei, which means this is the first episode of Modern Torah that she'll never hear. In her m...
This may come as a surprise, or not, especially if you know me, but I identify with Korach the much demonized revolutionary who gathers followers and challenges Moses's leadership in this week's Torah portion. Most of Jewish history makes Korach out to be the bad guy—seeking power for power's sake, power he thinks he has a right to but which has been denied to him by Moses, Aaron, and the new hierarchies of leadership handed down by G-d. The arguments are powerful, but honestly, we nev...
This episode was recorded in May 2021, and somehow never published. So I'm delivering it now, in November 2021, because the world can never have enough Torah. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes...
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