JEWISH STUDIESApril 3, 2023
The Intellect and the Exodus
Jeremy Kagan
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Developing emuna, or faith in God, is extraordinarily challenging in our day. Emuna may have sat comfortably with us as we dwelt among the worshiping cultures of the ancient Near …
JEWISH STUDIES March 4, 2023
The Koren Tanakh Graphic Novel: Esther
Jordan Gorfinkel
Hosted by Matthew Miller
The Koren Tanakh Graphic Novel: Esther (Koren, 2023) contains the complete unabridged Hebrew text of Megillat Esther, and is suitable for use on Purim and for year-round study and enjoyment …
JEWISH STUDIES March 3, 2023
Faith Fulfilled
Megillat Esther and Ma'ariv Evening Service for Purim
Reuven Mohl
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Faith Fulfilled: Megillat Esther and Ma'ariv Evening Service for Purim (Urim Publications, 2022) presents selections of the writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits, one of the major Jewish philosophers of the …
JEWISH STUDIESFebruary 26, 2023
Haroset
A Taste of Jewish History
Susan Weingarten
Hosted by Matthew Miller
While every cultures cuisine tells a story, there are few foods that carry as much history and meaning as do those on the Passover Seder plate. Haroset: A Taste of …
JEWISH STUDIES February 19, 2023
The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel
Exodus
David Arnovitz
Hosted by Matthew Miller
The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel: Exodus (Koren, 2020) offers an innovative and refreshing approach to the Hebrew Bible. By fusing extraordinary findings by modern scholars on the ancient …
JEWISH STUDIES February 12, 2023
Iggerot Malkhei Rabbanan
Letters From Leading Torah Scholars to Melekh (Marc B.) Shapiro
Marc B. Shapiro
Hosted by Matthew Miller
This book, or one might say sefer ('book of religious significance'), collects letters from leading Torah scholars to professor Marc B. Shapiro from over a 30 year period. Both the subject matter …
JEWISH STUDIES January 13, 2023
Psyched for Torah
Mordechai Schiffman
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Today I talked to Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman about his book Psyched for Torah (Kodesh Press, 2022). His writings on the weekly parsha exude complete fluency in both traditional Jewish sources like Talmud …
JEWISH STUDIES January 11, 2023
Etrog
How A Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol
David Z. Moster
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Every year before the holiday of Sukkot, Jews all around the world purchase an etrog―a lemon-like fruit―to participate in the holiday ritual. In Etrog: How A Chinese Fruit Became a …
JEWISH STUDIES November 25, 2022
Judaism Straight Up
Why Real Religion Endures
Moshe Koppel
Hosted by Matthew Miller
In Judaism Straight Up: Why Real Religion Endures (Maggid, 2020), Moshe Koppel explores the central differences between traditional societies - including traditional Judaism - and contemporary cosmopolitan ones. He explains …
JEWISH STUDIES November 18, 2022
Was Yosef on the Spectrum?
Understanding Joseph Through Torah, Midrash, and Classical Jewish Sources
Samuel J. Levine
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Samuel J. Levine's Was Yosef on the Spectrum?: Understanding Joseph Through Torah, Midrash, and Classical Jewish Sources (Urim Publications, 2018) offers a coherent and cohesive reading of the well-known Biblical …
JEWISH STUDIES October 7, 2022
Be Fruitful!
The Etrog in Jewish Art, Culture and History
Warren Klein, Sharon Liberman Mintz, and Joshua Teplitsky
Hosted by Matthew Miller
The etrog is a curious fruit. The Bible commands its readers: “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day beautiful tree-fruit (peri etz hadar), palm fronds, boughs of …
JEWISH STUDIES September 19, 2022
Sin•a•gogue
Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought
David Bashevkin
Hosted by Matthew Miller
By its very nature, the ideals of religion entail sin and failure. Judaism has its own language and framework for sin that expresses themselves both legally and philosophically. Both legal …
JEWISH STUDIES September 13, 2022
Dirshuni
Contemporary Women's Midrash
Tamar Biala
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Dirshuni: Contemporary Women's Midrash (Brandeis UP, 2022), is the first-ever English edition of a historic collection of midrashim composed by Israeli women, which has been long-anticipated by multiple American audiences …
JEWISH STUDIES August 23, 2022
Esther in America
Stu Halpern
Hosted by Matthew Miller
The Book of Esther has inspired and impacted the American project since its very inception. Rabbis and ethicists, abolitionists and artists, preachers and presidents, have understood the text to speak …
JEWISH STUDIES August 10, 2022
The Crowns on the Letters
Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages
Ari D. Kahn
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Rabbi Ari Kahn’s The Crowns on the Letters: Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages (OU Press, 2020) represents a major achievement in the study of the lives …
JEWISH STUDIES August 3, 2022
Thinking about Good and Evil
Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity
Wayne Allen
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Today I talked to Rabbi Wayne Allen about his book Thinking about Good and Evil: Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity (U Nebraska Press, 2021). Starting with the Bible and Apocrypha …
JEWISH STUDIES July 22, 2022
The Biblical Hero
Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility
Elliott Rabin
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Today I talked to Elliott Rabin about his book The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility (Jewish Publication Society, 2020). Approaching the Bible in an original way—comparing biblical heroes to heroes …
JEWISH STUDIES July 13, 2022
Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity
The Making of Rav Kook, 1865-1904
Yehudah Mirsky
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Avraham Yitzhaq Ha-Cohen Kook (1865-1935) stands as a colossal figure of modern Jewish history and thought. Jurist, mystic, poet, theologian, communal leader, founder of the modern Chief Rabbinate and still …
JEWISH STUDIES July 4, 2022
Rav Kook
Mystic in a Time of Revolution
Yehudah Mirsky
Hosted by Matthew Miller
A powerfully original thinker, Rav Kook combined strict traditionalism and an embrace of modernity, Orthodoxy and tolerance, piety and audacity, scholasticism and ecstasy, and passionate nationalism with profound universalism. Though …
JEWISH STUDIES May 25, 2022
When Rabbis Bless Congress
The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill
Howard Mortman
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Howard Mortman's book When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill (Cherry Orchard, 2020) is about the rabbis. It’s an unprecedented examination of 160 years …
JEWISH STUDIES August 4, 2021
Olam Ha-zeh V'olam Ha-ba
This World and the World to Come in Jewish Belief and Practice
Leonard J. Greenspoon
Hosted by Matthew Miller
Olam Ha-zeh V'olam Ha-ba: This World and the World to Come in Jewish Belief and Practice (Purdue UP, 2017), for which Professor Greenspoon served as the editor, explores Jewish notions …
