सर्वश्रेष्ठ Jewish Studies पॉडकास्टस (2025)

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VaEra 5785: The Power of Mahloket 36:15

16h ago36:15

36:15

This week’s podcast is sponsored in memory of Dr. Jack Jaffe, Yaakov Zev ben Elchanon. Doctor, community leader, and fervent Zionist. Sponsored by his children, Ari and Marlyn, Reva and Sheldon, Leah and Simon, and Ezra and Marla, as well as his 10 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.Can difficult conversations foster growth?In this episode, Z…

1
Shmuel Goldin, "Unlocking the Torah Text" (Gefen Books, 2014) 28:39

1d ago28:39

28:39

Unlocking the Torah Text (Gefen Books, 2014) provides an in-depth journey into the Torah portion through a series of studies on each parsha. In clear and incisive fashion, each study carefully examines deep philosophical issues and perplexing textual questions. Helpful distinction is made between pshat (straightforward literal meaning) and Midrash …

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Mark Celinscak, "Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Nazi Concentration Camp" (U Toronto Press, 2015) 1:17:29

4d ago1:17:29

1:17:29

The Allied soldiers who liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 were faced with scenes of horror and privation. With breathtaking thoroughness, Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Nazi Concentration Camp (U Toronto Press, 2015) documents what they saw and how they came to terms with thos…

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Alec Goldstein, "Maimonides on the Book of Exodus" (Kodesh Press, 2019) 37:06

4d ago37:06

37:06

Today I talked to Alec Goldstein about Maimonides on the Book of Exodus (Kodesh Press, 2019). Rabbi Moses son of Maimon, known in Hebrew as Rambam and in English as Maimonides, is one of Judaism’s most influential and enduring figures. His works have shaped Jewish thought for centuries, combining legal precision, philosophical brilliance, and profo…

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Yitzchak Etshalom, "Amos: The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric" (Maggid, 2024) 24:28

6d ago24:28

24:28

With timeless poetry and stunning imagery, the prophet Amos of Tekoa, a simple herdsman from the Judean mountains, stands in front of a stubborn, antagonistic audience of Israelite royalty and aristocracy and he rebukes them for their many abuses of power. But he offers them a better vision of themselves by lifting them to the heavens on wings of l…

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Yehudah Cohn, trans., "Mine Is The Golden Tongue: The Hebrew Sonnets Of Immanuel Of Rome" (Centro Primo Levi, 2023) 1:12:17

6d ago1:12:17

1:12:17

Mine Is The Golden Tongue: The Hebrew Sonnets Of Immanuel Of Rome (Centro Primo Levi, 2023) contains the first known sonnets written in Hebrew. Their author is Immanuel of Rome, an intensely studied yet little-known 14th-century poet, who adapted the quantitative meter of Arabic and Hebrew poetry from al-Andalous to the syllabic meter of romance po…

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Nitzan Lebovic, "Homo Temporalis: German Jewish Thinkers on Time" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:42:27

7d ago1:42:27

1:42:27

Homo Temporalis: German Jewish Thinkers on Time (Cornell UP, 2025) tells the story of a group of twentieth-century Jewish intellectuals who grappled ceaselessly with concepts of time and temporality. The project brings into dialogue key thinkers, including the philosopher of religion Martin Buber, the critical theorist Walter Benjamin, the politica…

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Shemot 5785: Rediscovering the Divine 31:45

8d ago31:45

31:45

In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yiscah Smith explore Parshat Shemot, the beginning of the Book of Exodus, focusing on the spiritual and physical challenges of the Jewish people's exile in Egypt. They discuss the transition from individual to communal identity, the dangers of spiritual complacency, and Moses’ transformative journey to leadershi…

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Chaya T. Halberstam, "Trial Stories in Jewish Antiquity: Counternarratives of Justice" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:11:30

9d ago1:11:30

1:11:30

What can early Jewish courtroom narratives tell us about the capacity and limits of human justice? By exploring how judges and the act of judging are depicted in these narratives, Trial Stories in Jewish Antiquity: Counternarratives of Justice (Oxford University Press, 2024), Chaya T. Halberstam challenges the prevailing notion, both then and now, …

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Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany 59:19

11d ago59:19

59:19

Our book is: Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts To Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany (Citadel Press, 2025) by Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham, which is an inspiring new narrative of the first woman to serve in a president’s cabinet, the longest-serving Labor Secretary, and an architect of the New Deal. In March 1933, at the height of t…

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Jacob Flaws, "Spaces of Treblinka: Retracing a Death Camp" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 56:47

11d ago56:47

56:47

In our conversation about Spaces of Treblinka: Retracing a Death Camp (University of Nebraska Press, 2024), Dr. Jacob Flaws expands the spatial realities of the Treblinka death camp and what it means to be a witness of the Holocaust. Spaces of Treblinka utilizes testimonies, oral histories, and recollections from Jewish, German, and Polish witnesse…

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Elissa Bemporad, "Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets" (Oxford UP, 2019) 1:01:33

13d ago1:01:33

1:01:33

The history of antisemitism in Europe stretches back as far as Ancient Rome, but persecutions of Jews became widespread during the Crusades, beginning in the early 11th century when the wholesale massacre of entire communities became commonplace. From the 12th century, the justification for this state-sanctioned violence became the blood libel accu…

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Catherine Hezser, "Rabbinic Scholarship in the Context of Late Antique Scholasticism: The Development of the Talmud Yerushalmi" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 59:15

14d ago59:15

59:15

Based on an understanding of scholasticism as a cross-cultural phenomenon, undertaken by rabbinic, Graeco-Roman, and Christian scholars in late antiquity, this book examines the development of Palestinian rabbinic compilations from social-historical and literary-historical perspectives. Rabbinic Scholarship in the Context of Late Antique Scholastic…

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Olga Borovaya, "The 1840 Rhodes Blood Libel: Ottoman Jews at the Dawn of the Tanzimat Era" (Berghahn Books, 2024) 1:17:59

15d ago1:17:59

1:17:59

The Rhodes blood libel of 1840, an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence, was initiated by the island’s governor in collusion with Levantine merchants, who charged the local Jewish community with murdering a Christian boy for ritual purposes. An episode in the shared histories of Ottomans and Jews, it was forgotten by the former and, even if remembered,…

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Vayechi 5785: Jacob’s Final Words 25:48

15d ago25:48

25:48

Are Jacob’s final words blessings, prophecies, or something else entirely?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash delve into Parshat Vayechi, focusing on Jacob's final blessings to his sons. They explore the complex nature of these "blessings," their poetic and cryptic language, and their implications for family dynamic…

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Jonathan Sacks, "The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel: Genesis" (Koren, 2024) 54:12

16d ago54:12

54:12

The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel offers an innovative and refreshing approach to the Hebrew Bible. By fusing extraordinary findings by modern scholars on the ancient Near East with the original Hebrew text and a brand new English translation by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel clarifies and explains the Biblic…

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The Hyphen Unites: Avi Shlaim on Arab-Jewish Life 1:10:12

17d ago1:10:12

1:10:12

Avi Shlaim is a celebrated "New Historian” whose earlier work established him as an influential historian of Middle Eastern politics and especially of Israel's relations with the Arab world. Most recently he has turned to his own Iraqi/Israeli/British past in Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew–which he refers to as an "impersonal autobiography." …

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Polly Zavadivker, "A Nation of Refugees: Russia's Jews in World War I" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:22:54

17d ago1:22:54

1:22:54

When the Great War began, the Russian Empire was home to more than five million Jews, the most densely settled Jewish population anywhere in the world. Thirty years later, only remnants of this civilization remained. The years of war from 1914 to 1918 launched the forces that scattered and destroyed Eastern European Jewry and transformed it in ways…

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Robert D. Miller II, "Yahweh: Origin of a Desert God" (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021) 26:14

20d ago26:14

26:14

Recognizing the absence of a God named Yahweh outside of ancient Israel, this study addresses the related questions of Yahweh's origins and the biblical claim that there were Yahweh-worshipers other than the Israelite people. Beginning with the Hebrew Bible, with an exhaustive survey of ancient Near Eastern literature and inscriptions discovered by…

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Vayigash 5785: Forgiveness and Family – test 30:27

22d ago30:27

30:27

How does Yosef’s strategy with his brothers reveal his true intentions?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Daniel Reifman discuss Yosef’s reunion with his brothers in Parshat Vayigash. They explore Judah’s role in repairing family bonds, Yosef’s intentions, and the enduring lessons of forgiveness and reconciliation.Featuring:Rabbi Dr. Da…

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David Dejong, "A Prophet Like Moses (Deut 18:15, 18): The Origin, History, and Influence of the Mosaic Prophetic Succession" (Brill, 2022) 19:47

24d ago19:47

19:47

In his recent monograph, David DeJong traces the history of Deuteronomy's concept of a prophet like Moses from the seventh century BCE to the first century CE, demonstrating the ways in which Jewish and Christian texts were influenced by and responded to Deuteronomy's Mosaic norm for prophetic claims. Join us as we speak with David DeJong about "a …

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Franck Salameh, "Lebanon’s Jewish Community: Fragments of Lives Arrested" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) 58:39

24d ago58:39

58:39

This was an interview that I felt only scratched the surface not only of the book, Lebanon’s Jewish Community: Fragments of Lives Arrested (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) but of Professor Salameh's knowledge and understanding of the region. Our discussion spanned the ancient roots of the people of Lebanon through his personal story growing up in the mul…

1
Diana Dumitru, "The State, Antisemitism, and Collaboration in the Holocaust: The Borderlands of Romania and the Soviet Union" (Cambridge UP, 2016) 1:53:20

25d ago1:53:20

1:53:20

Based on original sources, The State, Antisemitism, and Collaboration in the Holocaust: The Borderlands of Romania and the Soviet Union (Cambridge UP, 2016) explores regional variations in civilians' attitudes and behavior toward the Jewish population in Romania and the occupied Soviet Union. Gentiles' willingness to assist Jews was greater in land…

1
Jordan D. Rosenblum, "Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig" (NYU Press, 2024) 1:05:20

27d ago1:05:20

1:05:20

Jews do not eat pig. This (not always true) observation has been made by both Jews and non-Jews for more than three thousand years and is rooted in biblical law. Though the Torah prohibits eating pig meat, it is not singled out more than other food prohibitions. Horses, rabbits, squirrels, and even vultures, while also not kosher, do not inspire th…

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Andre Villeneuve, "Divine Marriage from Eden to the End of Days: Communion with God as Nuptial Mystery in the Story of Salvation" (Wipf and Stock, 2021) 18:38

29d ago18:38

18:38

In Divine Marriage from Eden to the End of Days (Wipf and Stock, 2021), André Villeneuve explores the mystery of God’s love in the Bible and ancient Jewish tradition. Join us as we speak André Villeneuve about how Scripture portrays the covenant between God and his people as a divine-human marriage spanning through all of human history. Dr. André V…

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Miketz 5784: From Prison to Power 30:38

29d ago30:38

30:38

How does Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams reflect his growth as a leader?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy delve into Parshat Miketz, exploring Yosef's extraordinary journey from the prison to Pharaoh's court. They discuss the transformative power of trust (bitachon) and effort (hishtadlus), how Yosef’s interpret…

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Hartley Lachter, "Kabbalah and Catastrophe: Historical Memory in Premodern Jewish Mysticism" (Stanford UP, 2024) 45:29

30d ago45:29

45:29

While premodern kabbalistic texts were not chronicles of historical events, they provided elaborate models for understanding the secret divine plan guiding human affairs. Hartley Lachter analyzes innovative kabbalistic doctrines, such as the idea of reincarnation and the notion of multiple successive universes, through which Jewish mystics sought t…

1
Christian Bailey, "German Jews in Love: A History" (Stanford UP, 2022) 1:13:18

1M ago1:13:18

1:13:18

German Jews in Love: A History (Stanford UP, 2022) explores the dynamic role of love in German-Jewish lives, from the birth of the German Empire in the 1870s, to the 1970s, a generation after the Shoah. During a remarkably turbulent hundred-year period when German Jews experienced five political regimes, rapid urbanization, transformations in gende…

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Ariel Evan Mayse, "Laws of the Spirit: Ritual, Mysticism, and the Commandments in Early Hasidism" (Stanford UP, 2024) 1:16:00

1M ago1:16:00

1:16:00

The compelling vision of religious life and practice found in Hasidic sources has made it the most enduring and successful Jewish movement of spiritual renewal of all time. In Laws of the Spirit: Ritual, Mysticism, and the Commandments in Early Hasidism (Stanford UP, 2024), Ariel Evan Mayse grapples with one of Hasidism's most vexing questions: how…

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Yaacov Yadgar, "To Be a Jewish State: Zionism as the New Judaism" (NYU Press, 2024) 1:02:06

1M ago1:02:06

1:02:06

In one of the first books to ask head-on what it means for Israel to be a Jewish state, Yaacov Yadgar delves into what the designation "Jewish" amounts to in the context of the sovereign nation-state, and what it means for the politics of the state to be identified as Jewish. The volume interrogates the tension between the notion of Israel as a Jew…

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Vayeshev 5785: Sibling Rivalry 32:58

1M ago32:58

32:58

Could the animosity between Yosef and his brothers have been avoided through different choices?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Ilana Gleicher-Bloom delve into the complex family dynamics of Yaakov, Yosef, and his brothers in Parshat Vayeshev. They explore how favoritism, communication breakdowns, and perceived inevitabilities lead to choices w…

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Dianne Ashton and Melissa R. Klapper, "The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai" (NYU Press, 2024) 58:38

1M ago58:38

58:38

Emma Mordecai lived an unusual life. She was Jewish when Jews comprised less than 1 percent of the population of the Old South, and unmarried in a culture that offered women few options other than marriage. She was American born when most American Jews were immigrants. She affirmed and maintained her dedication to Jewish religious practice and Jewi…

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Adin Steinsaltz, "The Steinsaltz Nevi'im" (Koren, 2019) 16:19

1M ago16:19

16:19

The Steinsaltz Nevi'im is the long-awaited English version of Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz's pioneering translation and commentary. Like his monumental translation and commentary of the entire Talmud, the new Steinsaltz Nevi'im includes a treasure trove of information to make the text clear, fascinating, and relevant to users of all background…

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Emanuela Trevisan Semi, "Taamrat Emmanuel: An Ethiopian Jewish Intellectual, Between Colonized and Colonizers" (Centro Primo Levi, 2018) 1:38:27

1M ago1:38:27

1:38:27

Emanuela Trevisan Semi’s Taamrat Emmanuel: An Ethiopian Jewish Intellectual, Between Colonized and Colonizers (Centro Primo Levi, 2018) is an insightful biographical study of a key figure among Ethiopian Jews of the early 20th Century. Taamrat Emmanuel was profoundly fascinated by European Jewish culture, by Western thought, and by Italy’s language…

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Angela Kim Harkins, "Reading with an "I" to the Heavens: Looking at the Qumran Hodayot Through the Lens of Visionary Traditions" (de Gruyter, 2018) 1:04:04

1M ago1:04:04

1:04:04

Reading with an "I" to the Heavens: Looking at the Qumran Hodayot Through the Lens of Visionary Traditions (de Gruyter, 2018) examines the collection of prayers known as the Qumran Hodayot (= Thanksgiving Hymns) in light of ancient visionary traditions, new developments in neuropsychology, and post-structuralist understandings of the embodied subje…

1
Beth Kaplan, "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin" (Syracuse UP, 2007) 1:09:06

1M ago1:09:06

1:09:06

Born of an Anglican mother and a Jewish father who disdained religion, Kaplan knew little of her Judaic roots and less about her famed great-grandfather until beginning her research, more than twenty years ago. In Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin (Syracuse UP, 2007), Kaplan describes the commune he founded and led…

1
Nick Posegay and Melonie Schmierer-Lee, "The Illustrated Cairo Genizah" (Gorgias Press, 2024) 1:03:57

1M ago1:03:57

1:03:57

Starting nearly a thousand years ago at the Ben Ezra Synagogue of Old Cairo, worn-out books and scrolls were put in the genizah, a storage area for sacred texts. In The Illustrated Cairo Genizah: A Visual Tour of Cairo Genizah Manuscripts at Cambridge Univertity Library (Gorgias Press, 2024), Nick Posegay and Melonie Schmierer-Lee tell the story of…

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Rebecca Brenner Graham, "Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany" (Citadel Press, 2025) 45:58

1M ago45:58

45:58

She was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, the longest-serving Labor Secretary, and an architect of the New Deal. Yet beyond these celebrated accomplishments there is another dimension to Frances Perkins’s story. Without fanfare, and despite powerful opposition, Perkins helped save the lives of countless Jewish refugees fleeing Naz…

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Jacob Flaws, "Spaces of Treblinka: Retracing a Death Camp" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 1:00:11

1M ago1:00:11

1:00:11

Spaces of Treblinka: Retracing a Death Camp (U Nebraska Press, 2024) utilizes testimonies, oral histories, and recollections from Jewish, German, and Polish witnesses to create a holistic representation of the Treblinka death camp during its operation. This narrative rejects the historical misconception that Treblinka was an isolated Nazi extermina…

1
A. J. Berkovitz, "A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) 1:11:23

1M ago1:11:23

1:11:23

The Bible shaped nearly every aspect of Jewish life in the ancient world, from activities as obvious as attending synagogue to those which have lost their scriptural resonance in modernity, such as drinking water and uttering one’s last words. And within a scriptural universe, no work exerted more force than the Psalter, the most cherished text amo…

1
Vayishlach 5785: Wrestling with the Divine 30:18

1M ago30:18

30:18

What can Yaakov's struggle teach us about the complexities of identity and faith?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Michael Hattin delve into Yaakov’s dramatic encounter with the mysterious "Ish" in Parshat Vayishlach. They explore themes of personal transformation, the meaning of Yaakov's name change to Yisrael, and how this pivotal moment…

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Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß, "Antisemitism in the North: History and State of Research" (de Gruyter, 2019) 1:07:49

2M ago1:07:49

1:07:49

Is research on antisemitism even necessary in countries with a relatively small Jewish population? Absolutely, as Antisemitism in the North: History and State of Research (de Gruyter, 2019) shows. Compared to other countries, research on antisemitism in the Nordic countries (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Swede…

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Vayetze 5785: Finding the Makom 28:55

2M ago28:55

28:55

How does the Torah guide us to create sacred spaces in moments of transition and uncertainty?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Rafael Polisuk explore Yaakov’s profound journey in Parshat Vayetze. Together, they delve into Yaakov's encounter with the "Makom"—a sacred space where the displaced patriarch begins to find his grounding. Through …

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Krzysztof Bielawski, "The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland" (Academic Studies Press, 2024) 1:02:35

2M ago1:02:35

1:02:35

The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland (Academic Studies Press, 2024) in Poland offers a comprehensive examination of the history of Jewish cemeteries in Poland, shedding light on an overlooked aspect of Holocaust history. Beginning with the settlement of Jewish communities in Poland, the book covers the establishment and subsequent destruc…

1
Elliot R. Wolfson, "Nocturnal Seeing: Hopelessness of Hope and Philosophical Gnosis in Susan Taubes, Gillian Rose, and Edith Wyschogrod" (Stanford UP, 2024) 45:59

2M ago45:59

45:59

In Nocturnal Seeing: Hopelessness of Hope and Philosophical Gnosis in Susan Taubes, Gillian Rose, and Edith Wyschogrod (Stanford UP, 2024), Elliot R. Wolfson explores philosophical gnosis in the writings of Susan Taubes, Gillian Rose, and Edith Wyschogrod. The juxtaposition of these three extraordinary, albeit relatively neglected, philosophers pro…

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Zsuzsanna Szanto, "The Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt: The History of a Diaspora Community in Light of the Papyri (De Gruyter, 2024) 46:04

2M ago46:04

46:04

The Jews of Ptolemaic Egypt: The History of a Diaspora Community in Light of the Papyri (De Gruyter, 2024) offers a comprehensive and nuanced history of the Jews of Egypt, who constituted an important ethnic minority ever since they first appeared in the country. As part of the Greek-speaking ruling class, the Jews played an active role in the poli…

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Elliot R. Wolfson, "The Philosophical Pathos of Susan Taubes: Between Nihilism and Hope" (Stanford UP, 2023) 53:29

2M ago53:29

53:29

The Philosophical Pathos of Susan Taubes: Between Nihilism and Hope (Stanford UP, 2023) offers a detailed analysis of an extraordinary figure in the twentieth-century history of Jewish thought, Western philosophy, and the study of religion. Drawing on close readings of Susan Taubes's writings, including her correspondence with Jacob Taubes, scholar…

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Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, "Prayers of a Heretic: Poems" (Plain View Press, 2013) 1:02:18

2M ago1:02:18

1:02:18

In the poetry collection Prayers of a Heretic (Plain View Press, 2013), Yermiyahu Ahron Taub explores the "crime" of heresy and the condition of existential displacement through the language of prayer and prayerful voice/s. In the first section, "Visits and Visitations," the poet imagines a variety of protagonists in situations of supplication. The…

1
Nina Valbousquet, "Lukewarm Souls: The Vatican facing the Shoah" (La Découverte, 2024) 1:04:19

2M ago1:04:19

1:04:19

The exceptional opening of the archives of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958) in 2020 did not end the controversies surrounding the silence of the pope in the face of Nazi atrocities. But, beyond the controversies, what do these new sources reveal? What do they contribute to our understanding of the Shoah, the Second World War and religious po…

1
Toldot 5785: Brothers in Balance 34:26

2M ago34:26

34:26

What do Yitzchak’s blessings teach us about the balance of power between Yaakov and Esav?In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield is joined by Rabbi Dr. Elisha Ancselovits to unpack the intricate dynamics between Yaakov and Esav in Parshat Toldot. They explore the meaning behind Yitzchak’s blessings, the cycles of conflict and cooperation, and what these i…

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