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Interleaved: A Talmudic PodcastKetubot No.3: Contractual RelationshipsHow did the monetary guarantee of the ketubah develop? What light can similar contracts from the Ancient Near East and modern pre-marital financial agreements such as the pre-nup shed on the nature of the ketubah, including the question of whether it is binding?Prof. Michael L. Satlow is Professor of Judaic Studies and Religious Studies at Brown University. He holds a Ph.D. from JTS, and is an author of numerous works including the book Jewish Marriage in Antiquity, and the chapter “Reconsidering the Rabbinic Ketubah Payment” in The Jewish Family in Antiquity. Spec...
2022-10-2339 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastKetubot No.2: Halakhic WomanCW// sexual assault/r*peWhat do Talmudic texts about vaginal bleeding and sexual assault tell us about how the rabbis perceived women’s humanity and subjectivity? Is a true gender-egalitarian halakha even possible?This is the second part of an interview. Listen to part one here.Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, Identity, and Epistemology, focused on legal and cultural questions ar...
2022-10-091h 01Interleaved: A Talmudic PodcastKetubot No.1: Body PoliticsCW// underage sex and sexual assault/r*peWhat is the rabbis' definition of virginity, and why is it so complicated? What does it tell us about their view of feminine subjectivity and sexuality? Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, Identity, and Epistemology, focused on legal and cultural questions around the definition and verification of virginity in the Talmud. Special thanks to o...
2022-08-281h 10Interleaved: A Talmudic Podcast[REBROADCAST] Pesachim No.8: Seder Up!Last year around this time we were finishing up Tractate Pesachim — take another dip into our Peseach archive with this episode compilation featuring ideas from Kadesh to NirtzahWe thank our guests, Dr. Susan Weingarten, Dr. Jon Greenberg, Rabbi Dr. Vanessa Ochs, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Dr. Rachel Scheinerman, Dr. Marc Michael Epstein, and Dr. Sara Ronis for lending us their voices, ideas, and insights to enhance each step of our, and now your, seder. In addition to this audio experience, be sure to check out the accompanying source sheet on Sefaria for some additional tho...
2022-04-1534 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYevamot No.1: All in the FamilyWhat can levirate marriage teach us about ancient Jewish family structures? Why start Seder Nashim with death? Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics, HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director and Rabbinical Program Director in Los Angeles. She is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism, which explores the ancient rabbis’ understanding of family and familial relationships. Rabbi Dr. Weisberg also teaches frequently in informal settings, including adult education programs in congregations, several summers at the URJ Kallah and sessions for the CCAR and its regional conventions.Special thanks to o...
2022-03-2839 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastChagigah No.2: Out of the OrchardWho really was Elisha ben Avuyah, and why was he a mistake of rabbinic interpretation? How did he become a blank canvas for the Rabbis’ heretical anxieties? Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, a nonprofit, international, UNESCO-sponsored interfaith organization. A noted scholar of Jewish studies, he has held academic posts at Tel Aviv University and has served as director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, Jerusalem. Rabbi Dr. Goshen-Gottstein is the author or editor of many books including The Jewish Encounter with Hinduism, Jewi...
2022-03-0737 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastChagigah No.1: Talmudically Accurate AngelsHow did ancient Jews relate to angels? Are “Biblically accurate angels” really Biblically accurate?Dr. Mika Ahuvia is an associate professor of Classical Judaism in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her book On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture investigates conceptions of angels in foundational Jewish texts and ritual sources. Mika also co-edited the volume Placing Ancient Texts: the Rhetorical and Ritual Use of Space and has published book chapters and articles on ancient ritual-magic, gender and rabbinic literature, and late antique arch...
2022-02-2035 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastMoed Katan No.1: People of the Black BookCW//brief mentions of sexual abuse and abusers When, why, and how did the rabbis of the Talmud excommunicate people? How did they craft a narrative of powerlessness to invest themselves with more power?Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy is the Director of the Pardes Year Program at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. In 2015, Meesh completed her studies at Beit Midrash Har’el and received ordination from Rabbi Herzl Hefter and Rabbi Daniel Sperber. She has a PhD in Talmud from New York University, and her dissertation explores the ways in whic...
2022-01-3136 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastTaanit No.2: Tu B'Shvat or Not Tu B’ShvatHow is climate a Divine language? Why should you get to know a tree?Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is a writer, activist, and song-leader in Boston. She serves as the Director of Professional Development at Hebrew College, and as a rabbinic consultant to Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action. She is a contributing author to Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, and her song “The Tide Is Rising,” which she co-wrote with her husband Yotam Schachter, has spread as an anthem in the climate movement.Special thanks to our execu...
2022-01-1745 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastMegillah No.2: Layn ChangeWhat does an inclusive Megillah reading sound like? What could the future of layning be? Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as the Associate Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, NY. A 2017 graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she has taught many people women and girls to leyn and is the voice of the JOFA Megillat Esther and Megillat Rut apps.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.Music from https://fi...
2022-01-1032 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastMegillah No.1: The Whole MegillahWhy is the Sages’ exposition of the Book of Esther so imaginative? How do we avoid blurring the lines between Midrashic homilies and what’s actually written in the text?Dr. Eliezer Segal is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classics and Religion at the University of Calgary. He is widely published and some of his recent books include From Sermon to Commentary: Expounding the Bible in Talmudic Babylonia and Sanctified Seasons. Additionally he is the author of “The Babylonian Esther Midrash: A Critical Commentary.”Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp
2021-12-2736 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastTaanit No.1: Prayin' for the RainHow did the Sages of the Talmud understand the connection between rain and the Divine? How do talmudic stories impart ethical values? Dr. Jonathan Wyn Schofer is Associate Professor of Religious Studies, with affiliation in the Schustermann Center for Jewish Studies at The University at Texas at Austin. He has published work on the connections between law, theology, and ethics in canonical Jewish sources of late antiquity, including his first book, The Making of a Sage: A Study in Rabbinic Ethics. His essay “Theology and Cosmology in Rabbinic Ethics: The Pedagogical Significance of Rainmaking Narratives” is the groundw...
2021-12-0631 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastRosh Hashanah No.3: It's Hadran TimeHadran Alach Mesekhet Rosh Hashanah! Since the modern period and beyond, the communal creative practice of calendar making, which our Tractate has mainly focused on, has mostly left us — but not entirely. Hear from some of the artists and collaborators of The Radical Jewish Calendar Project. Rabbi Ariana Katz is the layout editor for the Radical Jewish Calendar project. She is also the founding rabbi of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl. Ariel DiOrio is a Boston-based artist, educator, designer, and photographer who finds inspiration in projects that use creativity to promote social change. Her work is fe...
2021-11-1530 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastRosh Hashanah No.2: Shofar, So GoodWhat makes the shofar unique among Biblical instruments? How can a commandment to hear teach us to listen?Dr. Jonathan L. Friedmann is a scholar and practitioner of Jewish music. He serves as a pulpit cantor, he composes and arranges music, is a researcher in the area of the history and functions of synagogue song, and teaches at the Academy for Jewish Religion California. He has numerous books on music and religion and was co-editor of “Qol Tamid: The Shofar in Ritual, History, and Culture.”Special thanks to our executive producer, Adin...
2021-11-0833 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastRosh Hashanah No.1: Yidden in the StarsIs there mazal for the people of Israel? How did the Sages relate to the stars? Lorelai Kude has been a practicing, professional astrologer for more than 30 years. She received her Master’s Degree in Jewish Studies from Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union, with a thesis titled: “Yesh Mazal l’Yisrael: Astrology in Jewish Cultural Heritage”, and writes a syndicated Jewish astrology column (“Astrolojew”). Along with maintaining and growing her private astrological consulting practice, Lorelai also teaches classes, publishes a podcast on Jewish astrology, and is the Executive Director of The Aquarian Minyan and “Mother” of the Aquarian Minyan Yes...
2021-10-2430 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastBeitzah No.2: Meat Your MakerWhat does an ethical Jewish meat company look like on the inside? How can we learn to care about where our food comes from?Naftali Hanau is the CEO and co-founder of Grow & Behold, the Brooklyn-based purveyor of fine kosher-pastured meats raised on family farms with no hormones or antibiotics. A shochet and menaker, Naf has learned with experts across the country.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter....
2021-09-2739 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastBeitzah No.1: Kol Nidre RevealHow did the Yom Kippur Machzor come to be? What’s the real story of Kol Nidre and U’Netaneh Tokef?David Stern is the Harry Starr Professor of Classical and Modern Jewish and Hebrew Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature and the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University. His fields of specialization are ancient and medieval Jewish literature and culture and the history of Biblical interpretation. Most of his current research and writing deals with the history of the Jewish book. Additionally, he is the author or editor (or co-editor) of fourteen book...
2021-09-1337 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastSukkah No.5: Big Hut JudaismHadran Alach Mesekhet Sukkah! We shall return to you Tractate Sukkah! Finish off the tractate with us by hearing about a new, collaborative multimedia commentary on the final chapter, created by the Kreuzberg Kollel of Berlin.Rabbi Jeremy Borovitz is the Director of Jewish Learning for Hillel Germany, the co-founder of Base Berlin, and the Rosh Kollel of the Kreuzberg Kollel, a collaboration between Hillel Deutschland and OyVey Amsterdam. The Kollel is built to be a communal learning space geared towards in-depth, committed Jewish learning, and an incubator for developing new talent and creative Europe-based teachers rooted...
2021-09-0219 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastSukkah No.4: A Song of Water and FireWhat is the Torah of music? How can we express our individuality through song while simultaneously singing together?Joey Weisenberg is the Founder and Director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute. He is a mandolinist, guitarist, percussionist, and singer who has performed and recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and has released or produced over fourteen albums, many together with the Hadar Ensemble. His most recent album, L’eila, was released on July 28 and will be available on all major streaming platforms this fall or winter. Joey is also the author of Building Singing Communities and...
2021-08-3029 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastSukkah No.3: Lulav LanguagesWhy are some Jews using different species for the lulav ritual than those prescribed by the Talmud? How can we be more compassionate towards the land and produce the Sukkot festival celebrates, and better allies to the indigenous peoples whose lands we occupy?Gabi Kirk is a PhD candidate in geography with a designated emphasis in feminist theory and research at the University of California, Davis. Her research fields include political ecology, feminist geography, and geographies of colonialism and settler-colonialism. Additionally, she is a co-contributor to The Book of Lulav zine from 2017.View...
2021-08-1639 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastSukkah No.2: Equal ProtectionIs the housing crisis really that complicated? How can we cultivate compassion within ourselves for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and displacement?Aaron Berc is a community organizer at Jewish Community Action, an organization with the mission to bring together Jewish people from diverse traditions and perspectives to promote understanding and take action on racial and economic justice issues in Minnesota. Aaron organizes JCA's Housing Justice campaign where he focuses on the fight for the rights of tenants, and making sure all of those in the community have a dignified home.Special thanks to our executive prod...
2021-08-0232 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastSukkah No.1: The Schach’s the LimitHow can limitations inspire creativity? In what ways do the laws of sukkah accommodate differences among communities?Professor Noah Resnick currently teaches and practices in the city of Detroit, Michigan. A partner at Laavu, Resnick is also the Associate Dean and Professor at the School of Architecture and Community Development at the University of Detroit Mercy. Additionally he served as jury co-chair in the Sukkah x Detroit competition in 2018.View a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.Special thanks to our executive producer...
2021-07-1937 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.7: Day of EatonementCW: eating disorders/disordered eating Should a person suffering from or recovering from an eating disorder fast on Yom Kippur? How can we change our own harmful attitudes towards food and our bodies?Temimah Zucker is a licensed clinical social worker providing sessions to those in New York and New Jersey who struggle with mental health concerns, eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image. She is a metro-New York supervisor at Monte Nido Manhattan and is an adjunct professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Temimah writes for the Jewish Link and s...
2021-07-0538 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.6: Scroll PlayHow did the Torah reading ritual evolve from its origins in the Temple service on Yom Kippur to its familiar form as we perform it today? What can Talmud-era synagogue ruins tell us about how ancient Jews performed the ceremony?Rabbi Dr. Ruth Langer is Professor of Jewish Studies in the Theology Department at Boston College, and Interim Director of its Center for Christian-Jewish Learning. She is widely published and in addition to a long list of articles her books include To Worship God Properly: Tensions between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism, and Jewish Liturgy: A G...
2021-06-2835 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.5: If I Were a Ritual ManWhat did sacrifice mean to ancient Jews? Where do the meanings of our rituals that we are taught in school come from?Professor Jonathan Klawans is Professor of Religion at Boston University’s Department of Religion and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies. He has published a number of important articles on the topics of ritual sacrifice and purity in Ancient Israel, and is the author of multiple books including Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism and Purity Sacrifice and the Temple: Symbolism and Supersessionism in the Study of Ancient Judaism. Professor Klawans is also co-editor wi...
2021-06-1431 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.4: Goat YomaWhat lessons can we take from the Yom Kippur scapegoat to the work of social justice? How can our understanding of justice inform how we practice teshuva?Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg has worked as a national organizer at Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a movement of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all, and as a collective member of the Radical Jewish Calendar project. She is also the author of “An Introduction to Trauma, Healing and Resilience for Rabbis, Jewish Educators and Organizers”, published by Reconstructing Judaism.View a sour...
2021-05-3029 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.3: Poetic JurisprudenceWhy does Tractate Yoma read like a story? How did the paytanim, the liturgical poets of the post-Talmud period, turn its text into the most transcendent part of the modern Yom Kippur service?Dr. Michael Swartz is Professor of Hebrew and Religious Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the Melton Center for Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University. He specializes in the cultural history of Judaism in late antiquity, rabbinic studies, early Jewish mysticism and magic, and ritual studies. Professor Swartz is widely published, his work includes: Scholastic Magic: Ritual and R...
2021-05-1636 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.2: Most High ResolutionCW// ViolenceWhat can Rabbinic and other Jewish legal sources teach us about conflict resolution? And what can we gain from studying conflict?Rabbi Dr. Howard Kaminsky is an independent researcher. He has served as a research fellow at the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution, and as a mediator for Community Mediation Services in Queens, NY. He holds an EdD in religion and education from Teachers College, Columbia University and rabbinic ordination from Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem. He is the author of Fundamentals of Jewish Conflict Resolution: Traditional Jewish Perspectives on Resolving Interpersonal...
2021-05-0330 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastYoma No.1: King of PriestsHow did the Rabbis understand the role of the High Priest in the Temple? How do we trace the Levites through generations? Dr. Yonatan Miller is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of The Center for Religious Understanding at the University of Toledo. He has published articles in Jewish Studies Quarterly and in the Journal of Ancient Judaism and is currently at work on a monograph entitled Sacred Slaughter: Violence and the Israelite-Jewish Priesthood based on his 2015 dissertation. Take our listener survey HEREView a source sheet for this episode here....
2021-04-1832 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShekalim No.2: Survey SaysHadran Alach Mesekhet Shekalim! Take our listener survey HERESpecial thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpKeep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.Music from https://filmmusic.io"Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
2021-04-1201 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShekalim No.1: Charitable LivingHow did the Rabbis of the Talmud legislate giving? How is charity connected to repentance, and even redemption? Dr. Alyssa Gray is the Emily S. and Rabbi Bernard H. Mehlman Chair in Rabbinics and Professor of Codes and Responsa Literature at Hebrew Union College —Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. She is the author of Charity in Rabbinic Judaism: Atonement, Rewards, and Righteousness and numerous shorter studies on wealth, poverty, and charity in rabbinic literature and on the formation of the Babylonian Talmud. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpVi...
2021-04-0536 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.8: Seder Up!Hadran Alach Mesechet Pesachim! We shall return to you Tractate Pesachim!We thank our guests, Dr. Susan Weingarten, Dr. Jon Greenberg, Rabbi Dr. Vanessa Ochs, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Dr. Rachel Scheinerman, Dr. Marc Michael Epstein, and Dr. Sara Ronis for lending us their voices, ideas, and insights to enhance each step of our, and now your, seder. In addition to this audio experience, be sure to check out the accompanying source sheet on Sefaria for some additional thoughts and reflections. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a...
2021-03-2234 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.7: How the Other Side LivesWhere do demons come from? Why did the Sages try to contain them with strange laws?Dr. Sara Ronis is an associate professor of Theology at St. Mary’s University. She specializes in understanding rabbinic literature using interdisciplinary perspectives. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 2015, with a dissertation titled “Do Not Go Out Alone at Night”: Law and Demonic Discourse in the Babylonian Talmud. In her upcoming book manuscript, she explores how late antique Jews thought about demons as part of larger intercultural conversations within the Sassanian empire.Special thanks to our...
2021-03-1533 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.6: Every Spring is IlluminatedWhat’s the deal with the Birds’ Head Haggadah? How were illuminated Haggadot from the Middle Ages created, and why does everyone make such a big fuss about them?Dr. Marc Michael Epstein is Professor of Religion and Visual Culture at Vassar College. He is the author of, among other books, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination and Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and T...
2021-03-0135 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.5: Paschal HistoryCW// Firsthand description of animal sacrifice Why is so much of Tractate Pesachim devoted to discussing the Korban Pesach, a ritual that most of the Sages never participated in? What does the modern Samaritan ritual look and feel like?Dr. Rachel Scheinerman is an associate editor at My Jewish Learning where she edits the Daily Dose of Talmud newsletter. She holds an MA in Scripture & Interpretation from Harvard Divinity School and a PhD in Rabbinic Literature from Yale University with a dissertation about The Tannaitic Passover Ritual.Special thanks to our executive...
2021-02-1537 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.4: Initial Pesach OfferingWhat makes a korban, a Jewish ritual sacrifice, a korban? What does desire have to do with atonement?Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier is a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and lecturer at the Bernard Revel Graduate School. He recently completed his PhD from Yale where he focused on sacrifice. Previously a member of Yeshiva University’s Kollel Elyon, Rabbi Zuckier also is a founder of The Lehrhaus, and was the past Director of JLIC at Yale. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this episode her...
2021-01-3134 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.3: The Custom is Always RightWhere do our customs come from? Why were the rabbis so worried about preserving local custom?Rabbi Vanessa Ochs is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia where she teaches courses in Judaism, anthropology of religion, and spiritual writing. In her research, she investigates new Jewish ritual, Jewish feminism, and Jewish material culture. Rabbi Ochs is the author of many works including The Passover Haggadah: A Biography and Inventing Jewish Ritual.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this...
2021-01-1730 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.2: A Leaf of FaithWhen did horseradish become synonymous with maror? How does a botanical background enhance torah learning?Dr. Jon Greenberg is an educational consultant and teacher of science at the Heschel School in New York. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors in biology from Brown University, his Master’s and Doctorate in agronomy from Cornell University, and also studied with Rabbi Chaim Brovender at Israel’s Yeshivat Hamivtar. Additionally, Dr. Greenberg publishes TorahFlora, a blog devoted to essays on biblical ethnobotany. His botanical Hagaddah Fruits of Freedom will be available for preorder soon from his website.Speci...
2020-12-2833 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastPesachim No.1: This American LightAn episode on Chanukah for the first chapter of a tractate all about Passover? Well, Chanukah doesn’t have its own tractate, and you deserve something fun before you spend 4 months learning everything about the official holiday of Jewish anxiety. So, how was Chanukah celebrated in America before Adam Sandler and Full Court Miracle? Why was the word “presents” the first English word to be printed in Yiddish-language newspapers in America?Dr. Dianne Ashton is Professor of Religion Studies and former director of the American Studies program at Rowan University. She is the author of multiple books on the...
2020-12-1325 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastEruvin No.5: They Walk the LineWith all of the technicalities and logistics involved in building and maintaining community Eruvin, it can be easy to overlook the humans who—expecting nothing in return—devote their time and energy to ensure everyone in their community can experience Shabbat as they’re meant to: together. We dedicate this episode to these tireless and generous Jews who simply love their communities.We thank Jon Gradman of the Center City Eruv, Michael Khaldarov of the Binghamton University Eruv Committee, Rebecca Nathan of the University City Eruv Corporation, Joshua Skootsky of Cong. Mount Sinai Jewish Center, and Rabbi Shlomo...
2020-11-2935 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastEruvin No.4: Yes In My EruvThe Eruv is first and foremost a tool for community-building, but it’s easy to overlook the dividing line it creates between communities. How we can make our Eruvin less like fortresses and more like open-sided tents? What can the Talmud teach us about how to relate to people who do not belong to our communities?Hannah Lebovits is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the University of Texas-Arlington and freelance writer who focuses on human-centered sustainability issues related to urban and metropolitan governance. Her work has been featured in local publications and national outlets including JT...
2020-11-0136 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastEruvin No.3: Shabbat at the MuseumHow on Earth does one curate a wildly popular museum exhibit about Eruv, one of the most technical topics in Jewish law? How is a museum exhibit like a page of Talmud?Zachary Paul Levine curated the exhibition “It’s a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish Community in New York and Beyond” for the Yeshiva University Museum in Manhattan, New York. He has produced dozens of exhibitions, installations and educational programs for cultural institutions throughout the U.S. and abroad and is the principal of Throughline Collaborative. Currently he is Director for Archival & Curatorial Affairs in the Na...
2020-10-1837 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastEruvin No.2: The Beruriah TestWho was Beruriah, the only woman whose halakhic opinion is recorded in the Talmud? What does her Torah mean for women Torah scholars today?Avigayil Halpern is entering her second year of study for rabbinic ordination at the Hadar Institute's Advanced Kollel while living in Washington Heights, New York. She holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Yale University, where she focused on Talmud. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpView a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.
2020-09-2725 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastEruvin No.1: Caution: Rabbis at WorkIn what ways is the Talmud like a building? How can a bunch of poles and wires—the Eruv—create a spiritual community?Dr. Mitchell Schwarzer is a historian of architecture who writes and teaches about urban and suburban built environments. He is Professor of Architectural History and Chair of the Department of Visual Studies at California College of the Arts. He also is the author of several books, most recently Urban Development and Disruption in Twentieth Century Oakland, set to publish in 2021. In addition to his books, his writing has appeared in numerous magazines and journals, incl...
2020-08-2428 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.9: Take Me Home, Hadran RoadHadran Alach Mesechet Shabbat! At times this tractate felt like an arduous journey so in celebration of its completion we asked you, our listeners, about your journeys. Specifically, journeys like the one mentioned in the first mishnah in the last chapter of this tractate — journeys where you didn’t make it home for Shabbat. Thanks again to Avi Robinson, Eliana Yashgur, Natasha Shabat, and Elliot Heller for sharing their stories with us & you.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina KarpKeep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.Music from http...
2020-08-1125 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.8: Famous Last WordsCW: death/dying. What was it like to die during the time of the Talmud? Did the Sages really believe that the body of the deceased has a life of its own? Dr. David Kraemer is a Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he has also served as director of its library for nearly fifteen years. His scholarship of the Talmud and rabbinic culture is vast, and he is the author of several books including “A History of the Talmud” and “The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism”.View...
2020-08-0237 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.7: A Cut Above the RestWhy is the Talmud’s primary discussion of Brit Milah found in the 19th chapter of Shabbat, of all places? How should we understand this ancient ritual in light of modern medicine, values, and conceptions of gender?Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence is a teacher and certified Mohel. An alumnus of Yeshiva Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, he holds an MA in Bible and Semitic languages and serves on the Judaic Studies Faculty at the Leffell School. He received his certification from the London School of Circumcision, and also studied ritual circumcision at the Moresheth Avoth Institute in Beit Shemesh, Is...
2020-07-1932 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.6: Jewish QuiltCan a single thread really change a whole fabric? How does a loom actually work?Anita Rabinoff Goldman is a textile artist who specializes in quilts based in Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of the University at Albany, with a degree in Art and Art History, she is the past owner of Pomegranate Judaica, a fiber arts business selling her handmade tallitot, Torah mantles, and other ritual items as well as Jewish themed art. Her quilt work, including her popular exhibit Seeing Torah, has appeared in numerous local and national shows, and is represented in private collections.
2020-07-0521 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.5: Write in the FeelsHow has safrut, the sacred craft of Jewish calligraphy, changed since the days of the Talmud? Why does it have such a rarefied air about it today?Jen Taylor Friedman is a soferet, a Jewish scribe, scholar, and educator. She is believed to be the first modern day soferet to complete a Torah scroll, and has over ten years’ experience in scroll creation and repair. In addition she also writes other ritual items such as megillot, mezuzot, and tefillin. Jen is also the creative mind behind Tefillin Barbie, and is a member of Stam Scribes, an international Je...
2020-06-2238 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.4: This Leg Was Made for WalkingWhat does the Talmud think about prosthetic limbs? What would it think if it were written in 2020?Tziona Zellis is a certified occupational therapist assistant and tutor in Brooklyn, NY. Following a car accident and more than 20 surgeries, Tziona’s right leg was amputated and she began wearing a prosthesis in 2019. She also works as a motivational speaker telling her story and sharing her journey. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp.View a source sheet for this episode here.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter.
2020-06-0729 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastBerakhot No.3: The Daf of DreamsDoes the Talmud dream? The final chapter of Berakhot dives into the Talmudic unconscious, delving into dreams, interpretations, and what it all means.Dr. Cheryl Goldstein is a practicing relational psychoanalyst and faculty member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, California. A UCLA graduate in Comparative Literature, with a Masters in Rabbinic Literature, her research focuses on the interfaces of literature, psychoanalysis, and Jewish identity. She also is the author of several articles examining literary works with a psychoanalytic lens.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp.
2020-05-2934 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.3: The Amora’s New ClothesWhy does an ancient article of clothing share a name with a heinous act of violence? Can one wear an ankle monitor on Shabbat in a coronavirus surveillance state? Explore these and other questions of Talmudic attire in the sixth chapter of Shabbat.Annie Sommer Kaufman received her Master’s in Fashion Design from Drexel University and is a clothing designer, patternmaker, cutter, sewer, and salesperson with her own label called Annie the K. She is also the founder of the Lace Midrash Talmud study group and studied at Svara where she is training as a Talmud tea...
2020-05-1728 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.2: People of the CookbookWhat, and how, did people cook in the times of the Talmud? What is Haroset, and why are there so many ways to make it?Dr. Susan Weingarten is an archaeologist and historian. As a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University, Dr. Weingarten began to concentrate on the history of Jewish food, more specifically on food in talmudic literature. She has published over forty papers and is author of the book Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History. At present she is an Associate Fellow of the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research...
2020-04-1431 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastShabbat No.1: Space to SpaceIn the midst of a global pandemic and widespread quarantine―when every day seems like Shabbat―how do we preserve the sanctity of our cherished sanctuary in time and space? Zackary Sholem Berger, MD, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins Division of General Internal Medicine and Core Faculty in the Berman Institute of Bioethics, with joint appointment at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A clinical epidemiologist, bioethicist, and practicing primary care physician, Zack is the author of two books for the lay public on doctor-patient communication and on patient preference in the c...
2020-04-0527 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastBerakhot No.2: The Blessings of the FarmerWhat’s it like to be a Jewish farmer in 2020, and how can living off the Earth teach us to make better blessings on our food?Janna Siller is the Farm Director at Adamah Farm in Falls Village, and represents the Jewish non-profit Hazon as a member of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Young Farmers Coalition. She writes about, teaches, and lives the Jewish values of ethical and Earth-conscious eating.Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp.Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and TwitterMusic fr...
2020-03-2923 minInterleaved: A Talmudic PodcastBerakhot No.1: A Brief History of Jewish TimeHow did the Rabbis of the Talmud understand how time works, and how does our modern understanding of change how we think about the laws they wrote?David Zvi Kalman is a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, co-founder of Jewish Public Media, and owner of Print-O-Craft, an independent publisher of Jewish art books.He received his PhD in 2019 from the University of Pennsylvania with his dissertation entitled “Unequal Hours: The Jewish Reception of Timekeeping Technology from the Bible to the Twentieth Century.Special thanks to Avigayil Halpern for her contributions to thi...
2020-03-1129 min