Shows
Jewish Ideas to Change the WorldGreen Burial and Jewish LawA virtual event presentation by Rabbi Adina LewittesEvent Co-Sponsored by Temple EmanuelAbout the Event:Cultural and environmental trends of the 21st century are raising important challenges to long-accepted notions of Kevod Hamet (“respect for the deceased”) in the way we handle bodies after death. Are our assumptions around the requirements for burial grounded in our sacred texts? Is burial really a mitzvah? Is cremation absolutely prohibited? Can alternatives to traditional practices live within a halakhic (Jewish legal) framework?*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fRFOJ32L_f7...
2023-03-301h 00
GROUNDWAVESMay 17, 2022 Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman of YidLife CrisisOn Comedy and Jewish Identity with Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman of YidLife Crisis
2022-07-131h 032022-07-131h 05
GROUNDWAVESMarch 15, 2022 - GroundWaves Special Edition: The War in UkraineAriel Zwang, CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee talks with Dini about the American Jewish response to the crisis, how the nature of Jewish solidarity evolves over time and space, and what we need to learn from this moment about Jewish responsibility to one another and to the world around us. Then, Michaela Slutsky of the Jewish Education Project, a first generation Russian speaking American Jew of Ukrainian descent, reflects on the complexities of identity and belonging and how they are being challenged in this terrifying moment.
2022-03-171h 04GROUNDWAVESFebruary 15, 2022. Dan SenorAn author, investor, former political advisor, and cultural commentator, Dan Senor talks with Dini about post-pandemic Judaism, how to talk to our kids about rising antisemitism, and the politics of Covid.
2022-02-231h 01
Jewish Ideas to Change the WorldRequiring Brit Mikvah for female trans converts?A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Adina Lewittes
ABOUT THE EVENT:
How does Jewish law, a system based on such binaries as muttar (permitted) and assur (prohibited) and hayav (obligated) and patur (exempt), inform our contemporary understanding of gender which is increasingly shaped by fluidity and in some cases hybridity? In this particular case, would a trans woman who has not had gender confirmation surgery be required to undergo a ritual circumcision as part of her conversion process? Does the mitzvah of brit milah apply only to those whose gender is male or to all those whose anatomy is male...
2022-01-211h 12
Divorce etc... hosted by the exEXPERTS (T.H. and Jessica)How Religion and Spirituality Affect Divorce | S1, Ep. 53It's a sad fact that many people who get divorced often feel more shame and judgement about their divorce, based on their religious and cultural beliefs. Divorce doesn't just affect you and your partner and children...it affects all of your loved ones in some way - siblings, parents and friends. How do you navigate the feelings of letting other people down? Of feeling like you're doing something that your religion or culture frowns upon? Of feeling like you're doing something wrong by getting divorced and will be judged or shunned because of it? This is a powerful and...
2021-12-1440 min2021-04-281h 01GROUNDWAVESApril 19 - Raffi Schieir, Bantam MaterialsPlastics Recycling and the Art of Climate Justice (in honor of Earth Day 4/22)
2021-04-2859 min2021-04-281h 012021-04-2759 min2021-04-271h 002021-04-271h 02GROUNDWAVESMarch 8 - Vanessa WrubleCo-Founder of the Women’s March and Executive Director of www.marchon.org
2021-04-2758 min2021-04-271h 002021-02-2556 min2021-02-251h 002021-02-251h 002021-02-251h 04
EvolveHuman Composting: Good for the Environment, But Is It Kosher?Natural Organic Reduction — or, more colloquially, human composting — is not only legal in Washington State, but also happening, right now. People are choosing to have their remains rapidly converted into soil. How will Jewish leaders and communities respond to a practice that, on some level, is challenging to Jewish law, to centuries of burial practices, and, maybe, to people’s sensibilities?
In this live episode, recorded as part of the 2021 Big Bold Jewish Climate Festival, we speak with Rabbi Seth Goldstein and Rabbi Adina Lewittes, two religious leaders who’ve thought deeply about human composting, the green burial m...
2021-02-161h 06GROUNDWAVESJanuary 25th - David Marks & Kathy Peck MarksReflections for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
2021-02-011h 012021-02-011h 00GROUNDWAVESJanuary 11 - Selaedin MaksutExecutive Director of CAIR-New Jersey (the Council on American-Islamic Relations New Jersey chapter), America’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group
2021-02-011h 05GROUNDWAVESJanuary 4 - Dr. Jennifer AshtonTaming the Pandemic and the Ethics of Rolling Out Covid-19 Vaccines
2021-01-311h 01GROUNDWAVESDecember 21 - Jodi Bromberg, 18Doors (formerly Interfaithfamily.com)Multifaith/Multiheritage families and the Growing Diversity of the Jewish Community
2021-01-311h 032021-01-311h 01GROUNDWAVESDecember 7 - Miriam Hartman, Israel Philharmonic OrchestraMusic as a Cultural Unifier and a Catalyst for Social Change
2021-01-121h 02GROUNDWAVESNovember 30 - Anita Diamant, authorWriting The Red Tent and Making Jewish Ritual Accessible
2021-01-1257 minGROUNDWAVESNovember 23 - Julie Garreau, Cheyenne River Youth ProjectJewish-Indiginous Solidarity on the Eve of Thanksgiving
2021-01-121h 02GROUNDWAVESNovember 16 - Dr. Robert Pollack, Columbia UniversityScience and Religion, Genes and Jews: The Full Picture
2021-01-1257 minGROUNDWAVESNovember 9 - Phil Weiser, Attorney General of ColoradoWhat Now: The Future of American Democracy
2021-01-1258 minGROUNDWAVESNovember 2 - Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, Shalom Hartman Institute of North AmericaThe 2020 US Presidential Election and the Jewish Community
2021-01-1259 minGROUNDWAVESOctober 26th - Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate ActionA New Jewish Movement for the Environment
2021-01-121h 022021-01-121h 072021-01-121h 092021-01-121h 022021-01-1257 min2021-01-1258 min2021-01-081h 002021-01-0859 minGROUNDWAVESAugust 17 - Rabbi Menachem Creditor/Neshama CarlebachMusic as a Source of Spiritual Resistance
2021-01-081h 002021-01-081h 022021-01-081h 052021-01-0858 minGROUNDWAVESJuly 20 - Lecia Brooks, Southern Poverty Law CenterBlack Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racial Justice Work
2021-01-0859 min2021-01-061h 022021-01-0659 min2021-01-061h 002021-01-061h 012021-01-0658 min2020-12-281h 012020-12-2858 minGROUNDWAVESMay 26 - Rabbi Sharon BrousContemplating Silence and Stillness: the world as it was and the world as it could be
2020-12-281h 19GROUNDWAVESMay 19 - Rabbi Amichai Lau LavieFrom ritual counting of the Omer to making every day count
2020-12-281h 08GROUNDWAVESMay 12 - Yakir EnglanderThe Journey from the ultra-orthodox world to Hassidic understandings of the pandemic
2020-12-281h 082020-12-281h 11
Daily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 127
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty Sixith episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 127. This page in Massechet Shabbat tries to understand some of the Sages concerns about exerting ourselves physically on Shabbat. It then shares some beautiful teachings about the importance of the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim, the welcoming of guests, and of judging one another favorably, giving people the benefit of the doubt.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar Communities in Bergen County, New Jersey, a groundbreaking suburban network of small, inclusive, an...
2020-07-1111 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 126
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty Fifth episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 126. This page in Massechet Shabbat teaches us an important principle about the relative weight of proof-texts, showing that one which refers to the actual practice of the sages is more authoritative than one which resorts to legal theory. It also teaches us about the Rabbis’ emphasis upon the economy of words, seeing any repetition or superfluous word as an opportunity, no, an obligation, to interpret.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar C...
2020-07-1007 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 125
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty Fourth episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 125. This page in Massechet Shabbat shows us the compassionate spirit of Jewish law in that it’s not based upon the lives and means of the majority of the community, but is informed by the lives and means, or lack thereof, of those who live at the margins of community. It also teaches us of the powerful role of mental intent in establishing halachah.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar Comm...
2020-07-0909 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 124
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty Third episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 124. This page in Massechet Shabbat illustrates once again how some sages considered such factors as financial loss when making decisions around Shabbat or Festival observance, reminding us of how halacha never operates in a vacuum. It also contains two fascinating stories: one that teaches us about the ethics of choosing a halachik authority, and one that offers a glimpse into the mundane realities of the life of a Talmudic sage.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes...
2020-07-0811 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 123
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty Second episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 123. This page in Massechet Shabbat describes two fascinating aspects of the development and growth of Jewish law over the ages. One indicates the different priorities and values poskim, those who decide Jewish law, factor into their decisions; and another recounts the history of how Jewish law, in this case Shabbat law, evolved. The implications for our own times are noted.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar Communities in Bergen County, Ne...
2020-07-0710 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 122
Welcome to the Hundred and Twenty First episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 122. This page in Massechet Shabbat deals with the permissibility of a Jew benefiting from work a non-Jew does for themselves on Shabbat. It then opens a new chapter of Massechet Shabbat that returns to the topic of muktzeh, things we are not permitted to move or use on Shabbat. The discussion concludes with a powerful insight into the spiritual, indeed existential, essence of Shabbat itself.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar...
2020-07-0604 minDaily Daf Differently: Masechet ShabbatShabbat, Daf 121
Welcome to the Hundred and Twentieth episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Adina Lewittes looks at Masechet Shabbat Daf 121. This page in Massechet Shabbat tackles the question of whether there are any circumstances in which we may direct a non-Jew to work on our behalf on Shabbat. The page continues with a discussion of the permissibility of killing dangerous and threatening animals on Shabbat. The slippery but fascinating issues of intention and appearances make their way into the ancient Rabbis deliberations.
Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar Communities in Bergen Co...
2020-07-0511 min