Shows
EvolveThe Anniversary of October 7 and BINA: the Jewish Movement for Social ChangeIt’s not easy to talk about and process the first anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023, when war continues to widen, hostages remain in Gaza and a ceasefire seems less and likely. This episode aims to model such a conversation. In a wide-ranging interview featuring Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D., interim vice president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Elliott Glassenberg, senior educator at BINA: the Jewish Movement for Social Change, they and Bryan discuss Oct. 7 and how Israeli and American Jews have been impacted. They also explain the relationship between RRC and BINA and how it may be more important th...
2024-09-261h 01EvolveHow to Talk with Kids About RaceHave you ever struggled to explain racism to your kids? Flubbed conversations at the dinner table? Unsure how racism and antisemitism fit together, or how to process the 2020 racial reckoning and subsequent backlash? Then be sure to catch our conversation with Buffie Longmire-Avital, Ph.D., a psychology professor who identifies as a Black American Jewish woman. She shares her research about Jewish families as well as her own perspective as the mother of two biracial sons. She shares the implications of a recent incident at her son’s school, in which white and Black students split into opposing football te...
2023-06-291h 08EvolveCOVID-19 and Jewish EthicsHow can Jewish ethics shape how people make decisions about daily life during a pandemic? Rabbi Mira Wasserman, who directs the Center for Jewish Ethics, explains how ethical considerations have shaped her own decisions — such as whether to drive her child to school or send him on the school bus — and how they should operate on a communal level. She also addresses the narrowness of questions of medical ethics such as best use of limited hospital resources, arguing that a true ethical response to crisis goes beyond the mechanics of triage to address the structural inequities in our health care...
2020-10-2239 minEvolve#TrendingJewish 17: Why Jewish Ethics MattersRabbi Mira Wasserman delves into the ethical questions raised by the dramatic emergence of the #metoo movement. Rabbi Wasserman discusses the ongoing challenge of speaking up against wrongdoing and shifting a culture that casts doubt on victims who have shared stories of abuse. The conversation focuses less on egregious cases of abuse and more on everyday encounters. We also ask: What can Judaism teach us about how to shape a world in bystanders routinely stand up to ensure the human dignity of all is protected? How can liberal Jews design ethical guidelines to live by? Is there a statute...
2018-07-3041 min
HashivenuEpisode 14: MidrashThe holiday of Shavuot is approaching. This year (2018) on the secular calendar it begins on Saturday evening, May 19. On Shavuot, we celebrate receiving the Torah, the foundational text of the Jewish people. "Torah" has multiple meanings in Jewish tradition. Most folks know it as the Five Books of Moses. But “Torah” in a broader sense is much more. It’s the collection of each and every generation’s engagement with sacred text and with our efforts to live lives of holiness and connection — to each other and to the divine.
In that expansive spirit, we are bringing you a two...
2018-05-1422 min
The Lubetkin Media CompaniesJSA2017-20 Rabbi Ben David on new book, story of creationRabbi Ben David, senior rabbi of Congregation Adath Emanu-El, Mount Laurel. NJ, returns to the Jewish Sacred Aging Podcast to discuss Seven Days, Many Voices: Insights into the Biblical Story of Creation, (order the book here) the book of essays he recently edited for the CCAR Press. The book is an anthology of creative responses to and inspired interpretations of the story of Creation. Midrash, biblical criticism, literature, theology, climate justice, human rights, history, and science are just some of the fields through which the Creation story is examined by such thinkers as Rabbi Richard F. A...
2017-09-2229 min