Is the Orthodox World Moving Away From Kindness? A Conversation with Rabbi Todd Berman (136)

Torah Judaism offers a vision that is kind, loving, just, and G-d-centric. Some Orthodox Jews, however, feel that the community has begun to lose its way, as too many people emphasize peripheral elements at the expense of the Torah's core values. Rabbi Todd Berman wrote about this in a well received Times of Israel blog post entitled, Choosing a Kinder, Gentler Religious Zionism, and Scott spoke to him about where our community may be going, and what we should do to effect change. They discussed some important (and controversial) issues, including the concept of Halacha as the will of G-d and what that says about religious pluralism, how to deal with troubling texts from the Bible, who gets to decide which values are core values and which are not, whether students are picking up racist and xenophobic ideas in our schools, the dereliction of duty by some rabbinic leaders, and more. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com