PODCAST · religion
Modern Torah
by Nathan J Vaughan
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in its words, but like the text says, "there's nothing new under the sun. "Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, new to text and maybe even Judaism, or a longtime yeshivanik, I hope you’ll make a few minutes of my Torah part of your week. Thanks for listening, and Shabbat shalom.
Episodes
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Introducing 72 Miles til Kentucky
This is a bit of a break from the regular Modern Torah feed, but I want to share a new, limited-series podcast with you that I've just released. It's called 72 Miles til Kentucky, and it's a storytelling podcast all about Jewish life in my home state. Here's the quick blurb. You can check out the...
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Moses Benjamin Ezekiel
This week, I was reading about the final stages of the plan to remove the Confederate Veterans Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial, if you’ve never seen it, is atrocious. It’s the tallest structure in the cemetery, for starters, and it’s covered with racist, apologist imagery…
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Elvis & Wisdom
Sometimes, when I'm feeling bored in shul I flip to the back of the book, and read Pirkei Avot. There's a particular passage, in the fifth chapter, that I often find myself turning to, especially in weeks that I'm feeling old. Like this week. Because this year, and this week's Torah portion…
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An Israelite in Egyptian Clothing
I went to graduate school at Brandeis University, and if I hadn't, I would've gone to law school at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, in Louisville, KY, where the first Jewish justice to sit on the Supreme Court was born, and raised. But what if I told you that story was almost wildly…
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The Two Obadiahs
Obadiah, Ovadiah. Obadi-ah. However you pronounce it, you might not remember it, but Obadiah is the name of the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, and the Haftorah portion the rabbis chose to pair with this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach. Music Courtesy of Chillhop Records: Leavv, Maduk…
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Two Nations Under Cucumbers
This week, I'm all about cucumbers. This humble vegetable, which the Talmud calls a delicacy of kings, became an internet craze a few years ago when Macka B released his "Cucumber Rap." Check it out in my source sheet for this episode. The Talmud has a lot to say about cucumbers, including a...
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Repost: Choosing Choiceless Choices
I updated my phone this week, which made it a great time to repost this episode, from two years ago. What does it mean to actually have choice? Are the choices we see the actual choices that we have? Are we supposed to pick a path through the woods, or turn around, or just sit in the mud and cry?…
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The Life of Sarah...The Death of Pearl
There's a poem I've been reading recently, a long form epic poem originally written in Yiddish, about a Jewish blacksmith who settles down in rural Kentucky, in the mid-19th century. It's part of a project called 72 Miles, which I'm about to release, but this week I couldn't get away from a scene...
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Prayers & Kids
This might be a bold statement, but there are probably few things in the world that cause people to pray more than children. We pray for their health, their safety, their growth, that they’ll find their place in this chaotic world. Even if you don’t have kids, you’re probably praying for them…
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Isaac and Ishmael: A West Wing Special
It took me a while, these past few weeks, overseas, In Israel, and here at home. It took a while to figure out what was going on and why I felt so strongly, feelings that seem to move, strangely, in too many directions at once. It wasn’t until President Biden’s speech in Israel, and his warnings...
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Great in Goodness
I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to weigh in on the current crisis in Israel. In the end, I couldn't not, and I found myself turning as I often do to the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Shabbat Shalom. -- Music Provided by Lofi Girl: Promise Due - Kinissue & Artemis…
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Emerging Backwards – Achrei Mot 5782
It's a critical question that the rabbis debate, partially in response to last week's Torah portion, and partially in response this week's parsha. "Is emerging backwards still emerging?" "Well no," says Rabbi Shmuel, "and here's why." "I agree that the answer is no, but not with how you got…
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I Don't Know? – Metzora 5782
We're still on leprosy this week in the Torah portion. There's beauty in things that peel, as we see in nature. I ordered some trees this week that shed their bark in beautiful curls of golden and orange, because I want to bring that beauty into my yard, even if it looks to some like the trees…
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Excelsior! – Tzav 5782
In this week's Torah portion, Aaron is invested as high priest, as are his sons, in a lavish ceremony before the entire Israelite community. It's a high moment for Aaron, a week before his world will fall apart. I don't know why the rabbis segmented the Torah portions this way, but perhaps its a...
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Asking & Listening – Vayikra 5782
It's been a long wait, but shows are starting to pop up in my media stream again. One of my favorites returned after a long hiatus (what else is new?) for it's 5th and final season. Watching the first few episodes, I couldn't escape its relationship to this week's Torah portion, and the work of...
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Moving Forward, Slowly – Vayetzi 5782
We're halfway through November, which means the end of 2021 is coming up quickly. With a few weeks left in the year, I took a moment this week to reflect on some goals I'd set at the start of the year, how much progress I've made towards them, and where I find myself as the year wraps up. The…
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Choosing Choiceless Choices
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. This week, I put Robert Frost's famous poem—"The Road Not Taken"— in conversation with our weekly Torah portion, Toldot. The parsha covers the story of Isaac, including the exchange between...
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Looking Up & Laughing
I finally set my television up after moving in, which meant last Sunday morning was the perfect time to break in the new space with a fine home cinema experience. Naturally I picked Ferris Bueller's Day Off, because I love it, and because it's leaving Netflix at the end of this month. What I…
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Trusting & Thriving Four Generations On
Getting to this episode has been a journey. I took a break in May 2021, after producing 59 episodes, with plans to return in September 2021, at the start of the Jewish New Year. Then my wife and I bought a house, and life got busy with housework. Then my mother's illness took a turn for the worse...
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Roots of Rebellion
This may come as a surprise, or not, especially if you know me, but I identify with Korach the much demonized revolutionary who gathers followers and challenges Moses's leadership in this week's Torah portion. Most of Jewish history makes Korach out to be the bad guy—seeking power for power's…
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The Middle Ground
This episode was recorded in May 2021, and somehow never published. So I'm delivering it now, in November 2021, because the world can never have enough Torah. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in...
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Some Words About Israel
This week, as the Torah returns to the theme of counting, in Parshat Bamidbar, the world seems to have more to count than ever—infection rates to be sure, but also global vaccine programs. And if you’re focused on Israel you might be tracking rockets fired from Gaza, interceptions by the Iron…
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Giving & Returning
Some weeks it’s hard to wrap my head around the world, and how it seems to perfectly line up with the week’s Torah portion. This week was one of those weeks. I’ve been reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, in the same week the Torah presented the laws of shmitta in Parshat Behar.…
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For Some Things There Are No Wrong Seasons
I had a plan this week, to weave the complicated and problematic language we find in the Torah into a metaphor about the ebbs and flows of the Jewish people's eternal fight for social justice. But then I put off writing this for a few days, and I read the news instead, and it became harder and...
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The Man Behind the Curtain
This week has been a full week, and to be honest, I'm shocked that this episode is actually being released. I wrote, recorded, and produced it in a single day, and I'm not even sure if it makes sense, so if you're reading this and you give it a listen, let me know! This week, the Torah offers...
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Legislating Away Our Own Worst Instincts
Recently, the Arkansas legislature overrode their conservative Christian governor's veto of a bill, now state law, that criminalizes gender-affirming healthcare for children. The state government, effectively, has legislated away the ability of compassionate healthcare providers to support trans...
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That's The Way The World Goes Round
John Prine died a year ago this week, and I wrote this week's episode on the anniversary of his death. This week's Torah portion, Parshat Shmini, features the deaths of Nadav and Avihu who, as Ibn Ezra comments, died before G-d doing something they thought was acceptable before G-d. They had made…
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Don't Shut the...Door
By the time this episode airs, we'll have already celebrated our second year of socially distanced Seders. Passover is all about seeing yourself as a participant in the exodus from Egypt, and applying that experience to improving our world today. That intention has led to a slew of games, toys…
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Keep the Fire Burning
As they wandered the desert, the Israelites carried the Tabernacle, and all its holy objects, so they could offer the sacrifices G-d had required of them. The Tabernacle provided a venue for these offerings, as the priests burned some or all of the sacrifices brought to them by the people. Fire…
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The Trouble with Calling
This week's Torah portion, Vayikra, kicks off the Book of Leviticus with a familiar feeling theme—G-d calling to Moses and delivering a set of instructions. In this case, G-d delivers detailed instructions for the sacrifices Aaron, his sons, and their priestly descendants will perform on behalf…
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Don't Stop Giving
As they journey through the desert, the Tabernacle is the defining feature of the Israelite camp. This week's double Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pikudei, deals with the details of the Tabernacle's construction. The entire community participated in this process, bringing freewill offerings to build…
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Counting the Numbers
I can’t imagine why, but this year I’ve been particularly struck by all the plague related content sprinkled throughout the Torah. In past years, plagues have always seemed like metaphors for greater threats or external burdens we place on ourselves. This year plagues feel very real. Modern Torah...
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Super Aaron & Captain Esther
In a week when our Torah portion, Tetzaveh, collides with the holiday of Purim, I couldn't think of a more appropriate topic to discuss than superheroes. No spoilers for WandaVision, at least not intentionally, but honestly it's not accident that there are so many Jewish themes woven throughout…
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Becoming One Whole
A catastrophe has been playing out this week, unrelated to the coronavirus, as the electrical grid in Texas failed under the pressure of winter weather, leaving millions stranded without heat during an unusually fierce cold snap. While it may seem odd to compare the electrical grid with the...
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Marking & Labeling: Torah From A Week on Clubhouse
I've spent a lot of time this week on Clubhouse. It's a new social media platform, with an audio only format, that's becoming really popular during the pandemic. There's tons of videos about Clubhouse out there, so go check it out, and feel free to email me if you're interested in getting on the...
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Can You Talk To God?
At the heart of most religious traditions, including Judaism, is a series of simple questions. Can you talk to God? If you can talk to God, how? Does God hear you? If so, will God answer? One of my favorite movies, since the very first time I saw it, is the Kevin Smith classic, Dogma, which might...
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Changes of Heart
Changes of heart happen, sometimes often. I had a change of heart recently, about the future of this podcast, something I've been thinking about for a while. I thought I wanted to put it to bed, having accomplished all of my goals for this project. When I didn't post an episode for a full month,...
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Balancing Humility
Transitions of power don't come around that often, even in the United States, but when they do they offer us a chance to reflect on an important topic, one that seems particularly relevant this week as a new President is sworn in at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. I’m not a rabbi…
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A Short, Hard Fall From Grace
It only takes ten verses this week for the Israelite people to fall about as far as a people can, from the height of privilege as new immigrants who had saved the Empire all the way to slavery in Egypt. This episode was written in the wake of the January 6th riots at the U.S Capitol. It was...
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Catastrophe Averted
Storytelling is so important to the Torah, and this week the rabbis employ one of the oldest tricks in the book, right out of a Hollywood movie—a good cliffhanger, right in the middle of a global catastrophe that only one man can see coming. This episode was written during the week of Christmas,...
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Agreeing to Follow the Leader
When Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams in this week's Torah portion, Miketz, he offers an almost apocalyptic vision of the future. After being appoint by Pharaoh to lead Egypt through the seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine, he benefits from the authority Pharaoh wielded…
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Forgotten in the Dark
This week's Torah portion, Vayeshev, features the story of Joseph, whose ability to correctly interpret the dreams of those around helps him gain tremendous power, with a few spectacular falls from grace along the way. Joseph's story spans more than one parsha, and this week, the Torah cuts the...
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A Tale of Two Responses
This week's Torah portion contains violence, and if you're someone who's triggered by scenes of sexual violence, you might want to skip this week. This week, the Torah prominently features the rape of Jacob’s daughter Dina, and the reaction of her siblings—Jacob’s sons—to that act of violence....
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Bringing Bounty to the Table
This week, our Torah portion focuses on Jacob as he departs on a long journey to gather wealth, find a wife, and build a new life for himself, his family, and his descendants. He migrates to his uncle's household, where he spends years working for Laban, even as his uncle employs trickery,...
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Family...It's Complicated
This year, of course, has reminded me of the importance of family, especially as we approach a season that, at least in the United States, people associate with family. Whether it's the family you were born into, the family you chose, or even the family that chose you, family is an inescapable...
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Just Laugh
There's probably never been a better week in the history of the Jewish people than this one for Vayera, this week's Torah portion, to pop up in our regular reading cycle. Because something, all you can do when you look at the world, is laugh. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah...
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Rethinking the Ladder
This week is a little different. For the first time Modern Torah isn't just my Torah. This week, my wife makes her Modern Torah debut, speaking to a subject that, I think you'll agree, we're all better off hearing about from her, rather than me. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah...
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Scorecards & Righteousness
In the opening lines of this week's Torah portion Noah, the namesake and relative hero of this parsha, is referred to as a righteous man who walked with G-d. Yet Noah's actions, or inactions, call his righteousness into question. The rabbis of the Talmud debate this, and compare the righteousness...
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The Original Dispute
This week, we start the Torah over again, from the beginning, with Bereshit. And that means, we get to revisit the original dispute of the Torah—not between Cain and Abel, but between the Aleph and the Bet, the letters that is. I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try…
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Let It Rain
At the end of Sukkot, Jews around the world make a small change to our routine of daily prayers. Beginning on Shmini Atzeret, we add a request for rain to the second blessing of the Amidah—the core of our prayer service that we recite three times each day. This prayer, though, doesn't just ask…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in its words, but like the text says, "there's nothing new under the sun. "Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, new to text and maybe even Judaism, or a longtime yeshivanik, I hope you’ll make a few minutes of my Torah part of your week. Thanks for listening, and Shabbat shalom.
HOSTED BY
Nathan J Vaughan
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Modern Torah have?
Modern Torah currently has 80 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Modern Torah about?
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in its words, but like the text says, "there's nothing new under the sun. "Whether you’re...
How often does Modern Torah release new episodes?
Modern Torah has 80 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Modern Torah on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Modern Torah?
Modern Torah is created and hosted by Nathan J Vaughan.
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