PODCAST · religion
Reb Josh's Torah
by Joshua Schwartz
Contemporary investigations of timeless Torah
Episodes
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Making Teachers & Finding Friends: A Life of Learning (Pirkei Avot 11)
"Make for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend." (Pirkei Avot 1:6) Well, we've come to the end of our regular, weekly classes. We took 2+ years of disruption and filled them with instruction (forgive me). Our last class focuses on how we can take our learning into our own hands, by...
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Making Room to Learn: The Teacher/Student Dynamic
We look at a selection from Pirkei Avot's 48 ways to learn Torah and delve into the nature of the teacher / student relationship. We discover how, in the ideal situation, there is room made for the student to contribute, question, even to critique. This topic sets us up as this series comes to a...
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What We Owe to Others, Or: How Not to Be a Sodomite (Pirkei Avot 9)
Pirkei Avot lists four ways of being in the world, and believing that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" is seen as either being an intermediate position or... the character of the wicked city of Sodom. Once we dig into what kind of society Sodom had, we see that maintaining that...
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Turn It Over, Turn It Over: Effort & Diligence on the Way to Wisdom (Pirkei Avot #7)
"Turn it over and turn it over, for all is in it." These are the stirring words of Ben Bag Bag, indicating that the task of Torah is an immense one. Torah itself is vast, containing "all," but so, then, is our relation to it, which demands our deep commitment, our persistence, and our…
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The Work Is Great but the Day Is Short: Rabbi Tarfon's Tips to Avoiding Burnout (Pirkei Avot #6)
Last class, we looked at how Pirkei Avot called on us to see our efforts and our labour as potential sources of spiritual value. But if everything is transcendent & meaningful, then it's quite easy to become obsessed, lose balance, and eventually burnout. How can we stay committed when the task…
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Holy Labour: Pirkei Avot's Theology of Work, pt. 1
We're just now recovering from the peak experience of receiving the Torah once more at Har Sinai over Shavuot. However, how can we bring what we have received and learned into our normal, workaday lives? How can we find the sacred within our toil? Shemayah calls for us to love work (and hate our...
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For Its Own Sake: What a Life of Torah Entails (Pirkei Avot #4)
Shavu'ot approaches, when we receive the Divine gift of Torah once more. In this class, we inquire into what it means to accept on oneself that gift and how it shapes our lives. What does it mean to commit oneself to a life of Torah? How does it inform and transform your life? Tune in to find…
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Terms of Service - Commitment & Conditions (Pirkei Avot #3)
We often think of ourselves as "servants of G-d," but how far does that metaphor go? Antigonos of Socho warns us not to be in it for compensation. But: is that a reasonable way to live life? How do we include our needs in our service? Tune in to find out! Here's the source-sheet, so you can learn...
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These Three Things: The Foundations of the World (Pirkei Avot #2)
We usually associate groups of three with a different religion, but Pirkei Avot presents us with two different teachings about the three things upon which the world stands: - Torah - Din - Avodah - Emet - Gemilut Hasadim - Shalom What do each of the items have to do with each other with their...
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Time of Our Liberation: What Passover Teaches Us about Freedom
Freedom is a concept bandied about so much nowadays, but it mostly has to be with being freed *from* something: oppression, regulation, responsibility. Of course, liberation requires being free of the forces that demean you, but it's a thin conception of freedom that sees its end-goal as being…
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The Need to Feed: Heter Mechirah & the Politics of Food
Once our relation to the Land changed, after the destruction of the Temple and the advent of the Exile, our Halachic obligations to the Land changed as well. But once Jews have not only resettled within Israel but also taken political control, does that mean that the Biblical laws of the Land…
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Prozbul: Legal Fiction or Moral Fact?
In the Mishnah, it is reported that Hillel instituted the "Prozbul" for the sake of Tikkun Olam, to keep the world going. What is the Prozbul? It's a way for the court to take over a debt so it is not canceled when the Shemitah arrives. Is this some kind of technical workaround, what scholars…
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Ve-Nahavoch Hu! Purim & the Topsy Turvy
At the climax of Megillat Esther, everything that was supposed to happen... didn't! Haman was supposed to be honoured, but it was Mordechai who got the parade. Esther took a bold risk & revealed herself to be a proud Jew. The Jews were supposed to be killed, but we emerged triumphant. Purim is a...
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Liberation & Jubilation: On the Yovel
Shemitah is the culmination of the seven year cycle, and the Yovel is Shemitah squared! 7 times 7 plus one... imagine the catharsis, imagine the release. "Proclaim liberation throughout the land!" While in Shemitah, agricultural work ceases and all debts are canceled, in Yovel, all relations of...
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Sabbatical: On Shemitah & Shabbat
The Torah refers to both the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year as a "Shabbat Lashem," a Sabbath for G-d. How do Shabbat and Shemitah interrelate? What can we learn, one from another? And, if they are both "Sabbath[s] for G-d," in what ways can we access the Divine on and through them? Tune in to…
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A Happy Heart Is Always Feasting: on Purim Katan
(Normal) Purim is defined by our reading the Megillah, giving out gift baskets, praising G-d for miracle, but when it comes to Purim Katan, the pre-Purim Purim of the leap year, the Rabbis cannot seem to get it together. What do we do, and what does it mean? It seems like it's just another day......
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Harmony between Creation & Creature: Intro to Shemitah 2 of 2
Last session, we focused on what most people think of when they think of Shemitah: letting the earth rest. But Shemitah also entails a radical revolution of the economic sphere as well! How does Shemitah intervention into the credit economy change our society? Can Shemitah help us relearn how all...
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The Earth's Rest, the Rest of Us (Intro to Shemitah, 1 of 2)
At the climax of a seven year cycle, we are commanded to allow the earth to rest. It's a tall order, a utopian vision. So, we must ask ourselves: what is this drastic intervention in normal economic and social life meant to accomplish? Another way of putting that is: how are we supposed to be…
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On Tu Bishvat: From Its Roots to Its Fruits (The Earth is the Lord's #3)
Tu Bishvat is the new year for the trees, which currently serves as a kind of Jewish arbor day. But how did it transform from a fiscal marker of how to account for your orchard & its produce to become a mystical communion with majesty of G-d's grove? Was it a radical adaptation, or did the...
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The Earth Is the Lord's 2: Serving G-d & Conserving Creation
In this second session of Beth Lida's new series on Judaism & the environment, we look to Halachah. After recognizing the theological significance of our being creatures in a created world, we ask what responsibilities such a realization entails? The class focuses on the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit…
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The Earth Is the Lord's 1: Creation / Theology
In this new series, we will explore what Torah has to say about creation, the environment, and our relationship to it. Judaism is rightly identified as an anthropocentric religion, as special place is made for the human being in the scheme of creation. But we have forgotten the privilege and...
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Light in/and the Darkness: Hanukkah and the Imperative to Hope
Hanukkah is called the Festival of Lights, but it always occurs in the deepest, darkest time of the year. Why is that? Does the light defeat the dark, or is there something more complex occurring? Tune in to find out!
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Joseph & Hanukkah - Deep in the Dark (Parshat Vayeshev)
Why is it that the Joseph story always coincides with the advent of Hanukkah? The hero of Hanukkah is a triumphant soldier, but the Torah protagonist is thrown in a dungeon time and time again... what's up with that? Tune in to find out!
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Mother of a New World: On Noah's Wife
"A good name is better than fragrant oil," says the book of Proverbs, so why does Noah's wife, the second Eve, mother of a new world, go unnamed in the Torah? In this class, we explore a number of ancient attempts (and some medieval and modern as well) to redress this missing mrs. What can we…
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Avodah: The Work of Change (Yom Kippur 5782)
The Avodah service, perhaps the most obscure bit of the Yom Kippur liturgy, is caught in a bind. On one hand, it describes the climax of the holiest day of the year, the Temple ritual in which our sins are carried away; but on the other hand, it mourns the absence of the Temple and the High…
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Resounding in the Heavens: How the Shofar Affects G-d (2 of 2)
Last week, we focused on the way the Shofar impacts (or is supposed to impact) us, but if we know anything about sound-waves, it's that they resonate and emanate outwards... and the Shofar's sound reaches all the way to heaven. In this Shi'ur, we will look at the way the Shofar's blasts reach…
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Moved by the Sound (On the Shofar #1)
The Mitzvah of the Shofar is not on the one who blows it, but on the one who hears it. So, the essence of the Mitzvah is in the experience of the Shofar's being heard. What is supposed to happen to us when we hear this sound? What is the Shofar trying to achieve? Tune in to find out!
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Speak to the Heart - G-d as a Comfort (Nachamu, Prophets #6)
After Tisha b'Av, we were left in utter despair. "Bitterly [we] wept in the night; there was none to comfort [us.]" (Lam. 1:2) How can it be that the Shabbat that follows Tisha b'Av is called Nachamu, which initiates seven whole weeks of Haftorahs of comfort? This prophecy (Is. 40:1-26) comes to...
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A Vision of How Things Should Be - Haftarat Shabbat Chazon
You'd think the Haftorah for the Shabbat before Tisha b'Av would be, like the last two weeks, from Jeremiah, our poet laureate of disaster. But it's not. Like the upcoming Haftorahs of comfort, this reading is from Isaiah. Is there some sliver of light tucked within the deepest darkness? Tune in…
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Listen, Wont You! - Where Did Things Go Wrong? (Three Weeks #2)
"Hear the words of G-d!" This is the clarion call that begins the second Haftorah of the Three Weeks. G-d demands Israel start to listen agin, as a practice of attention, to pay attention not only to what the prophet speaks, but also to look inward and to take their own lives' seriously. Can we...
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3 - To Uproot and Pull Down - The Words of Jeremiah (Three Weeks #1)
Starting after 17 Tammuz and through the end of the Jewish year, the Haftorahs will no longer map to the parashah, but are rather responsive to the calendar, to the sweep of time. The Three Weeks between 17 Tammuz and 9 Av are a time of intensification of remembering what it is we lost. The...
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The Most Moved Mover: A Theology of Pathos as found in the Prophets (Nevi'im #2)
The philosophers (*cough* Rambam *cough*) despicted G-d as transcendent and unchanging, citing Aristotle's description of G-d as "the Unmoved Mover," but that is assuredly not the G-d of the Bible, especially when we look to the Prophets. In this class, we draw on the analysis of Abraham Joshua...
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Prophet Motive: Emissary or Adversary? (Nevi'im #1)
The classic model of a prophet is passive, basically G-d's speakerbox. G-d puts words in their mouth, and they say them. But is that truly the case, or is the reality more complex? In this class, we look at a range of different models of the prophet, ranging from the emissary of G-d's wisdom and...
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A Great Voice that Did (Not) Continue - Where Are We Left after Shavuot?
The holiday of Shavuot is a climax of sorts. It's the final holiday in the series of the three Chagim. It's the culmination of the counting of the Omer, bringing us from the liberation of Pesach to revelation on Shavuot. But after the holiday ends, that is, after we receive the Torah, where are…
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Sefirot ha-Omer: Malchut, or Made Manifest
Well, we've reached the End of the road. The Sefirot are organized in a constellation of 32 paths of wisdom, and Malchut is the terminus, the last stop on the line. It's especially fitting, as we have talked these past few weeks on how to look at aspects of ourselves differently, how to work on...
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Sefirot ha-Omer: Yesod - Still, Moving (Week 6)
Yesod is the Sefirah that receives all the life-force and flowing energy that stems from the source, and channels it into existence, transforming it from potential to actual. In this week, we turn that all-inclusive collection towards our soul, gathering in every part of ourselves, to be devoted…
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Lag b'Omer: Re/Union
Lag b'Omer is a mysterious and mystical holiday, with many disparate parts. Rabbi Akiba's plagued students, the death of Rashbi, the Zohar... how do they all fit together? Or... is Lag b'Omer actually about how different things come together, to form something more generative and beautiful than...
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Sefirot ha-Omer: Hod (week 5)
The fifth week of the Omer is the week of Hod, dignity. With Netzach, it is associated with the active, physical world. And yet, Hod is associated with peace, quietude. How can we manifest our inner peace, and bring peace to the world, without shrinking away from it? Can we pursue peace without...
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What Does It Mean to Be Holy? (Acharei Mot/Kedoshim 5781)
Holiness is central to whatever distinguishes a religion from other systems of meaning. In philosophy or ethics, the objective is not holiness. But when it comes to religion, it's a core concept. But... what does it mean? Is it unexplainable, undefinable, recursive? Can we dig into this basic but...
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Sefirot ha-Omer: Netzach (week 4)
Netzach is the Sefirah associated with the fourth week of the Omer, and it embodies the spirit of victory. In this class, we look at the complexity of winning, how it is not just a one-and-done, but is rather comprised of steps, of choices, of a whole life of effort. While there are moments of...
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Sefirot ha-Omer: Tiferet
The first session in a new series on the Sefirah of the week! This week, we look at the Sefirah associated with the 3rd week of the Omer, Tiferet. It is translated as beauty but seems to refer more to harmony, as the balance between left and right, law and love, judgment and mercy. How can...
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Offering a Strange Fire - Merciless Punishment or Mystical Ecstasy? (Parshat Shemini)
This week's Parshah, Shemini, begins with a surprising (and shocking!) tale, in the midst of all the sacrificial minutia: the tragic death of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's eldest sons. Was this a punishment for their offering a "strange fire," or was their death the consequence of mystical ecstasy?…
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Searching for Chametz, Inside & Out
Preparing for Pesach is enough to drive a person mad, but can we reframe our relation to searching for Chametz to be about more than housekeeping? How can we see it a a practice of attention? Is there something Divine in the drudgery? Tune in to find out!
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Continuing the Beginning: Further on Hakdamat ha-Zohar (ep. 4)
"Lift up your eyes to the heavens and see Who created These" We open the mystery and explore the origin of questions, as we extend our inquiries into the cosmos, and the world reaches back out to us. And we experience the simultaneity of Zoharic language, resonating on many frequences at once.…
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In The(se) Beginning(s): The Zohar Introduces Itself (3 of 5)
We begin by familiarizing ourselves with what the Zohar is actually made of. And once we've introduced ourselves to the text, we allow the text to introduce itself to us. We really see the hyper-referential creativity that comprises the Zohar's style. Let's get into it!
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Torah on the Margins: The Zohar's Theology of the Path (Zohar 2 of 5)
While in the Talmud, Torah is largely encountered in central conventional spaces (the synagogue, the beit midrash, the master's home), in the Zohar, its rabbis set out on the path, taking themselves to places they have not yet been, in far-flung reaches, open to whatever or whomever they…
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Mitzvah & Madness: Boundless Joy and the Boundaries of Law (Purim 5781)
As Adar begins, we increase our joy, a process that climaxes on Purim, a holiday defined by its boundless ecstasy. There is something Messianic in Purim, as it grasps toward the infinite... but how can such expansiveness be channeled into practice? How does boundless joy interact with the...
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What Is (the) Zohar? (Illuminating the Book of Radiance 1/5)
The Zohar, the piece de resistance of Kabbalah, is an absolutely unique and mystifying (heh) work. So, to prepare ourselves to journey within it, we must first familiarize ourselves with what the Zohar is, what it's like, what it is trying to do, and how. In short, while the Zohar has a certain...
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C'mon Get Happy - On Authenticity and Joy in Adar
"When the month of Adar begins, we increase our joy." It's a famous idea! We get ready for Purim, the most joyous day of the Jewish year, by steadily increasing our baseline happiness. However, unlike with Av, in which we are told in detail how to *decrease* our joy, we are given no such...
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The Controversial Ten Commandments (Yitro 5781)
Many communities have the practice to stand at the reading of the Ten Commandments. But this custom has some strong opposition. What justifies a suspicious relationship to a Torah portion as special as the Decalogue? Or, by assigning it such a unique quality, are we running a risk we may not have...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Contemporary investigations of timeless Torah
HOSTED BY
Joshua Schwartz
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Reb Josh's Torah currently has 56 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Reb Josh's Torah about?
Contemporary investigations of timeless Torah
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Reb Josh's Torah has 56 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Reb Josh's Torah is created and hosted by Joshua Schwartz.
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