Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo

Maimonides Podcasts

show episodes
 
Artwork

1
Parasha Study Plus

Parasha Study Plus

icon
Unsubscribe
icon
icon
Unsubscribe
icon
Monthly
 
Our mission is to create a platform for all serious students to easily study the entire Tanach (Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim) in a comprehensible fashion. We seek to generate an experience that allows our members to become intimately familiar with the text, framework, and storyline of the Tanach. Our emergent objectives are to increase knowledge of our ancestral Jewish history, to strengthen our sense of awe and love of God, and reinforce our personal and national Jewish identity.
  continue reading
 
Artwork

1
Answers WithHeld

Hadar Institute

icon
Unsubscribe
icon
icon
Unsubscribe
icon
Monthly
 
A podcast where we confront big questions with bold thinking and honest searching. Each week, Rabbi Shai Held sits down with a leading thinker or teacher to explore one powerful Jewish idea. This podcast doesn’t have all the answers, but it can uncover new insights and model what it means to take Torah and Jewish thought seriously.
  continue reading
 
Artwork

1
The New Thinkery

The New Thinkery

icon
Unsubscribe
icon
icon
Unsubscribe
icon
Monthly
 
The New Thinkery is a podcast devoted to political philosophy and its history, along with its many guises in literature, film, and human experience generally. Named after Socrates' infamous "Thinkery" in Aristophanes' Clouds, The New Thinkery strikes a balance between the seriousness of academia and the playfulness of casual conversation among friends.
  continue reading
 
In Season two of The Evolution of Torah, Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz takes usto four regions of the Medieval world to understand the specific Torah cultures that emerged from each place and their approach to Torah learning. The season covers Muslim Spain and North Africa, France, Germany, and Christian Spain over the course of 500 years, from the closing of the Talmud around the year 800 to the Spanish Inquisition. There is also one episode about Maimonides.
  continue reading
 
Holy....! Each week we’ll discuss an episode of ”The Good Place” along with a Jewish text or idea or two that relates to the theme of the episode. Hosted by Jon Spira-Savett, rabbi and lover of great TV comedy and ethical philosophy, along with different co-hosts who teach Judaism and Torah and are smart and funny. We may not be as funny as ”The Good Place” itself, but we channel our own inner Chidis and Janets, as well as our Eleanors and Michaels and Tahanis and Jasons. Subscribe now, chec ...
  continue reading
 
Hosted by Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman, "Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today" is an insightful podcast exploring the confluence of religion, science, and philosophy. The podcast serves as a platform for curious minds who value nuance and pursue wisdom. It is not designed for individuals seeking absolute truths or those inclined towards unquestioning religious adherence, but instead for those who traverse our rapidly evolving world as seekers and explorers. With the mission to impart valuable insights ...
  continue reading
 
Artwork

1
Conversation with the Rabbi

Rabbi Michael Beyo | PHX.fm

icon
Unsubscribe
icon
icon
Unsubscribe
icon
Monthly
 
In an era of political division and polarized debate, we are losing our ability to hear each other. The volume of our disagreements is at an all-time high, while our ability to communicate with kindness and empathy is at an all-time low. This podcast seeks to change that by engaging people from different backgrounds and beliefs in good old-fashioned conversation. Listen in as Rabbi Michael Beyo and anthropologist Dr. Adrian McIntyre spend time listening, sharing, and discovering common groun ...
  continue reading
 
Loading …
show series
 
Most of us have been avoiding the painful conversations with friends and family over Gaza. Why? It seems like we have no common frame of reference, and so it hardly seems worth it. In this Rosh Hashanah sermon, I do something a little bizarre: I use Judaism's main halakhic code about war -- Maimonides' codification of all the Torah's statements on …
  continue reading
 
Miracle may be the most misunderstood concept in Judaism. While some Jewish sects officially (like Chabad), and most Jews unofficially, construe "miracles" as supernatural interventions in the nature, as in Christianity, the Jewish tradition tends to understand the word "miracle" (in Biblical Hebrew: "nes") in a far more subtle way. In this sermon,…
  continue reading
 
Was Rabbi Kook a mystic, a radical, or a realist? And what did he really believe about redemption? In this season finale, Rabbi Shai Held is joined by Professor Yehudah Mirsky to unpack the bold and complex messianic vision of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and the ways in which this vision still reverberates today. Together, they explore Kook’s hopes fo…
  continue reading
 
Is studying Torah really the most important thing a Jew can do? Or is that just something rabbis say—because they're the ones doing the studying? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held talks with Rabbanit Devorah Zlochower about the value and limits of Talmud Torah. Together, they wrestle with classic rabbinic sources, the meaning of learning as a spirit…
  continue reading
 
Is lighting candles, giving tzedakah, or saying a prayer enough if your heart’s not in it? Rabbis Shai Held and Josh Feigelson sit down to explore what it means to live a heart-centered Jewish life—and why it matters more than we often think. Together, they reflect on the perceived split between "the duties of the limbs" and "the duties of the hear…
  continue reading
 
As long promised, a conversation about Rabbi Moses Maimonides! Maimonides’ specific formula of teshuvah, the Jewish metaphor for personal change, is at the core of this entire podcast series. Jon Spira-Savett talks with Earl Schwartz, Jon’s own first teacher about moral philosophy and education. We discuss Maimonides and his ethical theory, his vie…
  continue reading
 
What does it mean to embody God’s love in a world where God sometimes feels absent? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held is joined by Christian biblical scholars Dr. Judy Fentress-Williams and Dr. Ellen Davis to explore what the Book of Ruth reveals—not just about loyalty and love, but about God’s subtle presence in human lives. Together, they ask: Wha…
  continue reading
 
What do we do with the questions that have no answers? How does Jewish faith confront suffering, loneliness, and finitude? And how did Soloveitchik's own life—marked by grief, tradition, and the tension between reason and revelation—shape his unique theological voice? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held and scholar Arna Poupko Fisher explore the life …
  continue reading
 
In this long section of the Torah, where Miriam and Aaron are disciplined by God for challenging Moses, where Moses tries yet again to resign his leadership, where the 70 Elders to help Moshe go ahead and prophesy, but strangely nothing seems to come from it, I am struck by how much the parashah speaks to our time, where the strangest of leaders ar…
  continue reading
 
What if God isn't just the one we seek—but the one who seeks us? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held is joined by Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur for a profound and passionate exploration of the theology of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel—one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. Together, they unpack Heschel’s daring idea that God is not…
  continue reading
 
Warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide. What does it mean to truly meet another person—or even God—as a “Thou” and not an “It”? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held and Dr. Arnie Eisen dive into Martin Buber’s transformative philosophy of relationship. They explore how Buber’s I and Thou challenges us to encounter others with presence and…
  continue reading
 
Can we really describe God—or does every word fall short? In this episode, Rabbis Shai Held and Jason Rubenstein explore the bold theology of Maimonides, who argued that the only true way to speak about God… is not to speak at all. Together they unpack why saying “God is loving” might actually be misleading, what it means to worship a God beyond hu…
  continue reading
 
Rabbis Shai Held and Tali Adler explore one of the most provocative images in rabbinic tradition: that at Sinai, God held a mountain over the Israelites’ heads and threatened them into accepting the Torah. What does this say about the nature of faith, agency, and obligation? In this episode, Rabbi Shai Held and Rabbi Tali Adler explore deep questio…
  continue reading
 
Rabbi Irwin Kula reminds us that when we engage deeply with Torah, it can serve "as our mirror" which illuminates our inner complexities, strivings, horizon of significance, so we can better understand ourselves, others, and the world. In this presentation, I note how the Biblical story of Pinchas (who gets his own name on a parashah!) is a little …
  continue reading
 
Can we really judge everyone favorably? Rabbis Shai Held and Steve Greenberg dive into this Jewish idea, exploring how a generous outlook can transform relationships, personal healing, and even our view of God. But where do we draw the line? Tune in for a candid conversation that gets real about the power – and potential pitfalls – of seeing the be…
  continue reading
 
Rabbi Avram Wilner has reissued, footnoted, and clarified key works of Rabbi Aharon of Staroshelye, a towering but under-learned student of the Alter Rebbe. We explore the fault line between learning Chabad as a path of inner avodah and affiliating with the modern Lubavitch movement; the two tiers of Kabbalah (universal vs. elite); the role of hisp…
  continue reading
 
Rabbi Shai Held returns with a new cast of guest for another season of Answers WithHeld, the podcast where we confront big questions with bold thinking and honest searching. Every week, Rabbi Shai Held invites a leading thinker or teacher to explore one powerful Jewish idea or the life and legacy of a great Jewish thinker: Can We Really Judge Every…
  continue reading
 
Is Orthodox Judaism still Talmudic — or has it slipped into safe, post-Talmudic conformity? Professor Menachem Fisch — Joseph & Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, Director of its Center for Religious and Inter-religious Studies, and Humboldt Research Prize laureate — joins Levi Brackman to reveal the Talmud as a radical engine of…
  continue reading
 
Check out this new offering from JTS Podcasts: Expanding the Conversation, a podcast that brings the thought-provoking discussions and dynamic scholarship of JTS directly to you. Drawing from live events, lectures, and panel discussions, this podcast goes beyond the moment—offering not only recordings of these programs but also exclusive interviews…
  continue reading
 
Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman sits down with Prof. Moshe Koppel—mathematician, long-time Israeli resident, and author of Judaism Straight Up—to explore what it means to “speak” Judaism naturally instead of consulting a rule book at every turn. Highlights include: Shimen vs. Heidi: two real people who illustrate organic tribal Judaism and cosmopolitan uni…
  continue reading
 
Since launching in July 2020, The New Thinkery hasn't taken an extended break—but after nearly five years of weekly episodes, the guys are finally taking a much needed summer pause. The show will return with fresh conversations on political philosophy, literature, film, and more on September 3, 2025, with high-caliber guests on the horizon. In the …
  continue reading
 
Josh Parens joins Alex and Greg to discuss his recently released book, Maimonides's Guide on Obstacles to Knowledge, Being, and Action. Parens elaborates on a bold interpretation of Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed that highlights how the philosopher uses "obstacles" to structure his defense of law, prophecy, and providence. This episode delves …
  continue reading
 
Welcome to Truths—"Seeking Ecstasy" season, Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman’s first solo deep dive in the new series. After opening with a heartfelt prayer for Israel amid the current Iran conflict, Rabbi Levi tackles the heated debate sparked by Rabbi Manis Friedman’s bold claim that “God needs our mitzvot.” ► What do classic sources—Maimonides, Nachmanid…
  continue reading
 
This week, a full complement of the guys are back, and are joined by Professor Richard Polt for a deep dive into Heidegger's The Origin of the Work of Art. Together, they unpack Heidegger's claims about truth, being, and the unique role art plays in revealing the world. The episode offers an accessible entry point into one of Heidegger's most chall…
  continue reading
 
“In His Image: Why Maimonides Alone Isn’t Enough & Psychedelics Have Their Place — A Conversation with Rabbi Yuval Cherlow” In this episode of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today, Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman sits down with the esteemed Rabbi Yuval Cherlow to ask: Can a purely intellectual theology—à la Maimonides—ever deliver the full depth of Jewish trans…
  continue reading
 
Greg welcomes Prof. Rob Wyllie back to the show for a thoughtful conversation on the philosophical legacy of Alasdair MacIntyre. Ranging across MacIntyre's major works—from After Virtue to his reflections on tradition, ethics, and rationality—they consider his influence on contemporary moral philosophy and make an attempt at placing his thoughts in…
  continue reading
 
We have grown accustomed to seeing Ethics and Holiness as virtually the same thing. I show that in order to properly understand Heschel's interlocking concepts of Blessing (berakhah), Faith (emunah), Awe (yirah), and Commandedness (Mitzvah), one needs to grasp that Ethics and Holiness are VERY different. This podcast has been edited to remove the Q…
  continue reading
 
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness offers more than a critique of empire—it's a meditation on the slipperiness of truth, the fragmentation of self, and the unsettling possibility that meaning is just another European export gone missing. This episode peers into the novella's narrative hall of mirrors, examining its existential fog, moral vertigo, an…
  continue reading
 
In this episode of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today—part of the Seeking Ecstasy season—Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman visits Jerusalem to sit down with Yehuda Ber Zirkind for their second full-length conversation. After their first discussion in New Haven sparked passionate debate, they explored: What “Jewish theology” really is: A living dialogue about Go…
  continue reading
 
Welcome to the intro episode of the new season of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today—“Seeking Ecstasy.” In this kickoff, Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman explains why the podcast paused, why he’s launching from the holy city of Safed, and what this season is all about: exploring personal Jewish theology and the paths each of us can take to encounter the Divine…
  continue reading
 
The vast majority of work on Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is academic: summaries, clarification, footnotes and so on. In this series of classes, I'm here to show you how to live Heschel's religious philosophy, not understand it. In this first lecture, I show how one begins this process by first gathering three philosophies: 1) Schleiermacher, 2) Pr…
  continue reading
 
Imagine a Jetsons-esque home that attempts to meet all of your needs while also featuring a room that makes your imagination into reality. Add some behaviorally troubled children imagining bloodthirsty lions into the mix, and you have the setup for Ray Bradbury's The Veldt. In a dystopian tale that would make an excellent episode of Black Mirror, B…
  continue reading
 
Recorded at the most recent ACTC conference, this episode features Michael McShane—educator, writer, and Shakespearean interlocutor—in a wide-ranging discussion of King Lear with both Greg and Alex. The group examine the play's structural and philosophical dimensions, from the politics of authority and the aesthetics of suffering to questions of ju…
  continue reading
 
To celebrate The New Thinkery's 250th episode... David and Alex take the week off. Instead, Greg joins Deacon Harrison Garlick of Ascend - The Great Books Podcast, to take a closer look at the third section of Plato's Gorgias which centers on a dialogue between Socrates and Calicles. The pair follow Socrates as he dismantles the arguments of Callic…
  continue reading
 
Professor B.J. Dobski joins Greg and David this week to examine Mark Twain's Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, a work that stands in stark contrast to Twain's more familiar satirical writings. Through careful analysis, and using his latest book—Mark Twain's Joan of Arc: Political Wisdom, Divine Justice, and the Origins of Modernity—as a backdr…
  continue reading
 
This week, Alex and Greg dive into Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God, unraveling its haunting exploration of madness, ambition, and the human condition. They trace the film's philosophical undercurrents—from existential isolation to the limits of power—set against the backdrop of the unforgiving Amazon. Through sharp analysis and reflective…
  continue reading
 
This week, Greg has locked David and Alex out of the recording room, and replaced them with Kierkegaard scholars Rob Wyllie & Matt Dinan. Together, they dive into Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments to examine what it means to become a self, whether truth can be received as a gift, and why Socrates might need a divine upgrade. It's a lively explo…
  continue reading
 
Loading …
Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play