Search for Meaning with Rabbi Yoshi

What does Zion mean to the Jewish people—and what happens when Jews themselves profoundly disagree about its meaning? In this Kol Nidrei sermon, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback traces Zion through the arc of a Jewish life and explores two ancient teachings: U’vacharta bachayim —“Choose life”—and Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem —“You stand this day, all of you.” At a moment of deep division, he offers three chall...

Rosh Hashanah morning at Stephen Wise Temple, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback explores an ancient Hebrew word — Hineini , "Here I am" — through the lens of one of the newest challenges facing us: artificial intelligence.   Weaving together the Binding of Isaac, a teaching from the Mussar master Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, and the work of Israeli thinker Micah Goodman, Rabbi Zweiback asks what AI can and...

What can Torah teach us about anxiety, grief, resilience, shame—and the work of healing a shattered heart? On this episode of Search for Meaning , I sit down with Rabbi Dr. Tal Sessler, author of Torah for Mental Health: Jewish Wisdom for Psychological Growth . A rabbi, philosopher, spiritual counselor, and psychotherapist-in-training, Tal has spent his career exploring the intersection of Jewish...

Rabbi Yoshi’s derash from Beach Shabbat, delivered on Shabbat Nachamu — the Sabbath of Comfort that always follows Tisha b’Av. Beginning with a personal story from his own wedding thirty years ago, Rabbi Yoshi explores what it means to love God “b’chol levavcha” — with all of your heart — and why our tradition asks us to bless God not only in the good times, but in the painful ones too. Drawing on...

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback welcomes back civil rights attorney and Zioness founder Amanda Berman for her second appearance on Search for Meaning. Recorded days after Tisha B'Av, the conversation opens with the atmosphere in New York following Mayor Mamdani's video calling Prime Minister Netanyahu a war criminal, the mayor's Tisha B'Av statement, and a stabbing on the Upper West Side...

What really happened to hatred in America after World War II? Most of us were taught that defeating Hitler marked a turning point — that America emerged from the war more tolerant, more unified, more committed to its democratic ideals. Historian Steven J. Ross is here to tell us that story is a myth. And he has the documents to prove it. In this episode, Rabbi Yoshi sits down with one of America&a...

In this urgent follow-up to their conversation from June 2025, Rabbi Yoshi sits down again with Ambassador Gary Grappo — former U.S. Ambassador to Oman, Chief of Staff to the Middle East Quartet, and one of America's most seasoned diplomatic voices — to make sense of the Iran MOU signed just days before this recording. Together they examine what the deal actually does and doesn't do, why...

In this episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback speaks with author Ralph Shayne about his graphic novel Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during World War II , illustrated by Danish comics artist Tatiana Goldberg. Inspired by the childhood experience of Shayne’s mother, the book tells the remarkable story of the 1943 rescue of Denmark’s Jewish community. When the Nazi...

Reza Farahan is known to millions as the breakout star of Shahs of Sunset. In this candid and moving conversation, Reza joins Rabbi Yoshi to discuss his new book, Memoirs of a Gay Shah , and the remarkable journey that shaped him—from fleeing Iran as a child during the revolution, to navigating life as the son of a Jewish father and Muslim mother, to coming out as a gay man in a deeply traditional...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback welcomes Rabbi Michael Zedek back to the podcast on the occasion of his second book, People Are Like…: Stories for Young Readers and Readers Who Wish to Stay Young . A beloved teacher, storyteller, and rabbi, Rabbi Zedek joins Rabbi Yoshi for a warm and thoughtful conversation about the wisdom hidden in everyday life—and why some of life’...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with actor and painter Lisa Edelstein and artist Robert Russell to discuss their powerful new exhibition, A Palace in Time, at the Skirball Cultural Center. Inspired by Abraham Joshua Heschel’s timeless vision of Shabbat as “a palace in time,” the exhibition explores memory, ritual, Jewish identity, family, love, and the holines...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with speaker, author, and advocate Brandon Farbstein for a deeply honest and moving conversation about identity, resilience, and what it truly means to belong. Born with a rare form of dwarfism, Brandon shares what it was like growing up facing bullying and exclusion — and how those early experiences shaped his sense of self. Wi...

In this episode, Mandana Dayani joins Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback for a candid and wide-ranging conversation on maintaining a sense of purpose within an increasingly complex world. Drawing on her personal history as an Iranian-born Jewish refugee, Mandana provides a vital human perspective on the impact of regime change and the nuances of Iranian history that often go overlooked. Together, they explore t...

In this episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with a colleague and friend, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi of Central Synagogue and author of the powerful new memoir Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging. Together, they explore what it means to live between worlds — culturally, spiritually, and personally — and how the experie...

In the second installment of this wide-ranging conversation, Rabbi Yoshi continues his dialogue with Rabbi Ed Feinstein and Rabbi David Woznica — turning from personal story to the larger questions pressing on the Jewish community today. Recorded on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at a moment marked by the return of Ran Gvili, the last hostage, and amid rising antisemitism, deep national...

In this first installment of a special two-part conversation, Rabbi Yoshi sits down live with Rabbi Ed Feinstein, longtime senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom, and Rabbi David Woznica, who has served Stephen Wise Temple for more than two decades. Recorded on International Holocaust Remembrance Day — just one day after the return of Ran Gvili, the last hostage — this dialogue unfolds at a moment of...

In this episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Cantor Lauren Blasband-Roth for a thoughtful conversation about vocation, music, and Jewish life. Lauren shares her journey to the cantorate, reflecting on her Brooklyn roots, the influence of her family, and the experiences that shaped her love of Judaism and song. The conversation explores what surprised her most about b...

In this episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Professor Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, one of today’s leading scholars of rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. Their conversation ranges from the ancient world to our own moment, exploring how religious traditions take shape through encounter, disagreement, and relationship. Rabbi Yoshi first encountered Michal’s work in I...

In this special episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Rabbi Steve Leder and Peter Himmelman for a wide-ranging conversation about friendship, faith, creativity, and the moment we are living in. Together, they reflect on growing up Jewish in the Midwest, the quiet experiences of childhood that shape a life, and the distinct journeys that led one of them to the rabbinat...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is joined by his teacher, mentor, and friend, Rabbi Steve Leder, for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation recorded in January 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their discussion centers on Rabbi Leder’s book, The Beauty of What Remains, written after the death of his father following a long journey with Alzheimer’s. D...

In this solo episode of Search for Meaning , Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback reflects on a timely and challenging question facing the Jewish community today: How do we disagree without hating one another? Prompted by recent remarks from Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove at the American Zionist Movement Biennial, Rabbi Yoshi explores the growing tensions within Jewish communal life — particularly around Israel — and the...

Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with actor Moshe Lobel, star of the groundbreaking new film SHTTL —a Yiddish-language, single-shot masterpiece set in a Ukrainian shtetl on the eve of its destruction in 1941. Filmed in 2021 but only recently released, SHTTL feels uncannily prophetic, speaking directly to the anxieties, divisions, and questions facing the Jewish world today. Moshe brings a deeply per...

Veteran trial lawyer Marc Kasowitz has taken his courtroom skills to a new front—the battle against antisemitism on America’s college campuses. In this episode, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback talks with Kasowitz about the lawsuits he’s brought against universities like NYU and Harvard , where Jewish and Israeli students faced harassment and exclusion. Their conversation explores how the legal system can hol...

In this special episode, Rabbi Yoshi shares his 5786 Rosh Hashanah (2025) sermon, Sanctified — For the Whole World. Drawing on the wisdom of his grandfather, Jewish tradition, and the moral challenges of our time, Rabbi Zweiback explores the sacred balance between particularism and universalism — between our deep commitment to the Jewish people and our responsibility to all humanity. Through stori...

In this episode of Search for Meaning, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback sits down with Michael Honigstein, a career Foreign Service Officer who has served in countries around the world—including Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Israel—working to promote peace, democracy, and human rights. Michael reflects on his remarkable journey from an advertising career in New York to decades of diplomatic service, shaped by his Jew...