A Rabbi And A Skeptic Walk Into A Podcast

Is Heaven like the Judaism Hall of Fame?   A rocket alarm in Israel goes off in Rabbi’s phone at the 7 minute mark…why does he want to move to Israel, again? Zion, eternity, Rabbi is fired up to live where the war is. I say, he wants to  live where the war is . Let that sink in.

Featuring Rabbi Alon Tolwin, This one gets a little hairy... Now with more current events than ever before! 1000 more sheets .thanks for listening

Rabbi Alon Tolwin on....Jesus the Rabbi...Jews fighting Jews... a 2 state solution?... what about Gaza? Check points, living in Israel.

Finally! What took so long?  We give Chat GPT a deep question, and look over its homework. The Devil may be in the details a la Shakespeare, or the Devil may be learning from AI.

Featuring Rabbi Alon Tolwin. A don't miss episode... tighten up your chumetz and check it out. 

Rabbi Alon Tolwin talks with us about Mo, the man, the main guy. I have my usual slightly off-kilter questionsfor him. Hope you enjoy.

See what I did there? Rabbi Alon Tolwin is back from Israel. This episode goes deeper into the feelings about Gaza and Israel. Recorded 1.26.2025. 

introducing Season three, with the addition of *SON OF* episodes featuring Rabbi Simcha Tolwin of Aish Detroit. Let's meet the Rabbi in this episode and dive right in to talk about judgment and other mistakes I make every day.

Back to basics. Fins but no scales.. . Linen and wool? what about Corelle dishes? Is this business deal Kosher? Slaughtering animals one at a time.

The moral high ground... "it takes both the left wing and the right wing to fly the plane," says noted moralist and political philosopher Red Skelton in 1964. Rabbi Tolwin discusses the two state solution,aid to Gaza, education of Gazan youth. I give my answer to "The Outrage."

Rabbi Tolwin is fresh back from 6 weeks overseas. Does a visit like that change a person? is it ridiculous for a person to be certain? What about tattoos? Wouldn't you rather have a king? Table manners of Jews.

Rabbi Tolwin turns the tables on the interviewer...Torah and constitution..."there's no such thing as free speech."... The golden calf= sexual freedom. Hat tip to Nathan for his role in this story.

2.16 The Future of Judaism? Ortho, Con and Reform... Is perfect parenting possible?  The exotic  lure of the cheeseburger. The tragedy of the demise of conservative Judaism.  What about "spiritual but not religious?"

History as a spiral... "everything is measured by wisdom"....GUILT...Devil's Advocate...Shabbos squared equals Yom Kippur? And a night's sleep equals 1/60th of death?  The maths of Torah. What does I'm a Little Teapot have to do with it?

Solid episode If i say so myself. Maybe a bit too much Gare, but then again, that is always a danger. Dinner with Springsteen story, God's forgiveness is not automatic! Crunchers vs Doritos, and more. Thanks for listening. Please tell one other person if you enjoy this pod.

Steve H from macomb County asks the Rabbi about the f word. Rabbi Tolwin tells his first spicy story about room service... Have you ever been flim-flammed? is it ever ok to be get flimmed OR, for that matter,  flammed in the first place?

Woke up... feelin' weird/ Dragged a comb across my beard. Rabbi Tolwin gives us a glimpse inside the many traditions and rituals and  tasks that liven up his day, including Shabbos.

Does a rabbi put on his pants one leg at a time? Gary wants to know how different Rabbi Tolwin's day is than his (mine). So we talk it through. We discuss the kiss of death, and answer the question, "if sleep is 1/60th of death, what happens after two months?...

Rabbi introduces an existential dilemma. We discuss looking for meaning and why that may be a mistake; is being a Rabbi enough? The nature of good; looking over your shoulder at honor, and changing the world from a room, no hat tip to Leonard Cohen.

2.9. Why are there 48 ways, anyhoo? Part b is about sleepwalking, which I suffer from. and when I say suffer... Was I careful with the cosmic balance? Is proof absolute? The stakes are your life! Keep your wisdom in large bills.... and, binge watching the Sopranos with the Rabbi.

Weighty subject.  "Kill me!" No, kill me!" Now that's friendship.  From Charles Schultz's Linus all the way to Constantinople, what is a half a friend? A pig in a sack? Rabbi Tolwin elucidates the levels of friendship for us. 

Rabbi Tolwin, inspired this day by George Harrison, wants to tackle this question. The song led us from God the celebrity, God's ego, is it better to be authentic or moral, the push-pull between ignorance and innocence, finally ending up where so many disagreements do: "It is, so!" "It is not!"

We touch on Fleetwood Mac, the Key to Misery, controlling our thoughts and emotions, and jumping off a bridge. All that and more as we explore number 4 of the 48 Ways To Wisdom, from the teachings of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, founder of Aish HaTorah, the world's largest Jewish adult education organization.

What was it like at the beginning of Aish? GTo have a world-changing teacher must have been enthralling. Let's find out, shall we? Why did Noah Weinberg start Aish haTorah, which he grew into the world's largest Jewish adult-education organization?  Tell us about strategic rage, funding his competition...getting kicked out of class... The beginnings of a movement.

I wanted to explore Rabbi Tolwin's upbringing, since I know it's wa-a-ay different than mine. More Jewish, frankly. And we do think differently.  From Milwaukee to Aish HaTorah.