Four Cubits

In this episode, Eli talks to Edina Lekovic, Director of Policy and Programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council. They talk about the recent murders in Chapel Hill, the definition of Islamophobia, President Obama's relationship to the American Muslim community, the 2011 study by the Center for American Progress, and antisemitism that is couched in Islamic language. Show Notes: For a nice...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli discuss the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Kosher market in Paris. They examine each other's definitions of terrorism, discuss whether the actions of states can properly be called terrorism, and touch on the issue of freedom of speech. Show Notes: Wikipedia on the definition of terrorism: Terrorism Eli's article for Jewschool: New Teams

In this episode, Jeff and Eli are joined by Rabbi Sara Zacharia to conclude their discussion about the role of women in Judaism. Show Notes: To read Rabbi Pamela Barmash's Teshuva click here . To see evidence that Daniel Gordis lost his mind click here . To learn more about JTS click here . To learn more about Ziegler click here .

In this Episode, Jeff and Eli are joined by Dr. Batya Ungar-Sargon, staff writer for Tablet, to continue the discussion about women and Judaism. Show Notes: To read Batya's piece on Yeshivat Maharat, click here . For more on the Maharat program, click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli talk about the role of women in the Jewish world. They touch on the legal status of women in Jewish law, leadership positions, and ritual participation and talk about the paradox posed by progressive forms of Orthodoxy. Show Notes: To learn more about Avi Weiss's seminary for training Orthodox women to be Rabbi-like leaders click here . To learn more about Egalad...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli continue their conversation about God. They start by talking about hermeneutics and the role of human perspective in religious interpretation and move to the subject of prayer. Show Notes: To read the story of the Oven of Akhnai click here .  For background on the kidnapping of Nachshon Waxman click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli continue their discussion of God and talk about their own views on the subject. Show Notes: To read about Pascal's Wager, by which Jeff is utterly unconvinced, click here . To read about Christopher Hitchens, click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli talk a little about the film The Wolf of Wall Street and then launch into their next big topic of conversation: God. Show Notes: Background on Maimonides . Background on Spinoza . Background on Hermann Cohen . The Ontological Proof .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli continue their discussion of the BDS movement and explore their differences on the nature of the State of Israel. Show Notes: To read Larry Derfner's 972 piece on the ASA boycott, click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli discuss the American Studies Association's recent resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions and the BDS movement in general. Show Notes: The American Studies Association Resolution on Academic Boycott of Israel Jeffrey Goldberg's response to the resolution . Omar Barghouti's response to the resolution . Peter Beinart's response to the res...

In this episode, Jeff and Eli are joined by Dr. Sarah Bunin Benor to examine Pew's A Portrait of Jewish Americans more closely. Show Notes: To read more about Dr. Benor, click here .  To explore Dr. Benor's book, Becoming Frum , click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli wrap up their conversation about racism and antisemitism and move on to their next topic, the landmark Pew survey of American Jews. Show Notes: To read the survey in its entirety, click here . To read Eli's scale of racism, click here .

In this episode, Jeff and Eli dig a little deeper into positive racism and the empirical problem of generalizing about people groups. They also tackle some recent examples of racism in the news in an attempt to apply some of these concepts. Show Notes: The remarks that got Martin Bashir fired from MSNBC . The lawsuit against Bob Dylan . Kanye West's controversial remarks on The Breakfast Club...

In the inaugural episode of Four Cubits, Jeff and Eli talk about the definition of race, who qualifies as an antisemite, and the conceptual difficulties associated with talking about racism and antisemitism. Show Notes: Read Eli's review of Daniel Goldhagen's The Devil That Never Dies  here . Read Eli's essay How To Criticize a Jew  here .