Ben Koren and Benzi Siouni | A Geonic-Maimonidean Approach to Torah Through the Ages and Today
JUDAISM DEMYSTIFIED | A Guide for Today's Perplexed: Torah Foundations, Reason, and Tradition
Hosted by lifelong friends Ben Koren and Benzi Siouni, Judaism Demystified was founded to explore topics often overlooked in conventional Jewish education. Through long-form conversations with leading religious thinkers, scientists, and historians, the podcast draws from the Geonic-Maimonidean tradition while embracing the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Sacks. Our goal is to reignite a passion for classical Jewish wisdom, returning to foundational ideas and fostering meaningful engagement with Jewish thought.
Author
Ben Koren and Benzi Siouni | A Geonic-Maimonidean Approach to Torah Through the Ages and Today
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Podcast website
Latest episode
Jun 23, 2026
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Episodes
Episode 15: Hakham Mordehai Ish Yemini "Foundational Principles" 08.04.2022 1:09:13
Hakham Mordehai provides a brave and unsafe space to explore the legacy, ideology, and principles of the Torah according to Maimonides. He makes an impassioned plea for the return to classical Judaism, explains the difference between pure Monotheism (Divine Transcendence) and Panentheism (Transcendence + Immanence), and how the latter shares similarities to paganism. He asserts that there's an irr...
Episode 14: Nachliel Selavan, The Museum Guy "Virtually Exploring Exodus" 01.04.2022 1:15:05
Nachliel "The Museum Guy" takes us on a virtual exploration of Ancient Egypt (via Google Earth) and provides us with new perspectives on the Biblical accounts in light of these discoveries. What does the Torah mean when it says Pharaoh has a "heavy" heart? What polemical devices does the Torah utilize to defeat the pagan gods of Egypt? Find out why "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"...
Episode 13: Mentalist Mark Edward "Exposing the Charlatans" 25.03.2022 1:30:45
Mr. Edward reveals secrets of the trade and takes us on a journey through the world of illusion. Although he is agnostic, he is doing God's work. We share our different views on faith but there is quite a lot of common ground. In this episode, the Mentalist reveals what differentiates mentalists, magicians, and clairvoyants. He tells stories of his friend, the late great skeptic and magician James...
Episode 12: Reuben Ebrahimoff "My Crypto-Jewish Heritage" 14.03.2022 1:05:05
This particular episode is more personal for the hosts of the podcast, as Mr. Ebrahimoff speaks to Ben about their shared roots as descendants of Iranian crypto-Jews. He gives a brief overview of the Mashhadi story then and now, the Allahdad pogrom of 1839, the uniqueness of Persian cuisine, the dual marriage contracts of Jewish "New Muslims", the aftermath of leaving Iran, and his personal family...
Episode 11: Rabbi Shmuel Phillips "Judaism Reclaimed" 10.03.2022 1:39:55
Rabbi Phillips provides an in-depth analysis of Judaism's most complex concepts such as Resurrection of the Dead, the Afterlife, Esotericism, the pursuit of human perfection, Rabbinic innovation, and the concept of Sacred Space. He takes issue with some of the bold claims made by Rabbi Dr. Marc Shapiro and Rabbi Binyamin Lau, which have major religious implications. Find out more about the book at...
Episode 10: Professor Henry Abramson "Unmasking History" 24.02.2022 46:32
Dr. Abramson brilliantly breaks down how historians process data to determine what sources are reliable, the respective approaches of historians and archaeologists in interpretating events, the difference between biblical minimalists and maximalists, what shaped Judaism after its continuous encounters with outside cultures (namely Greek and Zoroastrian), and some fascinating anecdotes about Queen...
Episode 9: Professor Jeffrey L. Rubenstein "Stories of Our Sages" 20.01.2022 1:34:30
Dr. Rubenstein explains the difference between midrash and aggadah, the methodology in deciphering aggadot, how to go about navigating through the different versions of aggadot (specifically between Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi), the relationship between aggadot and the modern reader, how to understand these fantastical stories about our Sages of blessed memory, and he takes us on a journey into hi...
Episode 8: Rabbi Tovia Singer "Why Jews Reject Jesus" 05.01.2022 1:21:14
Rabbi Singer (www.outreachjudaism.org) presents an eye-opening historical account of Jesus, and discusses how Paul of Tarsus invented antisemitism, why the Jews rejected Jesus, how the gospels paganized Judaism to form a new religion, what exactly Isaiah 53 actually proves, and more.
Episode 7: Rabbi Abe H. Faur "The Horizontal Society" 23.12.2021 1:14:15
Rabbi Faur addresses a variety of pertinent topics such as the importance of understanding diqduq (Hebrew grammar) when interpreting Torah verses, the general idea of classical mysticism, the prophetic experience, the Horizontal Society, the covenant, the fall of western civilization, eradicating idolatry, and dispelling the lazy fallacy that Maimonides was a rationalist (and the lie that he kept...
Episode 6: Sina Kahen "Tradition and Ideas" 26.11.2021 1:21:21
Sina takes us on a journey through history and breaks down the very significant revival of the Andalusian tradition. Discover the difference between classical Jewish mysticism and the Zoharic Kabbalah that emerged in the post-Maimonidean era. Find out why the Sephardic approach is so instrumental in building a future for Judaism in an ever-changing world.
Episode 5: Dr. Gerald Schroeder "The Science of God" 18.11.2021 1:26:18
Dr. Schroeder makes the case for God in scientific terms, tackling issues such as the age of the universe, evolution, the multiverse theory, fine tuning, DNA, famous atheists, and extraterrestrial life.
Episode 4: Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie "A Light Unto the Nations" 20.08.2021 1:06:40
Rabbi Abadie dives into the history and traditions of Old Sepharad (The Golden Age of Spain) and discusses his groundbreaking role in strengthening Jewish-Muslim relations in the Middle East.
Episode 3: Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman "A Critique of Biblical Criticism" 15.07.2021 1:22:19
Professor Berman showcases his vast knowledge of the Torah and other extra-biblical ancient texts, providing evidence that highlights the major flaws in modern biblical source criticism. (It's ideal to watch this episode in particular on our YouTube channel because of all the slideshow visuals he provided. Go to YouTube and type in Judaism. Demystified in the search bar - please like, subscribe, a...
Episode 2: Professor Kenneth Seeskin "A Religion of Reason" 30.06.2021 1:35:35
Professor Seeskin displays his vast expertise in the subject of Maimonidean Rationalism. He educates us on important topics such as negative theology, creation, prophecy, commandments, idolatry, love of God, and human suffering (in the Book of Job)
Episode 1: Rabbi Joshua Maroof "Challenging the Status Quo" 22.06.2021 1:25:45
Rabbi Maroof delves into hot topics in Orthodox Judaism, such as: Is God the Cause of Evil? How to Improve Torah Education for Children (and How it Relates to Magical Thinking)? Why are the Most Brilliant Jews Non-Observant? Is There a Solution to the Agunah (Chained Wife) Crisis? All this and more...enjoy the show!
Introducing Judaism Demystified: A Podcast for Todays Perplexed Jews 13.06.2021 5:02
How does a curious, truth-seeking, intellectually honest person face the challenges brought upon by modern biblical criticism, the fossil record, archaeological findings, evolutionary theory, scientific discoveries, historical inaccuracies, theological and philosophical paradoxes, the centuries old conflict between rationalism and mysticism, and a host of other problems. Where can one turn for ans...
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