Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

This week on Madlik, we're exploring how Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers offers profound insights for our own lives. At a time when many of us make resolutions and fresh starts, this episode couldn't be more timely. We'll examine how Joseph and his brothers navigate the complex dynamics of forgiveness, rehabilitation, and moving from a paradigm of grievance and victimhood to challenge an...

This Shabbat Hanukah Madlik episode explores the intriguing parallels between John Lennon's iconic song "Imagine" and traditional Jewish concepts. Delving into the Shabbat zemirot "Ma Yedidut," Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz uncover surprising connections between Lennon's utopian vision and Judaism's aspirational views of Shabbat and the World to Come. The discussion challenges the notion tha...

This week on Madlik, we're diving into Parashat Vayeshev and exploring the Joseph story through a unique lens. Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz as we unpack this pivotal narrative that bridges Genesis and Exodus. We'll be taking a hard look at the uncomfortable truth at the heart of this parasha: human trafficking. It's not just about Joseph in Egypt – we're talking about the profound impl...

From the first chapters of Genesis, when Adam named the animals, naming in the Biblical narrative is a powerful tool which defines destiny. This process reaches a climax with the re-naming of Jacob and the birth of Israel. Although "Israel" is normally translated as "struggling with God" we explore other meanings that align more powerfully with the metamorphosis that Yaakov experiences. Join Geoff...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for another week of Madlik Disruptive Torah. We explore the biblical narratives surrounding Jacob and Abraham, the sanctity of places in the Ancient Near East and Jewish tradition, and the ongoing relevance of these themes in contemporary discussions about Jerusalem. The conversation highlights the deep connections between history, identity, and spiritualit...

Are we defined by our names or by the stories we tell? We explore Parashat Toldot, diving into the intricate relationships between the Philistines and ancient Israelites "up until today." Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz in a conversation that highlights the melting pot of cultures in ancient Israel. We reveal that the Philistines, like the Hittites and Hebrews, were newcomers to the land...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz discussing the weekly Torah portion. What happens when ancient narratives of trauma echo through generations? This episode of "Madlik Disruptive Torah" delves into the parsha Chayei Sara, exploring the post-traumatic impact of the attempted sacrifice of Isaac. Through the lens of Jewish, Islamic and contemporary literature, we examine the emotional and fami...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz as we explore the intriguing theological debate where Abraham challenges God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. Unlike typical moral or ethical arguments, Abraham's stance is deeply rooted in his understanding of God's nature. He questions whether it would be Godlike to act in a manner that contradicts his perception of the divine. Profaning God's name is...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in [location] on [date]. What does it mean to leave everything behind and embark on a journey of faith? This episode of "Madlik" delves into the Torah portion Lech Lecha, exploring Abraham's radical departure from his homeland and the birth of monotheism. - Discover how Abraham's journey is not just a physical one but a profound internal quest for...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz in conversation regarding the weekly Torah portion. What happens when language becomes both a bridge and a barrier? In this episode of the "Madlik Disruptive Torah Podcast," the duo delves into Parashat Noah, exploring the Tower of Babel's tale and its implications on linguistic diversity. They unravel how the division of languages shaped rabbinic texts and...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz as they explore the creation myth. There are those who would have us believe that in Creation, God made unity from chaos and that the Torah's end game is to find that unity, tikkun and nirvana once again. We explore an alternative, counterfactual approach, where God created through division and with a goal of creating a world where divisions are emphasized,...

At sunset the holiday of Sukkot begins and we leave the security of our homes and dwell in the temporary booths of farmers.   In previous episodes we have focused on what makes this falling dwelling so permanent and eternal, but this year, in the shadow of Oct 7 th we focus on the darker side of these exposed dwellings. We also explore the potential of the sukkah and the Jewish People to rise from...

While I considered writing a sermon for this Yom Kippur I listened to the Madlik Sermon given a week before October 7th 2023. So much of what concerned me, even terrified me, came to fruition that I decided to re-broadcast. Maybe next week as we approach the anniversay of last year's dreadful Simchat Torah we can discuss further the concept of סֻכַּת הַנּוֹפֶלֶת; "the falling Sukkah" but for now,...

Join Geoffrey Stern recorded live at the Conservative Synagogue of Westport, Connecticut with guest appearences of Madlik Faithful Henry Feuerstein, Martin Rosenfeld z'l, Martha Rosenfeld, Judy Shapiro and others. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/594972   Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2016/10/01/whats-new-with-the-jewish-new-year/  

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience. God, so to speak, "joining the Jewish People in Exile", is a radical Rabbinic concept that in the words of Rabbi Akiva would have been blasphemous had it not been supported by Scripture. We explore the source of "God in Exile" (Shechinta B'Galuta - שְׁכִינְתָּא בְּגָלוּתָא) in Rabbinic texts and ponder its ramifications...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience on Clubhouse. Moses warns the Israelites that if they do not live up to God's expectations, they will be vilified as a caricature of evil. The world will use the Jew to personify failure and depravity. We discuss the use of the Jew as metaphor in our texts and literature. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/5911...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse in front of a live audience. The Torah teaches that one must return a lost object to its rightful owner. The great sages Abaye and Rava use this as an opportunity to argue over the dynamics of loss and despair! We swim into this iconic Talmudic text to find what we have lost… Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/589057   Link t...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse. הי״ד the Hebrew acronym   הַשֵּׁם יִקּוֹם דָּמוֹ "May Hashem avenge his blood" has been carved after the names of too many victims of bloodshed in the past few months, and especially in the last few days. This week's parsha addresses tribalism, revenge killings and blood feuds which in the Ancient Near East, especially in the Sinai Pe...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on August 25th 2022. The Torah prohibits us from adding or detracting to its directives and also against rewriting history. It even predicts that there might be a time where our leaders will try to reinvent our past. We discuss. Sefaria Source Sheet:  www.sefaria.org/sheets/426413 Transcript on episode web page:  https://madlik.com/202...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience on Clubhouse. The Book of Deuteronomy presents the Torah's various rules and regulations as a corpus. It uses a unique expression; כׇּל־הַמִּצְוָ֗ה variously translated as "All the commandment" or "instruction", the "entire mitzvah". It is mitzvah in the singular … not in the plural as we would expect. So, we explore how...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience on Clubhouse. The Torah proclaims that its laws are our wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations. The nations of the world will say of the Israelites that this is a wise and understanding people. We explore the traditional commentaries and then we discover Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner; born at the end of the 19...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience on Clubhouse. The book of Deuteronomy known as the Second Torah, is not only spoken in the first-person voice of Moses but is also a reworking and reinterpretation of earlier events. This is nowhere more apparent then in the retelling of the story of the spies where, in our disruptive reading , the spies and their genera...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz reorded in front of a live audience om clubhose. Moses accuses the tribes of Reuben and Gad of perpetuating the defeatist attitude of the generation of the Exodus. The word Moses uses;  Tarbut , has come to mean  culture  and we explore how culture, in contradistinction to Torah, has evolved and continues to impact Jewish thought until today. Seafaria Sourc...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded in front of a live audience on Clubhouse. The three week mourning period commemorating the fall of the first and second Jewish commonwealth reminds us of the divisive nature of zealotry. And it is zealotry that lies behind the story of Pinchas taking the law into his own impulsive hands. The Pinchas model was problematic to the Rabbis and has been...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded live on Clubhouse. This week's parsha  includes a blessing about goodness, delivered by a prophet of the nations that is so inspiring it is used to initiate the morning prayers in Jewish houses of worship of every denomination and until today. This week another 20-something kid took a gun and killed and tried to kill. A NY Times editorialist wrote...