Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse as w e review the literature on the obscure word "Atzeret" which can variously mean an assembly, a captive audience, a day-off from work or an after-party. With particular focus on "after-party" we use Atzeret as an opportunity to explore the concept of The Feast in the Ancient Near East and in the Torah. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://...

Join Rabbi Adam Mintz and Rabbi Avraham Bronstein recorded on Clubhouse.  This week while Geoffrey is Island hopping in Greece Madlik hosts a lively discussion between his two favorite co-hosts as they discuss the dramatic episode of Moses seeming disregard for God's command to talk to the rock and his fatal decision to strike it. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/497433 Transcr...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse. We sense that Korach's rebellion has something to do with correct governance and even democracy, it's just not clear what the message is and whose side we're on. Join us as we survey Classical Jewish and philisophic literature on Korach and the enigma of Democracy. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/496058 Transcript...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on June 15th 202 on Clubhouse. The Biblical Spies looked like grasshoppers to themselves and so they imagined in the eyes of others. We review Rabbinic and later Zionist texts as we explore the pitfalls of a Slave and Ghetto mentality up until today. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/494982 Transcript of episode web page: https:/...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on June 8th 2023 on Clubhouse. Pesah Sheni, the makeover Passover has been adopted by the Orthodox LGBTQ community as a Biblical holiday to accept different pathways, identities and evolutions amongst the Jewish People. We review the sources and celebrate! Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/493778 Transcript on episode web page: h...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on June 1st 2023. We compare and contrast the Biblical Sotah (Suspected Woman) and the ritual of the bitter waters to the trial by ordeal found in ancient societies up until the Salem Witch Trials. We ask, what we can learn from this primitive form of justice. Sefaria Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/492460 Transcript on ep...

Join Geoffrey Stern for live Shavuot night learning on Clubhouse. We'll prove, with the help of Yehudah Halevi, and beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Torah was given at Sinai. In the process, we hope to share an insight into the meaning and challenge of Sinai. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/489667   Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/05/24/the-echo-o...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 18th 2023 on Clubhouse. The Torah counts every able-bodied male to serve in the army and to pay their share of taxes and we look at the Haredi demand that they be exempt from military service and subsidized by the State and wonder…. why? Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/487982   Transcript on episode web page: https://mad...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 11th 2023 on Clubhouse. We marvel at how Rabbinic Judaism modified if not totally abrogated explicite Biblical injunctions against selling land in perpetuioty and taking interest on loans. Using the Pruzbol and Heter Iska as case studies we explore the audacity of Rabbinic Judaism. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/486023...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on May 4th 2023 on Clubhouse. This week's Torah portion is Emor.  In it we come across the source for the tradition for Jewish men to grow beards and Peyot (side curls) and the prohibition to cut the corners of the beard. We are struck by a recurring theme of the holiness of the corner whether in beard grooming, agricultural laws or in the four-cor...

Join Geoffrey Stern ansd Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on April 27th 2023. This week's Torah portion is Achrei Mot-Kedoshim.   It contains what is known as the Holiness code which describes and prescribes pretty much every sexual deviation. It is the perfect opportunity to celebrate and review a radical responsa that was published earlier this year. It was written by Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, an...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on Thursday April 20th. – We peel away the stigma of leprosy from the biblical Tzorat and instead look at it through the lens of the death-averse Tumah/Taharah paradigm …. with some insights into life. Sefaria Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/480513 Transcript: https://madlik.com/2023/04/19/cosmetic-theology/  

Passover has finally come to an end and we are putting away our Passover plates and unboxing our Hametz.   What a great opportunity to revisit one of our favorite episodes recorded in 2021 where we challenge our Rabbis and ourselves to re-imagine our Synagogue Services after Covid.  J oin us for a replay of Prayer and Services and the Sickness unto Death. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria....

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 29th 2023. We continue our exploration of Haggadot that break with the past.  Today we will focus on Kibbutz Haggadot which were written, for the most part, by secular Jews who had a deep understanding of Jewish texts and traditions. In these Haggadot these self-proclaimed "New Jews" reimagine the message of the Seder and insp...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Avraham Bornstein recorded on Clubhouse on March 24th 2023. This week's Torah portion is Vayikra. Vayikra is a call to action. In every generation we are admonished to imagine ourselves overthrowing the Pharaoh of our day and liberating the People of Israel.  Today we'll survey haggadot that take this challenge to heart and re-imagine the Haggadah in their time and fo...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recordeed on March 16th 2023 on Clubhouse. The craftsmen and craftswomen building the Tabernacle are commanded to weave curtains showcasing images of two Cherubs and fashion golden statues to match. We wonder how these winged-creatures differ from the Golden Calf and the forbidden images that the Bible ridicules with such scorn? Sefaria Source Sheet: https:...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 9th 2023.  The Torah commands the Priests to wash their hands and feet before conducting the Temple service. The Rabbis command hand washing upon waking, before prayer, before eating and on multiple other opportunities. When I studied in the Yeshiva, I had a bowl and cup of water under my bed so that I could wash my hands befo...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on March 2nd 2023. We survey the prophetic and Rabbinic re-imagining of a Temple culture without a Temple but we also continue our discussion from last week where we noted how Jewish Messianism includes an often violent break with accepted practice, intentionally breaking moral and Rabbinic norms to hasten the end. We explore how after...

Join Goeffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on February 24th. Last year when we discussed the creation of the tabernacle, we explored a powerful theological concept called Tzimzum where God creates the world by contracting his presence.   This year we continue the discussion from a historical, ideological and political perspective.   We explore how after the expulsion from Spain...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on February 16th 2023. We continue our discussion of Sinai with a focus on the negative aspects foreshadowed even at the climactic moment of revelation. We survey the Rabbinic tradition as preserved in our texts and surprisingly in the Koran. Finally we wonder whether Israel and God have entered into a relationship at Sinai that neithe...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on February 9th 2023. The Torah uses two words that describe the orientation of the Israelites towards Mt. Sinai:  נֶ֥גֶד and תַחְתִּ֥ית . We survey the interpretation of these words in the Rabbinic tradition to shed some light on revelation and even to critique synagogue architecture. Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/shee...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on February 2, 2023. The Torah declares that the Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt "Hamushim" חֲמֻשִׁ֛ים , a word related to Hamesh, the number five. According to many commentaries this word implies that only some of the Israelites left Egypt … armed and ready to fight. This is the first time that distinctions are made betwee...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded live on Clubhouse on January 26, 2023. God hardens the heart of Pharaoh. We ignore the question of free will and God's omnipotence and instead we ask: "What makes a man's heart so hard that it can't be softened? Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/462193   Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2023/01/25/hard-hearts/  

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on January 19th 2023. The Rabbis learn from Moses the importance of Hakarta HaTov; recognizing good and showing gratitude even to inanimate objects. We explore this character trait as it relates to personal conduct and current Israeli politics. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/460393 Transcript on episode web page: https://...

Join Geoffrey Stern recorded on clubhouse on January 12th 2023. The Exodus from Egypt is not simply an episode in the script of the Jewish People; it is The refrain. The fact that it represents the essence of the Jewish people is captured in every commandment that is זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt. Modern liberation movements have taken their inspiration from the ex...