Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on January 5th 2023. Jacob, upon his reunion with Joseph exclaims: לֹ֣א פִלָּ֑לְתִּי "I had never imagined" that I would see my son again. The word he uses for imagining is the same word we use for praying, so we imagine prayer as a form of imagining. Link to YouTube Vidio of Esther Peterseil z'l at Auschwitz-Birkenau: https://youtu.be...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse December 29th 2022. Even if you are not a proponent of numerology you cannot ignore the repeated claim of the Torah that seventy souls went down to Egypt. The implied significance of the number 7 and its variants 70 and 49 provide a unique lens to view the Biblical narrative. Join us as we explore Gematria, rules of Biblical interpreta...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on December 22nd 2022 on Clubhouse. The human act of bowing plays a major role in the dreams of the young Joseph. The people of Egypt actually call Joseph: "Abrek" a name shared by Hosni Mubarak and Barak Obama which means both blessed and bow-worthy. Join us as we explore the relationship between blessing and bowing; prayer, praise and body moveme...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on  December 15th 2022 on Clubhouse. Joseph is the first and only biblical personality characterized as a success. With a nod to Max Weber who wrote the iconic socioreligious study; The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism , we take this opportunity to explore the Biblical and latter Rabbinic definition of financial and other success. Sefa...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on December 8th 2022. An innocuous reference to a Princess named Timna teaches us a profound lesson regarding accepting potential converts and how critical such a choice can be to the future of Judaism. We are oh so fortunate to be able to explore the lenient opinion of conversion in Rabbinic texts with one of its leading practitioners...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on December 1st 2022. In a parsha that starts with Jacob having an iconic dream of a ladder joining heaven to the holiest place on earth, we find foreshadowing of the origins and significance of the third holiest site in Judaism; Rachel's Tomb Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/449816 Transcript on episode web page: https://m...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on Thanksgiving 2022. Isaac and Jacob choose brides from Aram. Aramaic is the chosen legal and liturgical language of the Rabbis and the lingua franca of the Ancient world. Why is Laban vilified and should we slander or offer our gratitude to the Arameans? Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/448278 Transcript on episode web pa...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi recorded on Clubhouse on November 17th 2022. With Akedat Yitzchak (the Sacrifice of Isaac) still on our minds we look at Brit Milah from a fresh perspective and review the meaning, function and maybe even contemporary sensibilities regarding circumcision. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/446688 Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/11/16/...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded November 10th 2022 on Clubhouse. We look at the Binding of Isaac and wonder whether Abraham passed or failed this test. What possible lessons are to be learnt from this narrative other than blind faith and obedience. Finally, we are puzzled why Abraham confronts God over Sodom and confronts Sarah over sending away Ishmael but remains silent when it...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on November 3rd 2022. We discover that when the younger son Isaac is chosen, the older son Ishmael's banishment in some way endears him to his father and latter Rabbinic and Muslim commentators. By being rejected Ishmael may actually provide an alter ego of the Jewish people. We will discuss… Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheet...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on October 27th 2022. According to the popular Bible translations, "in the generation of Noah, God regretted having made humankind". As if to say that regret is the first Divine emotion represented in the Torah… not mercy, not anger, not joy, not love and not jealousy. We discuss… Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/440854   T...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Dr. Richard J. Meddleton recorded on Clubhouse on October 20th 2022.  As we begin reading the Torah all over again we are joined by a leading Christian Hebrew Bible scholar for a fresh insight into the message of Bereshit.  Richard is revolutionizing the way Christians read our Torah and he does the same for us. So crack open your Humash and join us for Shared Beginnings. S...

Join Geoffrey Stern recorded on clubhouse on October 12th 2022 for Madlik Disruptive Torah. In a previous podcast called Architecture in Time we've discussed Judaism's unique concept of the holiness of time. This coming Shabbat is Shabbat Sukkot so find yourself a temporary booth and join us as we explore Judaism's unique concept of holiness of place. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/4...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on October 6th 2022. In Moses' parting song to the Jewish people he mentions Faith (emuna) in two different ways, both of which don't refer to man's faith in God. We take the opportunity to explore the meaning of Faith in the Torah and latter Rabbinic thought. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/436267 Transcript on episode we...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on September 29th 2022. The weekly parsha becomes particularly topical this year as we end the year of the Shmitah (Sabbatical Year). As the life of Moses comes to an end, he provides his last instructions which relate to the blowing of the Shofar on Yom Kippur and the public reading by the King of the Book or Deuteronomy on Sukkot.......

Parshat Nitzavim - Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on September 22nd 2022. The Book of Deuteronomy, also known as Mishna Torah, or the second; Reviewed Torah is drawing to an end and provides us with an opportunity to review some of the Rabbinic Principles that have guided us in the reading of the Five Books of Moses. Starting with the iconic statement that "The Tora...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on September 15th 2022. As we approach the high prayer season we trace the evolution of the oldest prayer preserved in the Torah. The First Fruits Declaration, a once iconic prayer made by a farmer on Shavuot; the Harvest Festival. We see how this prayer was censored, repurposed and reinterpreted up until today and wonder what license...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on September 8th 2022. As we approach the Jewish New Year with its emphasis on Zichronot, we ask: what role does memory play in the Torah? Is it for historical accuracy or moral edification? In this week's parsha we are told to despise some of our foes and others to offer our gratitude. For our arch enemy, Amalek we are told to remembe...

Parshat Shoftim - Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on September 1st 2022. In the same parsha that the Torah concedes to the people's desire to have a king "like the other nations" it also suggests another leadership model. The Shofet, normally translated as the Judge. We discuss the meaning of Shofet and explore a past and promised age of Shoftim. Sefaria Source Sheet...

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/2022/...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on August 18th 2022. Much in this parsha relates to the correct and incorrect attitude. The Israelites are described as "stiff necked" and "rebels" (mamrim). They are warned not to attribute their success to their own power and commanded to bless God even when satiated. Finally, they are told that all God wants from them is their fear....

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on August 11th 2022. Moses pleads with God to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. God is cross with Moses. When should we ask for more? When do we ask for too much? That is the question. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/424108   Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/08/10/enough/  

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on August 4th 2022. The fifth book of the Five Books of Moses is called Mishneh Torah which means the Second Torah or the Repetition of the Torah. We use this as an opportunity to explore how the Torah has been renewed and rediscovered over time. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/422607 Transcript on episode web page: https:...

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz reorded on Clubhouse on July 28th 2022 as we look at the configuration of the Israelite tribes through new eyes… the eyes of modern scholarship that suggests that the conquest of the Land of Israel by the freed slaves from Egypt also included the uprising of local tribes. Together they formed a confederation of tribes, united in their rejection of the exist...

Join Geoffey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Clubhouse recorded on Thursday July 21st 2022 for another episode of Madlik disruptive Torah. The Torah uses a term associated with harassment, pain, siege, and tsuris and we are intrigued, because it is also associated with being bound up in the bundle of life. In a week when we mourn our losses we explore the connections. Sefaria Source Sheet:  Transcri...