The Avrum Rosensweig Show

Welcome to the show. Some performances don’t just tell a story — they open a doorway into a world. A glance, a pause, a quiet exchange can carry generations of memory, longing, humor, and faith. Today we step into that world with Sarel Piterman — an actor born in Haifa whose work reveals the poetry hidden inside ordinary moments, known to audiences around the globe for his portrayal of Zvi Aryeh S...

Welcome to the show. Some performances don’t just tell a story — they open a doorway into a world. A glance, a pause, a quiet exchange can carry generations of memory, longing, humor, and faith. Today we step into that world with Sarel Piterman — an actor born in Haifa whose work reveals the poetry hidden inside ordinary moments, known to audiences around the globe for his portrayal of Zvi Aryeh S...

Welcome to the show. We are joined by Howard Langer — award-winning writer, attorney, and author of 'The Last Dekrepitzer', a novel that has already earned the National Jewish Book Award and marks his first work of fiction in fifty years. Howard is the founder of a leading antitrust law firm in Philadelphia, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a teacher whose wor...

Welcome to the show. We are joined by Howard Langer — award-winning writer, attorney, and author of 'The Last Dekrepitzer', a novel that has already earned the National Jewish Book Award and marks his first work of fiction in fifty years. Howard is the founder of a leading antitrust law firm in Philadelphia, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a teacher whose wor...

Welcome to a very special—and deeply personal—episode. Today’s conversation is not about theory. It’s not about abstract belief. It’s about belonging, courage, and the quiet, stubborn pull of a soul toward truth. Today, we’re sitting with three people who each chose Judaism—not because it was easy, fashionable, or convenient, but because it felt unavoidable. Because something inside them recognize...

Welcome to a very special—and deeply personal—episode. Today’s conversation is not about theory. It’s not about abstract belief. It’s about belonging, courage, and the quiet, stubborn pull of a soul toward truth. Today, we’re sitting with three people who each chose Judaism—not because it was easy, fashionable, or convenient, but because it felt unavoidable. Because something inside them recognize...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time with Rabbi Shlomo Gemara. Parashat Beshalach is remembered for thunder and miracle— for a sea split open, for walls of water, for a people finally breaking free from centuries of slavery. It is remembered for Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea— for faith erupting into poetry, for a nation finding its voice. But before any of that— before the water parts, before the sin...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time with Rabbi Shlomo Gemara. Parashat Beshalach is remembered for thunder and miracle— for a sea split open, for walls of water, for a people finally breaking free from centuries of slavery. It is remembered for Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea— for faith erupting into poetry, for a nation finding its voice. But before any of that— before the water parts, before the sin...

Today on the podcast, I’m deeply honored to welcome Rabbi Dr. Minna Bromberg — the founder and president of Fat Torah, a groundbreaking initiative working at the intersection of Jewish life, sacred text, and body liberation. Fat Torah’s mission is both urgent and expansive: to confront and end weight stigma in Jewish communal spaces, to train leaders and educators to recognize and uproot fatphobia...

Today on the podcast, I’m deeply honored to welcome Rabbi Dr. Minna Bromberg — the founder and president of Fat Torah, a groundbreaking initiative working at the intersection of Jewish life, sacred text, and body liberation. Fat Torah’s mission is both urgent and expansive: to confront and end weight stigma in Jewish communal spaces, to train leaders and educators to recognize and uproot fatphobia...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time with Avrum Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Gemara! This week we enter Parashat Bo—the moment in the Exodus when power finally collapses under the weight of its own cruelty. Egypt is no longer warned. It is undone. Darkness presses in. The future is struck down first. And still, Pharaoh refuses to let go—not because he doesn’t know he’s wrong, but because surrendering powe...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time with Avrum Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Gemara! This week we enter Parashat Bo—the moment in the Exodus when power finally collapses under the weight of its own cruelty. Egypt is no longer warned. It is undone. Darkness presses in. The future is struck down first. And still, Pharaoh refuses to let go—not because he doesn’t know he’s wrong, but because surrendering powe...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time. This week we turn to Parashat Va’era, the second portion in the Book of Exodus—a moment when history, faith, and power collide. In Va’era, God reveals Himself to Moses and launches a direct confrontation with Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler of his time. What follows are the first seven plagues—acts meant not only to punish Egypt, but to expose the moral bankruptcy o...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time. This week we turn to Parashat Va’era, the second portion in the Book of Exodus—a moment when history, faith, and power collide. In Va’era, God reveals Himself to Moses and launches a direct confrontation with Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler of his time. What follows are the first seven plagues—acts meant not only to punish Egypt, but to expose the moral bankruptcy o...

On this podcast, I’m honored to welcome Dr. Marci Reiss. Marci’s story begins where so many hopeful stories begin—with a future wide open. In her mid-twenties, newly married, on her way to medical school, life felt full of promise. And then, over a single Valentine’s Day weekend, everything changed. What began as a headache and a walk along the beach became a medical crisis. A frightening diagnosi...

On this podcast, I’m honored to welcome Dr. Marci Reiss. Marci’s story begins where so many hopeful stories begin—with a future wide open. In her mid-twenties, newly married, on her way to medical school, life felt full of promise. And then, over a single Valentine’s Day weekend, everything changed. What began as a headache and a walk along the beach became a medical crisis. A frightening diagnosi...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time. Today, Rabbi Shlomo Gemara and I step into Parashat Vayechi—a Torah portion that speaks softly, yet carries immense weight. Vayechi opens at a bedside. Jacob’s life is drawing to a close, and a family shaped by betrayal, exile, fear, and longing gathers for final words. These are not blessings meant only to comfort. They are words meant to repair. What was fractured...

Welcome to Torah in Real Time. Today, Rabbi Shlomo Gemara and I step into Parashat Vayechi—a Torah portion that speaks softly, yet carries immense weight. Vayechi opens at a bedside. Jacob’s life is drawing to a close, and a family shaped by betrayal, exile, fear, and longing gathers for final words. These are not blessings meant only to comfort. They are words meant to repair. What was fractured...

Today on the podcast, I’m honored to welcome Mustapha Ezzarghani — an Arab, a Moroccan, and a Muslim whose life and work unfold at one of the most charged intersections of our time. Mustapha is a political analyst, peace activist, and community organizer originally from Marrakech, Morocco. He is the co-founder and president of the Moroccan-Israel Friendship Association, an American organization de...

Today on the podcast, I’m honored to welcome Mustapha Ezzarghani — an Arab, a Moroccan, and a Muslim whose life and work unfold at one of the most charged intersections of our time. Mustapha is a political analyst, peace activist, and community organizer originally from Marrakech, Morocco. He is the co-founder and president of the Moroccan-Israel Friendship Association, an American organization de...

Torah in Real Time — Parashat Vayigash Parashat Vayigash opens with one of the Torah’s most charged moments: “Vayigash elav Yehudah”—Judah steps forward. He steps toward Joseph, the most powerful man in Egypt, carrying the weight of a broken family and a famine that has stripped away all illusions of safety. This is not a scene of theology or ritual. It is a scene of human crisis. Hunger has drive...

Torah in Real Time — Parashat Vayigash Parashat Vayigash opens with one of the Torah’s most charged moments: “Vayigash elav Yehudah”—Judah steps forward. He steps toward Joseph, the most powerful man in Egypt, carrying the weight of a broken family and a famine that has stripped away all illusions of safety. This is not a scene of theology or ritual. It is a scene of human crisis. Hunger has drive...

Frieda was born and raised in the Satmar Hasidic world — a tightly knit, deeply traditional community in Williamsburg and Kiryas Joel. In her early twenties, already married and a young mother, she made the courageous and complicated decision to leave that world and forge a new life beyond its boundaries. What followed was not a clean break, but something far more human: a life lived in tension be...

Frieda was born and raised in the Satmar Hasidic world — a tightly knit, deeply traditional community in Williamsburg and Kiryas Joel. In her early twenties, already married and a young mother, she made the courageous and complicated decision to leave that world and forge a new life beyond its boundaries. What followed was not a clean break, but something far more human: a life lived in tension be...

Picture this: you're fifteen years old, excited about your future, dreaming of becoming a doctor or engineer. Then overnight, armed men tell you your dreams don't matter because you're a girl. This is the reality for millions of Afghan girls since August 2021, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. While the world watched in horror as girls were banned from schools, one woman refused to...