The Living Jewishly Podcast

“If the Torah is to bear a message for all generations… its revelation has to be a dynamic process, a gradual unfolding that reveals its ultimate significance incrementally, only through time.” — Tamar Ross The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai reads something like a fairy tale, and to take the story at face value requires a high level of credulity. How is it possible for an invisible, unknowable...

“The beauty of the cyclical nature of our Hebrew calendar is that as we move through the seasons and holy days and months, we revisit universal themes each year as new people.”  — Bluth This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an episode of Sacred Time, a podcast that explores the healing art of the Hebrew calendar as it relates to our lives today. This is a replay of our Iyar episode, expl...

“Amongst my generation and especially Gen Z, I think that there is a huge awareness around mental health.” — Kyle Beechey This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of What’s in Your Toolbox, a podcast about mental health and the tools that we use to cope, heal, and thrive. In this episode, host Bobby K speaks with Kyle Beechey, a New York-based creative and accomplished vegan b...

“I’m not going to say that ‘greed is good.’ Greed can be made to DO good, but we’ve got to get the institutional designs right.” — Jason Kuznicki When people think of freedom, they usually associate it with the idea of being able to do whatever they want… as long as their actions don’t harm others. The political ideology of Libertarianism is particularly concerned with institutional restrictions o...

“We are, in many ways, slaves to the grind — grind culture and being defined by our productivity.” — Bluth Is the idea of “freedom” clear-cut and universal? How closely do we examine the chains that bind us — and how can the Sedar help us to gain new perspective?  Slavery is not a grim chapter in our history that we can consider closed. It’s an ongoing problem that still occurs today, in many part...

This passover podcast series will stir your minds and souls as we explore liberation. Enjoy this series of interviews by Bluth along with Beth Tzedec Congregation, to explore a variety of stories and expressions of Liberation in today’s society. From Toronto to Harlem, Jerusalem to Pakistan  - we hear from a Jewish thinker, queer jewish musician, racial justice educator, and a Pakistani women’s ri...

A conversation on the perversion of Honour, and its reclamation - in Pakistan This passover podcast series will stir your minds and souls as we explore liberation. Enjoy this series of interviews by Bluth along with Beth Tzedec Congregation, to explore a variety of stories and expressions of Liberation in today’s society. From Toronto to Harlem, Jerusalem to Pakistan  - we hear from a Jewish think...

“There is such a kindness in this calendar. There is so much opportunity to truly heal, to truly shift how we relate to ourselves and our world.” — Ganga Devi As we enter the month of Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, we enter a time of freshness, new beginnings… and bold possibility. With Nisan comes springtime, with its beautiful themes of renewal and life. As we look forward with a...

“There are some things that are off-limits to a legitimate religion that is supposed to have divine authority to it.” — Rabbi Eugene Korn The atmosphere during Passover is usually a blend of fun and family, but the story narrated at the Seder table contains dark overtones, as the trials and tribulations of a group in exodus are prolonged and exacerbated by their powerful G-d.   Do these plagues an...

This passover podcast series will stir your minds and souls as we explore liberation. Enjoy this series of interviews by Bluth along with Beth Tzedec Congregation, to explore a variety of stories and expressions of Liberation in today’s society. From Toronto to Harlem, Jerusalem to Pakistan  - we hear from a Jewish thinker, queer jewish musician, racial justice educator, and a Pakistani women’s ri...

This passover podcast series will stir your minds and souls as we explore liberation, in preparation for Passover!  Enjoy this series of interviews by Bluth along with Beth Tzedec Congregation, to explore a variety of stories and expressions of Liberation in today’s society. From Toronto to Harlem, Jerusalem to Pakistan  - we hear from a Jewish thinker, queer jewish musician, racial justice educat...

“Music is beyond talking. It’s a universal language that we all understand and we all feel… it can touch our souls, it can trigger a memory, it can make somebody want to move.” — Steve Koven Never underestimate the power of music. This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of What’s In Your Toolbox?, a podcast about mental health and the tools that we use to cope and heal. In th...

“How do we integrate in the way that we are constantly living in relationship to these sweet, high moments that we have?” — Bluth How do we integrate the experiences of Purim into our every day? And what lessons can we learn from the month of Adar II? This year, we celebrate two months of Adar, the last month of the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of laughter and joyful chaos, one that holds the in...

“‘The good guys and the bad guys’: it’s a day where there’s a lot of clarity and a lot of energy focused on that… We really are going to fight evil on this day and yet, at the same time, we’re undoing part of our rigid perspectives.” — Ami Silver During Purim, we’re encouraged to drink to the point of intoxication — in fact, up until we perhaps have trouble distinguishing between good and evil. Wh...

Love Me Two Times, BabyElliott begins by recalling how his daughter would dress up like Esther on Purim, all made up as though entering a “beauty contest.” But when you read the Megillah, the facts are far scarier. The key verb in relation to the story’s central figure, Esther is that “she was taken.” And in fact, just like the Liam Neeson movie, she is taken, kidnapped, to be a sex slave. The Meg...

“Happiness is connected to how we are with what we have in front of us.” — Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth Falling midway through Adar, Purim celebrates the saving of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire, after a genocidal plot concocted by a rogue court official is thwarted by a brave young Jewish woman named Esther. During Adar, and particularly around Purim, we are meant to “increase in joy” — but i...

“Trying to support a child who’s suffering and is going through some real difficult stuff around hospitalization and medication… that was something that was kind of outside of my toolbox.” — Craig Wilson How do we cope when the people closest to us are struggling? Especially when we ourselves struggle to understand their challenges? This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of...

“The art of loving is hard to learn… and even harder to master.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet When you are part of a religious community, the acts of loving and being loved can be surprisingly complex, requiring a delicate balancing act between personal freedom and external expectations, and between sexual pleasure and religious duty.    Singlehood is seen in the community as a problem to be solved — part...

Tu B'Shvat is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the renewal of trees in a yearly cycle. Elliott notes, the timing of the holiday on the Jewish calendar is weird, falling out in the middle of winter. If we really wanted to get into the spirit of the day, we'd send everyone out into the middle of mature, "into the wild," to experience the trees. Rabbi Yossi points out that the win...

“Real rest is the act of rejuvenating the inner person… the soul.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet While we stay indoors during the cold, dark months, we must remember that the time of winter rest is crucial for the blossoming and ripening of spring. The month of Shvat is a period of subtle renewal, and Tu B’shvat (often referred to as the Israeli Arbor Day) celebrates our beautiful and lifegiving friends, t...

“Your mental health is part of your brain health.” — Jade Crystal Your brain may not be a muscle, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work it! This week’s episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of What’s In Your Toolbox?, a podcast about mental health and the tools that help us to cope and heal. In this episode, host Bobby K sits down with Jade Crystal, the Program Director...

“The way people behave from birth, the way that people grow up, is what’s normal to them.” — Dr. David Greenberg Can Judaism make you sick? There are many studies that highlight the positive effects of religious life — greater contentment, a feeling of community, and a strong sense of purpose. But what about the negative effects of religion? How should we think about and deal with the guilt, shame...

“Anger can be illogical and it can cause a lot of harm. But it also can be righteous and it can be rectifying something that’s wrong.” — Ganga Devi What is the role of anger in our lives? And what can we learn from our sense of it? This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of Scared Time, a podcast devoted to the healing art of the Hebrew calendar. As we bid goodbye to Chanukah, we enter Te...

“There are friends for a season, friends for a reason, and friends for life… I had to let a lot of stuff go.” — Paul Richardson Sometimes you need to fake it till you make it — even when it comes to self care. Often, practice is required in order to receive the full benefits of your mental health tools. This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of What’s in Your Toolbox?, a pod...

“Happy journeying and happy Chanukah!” — Bluth, Jessie and the whole Living Jewishly Team This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is a special Chanukah meditation brought to you by the School of Living Jewishly. Join us this Chanukah for eight candle meditations dedicated to supporting the kindling of light and honouring the flame, while celebrating home, hope, and ordinary heroes. Meditation...