Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews

August 31, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 10: It’s Daf Yomi, Mr. Frodo! …With Special Guest Miriam Anzovin We form a small fellowship as we are joined by writer, visual artist, and TikTok creator, Miriam Anzovin. Explore the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and many other nerd culture references. as we consider the forces of good and bad in the ordinary and extraordinary. 00:04:24 Lo...

August 17, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 9 - Finding the Value of Why There are distinct similarities between the subject of Mathematics and the study of Judaism. We won’t ask you to come up to the chalkboard to prove it, but make sure you have your pocket protectors and TI-85 ready for today’s class…I mean episode. 00:00:38 - Barak’s start with Mathematics 00:04:52 - Judais...

August 3, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 8 - What Would Picard Do? Ethan held off as long as he could, so for his second time in the host seat we are exploring strange new worlds, new civilizations, and Star Trek’s prime directive (aka Starfleet General Order 1). 00:01:28 Going where no podcast has gone before 00:05:01 What is Judaism’s prime directive? 00:12:47 Can you separ...

July 20, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 7 - For You Were Once A Superhero in Egypt Our first guest host, Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik, reminds us how often Jews think about Egypt. Whether we are remembering through Passover, through our mezuzot, or through Torah study, Egypt seems to be a recurring theme for Jews. We’re pretty much like superheroes in that way, or at least one sup...

July 6, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 6 - Movie Midrash: Mussar of Madness You asked for a deeper dive into movies, so we give you our first Movie Midrash episode! Jump into the multiverse with us and learn what Jewish path Dr. Stephen Strange finds himself on in his most recent MCU appearance. 00:01:41 Popcorn Chat - Dr. Strange 2 00:13:47 Drawing the connection to Judaism...

We explore Jewish texts, history, and values and the apparent and invisible connections to your favorite movies, characters, and hobbies.  www.torahsmash.com

June 22, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 5 - Leadership Without Vision You’ve never studied parsha Yitro like this! Leadership is filled with difficult choices and can’t happen in a bubble. Listen to this episode at your next leadership training! Trust us, your leaders are also fans of nerd culture! 00:01:22 Barak explains Yitro “in a nutshell” 00:07:42 Spoiler alerts ahead fo...

June 8, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 4: The American Immigrant For his first episode in the lead chair, Rabbi David Young explores stories of Jewish immigration and its ties to one of America’s most famous superheroes! 00:01:20 - RDY Introduces the topic of Jewish Immigration and this episode’s nerdy connection 00:03:30 - The connections between Moses and Superman 00:10:36...

May 25, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 3: Pretty Fly for a Text Study We grew up adoring the music and lyrics by "Weird Al" Yankovic and always wished that we could dive deep in a text study of one of his songs. Today, that dream finally came true. Oy vey! Oy vey! 00:00:55 - Ethan dives into Weird Al’s 10th studio album 00:05:28 - What is Jewish Identity? 00:09:00 -...

May 25, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 2: Marvelous Mensch We discern the true meaning of the word "mensch" outside of its pop culture definition. Join us as we reveal which popular character from a recent record-breaking blockbuster movie encompasses this true definition of how to behave in the world. 00:00:51 - Barak’s favorite word in Jewish culture 00:03:34 - Sp...

May 23, 2022 Torah Smash! The Podcast for Nerdy Jews Episode 1: Origin Stories Welcome to Torah Smash! Discover the background behind your newest favorite podcast, Torah Smash! Meet your hosts, hear their stories, and learn how they became super nerdy Jews. …Or should we say Jewish super nerds? 00:00:47 - The journey of getting to Episode 1 00:02:50 - Allow ourselves to introduce… ourselves 00:07:...