Turn it and Turn it

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response"  Through a variety of texts - Biblical, Rabbinic, Hasidic and Homiletic - we will explore an alternative and innovative theological framework for understanding Jewish history. How has Exile had a determinative impact on the development of Judaism while constituting a distinctively Jewish conceptual contribution to ci...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response"  The philosopher Theodor Adorno famously, or infamously, said that “poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” But for a generation of Jewish writers, poetry after and about Auschwitz was an essential way of grappling with, and grieving for, the Holocaust. Together we’ll look at Yiddish poets who turned to verse to craft t...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response"  The covenant takes four generations to fulfill- the first three generations suffer without ever experiencing the relief of that suffering, which allows the fourth generation to enter the Land of Israel. This audio was originally recorded on 11/29/2012 as part of an evening of learning dedicated to Hurricane Sandy re...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response" Just as Rabbinic Judaism represented renewal after the destruction of the Second Temple, upon analysis we can expect to observe no less a transformation in the Jewish people and our religious experience after the Shoah. Click here to view the accompanying source sheet.  This audio was originally recorded on 12/25/201...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response"  Judaism contains age-old formulations of how to respond to tragedy and radical change that continue to help us today. Turning to our texts helped us to preserve as well as to build. This audio was originally recorded on 12/24/2012 as part of Drisha's Winter Week.

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response"  The slaughter of strong Jewish communities throughout Europe during the Crusades catalyzed the development of the theology of Kiddush Hashem - the choice to martyr one's self rather than undergo forced conversion or murder at the hands of religious persecutors. How did the Halakhic authorities of medieval Ashkenaz r...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response" An exploration of midrashic tales of dismay and righteous responses to tragic fates.   This audio was originally recorded on 11/01/2012

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Tragedy & Response" When did the Holocaust come into the consciousness of Jews, in America and in Israel?  How did Yom HaShoah come to be, and, for that matter, where did the word “Shoah” itself come from?  How were the emerging theologies of the Holocaust (“God is Dead,” “A New Covenant”) crafted?  Was there an Orthodox “position” on t...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" Are you always busy, juggling a million different commitments? Do you wonder how to set priorities within all the different opportunities and tasks that come your way? We will explore the Talmudic principle of "oseik b'mitzvah" the exemption from certain mitzvot for one who has a prior commitment to a different mitzvah. Through clo...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" Are you always busy, juggling a million different commitments? Do you wonder how to set priorities within all the different opportunities and tasks that come your way? We will explore the Talmudic principle of "oseik b'mitzvah" the exemption from certain mitzvot for one who has a prior commitment to a different mitzvah. Through clo...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" Are you always busy, juggling a million different commitments? Do you wonder how to set priorities within all the different opportunities and tasks that come your way? We will explore the Talmudic principle of "oseik b'mitzvah" the exemption from certain mitzvot for one who has a prior commitment to a different mitzvah. Through clo...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot"  We will examine the claim of many Jewish philosophers and Bible commentators who argue that mitzvot primarily serve the purpose of differentiating Jews from views and practices of the outside world.  Is being different a value in and of itself? This audio was originally recorded on 12/27/2006 as part of Drisha's Winter Week. 

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" If mitzvot have reasons, are those reasons rational? Is the purpose of mitzvot to help us live more rational lives or are they meant to get us to rise to some plane above the rational? We will examine the great divide between the rational and mystical schools of Jewish thinking and see how the issue plays out in Bible commentaries...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" An exploration of the Zohar`s understanding of the mitzvot, how they impact us, and our expectations in performing them. This audio was originally recorded on 12/25/2006 as part of Drisha's Winter Week. 

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" Jewish thinkers through the ages have often disagreed about whether mitzvot have reasons at all, and, even if they do, whether it is meritorious, worthwhile, pretentious or dangerous for us human beings to attempt to figure out those reasons. We will examine texts from Jewish philosophers and Bible commentators which address this i...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot"  Utilizing classic rabbinic sources as well as relevant psychological material and research, this podcast explores several interpretations of the purpose, meaning and experience of mitzvot from psychological, spiritual, and religious perspectives. Click here to view the accompanying source sheet.  This audio was originally recorded...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Mitzvot" Tractate Berachot’s concluding discussions of everyday liturgical performances emphasize the need to find God in all realms of experience, by reciting blessings over food and diverse phenomena. This contrasts starkly with parallel discussions in other Talmudic texts, such as Tosefta Berachot, which focus on seeking God through the...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine"  While positions regarding a multitude of scenarios in the realm of physical health have been crafted over centuries of Halakhic literature, questions of mental illness have unfortunately received very little attention. This is part three of a series that  will consider how Halakhah responds to mental illness, considering t...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine"  While positions regarding a multitude of scenarios in the realm of physical health have been crafted over centuries of Halakhic literature, questions of mental illness have unfortunately received very little attention. This is part two of a series that  will consider how Halakhah responds to mental illness, considering top...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine"  While positions regarding a multitude of scenarios in the realm of physical health have been crafted over centuries of Halakhic literature, questions of mental illness have unfortunately received very little attention. This is part one of a series that  will consider how Halakhah responds to mental illness, considering top...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine" Human dignity is a concept often invoked in contemporary medical ethics, especially in favor of patients’ right to choose the course of their treatment — or whether to continue treatment at all. This emphasis on patient autonomy has frequently put Jewish medical ethicists at odds with their secular counterparts, since halak...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine" Human dignity is a concept often invoked in contemporary medical ethics, especially in favor of patients’ right to choose the course of their treatment — or whether to continue treatment at all. This emphasis on patient autonomy has frequently put Jewish medical ethicists at odds with their secular counterparts, since halak...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine" Human dignity is a concept often invoked in contemporary medical ethics, especially in favor of patients’ right to choose the course of their treatment — or whether to continue treatment at all. This emphasis on patient autonomy has frequently put Jewish medical ethicists at odds with their secular counterparts, since halak...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine"  Human dignity is a concept often invoked in contemporary medical ethics, especially in favor of patients’ right to choose the course of their treatment — or whether to continue treatment at all. This emphasis on patient autonomy has frequently put Jewish medical ethicists at odds with their secular counterparts, since hala...

This season of Turn it & Turn it is on the topic of: "Modern Medicine"  The decisions we make in caring for a dying patient are fraught with emotion. They are also the subject of intense debate among medical professionals and bioethicists, no less within the Jewish community than within society at large, and the tension between traditional Jewish and modern secular positions often complicates...