Vision Magazine Podcasts

Why was Israel instructed to place graven images of kruvim atop the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies? Why was shaatnez permitted in the Mishkan (and later the Mikdash)? How did Moshe and Aharon differ in their understandings of the Mishkan's purpose?

Yehuda HaKohen is joined by Vision movement activists Shai Hershel, Aryeh Shapiro, Samantha Muskat, Yonah ben-Avraham & Danit Grady for a discussion on Leḥi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) leader Natan Yellin-Mor's revolutionary legacy as a political thinker during the underground period and early decades of Israeli independence.

What exactly did Israel receive at Sinai? In what way do the people of Israel and the Torah interact through a symbiotic relationship? Why are the statutes as expressed in the Written Torah almost always so different from Jewish law in practice?

Does the Torah have different messages for Israel and for the rest of humanity?

Why are Moshe's sons rarely mentioned in the Torah? What were the Hebrews expecting when leaving Egypt and why were they so caught off guard by the news that they would receive the Torah in the form of a set of laws? What are the different models for gentiles to participate in Israel's historic mission? In what way must Israel process the Torah in order to make it accessible to humanity?

Yesha Council chairman David Elḥayani joins Yehuda HaKohen to speak about his lonely fight against the Trump administration's two-state "Deal of the Century." The two also discuss Trump's empowering of white nationalist groups in the United States and the need for the State of Israel to take responsibility for the Palestinians under its control.

Why couldn't the numerically superior Hebrews fight Egypt at the Sea of Reeds? If the Torah shares Israel's collective soul, why was it necessary to be given in the form of a "rule book"? Who was Yehoshua and what about his background made him capable of leading the war against Amalek?

How does Tu B'Shvat teach us to recognize the subtle stirrings of redemption taking place beneath the surface?

Why was the establishment of a Hebrew calendar the first commandment given to Israel as a nation? What can the wealth Israel took out of Egypt teach us about incorporating foreign ideas into our society? In what way were t'fillin a sign of Hebrew victory over Egypt?

Z'ev Golan joins Yehuda HaKohen to discuss his personal relationship with Sternist freedom fighter Dr. Israel Eldad. The two address Dr. Eldad's life, deeds and legacy as an underground leader and nationalist intellectual who always pushed to advance Israel's redemption forward.

How was the Egyptian ideology blocking humanity from receiving a prophetic message? Why was it necessary for Egypt to be hit with ten plagues instead of one? What is the origin story of the erev rav?

The third part of a 2016 series taught by Rav Gavriel Reiss on the concept of Mashiaḥ ben Yosef and how it manifests within the Children of Israel. What is the force of Yosef in in the collective Hebrew identity and what is its relevance to identity crises in contemporary Israeli society?

What incident made the Egyptians so fearful of the children of Israel? Why was it so important to Moshe that he kill the Egyptian overseer when he could have simply ordered him to stop beating the Hebrew slave? What was the incident with Moshe nearly being killed at the inn for not circumcising his son really about?

Yehuda HaKohen responds to the feature on him recently published by The Daily Beast calling him a "Prep-School Gangster turned enigmatic West Bank Rabbi" and takes the pro-Israel Diaspora Jewish community to task for its reaction to Jonathan Pollard's dramatic arrival in the State of Israel.

The second part of a 2016 series taught by Rav Gavriel Reiss on the concept of Mashiaḥ ben Yosef and how it manifests within the Children of Israel. What is the force of Yosef in in the collective Hebrew identity and what is its relevance to identity crises in contemporary Israeli society?

What are the individual contributions of each Hebrew tribe to Israel's national collective? Why does Israel sound so harsh in his final blessings to his three eldest sons? What makes Yehuda the only son of Israel properly suited for national leadership? In what way were each of Yaakov's sons unique prototypes for different kinds of Jews throughout history?

The first part of a 2016 series taught by Rav Gavriel Reiss on the concept of Mashiaḥ ben Yosef and how it manifests within the Children of Israel. What is the force of Yosef in in the collective Hebrew identity and what is its relevance to identity crises in contemporary Israeli society?

How did Yehuda thwart Yosef's plan to realize his second dream? How does the conflict between Yehuda and Yosef reverberate through history and play out in the State of Israel today? What is the hidden value of the Diasporic Jewish identity expressed by Yaakov (as opposed to Israel)? Did Yosef use the famine to bring his family down to Egypt in hopes of implementing an alternative Hebrew mission in...

Did Yosef import prophetic dreams to Egypt? Were his intentions to correct or to abandon his father's family? If all Egypt knew of Yosef's Hebrew (from Ever) identity, were his brothers aware of this too?

Yehuda HaKohen is joined by Aryeh Shapiro for a discussion applying Frantz Fanon's teachings on colonization and anti-colonial struggle to the Maccabean Revolt commemorated on Ḥanukah.

What did Yosef misunderstand about the Hebrew mission in his youth? How did Tamar help Yehuda rediscover himself after decades of self-imposed exile from the Hebrew clan? How do the forces of Yosef and Yehuda express themselves in the people of Israel today?

In what way did Leah help Yaakov learn to become Israel? What challenge did Yaakov pose to Lavan's worldview? What did Yaakov's fight with Esav's angel actually determine? What caused Yaakov to believe he would find an appropriate husband for Dina in Shkhem?

Yehuda HaKohen is joined by Diaspora-based co-host Justin Ellis and political analyst Mordechai Taub for a discussion on upcoming Israeli elections, the Jonathan Pollard Affair and whether or not United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (the "partition plan") actually "gave" the Jewish people a nation-state.

In order to become Israel, Yaakov had to first incorporate into himself many of his brother's characteristics. His years in Aram working for Lavan and managing some very complicated family dynamics forced him to grow in such a way that helped him become more like Esav.

Why was Rivka's Aramean cosmopolitanism so crucial an ingredient for Israel's national roots? What personal crisis caused Esav to abandon his family's path at the age of 15? How do the personal traits of Yaakov and Esav find expression in the Hebrew and Western civilizations they produced?