Jewish Ideas to Change the World
Jewish Ideas to Change the World delivers thought-provoking content by leading Jewish thinkers with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. It is produced by Valley Beit Midrash. Valley Beit Midrash (VBM) is dedicated to social justice as driven by Torah ethics. VBM's mission is to improve lives through Jewish learning, direct action, and leadership development. Listen to VBM's other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (weekly divrei Torah by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom on Living with Kindness (Rabbi Shmuly's class series) Stay Connected: • Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org Attended virtual programs live by becoming a member for just $18 per month...
Spiritual Calm Within the Storm? A Conversation with Rabbi David Kasher
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz in conversation with Rabbi David Kasher.
Rabbi David Kasher is the Director of Hadar West, based in Los Angeles. He grew up bouncing back and forth between the Bay Area and Brooklyn, hippies and Hassidim – and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. He received rabbinic ordination at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and a doctorate in legal studies from Berkeley Law. He has served as Senior Jewish Educator at Berkeley Hillel, Director of Education at Kevah, and Associate Rabbi at IKAR. He is the author of ParshaNut: 54 Journeys into the World of Tor...
Teaching Heschel to the Next Generation
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Or Rose
About The Event:
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was a gifted Jewish theologian and scholar, and an impassioned social activist. His reputation has grown significantly since his death over fifty years ago. What can we learn from the unflagging efforts of this revered twentieth-century figure today? How can we share key elements of his call for “moral grandeur and spiritual audacity” with younger people seeking to engage in spirituality-grounded activism? What might Heschel have to say to the next generation?
About The Speaker:
R...
Israel at 77: Appreciating Dreams in a World of Challenges
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yair Silverman
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About The Event:
The Israeli Declaration of Independence opens with “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped”. However, in the Jewish Tradition, the people of Israel are fashioned as freed slaves emerging from Egyptian bondage. How do our natives impact the vision of a shared future?
About The Speaker:
Rabbi Yair Silverman is co-founder and Rabbi of Moed in Zichro...
From the Shoah to October 7th: Perspectives on Jewish Survival
In this powerful conversation, renowned author and speaker Yossi Klein Halevi joins us for an in-depth conversation exploring the evolving perspectives on Jewish survival, from the Shoah to the profound impact of October 7th.
About The Speaker:
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is co-host, together with Donniel Hartman, of the Hartman Institute’s podcast, “For Heaven’s Sake” – the number one Jewish podcast in the English-speaking world.
Halevi’s 2013 book, “Like Dreamers,” won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. His lat...
The End of the Post-Holocaust Era: How October 7 Changed Everything
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Yossi Klein Halevi
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion & Jewish Community Relations of Greater Phoenix
About The Event:
Israelis and Diaspora Jews are experiencing the upheavals caused by the October 7 massacre in different ways, but we share trauma and deep unease about the future. How will Israel emerge from the crisis? What changes should we hope for in Israeli society? The Middle East? The American Jewish-Israeli relationship?
About The Speaker:
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at...
Is There Still Hope for Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence? - Interview with Yossi Klein Halevi
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Yossi Klein Halevi for a powerful conversation on whether there is still hope for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence.
Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is co-host, together with Donniel Hartman, of the Hartman Institute’s podcast, “For Heaven’s Sake” – the number one Jewish podcast in the English-speaking world.
Halevi’s 2013 book, “Like Dreamers,” won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. His latest book, “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor,” is a New York Times bestseller and has appeared in a dozen...
Was Moses a Prophet or a Rabbi?
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Chai
About The Event:
What does it mean to be Jewish? There are many ways to grapple with this question, and this lesson is inspired by and an elaboration of a unique traditional Jewish oral teaching of an Ethiopian Qes. Specifically, through comparing two modes in which Jewish tradition is carried (as well as the way stories are told!), we will come to ask how bridges can be built between different kinds of Judaism.
A...
The Shabbat Parent: A Real Talk Book Talk with a Mom and Rabbanit
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn, BCC
About The Event:
Rabbanit Alissa will share personal stories and reflections on her new book, “Shabbat Guidebook for Parents: Halacha of Caring for Infants, Toddlers, and Young Children on Shabbat and Yom Tov”, also available on Amazon.
This guide is an easy go-to for parents to learn how to care for infants, toddlers, and children on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Based on real-life situations and informed by the author’s shul and chaplaincy experiences as well as her life as a mom, this gui...
Jewish Ethics: The Basics
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Geoffrey Claussen
About The Event:
Rabbi Dr. Geoffrey Claussen’s new book, Jewish Ethics: The Basics, is designed to help us think critically about the diversity of Jewish ethics—on topics including authority, human rights, war, land, power, gender, sexuality, environmental ethics, animal ethics, and more. In this session, we will consider how Jews have passionately disagreed about fundamental moral claims and about what constitutes Jewish ethics, and we will consider how we may understand our ideas within the history of Jewish debates.
About The...
The Jews are a Nation Unlike All Others: Franz Rosenzweig on Jewish Uniqueness
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Zachary Truboff
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About The Event:
Franz Rosenzweig has long been considered one of the most brilliant and insightful Jewish thinkers. At the heart of his thought is the belief that the Jews’ covenant with God marks them as different and, as a result, orients them differently in the world than all other peoples. By neither embracing nor rejecting Zionism, Rosenzweig sought to mark a path for Judaism in modernity that would allow it to remain true to its deep...
From History to Story: The Hagada’s Invitation to Imagination
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Devora Steinmetz
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About The Event:
The Passover seder challenges us to see ourselves as participants in an ancient story. In this session, we will look at a variety of ways in which the hagada helps us enter into our ancestors’ story and make it our own.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13b0-sp_J-Q4-WfRZbZAwrtIiHG5YYZgJ/view
About The Speaker:
Devora Steinmetz serves on the Hebrew College Rabbinical School facu...
Shimon & Levi and the Massacre of Shechem
A virtual event presentation by Ethan Davidson
About The Event:
Inspired by his own experiences and the tragic events of October 7, 2023, And They Arose Early To Do Sexual Violence: My Personal Mirror of Torah by Ethan Daniel Davidson challenges readers to consider how ancient narratives parallel humanity’s ongoing struggle with violence and the responses to such violence; be they measured and justified, or disproportionate and unjustifiable. We will explore the story of Dinah using excerpts from Davidson’s latest book and discuss parallels to the Israel/Gaza war.
*Source Sheet: https://drive...
Breaking Out of Personal and Family Patterns of Behavior: Esther as a Model of Growth and Courage
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David Jaffe
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About The Event:
According to 20th Century Mussar master, Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, much of our behavior is determined by past choices, habits, education, and family culture. Patterns of behavior can be passed down from generation to generation, for better or for worse. The Purim and Pesach season offers us Jewish spiritual technologies for seeing and breaking out of these patterns. This session will explore Esther as a model of facing and overcoming limiting behaviors that offer us...
Behind the Veil: Esther’s Subtle Genius in the Purim Story
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Shalhevet Cahana
The event was co-hosted by Beth El Phoenix
About The Event:
Often celebrated as the one who saved the Jewish people from certain downfall, how exactly did Esther do it? A close reading of the text indicates that Esther’s true brilliance lies not only in her bravery to even attempt it on the pain of death but also in her deft and magnificently subtle manipulation of events.
This class will analyze the layers of Esther’s calculated, cunning, and cleve...
God is in the Details: Jewish Law in Search of the Ideal
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard, Ph.D
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion
About The Event:
Why is Jewish Law important and relevant for us today? Written and oral Torah has been an ongoing adaptive legal system for over 3500 years. Its central institutions have been Justice and Loving Kindness, the Sabbath, and the Temple system. This talk will explore the ideals that have guided and still guide Jewish law in its search to fulfill the Divine will.
About The Speaker:
Rabbi Ts...
The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Adina Allen
The event was co-sponsored by:
About The Event:
Join us for an inspiring book talk with artist and educator Rabbi Adina Allen, author of The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom. Creativity offers us a portal to transformation, spiritual connection, and revelation. It is there for us when we feel stuck, divided, or disconnected. When we bring our creativity to the Torah, we can surface new and potent insights that can support us in times of challenge. In her hi...
Sacred Soundtrack: The Poetry and Music of Piyut from Jewish Communities Around the World
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi J. Rolando Matalon
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About The Event:
Composed and sung in different lands from the 3rd or 4th century CE on, piyut is the sung sacred poetry that has accompanied individuals, families, and entire communities in the spiritual journey of life throughout Jewish history and which represents the core of the Jewish people’s spiritual world.
Piyutim are the sacred songs that have made the experience of Shabbat and the Jewish holidays beautiful and holy, both at the...
The Midwives' Escape: From Egypt to Jericho - An Interview with Maggie Anton
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with author Maggie Anton.
Maggie Anton is an award-winning author of historical fiction, a Talmud scholar, and an expert in Jewish women's history. Her novels include the Rashi's Daughters trilogy; Rav Hisda's Daughter: Apprentice (a National Jewish Book Award finalist) and its sequel, Enchantress; and The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud, which is a cross between midrash and fan fiction inspired by Chaim Potok's early novels. She also won a Gold Ben Franklin Award in the religion category for Fifty Shades of Talmud: What the First Rabbis Had t...
Avraham: What is the Source of His Faith?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Batya Hefter
About The Event:
Avraham is the father of faith for all monotheistic religions. What was so unique about Avraham that God should choose him? To answer this question, we’ll consider the Torah’s narrative, then learn a classic midrash and finally delve into an innovative and surprising Hasidic insight. Learning about Avraham’s spiritual journey may open the door to learning about our own.
*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hMqF7wECfUuQGvtZfbI3WhGEnRFgN_s4/edit
About The Speaker:
Rab...
How Responsa Make Meaning: The Case of Non-Jewish Holidays
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Mark Washofsky
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Solel
About The Event:
Reform Judaism has long taught and preached that our tradition permits us to participate fully in the life of the surrounding culture. But the sources of that tradition seem to communicate a very different message. In our session, we’ll read how two responsa—one Reform and one Orthodox—translate those sources into decisions that draw a (hopefully) proper balance between Jewish distinctiveness and citizenship in the wider world. In doing so, we’ll c...
Sherman Minkoff Memorial Lecture: The Constitution and its Demand for Radical Empathy
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Jack Moline
The event was co-hosted by Congregation Beth Israel
About The Event:
We live in a time in which the acquisition and deployment of political power has overshadowed the values of civic engagement and public service. What is the essential message of the defining document of the United States, and how can it help us to restore a sense of authenticity to both the left and the right? Rabbi Jack Moline will draw on his years as a successful congregational rabbi, prominent in...
Hope: An Interview with Rabbi Jack Moline
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Rabbi Jack Moline about hope.
Jack Moline is President Emeritus of Interfaith Alliance and also Rabbi Emeritus of Agudas Achim Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, where he served in the pulpit for 27 years. Rabbi Moline is the author of two collections of contemporary Torah commentary, Different Chapter, Same Verse (Amazon), Volume 1 (September 2024), and Volume 2 (January 2025), in addition to earlier books on leadership, mourning, and Jewish humor. Rabbi Moline also contributes to many publications, both print and web-based, and is the host of the webcasts “The American Purpose” and “Stay Home, Stay Focused.” He is a popu...
The Control Over Time: Debates and Controversies of the Jewish Calendar
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About The Event:
Time is crucial for our self-perception, cultural orientation, and social structure: whoever controls time controls the conversation. We will examine ancient and more recent debates regarding the Jewish calendar and will ponder why there are few such controversies today—with one notable exception.
About The Speaker:
Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph.D., is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash at HUC-JIR’s Taube Family Campus...
Recovery in the Torah: Models Of Spirituality And Healing
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Chaim Tureff
The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai
About The Event:
A book talk with Rabbi Chaim Tureff. A groundbreaking book that explores one aspect of each Torah portion to help readers find personal meaning and practical application in the realm of recovery from addiction.
Recovery in the Torah offers guidance to those who have struggled with addictive behavior, their acquaintances, and anyone who seeks spiritual clarity in a chaotic and uncertain world.
About The Speaker:
Ra...
Exploring the Rich History of the Jewish Balkans
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz has a sit-down conversation with Marko Gasparovic.
Marko Gasparovic is an educator dedicated to advancing social justice through the lens of Jewish values. With over 10 years of experience teaching piano and a background in Musicology and Music Management from the Sorbonne University in Paris, Marko has redirected his focus towards a career in the rabbinate. Currently studying at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, he is passionate about integrating Torah learning with activism, fostering inclusivity, and uplifting marginalized voices. Marko is committed to aligning Jewish tradition with the pursuit of justice, making a m...
It Takes Two To Torah: Finding What Unites Us at a Time of Deep Division - Denver
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel, The Denver Kehillah, BMH-BJ
About the event:
Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform Journalist Abigail Pogrebin will be in conversation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz about their unlikely journey together through the Five Books of Moses during two of the most turbulent years in American history.
About the Speakers:
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award finalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Je...
It Takes Two To Torah: Finding What Unites Us at a Time of Deep Division
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel, The Denver Kehillah, and BMH-BJ.
About the event:
Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform Journalist Abigail Pogrebin will be in conversation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz about their unlikely journey together through the Five Books of Moses during two of the most turbulent years in American history.
About the Speakers:
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award finalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wo...
Are You My Mother | Nature vs Nurture in Moshe’s Life
A virtual event presentation by Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion & BMH-BJ
About The Event:
Moshe grew up with many mothers; we will learn about each of them and discuss their impact on Moshe, the man, our greatest leader and teacher.
*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BpeHchB_qMoPzqoGkAp0RywuKFfxhSi5/view?usp=sharing
About The Speaker:
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as the Associate Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, NY. She is grateful for th...
From the Warsaw Ghetto to America – A Holocaust Survival Story
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Stephen M. Felton Ph.D., M.D.
The event was co-sponsored by the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Phoenix Holocaust Association. EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:
About The Event:
Join us for a powerful event where Dr. Felton will share his story. He will discuss what it was like to be born into the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto and read excerpts from his mother’s memoirs which are published in the book “I Shall Lead You Through the Nights.” Alongside this, Dr. Felton will recount...
Is God Dead?
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Elias Sacks
About The Event:
Ever since the nineteenth century, it has been common for thinkers to declare that “God is dead”—that it no longer makes sense to believe in a deity (and perhaps never did). However, even as critiques of belief in God have become increasingly prevalent, a wide range of thinkers have challenged this perspective, arguing not only that there are good reasons to believe in God, but also that this type of belief is more important now than ever before. In this session, we will ex...
Recycle Your Way to Redemption: When Kabbalah Teaches That All Matter Matters
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer
About The Event:
The climate crisis and its challenges need no introduction. But what of medieval kabbalists whose mystical contemplations may be more relevant in the age of the Anthropocene than ever before? Learning how specific kabbalists perceived inanimate objects as hopeful beings will forever change the way we view even a plastic bottle.
About The Speaker:
Jonnie Schnytzer is probably the only PhD in Jewish Philosophy focusing on medieval kabbalah, who can say that he once beat the head of Israeli Naval Commandos in...
The Forgotten Torah – The Sephardic Approach to Halakha, Jewish Life, and Community Leadership
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Haim Ovadia
The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ
About the Event:
Sephardic Halakha does not necessarily come from Spain – Sefarad, nor is it practiced solely or by all Sephardic rabbis. It is a way of life that balances religious behavior and knowledge with general sciences and with the necessities of life. It is the product of cross-cultural fertilization with Islam in its early and formative years, and it is markedly different from the Ashkenazi approach, which evolved under Catholic influence and which currently dominates Jewish rel...
The Surprising Power of Women in the Bible: Eve, Hagar, and Judith
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Suzanne Singer
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About the Event:
Did Eve tempt Adam to eat the fruit of the tree? Was Hagar a victim or a prophet? Who were the women warriors? Through biblical stories and midrash (rabbinic interpretations), we will uncover how these women challenged the patriarchy.
About the Speaker:
Rabbi Suzanne Singer served Temple Beth El in Riverside, CA, for 15 years before retiring in 2023. She now serves Congregation Havurim in Temecula monthly, in addition to teac...
Jewish Law Rooted in Jewish Values: A Conversation with Rabbi Dov Linzer
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Rabbi Dov Linzer to explore Jewish laws grounded in core Jewish values.
Rabbi Dov Linzer is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva (Rabbinic Head) of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an Orthodox rabbinical school and Torah center, which promotes a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy. He has written for the Forward, Tablet, and The New York Times and hosted highly popular Torah podcasts.
★ Support this podcast ★Hammerman Family Lecture – It Takes Two To Torah: Finding What Unites Us at a Time of Deep Division
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Abigail Pogrebin and Rabbi Dov Linzer
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Solel
About the event:
Orthodox Rabbi Dov Linzer and Reform Journalist Abigail Pogrebin will be in conversation with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz about their unlikely journey together through the Five Books of Moses during two of the most turbulent years in American history.
About the Speakers:
Abigail Pogrebin is the author of the National Jewish Book Award finalist My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew” and “Stars of David...
The Religious Significance of Secular Studies According to Rabbi Yosef Hayyim (1835-1909)
A virtual event presentation by Professor Zvi Zohar
The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion
About the Event:
In ancient times, some rabbis held that since one is commanded to study Torah day and night (Joshua 1:8), other intellectual realms could be acquired only ‘when it is neither day nor night.’ An exception could be made only for learning a practical profession, enabling one to earn a living. (See, e.g., JT Pe’ah 1:1).
Following in the spirit of those ancient scholars, many East European Rabbis in recent centuri...
Why Should I Fast on Yom Kippur: Guidance in Contemporary Jewish Sources
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Joel Gereboff
About the Event:
Although most Jews know that it is traditional to fast on Yom Kippur, the latest Pew Study of American Jews shows that only half of American Jews do fast. In many ways, Jews seek to find reasons to fast or to make fasting a meaningful experience. This presentation will examine guidance provided in contemporary Machzorim (prayer books) regarding the meaning of fasting.
About the Speaker:
Joel Gereboff is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Hi...
Is There a Connection Between Saul’s Murderous Paranoia and His Religious Fundamentalism?
A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber
About The Event:
When Israel undergoes a famine, King David learns that the cause is Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites “out of zealotry for Israel and Judah” years earlier. This is not the only slaughter we hear about regarding Saul. And yet Saul was the first king of Israel, chosen by God and Samuel, and was the person most responsible for putting Israel on the map as an independent power. How do we understand the fuller picture of the man? The connection between Saul’s success...
The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud
A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Gila Fine
The event was co-sponsored by The New Shul and BMH-BJ
About The Event:
“Women in the Talmud are generally marginal and almost always anonymous – the daughters, sisters, and wives of prominent rabbis. The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic explores the stories of the exceptions, the six named heroines of the Talmud: Yalta the shrew, Homa the femme fatale, Marta the prima donna, Heruta the madonna/whore, Beruria the overreacherix, and Ima Shalom the angel in the house. As their epithets suggest, all of...
Judaism and Anti-Intellectualism
A virtual event presentation by Dr. Elias Sacks
The event was co-sponsored by Temple Emanuel
About The Event:
We live in an anti-intellectual age—a time of scientific skepticism, doubts about the value of higher education, and hostility toward many forms of expertise and advanced learning. But anti-intellectualism is not an exclusively modern development; on the contrary, it has a long history in religious traditions, including Judaism, where many figures have cast science, philosophy, and other forms of rigorous intellectual inquiry as irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst. In this sess...
