Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations features interviews with thought-provoking rabbis, leaders and creators about the urgent issues faced by Jewish people today. As a part of Reconstructing Judaism’s multimedia Evolve project (http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/), this podcast models respectful, sacred conversations about challenging topics.
Democracy holds a special place in Reconstructionist teachings, liturgy and practice — though most Jews have embraced American democracy as hospitable to Jewish life. Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., and Rabbi William Plevan, Ph.D., dive deep into Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s — the founding thinker of Reconstructionist Judaism — thinking on democracy and pluralism and why it matters today. Each shares thoughts on the prospects for liberal democracy at a time when the form of government is under strain across the world — and what it might mean for Jewish communities. As a bonus, Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., who directs the Evolve podcast, shares the process behind Evolve’s series of essays on democracy.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guests: Rabbi Bill Plevan, Ph.D. and Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D..
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Tareq Abu Hamed, Ph.D., and Rabbi Michael Cohen talk about the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel’s Negev region. The nearly 30-year-old academic and research institution brings together students and faculty from Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and elsewhere to build relationships and solve pressing environmental challenges. Arava is partnering with a Palestinian organization on a new plan to meet needs for water, sanitation, hygiene and energy in a devastated Gaza Strip that’s years away from being rebuilt. Abu Hamed and Cohen each share how they hold on to hope in a seemingly hopeless time for those dedicated to regional peace.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guests: Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Rabbi Maurice Harris, and Rabbi Michael Cohen.
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It’s not easy to talk about and process the first anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023, when war continues to widen, hostages remain in Gaza and a ceasefire seems less and likely. This episode aims to model such a conversation. In a wide-ranging interview featuring Rabbi Mira Wasserman, Ph.D., interim vice president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Elliott Glassenberg, senior educator at BINA: the Jewish Movement for Social Change, they and Bryan discuss Oct. 7 and how Israeli and American Jews have been impacted. They also explain the relationship between RRC and BINA and how it may be more important than ever for rabbis serving in the Diaspora to devote time to better understanding the dynamics of Israeli society.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guests: Elliot Glassenberg and Rabbi Mira Beth Wasserman, Ph.D..
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If we embrace Judaism, what do we do with passages from Torah and elsewhere that seem to directly undermine our worldviews and values? Human rights attorney turned rabbinical student Maria Pulzetti makes a compelling case that we should deal with these problematic biblical passages head-on. Maria and Bryan also examine reproductive justice, as well as the legacy of slavery and systemic racism, through a Jewish lens. Later, they discuss what motivated Maria to become a rabbi, her opposition to the death penalty and her time, in the early 2000s, as a human rights worker in Russia.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Maria Pulzetti.
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Marc Dollinger has seen a thing or two. In his academic career, the historian of American Jewry has been labeled a “self-hated leftist Jew” and “right-wing Zionist colonialist.” He’s been criticized for failing to capture the full nuance of black-Jewish relations and been abandoned by his publisher for suggesting that Jews bear some responsibility for the continuance of American racism. And, while he studied leftist anti-Israel sentiments for decades — focusing on its origins after the Six Day War — he’s been utterly shocked by the virulence of anti-Israel sentiment on campuses since Oct. 7, 2023. In this packed interview, Dollinger addresses the nature of academic freedom, the importance of DEI work in Jewish communities and the lines between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. He also talks about his previous book Black Power, Jewish Politics and his forthcoming memoir of his campus intellectual battles.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Marc Dollinger.
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For a certain generation of Jewish Americans, Israel and the memory of the Holocaust represented twin pillars of civil religion, argues Louis Newman, a scholar of Jewish ethics and religion. While these pillars may have shown cracks for decades, Newman says they came crashing down on Oct. 7,2023. Israel had failed its most basic function: keeping Jews and all its inhabitants safe. What does a people do when its faith is shattered? What can we learn from our history? Where do we go from here? Newman discusses all this and more in a thought-provoking interview. The author of a new book on how to succeed in college also gives his take on campus antisemitism, anti-Israel protests and what colleges might do to restore both safety and the free exchange of ideas and expression.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Louis Newman.
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Rabbi Katie Mizrahi is a Zionist who was beyond devastated by Hamas’ mass killings, rape and kidnapping on October 7th. She reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself. And she explains why she is opposed to how Israel has conducted its war and why she joined calls for a bilateral ceasefire. She expands on this line from her essay, “But here is the heart of the matter. I am not ready to become monstrous to defend my people from monsters.” We talk about the difficulty of interpreting events and the deluge of information and making informed decisions about where one stands. She shares how B’nai Havurah Denver Reconstructionist Congregation has responded these last seven months and how Zionists and anti-Zionist still inhabit the same community. Bryan and Rabbi Katie reminisce about what it was like to be in Israel in the 90s a time of hope and optimism. She shares her experience working against Israeli demolitions of Palestinian home and the trauma of witnessing the shooting of a Palestinian man. This episode is dedicated to Bryan’s late father, Robert.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Katie Mizrahi.
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It’s a supersized Passover edition of Evolve! First, Rabbi Nathan Kamesar drops by to discuss his recent essay, "The Legitimacy of the State of Israel: Surviving in a Hostile Region." Bryan and Nathan reflect on their respective relationships with Israel and Israeli politics. Nathan opens up about what it’s like being a pulpit rabbi and spiritual leader during wartime and how he’s been approaching his job the last few months (5:00). Nathan and Bryan offer some of their personal opinions about the Israel-Hamas war and war in general. Nathan shares which of the many unknowns he would most like to know in order to make sense of things. Bryan asks Nathan about his response to the recent Atlantic Magazine cover story “The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending” (31:05). Nathan reflects on how he’s thinking about Passover this year, how he’s trying to center empathy and why it’s impossible to avoid politics at the seder table (42:30). Then, for a special bonus interview, Reconstructing Judaism’s own Rabbi Maurice Harris stops by for a conversation with Sam Wachs about all things Moses, including his starring role in the new Netflix Docudrama Testament: The Story of Moses (54:30).
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guests: Rabbi Maurice Harris and Rabbi Nathan Kamesar.
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Rabbi Haviva Ner-David, an activist and author, shares what it is like to live in Israel – and be a parent - right now, with all the heartbreak, confusion and glimmers of hope. In this conversation, the author and spiritual director discusses the personal losses she suffered on October 7 and after (9:18) She also shares anxiety about living in Israel’s north and how and why she’s recommitted herself to interfaith peace activism (22:10) and her work with the Standing Together, the grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace . With views on the conflict becoming ever more entrenched, Ner-David’s perspective is refreshingly iconoclastic. Whatever your perspective, left, right or center, she says something to challenge you.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Haviva Ner-David.
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The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association was founded in 1974 to serve as the professional association of the small but growing number of rabbis affiliated with the Reconstructionist movements. These rabbis were trained with a very different approach than their peers in other movements. Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, the RRA’s CEO for roughly the past decade, discusses the transformation of the rabbinate and why it matters to everyone who cares about Jews and Judaism (5:00). She shares how disparate factors ranging from COVID to the emergence of the gig economy have shaped the rabbinate in unexpected ways (31:50). The discussion turns to how the events of October 7 and subsequent Israel-Hamas War have placed unprecedented strain on rabbis (44:45). There are some lighter moments as well. Wechterman quotes Billy Joel: “The good old days weren’t always good. Tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems.”
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Rabbi Elyse Wechterman.
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After 20 years of work, Jay Michaelson —scholar, rabbi, lawyer, activist, meditation teacher —has published his first book of fiction, “The Secret That Is Not a Secret: Ten Heretical Tales” (03:30). The linked short stories focus on a range of Jewish characters: Men and women, Orthodox and secular, straight and gay, Israeli and American. Yet each carries a secret desire that could be described as queer, and their stories explore the nature of heresy, queerness, kabbalah, mysticism and the sometimes-thin line between erotic desire and religious yearning. Michaelson would probably have preferred we discussed “The Secret That Is Not a Secret” for the full episode. Yet, we’re living in a post October 7 world and Michaelson, who’d stopped writing about Israel about a decade ago, felt compelled to jump back in. In the Forward and Rolling Stone, he’s written about the ethics of war, the charged nature of the term genocide, the debate about campus antisemitism and the fates of the two Ivy League presidents forced to resign after public uproar. We delve into some of these op-eds (31:40) and discuss how’s he taken care of himself during one of the most emotionally trying times of his life.
Theme song, “Ilu Finu” by Rabbi Miriam Margles. Her album This is the Day is available for purchase at CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/miriammarglesandthehadarensemb
Visit our home on the web — Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations: http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org
Subscribe by Email at http://subscribebyemail.com/evolve.fireside.fm/rss
Read these show notes on the web at https://evolve.fireside.fm/1
This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.
Special Guest: Jay Michaelson.
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