Orthodox Conundrum

This podcast is called “The Orthodox Conundrum” and many of us self-identify as Orthodox, pray in Orthodox synagogues, affiliate with Orthodox institutions, and consider ourselves part of the wider Orthodox world. But is that term “Orthodox” - and perhaps the concept of denominations in general - a help or a hindrance? Do denominations lead to the building of walls that separate us, and the creation of institutions that are cornered into an inability to change? And let’s say that they do; is that a bad thing? Perhaps creating such boundaries is necessary, as without them Torah Judaism cannot effectively or functionally operate. These are important questions to consider, and given the radical realignment that may be possible in the wake of October 7th and its aftermath, we need to have these conversations now. For that reason, Scott was honored to speak with Dr. Mijal Bitton. This conversation with Mijal was precipitated not just by a desire to talk about the future of Orthodoxy, but even more by the need to highlight individuals who can help lead Torah Judaism into an as-yet unknown future. It seems that much, though of course not all, of our leadership has failed in this hour, and we must look in new directions in order to highlight new voices. Dr. Bitton is one of those newer voices, and her conversation with Scott covered many different topics, including the subtly changing attitudes of American Jews towards the events in Israel now that the war is 100 days old; the impact of anti-Israel activity on the psyche of the American Jewish community; her role as Rosh Kehilah at the Downtown Minyan in Manhattan and what that shul is doing to stay within the boundaries of Jewish law while trying to create a new model of openness - what she calls a Covenantal/Traditional Community that follows Orthodox Halacha along with inculcating an egalitarian aesthetic; the opportunities and limits of female participation in the synagogue; her work studying Sefaradic and Syrian Jewry: the problems with institutions; and more. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Dr. Erica Brown has been a guest on the Orthodox Conundrum twice in the past six months: once, in episode 170, about leadership, and again in episode 176 about the theology of Kohelet. It's unprecedented to have a guest back so frequently in a short time frame, but Erica’s voice is one which needs to be heard by as many people as possible. Erica composed a type of memoir or spiritual diary in the two months between Simchat Torah and Chanukah, where she openly discussed her thoughts and feelings about the atrocities of October 7th, and the subsequent war against Hamas which, ever since it began, has been occupying our hearts and minds constantly. This extremely personal work is entitled Staying Human, and despite its characterization as a memoir, it effectively captures the emotions and spiritual insights of one individual in such a way that readers can relate to it as well. Perhaps more than anything else written since October 7th, Erica successfully puts much of what so many have been experiencing into words, and in so doing, has allowed us to confront these feelings in new and productive ways. In this conversation, she and Scott talked about why she wrote this book, its interesting structure, and how she would characterize it. They also talked about many of the issues that she raises, including the conflict between what Rav Kook calls the Song of the Nation and the Song of Humanity, the problem of theodicy in Jewish thought, handling the rage we may feel so that it does not become unhealthy, how to relate to the question of innocent Palestinian civilians, why it’s important to identify and name evil, why people so often fall back into moral relativism, ways to rethink social justice given that so many Jewish advocates of social justice feel betrayed by their allies, issues with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the future of leadership when young people have been so much more impressive than our existing political and religious leadership, the dynamic between despair and gratitude, and more. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

“The IDF is the most moral army on earth.” We hear this said, and we hope that it’s true. But what does it mean? How is morality defined in wartime? Is the IDF Code of Ethics in line with Jewish teachings? Does the IDF in fact follow its own Code of Ethics? Alongside these general questions, are specific questions that relate to the Torah viewpoint regarding what an army is obligated to do ethically when it is at war. What does Judaism have to say about the ethics of war, and are these ethics essentially the same as those demanded by the Geneva Conventions? To what degree must civilian non-combatants be protected? When is an army spokesperson allowed to lie in order to deceive the enemy? To what degree must we put our own soldiers in danger in order to protect innocents on the other side? Are reprisals against innocent civilians in order to further war aims ever justified? There are also other questions that we cannot ignore, such as how a Torah-based ethic of war deals with difficult passages of the Bible, such as when the Torah obligates Israel to obliterate Amalek and the Seven Canaanite nations. The Torah also allows a king to wage a milchemet reshut, an optional war, for reasons that may not accord with the modern concept of a just war. How do we relate to these laws in establishing wartime ethics predicated upon the Torah? And of course, there are questions that relate directly to the current war that Israel is waging against Hamas. Has the IDF made ethical mistakes? Where has the IDF acted in an exceptional ethical manner? Is the current war considered a milchemet mitzvah, an obligatory war - and if so, is there justification for certain populations to avoid it for the sake of a higher religious goal? This brings us back to that opening statement, “The IDF is the most moral army on earth.” Based on the answers to all of these questions, can we say that the Israeli army is, indeed, the most moral army on earth, or are there areas which need improvement in order for that statement to be considered accurate? To discuss all of these questions, Scott spoke with Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, whose new book, Ethics of our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality was just published. There are few issues that are as timely as this, and their conversation addressed some of the most important issues facing Israel’s army today. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com  

It has been tremendously disheartening to hear the reactions (or lack thereof) to Hamas’s crimes of October 7th. One of the most obvious instances of this has been the silence of too many organizations dedicated to the protection of women, regarding the rape and mutilation of Israeli victims by Hamas terrorists as they rampaged through southern Israel. There is abundant evidence of gender-based violence perpetrated by Hamas. However, many people who choose to support Hamas are engaged in gaslighting - that is, trying to convince us that people didn’t see what they saw, and don’t know what they know to be true. It can make people question their sanity, which is exactly what these Hamas supporters are trying to do. Some individuals are heroically fighting against this gaslighting, including Scott's guest, Rahel Bayar. She attended a session at the United Nations two weeks ago that was dedicated to presenting testimony about the sexual violence that unquestionably occurred. In this episode, Rahel frankly and graphically describes some of the sexual violence of October 7th, and also talks about what happened at the UN, why this session was important, some possible reasons that so many organizations have remained silent, the reason that we should not castigate these organizations when the issue statements months after the fact, and more. This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual violence. Please consider whether you want to listen, as well as whether you want to listen while children are present. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com Follow @Orthodox Conundrum on Instagram and @JewishCoffeeH on X/Twitter.

So many people have noted that there are significant parallels between the Jewish world as it exists after the October 7th pogrom and the subsequent war with an enemy determined to wipe Jews and Judaism off the map, and the themes that we pay attention to on Chanukah. In order to discuss some of these ideas in greater depth, and consider the ways that we can uniquely relate to them in 2023, Scott was honored to invite three favorite podcast guests back to the Orthodox Conundrum: Rabbi Judah Mischel, Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, and Dr. Malka Simkovich. Each guest brought a unique perspective to the important ways to relate to Chanukah in today's environment - an environment that includes a war against an enemy that openly asserts its desire to destroy Jews and Judaism, the rediscovery of Jewish feeling among many, a frightening resurgence of antisemitism, and more. All three discussions were free flowing, and were, in many ways, more conversational than typical interviews. We hope that the ideas that were expressed will offer you some new ways of relating to Chanukah so that we can all discover additional layers of meaning in the service of providing chizuk, or encouragement, in these difficult times. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Since Israel’s war against Hamas began following the horrific events of October 7th, one of the singular challenges Israel faces has been explaining its position to the world, or what’s called in Hebrew, hasbara. It’s never easy defending Israel in the media, never mind going on the offensive; with a natural skepticism of everything that Israel does, combined with some obvious latent antisemitism, many often portray Israel as seemingly having nefarious intentions, and regularly violating the rules of war. When that is combined with a common willingness to believe Hamas’s narratives while Israel, as a Western democracy, inevitably checks its facts before reporting them - and accordingly often has to respond to an emerging narrative, rather than writing it in the first place - the challenges Israel faces become even greater. Fortunately, Israel has some individuals who are expert at telling its story and in playing the hasbara game - and Scott speaks to two of them in today's episode. Eylon Levy has emerged as Israel’s most well-known and effective spokesperson over the past two months; his fame skyrocketed about a week and a half ago, when he responded expertly, and with astonishment, when a news presenter asked him whether the fact that three Palestinian prisoners were released for every Israeli hostage somehow indicated that Israel thinks that Israeli lives are more valuable than Palestinian lives. Rabbi Pesach Wolicki has become one of the leading advocates for Israel in the world of Christian media. His appearances have largely been on Christian networks like TBN and CBN, which are watched by millions of viewers. This podcast addresses some very important issues that commonly arise for those who defend Israel in the media. But the most important message applies to every listener: how you, when confronting those who castigate Israel, can become an effective spokesperson on behalf of the State of Israel. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Many believe that the events of October 7th and their aftermath will lead to a major realignment in many aspects of Israeli and Jewish life. One of the most acute and obvious is the issue of ultra-orthodox deferments from the Israeli military. These deferments are granted based on the assumption that the Torah study in yeshivot is a vital part of the war effort, and on a metaphysical level is a major reason (and perhaps the major reason) for the Israeli army's success. But is this based on an accurate reading of the sources? Can a modern state rely on metaphysical reasoning when making policy? And crucially, is it simply unfair for a large segment of the population to avoid putting lives at risk while other segments are on the front lines, fighting - and sometimes dying - for the sake of the people of Israel? Michael Eisenberg has argued that the long-term health of the State of Israel demands that the  Chareidi population be integrated into economy in general, and into the military in particular. Rabbi Yehoshua Hershberg, in turn, asserts that the Chareidi reading of these Torah sources is, frankly, mistaken - and that a genuine respect for Torah and Torah scholars requires that we read them in a more sophisticated fashion. Listen in as Scott and Rabbi Hershberg discuss the Torah texts that are used to justify ultra-orthodox deferments, and as Scott and Michael talk about the economic and social impact of continuing as things are today. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

The events of the past six weeks - the massacre on October 7th, the kidnappings, the sudden sense of insecurity within Israel - alongside the almost immediate and massive increase in antisemitism around the world, and open calls for the end of the State of Israel in ways that we have never experienced before - have thrown many Jews for a tailspin. Many people have expressed a desire to increase their religious devotion,  while others have questioned God and wondered how He could have let this happen. Asking these questions is not a religious problem, but a vital religious necessity. Our greatest exemplars in Tanach regularly asked these questions; there are whole books, like Iyov and Eicha, that are dedicated to what we would now consider philosophical questions. Pretending that these questions don’t exist is often a sign of religious superficiality.  On the other hand, asking questions is far from easy, because we may not like the answers that we find. People who choose faith and who are also troubled by the problem of evil in the world and God’s apparently hidden presence, sometimes need chizuk - that is, encouragement and practical methods so that they can live with the unanswerable questions while moving forward in their commitment to God and Torah. In order to facilitate this important conversation, Scott was honored to host Rabbanit Shayna Goldberg and Rabbi Johnny Solomon. Over the course of their conversation, they talked about hester panim, or God’s hiding His face, the meaning of the Talmudic dictum that everything God does is for the good, the proper type of introspection in the wake of tragedy, the meaning of bitachon or trust in God (and what it should not mean), practical methods to help people hold on to faith, and more.  This is not a detached philosophical analysis of theodicy. Instead, it is a religious conversation designed to help people who are troubled by current events, but who plan to maintain their faith, find ways to move forward without sacrificing their intellectual honesty. (While Rabbi Solomon referenced Chapter 2 Halacha 4 of Rambam’s Hilchot Ta’aniyot as speaking about war - in contrast to Chapter 1 which speaks about other troubles ('tzarot') - he wanted to add that this point is made even clearer in Chapter 2 Halacha 3.) Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Two months ago, on September 8th, Scott recorded an interview with Dr. Micah Goodman about Sefer Devarim, the Book of Deuteronomy. The interview was fascinating, both because of the theological insights that Micah provided, and also because of the way that he was able to relate Moshe’s words to current events in the State of Israel.  The terrible Hamas massacre of October 7th has changed everything - and Micah Goodman's insights in this interview are now more relevant than ever. He sees Moshe’s words in Sefer Devarim as the primary guide for what Israel needs to do in order to stay in our land and create the kind of society that God wants us to create. As many of us, for the first time in decades, have come to the realization that our hold on the Land of Israel is not unconditional and not free, we also recognize that we need to think about the values that drive Israeli policy in order that Israel remain worthy of the sacrifices that so many have made on her behalf. With that in mind, please listen to this conversation and consider not only what we want Israel to be, but what Moshe Rabbeinu, our teacher Moses, said that Israel has to be. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Read the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com  

Everyone who listens to this podcast has heard about the waves of antisemitism that have been engulfing the world ever since October 7th; I’m sure that many people who listen have also experienced some of that antisemitism first hand. There is something so fundamentally Orwellian when the reaction to the slaughter of 1400 innocent people and the kidnapping of about 250 hostages is to demonstrate against the victims of the massacre. And that was before Israel responded; now that Israel is defending itself against Hamas in Gaza, the canards about Israeli ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Palestinians have only become louder and more insistent. Until now, the words we say at the Pesach seder sometimes seemed like a remnant from the past. No longer.  This promise is what stood by our ancestors and us. For not just one enemy alone rose against us to destroy us, but in every generations enemies rise against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, Blessed is He, saves us from their hand. These words sound not only like history, but also like prophecy. To discuss this rise in antisemitism, I was honored to speak with Avital Chizhik Goldschmidt. We talked about the reasons that the epicenter seems to be on elite college campuses, the ways that these antisemitic protests are different from others in recent years, some of the questions she has received as a rebbetzin, including whether a mother can buy a cross for her son to wear when he is with non-Jews, the conflation of antisemitism and Islamophobia, whether the new antisemitism represents a loud but fringe phenomenon or whether it’s representative of a significant sector of the population, the problem of celebrities with massive influence being weighing in on matters about which they know less than they think, what Jewish people should do in response to antisemitism, and much more. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com