

IKAR Podcasts
IKAR
Sermons, talks, classes, and more from IKAR Rabbis and the IKAR community.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 24, 2025 • 16min
Preparing, and Unprepared - Rabbinic Intern Jacob Schatz
Both the Jewish calendar and the Torah come to a close leaving our people in a state of active preparation. But do we ever feel truly ready?

Aug 18, 2025 • 17min
Show the World What a Jew Looks Like - Rabbi Sharon Brous
An earnest message to my child as she makes her own way in a broken, angry, anguished world, and a quiet plea to us all to open our hearts with love.

Aug 10, 2025 • 19min
Break the Ax - Rabbi Morris Panitz
At first glance, Tu B’av, the Festival of Love, seems to be the Jewish equivalent of Valentine’s Day. But, a deeper look at the strange origins of this holiday reveals the transformative possibilities of this day. It all begins with an ax.

Aug 3, 2025 • 16min
For Those Who Cannot Rise - Rabbi Deborah Silver
Tisha B'Av is the day we devote to contemplating destruction and ruin. How
should we observe it, this year, when we are already carrying so much
grief? And how can our tradition, and the story of one London
rabbinical student, spur us to action?

Jul 27, 2025 • 18min
Lonely Sits the City - Rabbi Hannah Jensen
Right now we are in the period of the most concentrated grief in the Jewish calendar leading up to Tisha b'Av next week. This year, in Los Angeles, we are in an extended period of the same. From the fires through the ICE raids beginning last month, we have gotten no reprieve. What insight does our parsha lend us about how to live in this valley of grief and also let our grief be a catalyst for action?

Jul 20, 2025 • 21min
The Best Seat in Hell - Rabbi Morris Panitz
Buried in a list of names is the mysterious fact that the sons of the mutinous leader Korah did not die. What follows is the bizarre journey of the sons of Korah to a ledge in Hell, where their song calls out to us, even today.

Jul 13, 2025 • 16min
Reflections from a Bomb Shelter - Rabbi Morris Panitz
Sharing a personal, first-hand account of my time in Israel during the war with Iran.

Jun 29, 2025 • 32min
The Folly of Those Dark Fantasies - Rabbi Sharon Brous
Trauma, history, fear—all of these lead us down a path that is as futile as it is dangerous. At the end of one terrible war and in the midst of another, we can do better. We must grow in our ability to imagine one other.

Jun 22, 2025 • 1h 11min
Jeremy Ben-Ami (J Street Pres.) and Rabbi Sharon Brous in Conversation

Jun 22, 2025 • 17min
Sight and Vision - Rabbi Deborah Silver
The ten spies who enter Canaan create 40 years of delay in the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land. What did they do wrong? And how can we avoid making the same mistake they did as we witness the brutality all around us?