IKAR Podcasts

To thine own self be true: Sharon Brous has let this advice illuminate her path to becoming a rabbi. She was raised with a strong social, but not religious, Jewish identity. The more she studied and admired the humanity in the sages’ writings, the more Brous felt her voice was silenced simply because she is a woman. Today, as an ordained rabbi, Brous’s decades of hands-on pastoral care in Los Angeles has cleared “a path to become myself.” Her book, The Amen Effect—and how to get it—is embraced by seekers of every stripe and urges us to seek human connection in an increasingly isolated and divided world.

…Because there is a space between stimulus and response. What we do in that space is our choice. So please: tell me you’re scared. I’m scared too. Tell me times are tough. Tell me we’re facing a narrowing landscape of possibilities. But please do not tell me there’s nothing we can do. There’s always a choice to make. Parashat Tazria-Metzora 5785—May 3, 2025

On today’s episode of Best Book Ever, Rabbi David Kasher is joined by Madison Margolin to talk about psychedelic experiences in the Torah. Madison is the author of Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass and Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground. She’s also Co-founder of the Jewish Psychedelic Summit and DoubleBlind, a print magazine and digital media startup covering psychedelics and where they intersect with mental health, environmental justice, social equity, and more, Madison also teaches on Judaism and psychedelics, such as with Tzfat’s LiveKabbalah or Psychedelics Today, and offers consulting and guidance for those on the Jewish-psychedelic path.

This week was the 250th anniversary of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. In his story we see so many echoes of our current moment. What lessons can we take with us right now? And how does our parsha's story of Aaron, the high priest, help us step forward to carry out the tasks we are called to do?

Find the text study sheet here.There are a number ofparallels between the creation of the world and the splitting of Yam Suf,casting this dramatic moment of the Exodus as a kind of “recreationstory.”  Which makes the appearance of a provocative midrash about anIsraelite woman picking fruit from a tree and feeding it to another that muchmore fascinating… and I’d like to suggest, subversive.  What exactlyhappened in the Garden of Eden, and what message does it hold for thegeneration crossing the sea?7th Day of Passover 5785 | Parshat Beshallah

From 4.12.2025Prepare to embrace the bold vision of Passover(that we are all heading toward freedom, that pharaohs crumble and fall)requires focus. Let's affirm the twin pillars of the Hebrew Bible(chesed/lovingkindness and tzedek/justice) to gird ourselves for the battleahead!

Ours is not the first generation in which telling this story, reiterating these foundational ideas, is risky. Dangerous, even. And perhaps that is the greatest reason of all to tell this story truthfully. April 5, 2025 – Pesah 5785

Guy Branum joins Rabbi David Kasher to discuss Ashera and the presence of a goddess in the Torah.

Let us not turn to the garden—or the theater, or the studio—to escape this world, but to enrich the soul, to strengthen our hearts to plant for a better future. Making art, tending gardens, telling stories, especially from within the narrowest constraints—all of these can be sacred acts of defiance.

This is an archive of IKAR's Adult learning class: The Amen Effect with Rabbi Sharon Brous