IKAR Podcasts

Ours is a tradition of stories. We see this from the flawed humanity of Adam and Eve through the tangle of relationships in Genesis and the struggle and redemption of Exodus, to the creative rabbinic interpretations of Midrash and Talmud, to the spiritually rooted Chasidic tales. Stories are essential to understanding one another and informing how we make sense of and choose to live in the world.  Right now, we need to be telling and hearing our abortion stories.  

Forty years in the desert?? Really?!?

The Israelites have begun complaining. They say they miss the meat and melons they had back in Egypt. Really?! After God freed them from slavery and is raining down manna from heaven?! These ungrateful wretches! Disgraceful. But, then again…are really they so different from us?

God gave us the law. Now we're giving it back.

Someone must have slipped something into my drink. I’m reading my Torah late one night and, suddenly, the letters start to run backwards... 

Today's episode is a bit later than usual because of Shavuot.

Thoughts on the dangers and the blessings of flag-waving

In such a turbulent time we need to remember what love looks like. The unique mutual devotion of the biblical heroines Naomi and Ruth teaches us that our interpersonal relationships can have transformative and healing power — for us, our descendants, and the human community.

Three striking midrashim help us understand how the Hebrew name for this fourth book of the Torah can help frame our journey through it.

There is a curse upon the land.