Show Notes
Does Judaism need Halacha?**
Lex and Rena Yehuda have some overlapping thoughts about that question, but also want to explore the ways that they disagree with one another. This question is one that Jews across many geographic contexts and denominational affiliations (or lack thereof) have debated for centuries -- and we think that it's a conversation worth continuing! In this conversation, your two Judaism Unbound co-hosts take on a format called the "anti-debate," as implemented by Stephanie Lepp (who will join the podcast as a guest in a couple weeks, to discuss further). It incorporates elements of traditional debate, along with steps to encourage each person to inhabit the perspective of the "other side."
** Halacha is sometimes translated "Jewish law," and also sometimes translated "a Jewish path/way-of-walking in the world." It typically refers to traditions of rabbinic Jewish interpretation, as debated and applied over the past ~1800 years.
Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming courses in the UnYeshiva! Jewish ritual objects, Medieval Jewish debates, Talmud for interfaith families and more! For anyone who needs it, financial aid is available.
More from Judaism Unbound
Welcome to Shabbat Unbound, the world's longest Friday night Sabbath service, stretching over eight episodes. Instead of rushing through all the Friday night Shabbat prayers in one sitting, like we might in a classical synagogue environment, we're taking our time diving deep into one prayer each episode through song study and sacred conversation. It's the most original and traditional way to engage in the transition into Shabbat, taking each prayer as its own world with its own Torah to teach us. Miriam Terlinchamp, Lex Rofeberg and an incredible group of musicians invite you to discover what happens when Shabbat slows down. The fifth focuses on Shema/V'ahavta.
What happens when the lessons that carried you through life suddenly aren't enough? For Todd an unexpected crisis sets him on a journey where he begins to discover new ways of understanding love, loss, and the sacred. In the third episode of Everyday Mystics, a story of grief, gratitude, and mysterious encounter invites us to wonder whether the people we love are ever really as far away as they seem.
What if our deepest longing for love is also a longing for God? From a childhood encounter with the mysterious to an unexpected romance, Ayalon discovers that the search for human connection and the search for the Divine may not be two different journeys after all. In the second episode of Everyday Mystics, a story of loss, yearning, and second chances asks what it means to stop settling for something less than “The Real Thing.”
Sadeh Farm is a Jewish farm and environmental community centre, located just southeast of London, England. Because why wouldn't there be a Jewish farm just southeast of London?? Talia Chain, founder of Sadeh Farm, joins Lex Rofeberg and Rena Yehuda Newman for a conversation about Sadeh's work -- and about Jewish farming as a broader global phenomenon, dating all the way back to the Torah.
Some floods destroy. Others carry us somewhere we never expected to go. In the first episode of Everyday Mystics, Play’s journey through grief, addiction, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and queer identity asks what it means to keep building an ark when the waters rise and whether the very thing that threatens to overwhelm us might also become a flood of love.