Hei: Enter the Orchard

Would you break the law if your life depended on it? What if your options were to keep the law or live your love? When it comes to Jewish law, navigating the tensions between tradition and innovation are like following a roadmap—learn the road, but choose your own adventure, sometimes off the beaten path. The fusion of Jewish laws and legends provides a map to help negotiate and navigate our life journeys. Join Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie to explore how halacha (Jewish law) and aggadah (story and legend) work together, what happens when they collide, and how rules reverse and laws evolve. 03:00 Halacha and aggadah. How law and story work together to shape Jewish life. 15:45 The Oven of Acknai, an argument, and a question of authority. Can a story of miracles settle a disagreement? 26:26 “The Torah is not in heaven.” The responsibility for interpreting it is in human hands. 30:15 But what about the heart? The story’s tragic ending asks us to reckon with the cost of exclusion and wounded feelings. Rabbi Amichai asks how we can carry tradition forward with respect for the past and attention to the people living it now. Alef Bet is a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom reimagined for right now. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the tour guide for your experience. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, Jew-jacent, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point. No prior knowledge required—just bring your questions. Explore more with Episode 4 Study Guide!

Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings. —Ben Okri, A Way of Being Free (Head of Zeus, 1997) What is Torah?

Ten generations after Adam and Eve, after Noah and the flood, Abraham shows up and starts to walk away from the past and into the pages of history. Join Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie on a guided tour of the eternal, internal journey following in the footsteps of the first father and the founder of our monotheistic faith. 01.25 The first step on the journey of self-discovery: Abraham. 02.09 Abraham’s calling. To leave behind the familiar and go on a journey to an unknown land. His homeland. Our Homeland. 04.40 Lech lecha. A meditation on hearing the inner call and starting the journey. 10.14 Pages of the Zohar. Centuries of mystics take us from the text to the subtext on the road to Canaan. Know your soul. Leave the desires and habits that keep you tethered to a world limited by your senses. Go and search. 15:30 Abraham and the search for God. What we learn on the road of the traveler through sages, mystics, and poets who write Midrash. Is this place burning down, or is it radiant in light? 22.50 The Mother of Patriarchy. How remembering the grandmother of our people fulfills the sacred storytelling that informs our lives. Rabbi Amichai gathers wisdom from mysterious amulets and rabbinic musings, including the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and poet Rachel Barenblat, and Rabbi Claudia Kleinman. Alef Bet is a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom reimagined for right now. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Levie is the tour guide for your experience. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point. No prior knowledge required—just bring your questions.

Did you hear the one about the Jewish guy who answered every question with a question? In this opening episode, we explore the art and power of questioning as the raison d’etre for how and why Jewish wisdom still survives. 03:35 Ayeka? The first divine question from the Garden of Eden: God asks Adam and Eve, and by extension all of us: “Where are you? Why are you hiding?” 09:27 Eicha? In Lamentations, in suffering and facing injustice, we ask God, “How have we ended up here? Where are you, God?” 18:02 Mei'ei'matai? The Talmud asks, “When do we begin?” A reimagining of Jewish life bound by sacred time instead of physical space. 24:37 Evolving and growing. Asking a question is already half of the answer. Drawing on thinkers, poets, and sages including Adrienne Rich, Hannah Arendt, Art Green, and Yehuda Amichai, this episode focuses on the power of constantly reexamining accepted truths and the courage to never stop seeking. Alef Bet is a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom reimagined for right now. Rabbi Amichai Lau-Levie is the tour guide for your experience. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, Jew-jacent, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point. No prior knowledge required - just bring your questions.

Welcome to Alef Bet, a journey through ancestral Jewish wisdom, reimagined for right now. This is a podcast for anyone and everyone. Whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, or Jew-curious, this is your starting point - no prior knowledge required. Just bring your questions and explore what it means to get to know, embrace, or wrestle with Jewish wisdom during these turbulent times. Alef Bet is hosted by Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, a descendant of thirty-nine generations of rabbis. He has been teaching Jewish texts for most of his adult life, had a career as a drag queen, and founded Lab/Shul, a New York City-based, God-optional, experimental Jewish community.