The Shema is Judaism’s most iconic declaration — six words carried across thousands of years, countries, and circumstances. Now, a bold new initiative is inviting a million Jews to reclaim them. Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder of New Jewish Outreach Program, and Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff, co-founder of Simchat Torah Challenge, join Rabbi Justin Pines to discuss […]
Read moreAfter October 7, Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer did something almost no Haredi rabbi has done: he put on a uniform. A community rabbi, he completed IDF basic training alongside soldiers half his age, served in the reserves during the Iran War — and his sons study in yeshiva and serve in the IDF. But Rabbi Pfeffer […]
Read moreWhat is the true purpose of music? Is it merely to entertain, or is it a vessel designed to uncover the soul and connect us directly to the Divine? In this episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, Justin sits down for a deeply personal, wide-ranging conversation with a true master of Jewish song and […]
Read moreHow do we rebuild after shattering loss? Steven Exler, Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, explores the landscape of grief, the weight of pastoral care & how a radically welcoming community can help heal personal & collective trauma.
Read moreHolocaust and Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman recounts her life before World War II, surviving a Jewish ghetto and Nazi labor camp and her views on faith.
Read moreTova Friedman recounts her surviving Auschwitz and a Nazi gas chamber. And her grandson Aron Goodman discusses their viral TikTok Holocaust education account.
Read moreJustin Pines travels to Philadelphia’s historic district to explore the deep, centuries-old intertwining of American liberty and Jewish history, from the Liberty Bell to the Weitzman Museum’s new revolutionary exhibit to Congregation Mikveh Israel.
Read moreAs American Jews question whether their Golden Age is behind them, scholar and spiritual leader Dr. Mijal Bitton makes a bold case: the future of American Jewish life is Sephardic.
Read moreHe rebuilt Jewish life post-Holocaust and advised world leaders, but the Lubavitcher Rebbe was also a profound counselor to the human soul. Rabbi Levi Shmotkin discusses how Rebbe’s private correspondences mapped out a framework for mental health.
Read moreRabbi Meni Even-Israel reflects on his father’s legacy and celebrates the release of the Steinsaltz Mishneh Torah.
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