In this podcast episode, Meir-Simchah blindsides Tzvi with the question, “Why don’t you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” Tzvi points out this question is really pointing to the infernally stupid Pascal’s Wager. Somehow this sparks a discussion about Christian music, the book “In The Land Of Believers,” and the “Feeling X” it creates. …
What is happiness? How do people find it? Is it worth looking for? Where would be a good place to start finding it? Why care about happiness at all? Can you be happy without G-d? Can you be happy with G-d? Is happiness an emotion, a choice, something else? Today’s self help shelves are populated …
(For context, this podcast episode was recorded during the protests taking place in Iran in 2018.) Jews have a unique perspective on Iran/Persia. The narrative of exile and redemption that is so much a part of the Jewish identity, believe it or not, was forged in Persia. Modern day Rabbinic Judaism is codified in a Babylonian …
Special guest Sarah joins us in our meandering exploration of prayer. What is it? Is it praise? Appreciation? Thanks? Beseeching? Requests? Or something deeper? We go through some Facebook comments on Meir Simcha’s post on prayer, and from this Facebook post discuss different conceptions of what praying may be. There are so many ways to …
Accidie is one of my favorite words. (This is Tzvi typing.) “ACCIDIE has been in the language since the Middle Ages, and in classical Greek as ‘akedos’, much longer ago. Its literal meaning is ‘not caring’, but the IE root was ‘KAD’, sorrow hatred; ‘kad’ is the origin of our word HATE. ACCIDIE was used …
From sacred cities and divided cities in general to Jerusalem in particular, join us as we take a deep look at what makes Jerusalem so special in the first place. (This episode comes at the point where the United States announced its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and faced a UNGA resolution objecting to …
Winter nights are drawing longer, and darkness is a thematic metaphor of the time of year. So many different cultures, from so many different places, celebrate festivals of light in darkness. We explore just why that might be. As Jews who grew up in America, we gravitate to the contrast between Chanukah and Christmas. A …
Millions of people are on the move, leaving the Middle East and North Africa for Europe. Refugees? Migrants? Immigrants? Invaders? Depends on your point of view. Germany, and Europe, face a big issue: immigration and identity. Immigration and Identity in Germany This issue is a political hot button issue, but we aren’t interested in political points. …
Everyone seems to ask “Why do bad things happen to good people?” No one seems to wonder why the nicest, sweetest people are the ones often with the worst ideas. Why do people end up with bad ideas? How does someone actually change paradigms? And what, you aren’t yet asking, does this have to do …
Our maiden voyage! And what better way to kick off a new podcast than talk about something as light and breezy as the Israel Palestine issue. Join us as we discuss a news article about the horrors of daily life in Gaza, and use it to zoom out a bit on what is going on …