Some post-Pesach thoughts.... if chametz is so bad, why does Jewish law require it? Why is chametz central to Shavuot, and to life? Rebbe Nachman gives us some clues.  *Sources can be found here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/33290?lang=bi     *More Torah thoughts on my site: 58thcentury.world Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

One text leads to another, faces are masks are words are invitations are interpretations. We go on a journey within Jewish law and lore, from wedding feasts to Purim costumes to heretical readings of the Torah.  You can find all the texts here, and maybe reading along will make the listening easier: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/395527?lang=bi You can find more Torah thoughts on my website, 58thcentury.world Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

The introduction to Leviticus is strange: God calls Moses and only then speaks to him (what is the function of the calling? What does it mean to be called?) And the word for calling, 'Vayikra', is traditionally written with a little letter alef at the end.   You can read the sources I used here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/389441 Using the texts of Rashi, Jacques Lacan and Maimonides, we try and figure out the function of this 'objet petit a', this surplus of meaning that drives the desire to...

I dug into the sources and commentaries, trying to find out what a 'cherub' looks like. Bull? Bird? Baby? Two lovers? Symbols of symbols of symbols... * You can see the texts I used here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/380622?lang=bi * You can see more Torah-related work of mine on 58thcentury.world Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

A Torah exploration. Were the basics laws of justice given at Sinai, or after the crossing of the sea, or during slavery in Egypt, or to Noah, or to Adam, or even before creation itself? I'll tell you why I think it matters. The last two years have severely weakened the authority of law for many people. The constantly changing regulations, uncertainty, protests and cynicism has brought us to treat the question "What's the law today?" as normal. And although we are usually referring to...

What blessing could be appropriate for COVID vaccinations? Using a Talmudic text as a starting point, we look at some little-known blessings for medical procedures, at the correct response for a sneeze, the creation of sneezes, and the spirituality of the randomness of disease and healing. Prepare for confusion!  * You can find the sourcesheet, including a few sources I didn't cover in the recording, here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/368754 *  A project of 58th Century Judaisms:...

This is my God and I will anvehu (Exodus 15) While the simple meaning of anvehu is probably a vague sense of worship or exaltation, it's been used as the base for two important rabbinic teachings: having beautiful things, and acting like God.  This shiur, in a sense, was an attempt to explore both of those teachings, look at the radical idea of 'Me' as a divine name, and eventually to integrate the two of them into a single theo-aesthetic concept. Well, that's what I tried to do, at least! *...

The Torah seems to be against mixing distinct things: meat and milk, holy and profane, and even grafting one kind of tree onto another. But why? The laws of grafted trees are extreme: some say the trees should be uprooted, others say that all of humanity needs to keep this particular Jewish law. It's true that nature is great as it is, but we're also here to change the world, not just be passive. Lots of questions arise!  * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here:...

Looking into the sources of the Jewish calendar, we find more confusion than clarity. Different rabbinic texts propose different shemita calculations, putting everything in doubt. This class looks at the confusion, and tries to find - not the truth, but what to learn from the process.   * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/353689?editor=1​ * A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/ Support the show...

It's (supposedly) the shemita year this year, the Sabbatical year, when the land rests and debts are cancelled. The deeper we look at the laws of debt release, though, the more paradoxes and contradictions we find, until we (maybe) uncover the root of all laws - to cease to exist as law at all.  Listen to the podcast, and check out the full source-sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/351301?editor=1 Read and listen to more here, or get in touch to share your thoughts:...

We go on a bizarre halachic excursion through the sources on Sukkah building - specifically exploring the seemingly strange law: the walls of a sukkah can be made out of a person, as long as they don't know it. Knowing and not-knowing seem to be intrinsic to what a sukkah is all about... Listen to the podcast, and check out the full source-sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/348191?editor=1 Read and listen to more here, or get in touch to share your thoughts:...

Rebbe Nachman brings a twist to the significance of Rosh Hashana: it's celebrating the creation of the world, of course, but that's something we do every moment. We just need to do it better. Turning raw potential into actuality, taking an idea and limiting it into words, acting in the world and sometimes messing it up - that's life itself.  Welcome to read through the (abridged) texts I'm using on the sourcesheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/345549?editor=1 If it's helpful, last...

On Rosh Hashana, Jews celebrate the creation of the world (or of humanity, or something else..) If so, Elul marks the time before creation.  What does it mean to be before creation? Why is answering that question forbidden in Jewish law? We take a journey through a series of texts, touching the questions and almost answering them.  * You can find all the sources here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/343207?editor=1 * You can find more about me and different Torah ideas here:...

Looking at the month of Elul as part of the wider framework of "days of judgement". Our model is a surprising detail in religious taxation, the "tithing of beasts". As usual, the deeper we explore the more peculiar it becomes, giving lots of food for thought. You can see the sourcesheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/341120 Please be in touch with any thoughts or feedback! You can write to me through the website: 58thcentury.world Support the show...

"All of Israel are children of kings". This principle is often invoked in the Talmud, and often rejected. We look at the various examples and try and figure out what and when we can see ourselves as royalty. This gives us food for thought as we enter the high holiday preparations, and start saying, audaciously, Avinu Malkeinu, "Our Father, Our King." Sources: Mishna Berachot 1:2; Shabbat 128a; Taanit 25a.  Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

Looking at the legal definition of a 'shaliach' - an agent or messenger, we get a couple of principles which seem to extend much further, to the idea of what it is to be human at all.   * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/336734?editor=1​ * A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/ Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

Continuing the discussion on prayer as a focal point for understanding what it is to be human, we look at the category of speech, as expressed through laws on prayer and esoteric discussions about the status of a golem.   * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/334132?editor=1​ * A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/  Let me know any thoughts and questions you have! . Support the show...

Rather than looking at the highest levels of mystical prayer, we try to explore what is it that differentiates a human prayer from a mechanical one. The idea of kavvanah, mental focus or attunement, seems to be key to understanding what it is to be human at all! * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/332675?editor=1​ * A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/ Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)

Rambam / Maimonides is almost unique in Jewish philosophy in the importance he gives to states of mind. His extreme position on the necessary mind-state during prayer is almost impossible to achieve. But he sees it as crucial to becoming fully human. * You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/288319?editor=1​ * A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/ Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebjosh)