Tu B’av: A Jewish Sadie Hawkin’s Day, a day of great joy.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

A comparative look at the laws of personal mourning and the laws of Tisha B’av.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Discussion of the prohibitions against haircuts and laundry during the week in which Tisha B’av occurs.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Analysis of the five causes of mourning and fasting on 17 Tammuz.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

How does the biblical quotation in the Mishnah prove its point? And, what were the Israelites of the Ma’amad fasting about?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

How is the Jewish community represented in relation to the communal daily sacrifices being offered at the Temple?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

When does fasting for rain end, and who deserves the credit when the rain actually comes?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Whose fault is it when a communal leader fails to achieve the desired result, the leader’s fault or the community’s fault?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

What does Honi HaMe’agel mean?  And are there limits to the acceptable behavior of a proven miracle worker?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we’ll continue to explore what it means to be holy and more specifically address the question, what does one have to do to secure a place in olam ha’ba, the world to come. We’ll eavesdrop on the conversation of Eliyahu Ha’Navi and Rabbi Broka as they stand in the marketplace pointing who gets a spot and who doesn’t. Through these exemplar figures that merit a spot, we’ll learn that holiness comes in all different shapes and sizes, sometimes from the people and places we least expect it.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we’ll meet the righteous man Nachum Ish Gam Zo, a great rabbi seemingly condemned to a difficult life of suffering. What has he done to deserve this fate? By unpacking his story and understanding how he got to where he is, we’ll think about our responsibility to acknowledge suffering in the world, seek justice, and help the vulnerable other standing before us.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we’ll learn the classic aggadic story of Rabbi Elazar’s encounter with a strange fellow on his way home from a great day of Torah learning. Through that story, we’ll explore what it means to be “hard like a cedar and soft like a reed” and reflect on how to integrate this principle into our own lives and relationships.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we learn the famous aggada of Honi the Circle-Maker who stands before God and boldly demands rain for a community in drought. We’ll think about what we can and cannot ask God for, focusing on when requests in prayer cross into inappropriate demands of God. We’ll reflect on the centrality of water as the stuff of our lives and think about the relationship between prayer and action as a means to address communal distress.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we’ll learn about Megillat Taanit, the scroll that details 35 celebratory, historical events that the rabbis declared should be observed as holidays for all generations. We’ll unpack what it means to observe these days as days of celebration and reflect on what the role is for seriousness and sorrow on days of joy.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we explore why Cohanim were forbidden to drink in the days of the Temple and whether this prohibition would apply to Cohanim in our times. We’ll think about how our lives are different today in a post-Temple world and through the sugya, we’ll reflect on what we mean when we pray for the Temple to be rebuild speedily in our times.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In today’s episode, we’ll delve into the ritual fasts that a community takes upon themselves when suffering from lack of rain and fearing for the harvest to come. We’ll explore the theology of reward and punishment and reflect on what qualifies as true repentance. Lastly, we’ll address the question, where is God when the people are suffering, wanting for rain.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The fast day Amidah used to include 6 additional blessings (24 instead of the usual 18) We don’t add all of those blessings today, but phrases from each have been merged together to create a new piyyut that is still recited in many communities. We also recognize the economic impact of fasting- a fast that starts or ends at the wrong time can lead to food shortages or hoarding.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Is any kind of prayer or supplication beneath our dignity? Does it matter whether we pray with words or actions, sackcloth or bowing? What do Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, the wicked king Jehoram have to tell us about how we express ourselves at times of distress?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

In some cultures, people would bathe once a week, whether or not they needed it! Bathing is prohibited on some fast days, but not others. Mourners aren’t supposed to bathe during shiva either, but there are some loopholes there too.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

How fast can you fast? 25 hours? Is 12 hours enough? How about 6.5? Fasting a “half day” for minor fasts is a common Conservative practice. Where did it originate?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Is fasting a good thing or a bad thing? Is it rude to eat or enjoy one’s self while others are suffering, or is it wrong to waste blessings that God may have sent our way?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Most prayer books have a cryptic reference to beginning new prayers for rain around December 5^th. Why choose a date from the secular calendar and not the Jewish calendar. And why that date? The answer will take us to ancient Babylonian pilgrims and a 16^th century pope.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

On this daf, we ask the question of whether blessings can come to a whole community on the basis of one person’s actions, or whether, perhaps, sometimes rain may fall on one person, and not his neighbors. In addition to Rabbi Yochanana and Reish Lakish, we’ll see what Douglas Adams and Lord Bowen have to say about the question

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Wholeness in Prayer – The rabbis explore the difference between communal and individual prayer, and whether sincerity matters at all…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The Singularity of Rain and the double-edged sword of Torah. See how the rabbis have always known what we know today – be careful how you teach and preach.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Is there an appropriate and powerful way to offer a personal blessing after a meaningful encounter? Here’s one rabbi’s suggestion…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Is it possible for God to be both here and not here, there and not there? Let’s explore ‘between heaven and earth’!

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Students, Fire and Swords – What are the pitfalls of Torah Study? Opportunities?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

What’s in a name? An obscure question with no practical utility asks us to reflect on the moments we become our truest selves.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The opening Mishnah and subsequent questions offered straightaway in this tratcate uncover deep tension about the nature of God’s power, humanity’s power, and their intersection.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.