The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most challenging in the entire Hebrew Bible. Authored in the name of “Kohelet son of David”—identified by Jewish tradition as King Solomon—the book is a deeply philosophical meditation on the search for happiness by a man who has everything. Often misunderstood, argues Ethan Dor-Shav, Kohelet’s thought  is […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: Addiction, Spirituality, and Public Policy Chapter 2: Alcoholics Anonymous and the Limits of Science Chapter 3: Soul Sickness Chapter 4: Exodus and Addiction America is in the throes of an addiction crisis. The ravages of the opioid epidemic […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: Reason, Emotion, and Faith Chapter 2: Proofs and Prophecies Chapter 3: Rabbi Noach Weinberg and the Ba’al Teshuva Movement Chapter 4: Experiencing Orthodoxy Chapter 5: Truths Too Hard to Admit When Ellen Willis’s brother Michael decided to leave […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: The Virtue of Mortality Chapter 2: Body, Soul, and Afterlife Chapter 3: Family—the Jewish Answer to Mortality Chapter 4: Who Believes in the Future? When Jews raise their glasses in celebration, they toast “l’chaim!” “to life!” Judaism’s belief […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher. Chapter 1: God or Pharaoh? Chapter 2: God’s Commandments and Self-Command Chapter 3: Shabbat and the Family Chapter 4: The People of the Book The revelation at Sinai was central to the transformation of the people of Israel into a nation. Fresh from their […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  Chapter 1: A King in Israel? Chapter 2: Theology, Monarchy, and Republicanism Chapter 3: King David and His Legacy Chapter 4: The Return of the King In 2010, the theologian Michael Wyschograd published “A King in Israel,” a provocative […]

Ours is an age in which the notion that men and women are created with distinct and complementary purposes is seen as little more than thinly veiled bigotry. But one of the great Jewish contributions to civilization is the idea that the sexes are not identical to, but are instead in need of, one another. […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  Chapter 1: Marriage, Children, and the Beginning of Wisdom Chapter 2: Commandments, Faith, and Moral Formation Chapter 3: Do Judaism and Christianity Entail Different Political Orientations? Chapter 4: Lessons for Jews and Christians Sometimes, it takes an outsider to […]

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook is a founder of religious Zionism and guide for many today. Perhaps less well known are his views on economics. In this lecture, Tikvah alum Rabbi Netanel Elyashiv explains that Rav Kook has a free market teaching about economics, in which he provides spiritual meaning to the workings of the market […]

Press play below to listen to the podcast, download it in the iTunes Store, or stream it via Stitcher.  Chapter 1: Jews in Early Modern Dutch Society Chapter 2: Rembrandt’s Encounter with the Jews Chapter 3: Rembrandt’s Painting of Moses Receiving the Luchot Chapter 4: Tolkien and the Jews Chapter 5: The Dialectical Nature of the Jewish People […]