Jewniversity

Join us for a tour of the Who, What, Where, When and Why of the Zohar

This week we look at the cycle of creativity and consolidation, the development of Halakhah, and the two major codes - Rambam's Mishneh Torah and R' Yosef Karo's Shulḥan Arukh.

A look at the concept, methodology and texts of Midrash.

Join us this week as we dive into the six orders and sixty-three tractate of the Mishnah! How did the Mishnah make Judaism and who are the Rabbis (capital R) who made the Mishnah?

We start our series on the Jewish Library by looking in-depth at the 24 books and 969 chapters of the Tana"kh (AKA 'Hebrew Bible')

I. Holy Hades - She’ol, or, The Underworld Genesis 37:35 (35) And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said: ‘I will go down to She’ol, to my son mourning.’ And his father wept for him. Numbers 16:32-34 (32) [...] and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korah’s people and all their possessions. (33) They went down alive into She’ol, with all that belonged to them; the earth closed over them and they vanished from the midst of the congregation. (34) All Israel around them fled at their shrieks, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” Isaiah 38:18 (18) For Sh’eol cannot praise You, death cannot celebrate You; They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Your truth. Job 7:9 As a cloud fades away, so one that goes down to She’ol shall not come up. II. Back from the Dead - Resurrection Ezekiel 37:11-12 (11) Then God said unto me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. (12) Therefore prophesy, and say unto them: Thus says the Lord, God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Isaiah 26:19 (19) Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise— Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust— For your dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life the spirits. Daniel 12:2 (2) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and to everlasting abhorrence. Sifrei Devarim 306:35 [2nd-3rd Century CE] R. Simai [said]: There is no section in the Torah that does not deal with the resurrection, but we lack the strength to expound it. Talmud Bavli Ketubot 111a:1-27 [4th-6th Century CE] Rabbi El’azar said: The dead of the lands outside of Eretz Yisrael will not come alive and be resurrected in the future, as it is stated: “And I will set glory [tzvi] in the land of the living” (Ezekiel 26:20). This teaches that with regard to a land which contains ‘My desire’ [tzivyoni], its dead will come alive; however, with regard to a land which does not contain Tziyyon, i.e., outside of Eretz Yisrael, its dead will not come alive. [...] The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of Rabbi El’azar, will the righteous outside of Eretz Yisrael not come alive at the time of the resurrection of the dead? Rabbi Ile’a said: They will be resurrected by means of rolling, i.e., they will roll until they reach Eretz Yisrael, where they will be brought back to life. Rabbi Abba Salla Rava strongly objects to this: Rolling is an ordeal that entails suffering for the righteous! Abayé said: Tunnels are prepared for them in the ground, through which they pass to Eretz Yisrael. III. Gan Eden / Gei Hinnom - Heaven & Hell Tosefta Sanhedrin 13:3 [1st-2nd Century CE] Beit Shammai taught: There are three groups– one is destined for eternal life, another consigned to eternal ignominy and eternal abhorrence, while those whose deeds are balanced will go down to Gei Hinnom, but when they scream they will ascend from there and be healed. Talmud Bavli Berakhot 57b:10 [4th-6th Century CE] Three things are microcosms of the World-that-Is-Coming, and they are: Shabbat, a sunny day, and sexual intercourse Talmud Bavli Berakhot 17a:12 [4th-6th Century CE] Rav was wont to say: The World-that-Is-Coming is not like this world. In the World-that-Is-Coming there is no eating, no drinking, no procreation, no business negotiations, no jealousy, no hatred, and no competition. Rather, the righteous sit with their crowns upon their heads, enjoying the splendor of the Divine Presence. Talmud Bavli Shabbat 152b:8 [4th-6th Century CE] Rabba said to Rav Naḥman: What happens to the souls of mediocre people, who are neither righteous nor wicked? Rav Naḥman said to him: It is good that you...

This week we look at the phenomenon of Nevu'ah. Often called 'prophecy' but more often misunderstood as a result, what does it mean to be a Spokesperson for and to God? Who are the Prophets of the Hebrew Bible and what were their messages? Is 'prophecy' in our own time possible?

And we're back! Starting 2024 off with a bang, we're looking at the question of the Torah's 'authorship'. Who wrote it? God? Moses? Some blokes named J.E. and P.D.? Join us for a whirlwind tour of the Torah, a consideration of its composition, and a fiercely anti-fundamentalist polemic on the question of Torah min haShamayim.

This week we look at a broad survey of the histories and themes of Jewish mysticism, AKA Kabbalah

This week we look at Jewish Ethics, how that fits into ideas of Halakhah, what Musar is – and why we should all care very much about our behaviour even outside the bounds of the Torah's laws.

A look at Kashrut - from the Torah to today - with its complexities and contradictions.

A brief and incomplete history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1923-2023. Following the events of 7 October, we tried to give some context to the role of Hamas, the difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

Join us as we review the second half of the year - from Tishrei through Adar!

Aaaand, we're back! With the Summer break behind us, we're looking at the calendar, starting with the Hebrew month of Nisan and going through Elul – roughly corresponding to the seasons of Spring (Nisan-Iyyar-Sivan) and Summer (Tammuz-Av-Elul).

*Summer Special* During our break from Jewniversity (we return in September), there will be a few one-off guest appearances on this podcast. First up, I was privileged to be invited to deliver the R' Dr. Louis Jacobs memorial lecture in London, where the topic was 'The Fallacy of Orthodoxy'

Attempting the impossible task of covering the last millennium of Jewish history, we survey major events, figures and developments in Jewish communities around the world through the mediaeval, early modern, and modern periods.

This week we look at 1500 (!) years of history, from the building of the Second Temple to its destruction and the aftermath that resulted in the development of Rabbinic Judaism.

Slides with notes, dates, and maps can be found here.

This week we take a look at the 613 Mitzvot ('duties', 'commandments') which are in the Torah, their categories and divisions, their significance, and a brief look at jurisprudence and the development of Halakhah.

This week we take a semi-serious and semi-comprehensive approach to Shabbat observance through the lens of Halakhah and rabbinic innovation, exploring the 39 Melakhot (categories of labour), and the rabbinic concepts of Shevut (rest), Muktseh (weekday/Shabbat objects), and Oneg Shabbat (restful pleasure).