Tradition Podcast

Tradition Online
Tradition Podcast

Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox Jewish peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. It covers a range of topics including philosophy and theology, history, law, and ethics.

Episodes

  1. SEPT 8

    The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic

    TRADITION’s recent Summer 2024 issue contained expanded book review coverage including a review by Yitzhak Blau on Gila Fine’s new “The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud” (Maggid Books & Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies). Blau says this book carries the rare distinction of breaking new ground in two very different fields: the rabbinic view of women and the tools of aggadic interpretation. While some scholars see Hazal as holding an almost uniformly negative attitude toward women, and others fail to acknowledge any conflicts between the rabbinic tradition and contemporary sensibilities, Blau suggests Fine presents a more balanced outlook. We thought it would be instructive to bring the author and the reviewer (himself an accomplished interpreter of rabbinic aggada) together for a conversation. They discuss the book and touch on the relationship between Biblical and Talmudic narrative and teaching values through aggada. Read Yitzchak Blau’s review of “The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic“. Gila Fine lectures in a variety of settings including Pardes Institute and Midreshet Amudim, exploring the tales of the Talmud through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and culture (both high and pop). Her published work has been featured in many platforms including our own pages of TRADITION. Yitzchak Blau, associate editor of TRADITION, is Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

    42 min
  2. AUG 26

    “Bittersweet” with Susan Cain

    It’s become a tradition at TRADITION that each year we turn to our esteemed editorial board for endorsements for summer reading (read this year’s picks here). This summer our friend and colleague Mali Brofsky highlighted the work of author Susan Cain, specifically in her recent #1 NY Times Bestseller (and Oprah Book Club selection) “Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole” (Crown). Mali wrote that Cain’s book “examines the experience of melancholy or poignancy that she calls Bittersweet. She wonders about the emotions of loss and longing that seem so unavoidable in this world, and that often accompany not only experiences of suffering, but also moments of transcendent beauty. Cain observes that this experience of longing is ultimately a marker for the universal experience of yearning for the transcendent and the Divine. She explores how suffering can be transformed into meaning, purpose, and creativity, arguing that this pain is unavoidable and should not be ignored or explained away. Cain ultimately concludes that when loss is accepted, it can lead us to greater empathy for each other as we connect to our common experience of pain.” In reviewing Bittersweet Mali drew lessons, strength, and encouragement following the events of Simchat Torah and throughout this year’s long war. After publishing this summer’s endorsement we were delighted that Susan Cain reached out to us, thanking TRADITION for the review. She wrote: “It truly meant the world to me. I so appreciate the linking of the book to the post-October 7 experience. That is how I think of it too, even though of course I had no idea what would happen when I wrote it. I also wanted to especially thank Mali Brofsky for so perfectly capturing what I tried to convey in ‘Bittersweet’—it’s an inherently ineffable topic, and Mali’s is the best description I’ve yet read.” We thought it would be interesting to record a conversation between Mali and Susan and to explore how Bittersweet has special meaning for our religious community. Named one of the top ten influencers in the world by LinkedIn, Susan Cain is a renowned speaker and author of the award-winning books “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” and “Bittersweet.” Her TED Talk on the power of introverts has been viewed over forty million times. Follow her work at SusanCain.net and join her “Quite Life Community” (housed at SubStack). Mali Brofsky, an editorial board member at TRADITION, is a senior faculty member at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim, teaches at Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Hebrew University, and runs a clinical social work practice.

    41 min
  3. AUG 4

    R. Feinstein on Brain Death, Revisited

    In the area of Jewish medical ethics brain death is the topic which just will not die. With the advent of technologies and medical developments since the mid-twentieth century, questions about the halakhic definition of death have gone from the largely theoretical (and philosophical) to painfully practical for physicians, patients, and their families. Perhaps no other rabbinic figure’s opinion has factored in quite so significantly on the subject as R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l, the preeminent posek of the last century. However, the contours and applications of R. Feinstein’s position have been intensely debated. In a recent piece of research that surfaces some relevant new points of evidence, Dr. Noam Stadlan offers a re-understanding of R. Feinstein’s ruling, arguing that he defined death as irreversible apneic coma, without regard for the continued presence of heart function. This has various significant implications for end-of-life care and organ donation. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, Stadlan joins our editor, Jeffrey Saks, to discuss the article, as well as larger trends in the field of Jewish medical ethics, the partnership that should exist between physicians and medical research on one hand with poskim on the other, and why our readers are perennially interested in the field of medical halakha. Read Noam Stadlan, “Revisiting R. Moshe Feinstein’s Definition of Death” (TRADITION, Winter 2024): https://traditiononline.org/revisiting-r-moshe-feinsteins-definition-of-death Noam Stadlan, M.D., is Vice-Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL.

    35 min
  4. MAR 3

    Alt+SHIFT Exit Interview

    Because TRADITION has always aspired to be more than a quarterly print journal and aims to help shape the conversation and have an impact in our religious community, about five years ago we broadened our reach by expanding our digital-direct offerings, producing shorter-form original content distributed on TraditonOnline.org and over social media—this includes the podcast, expanded coverage of books and cultural criticism, and a platform to feature new authors. Since December 2022 Yitzchak Blau has been producing “Alt+SHIFT”—that’s the keyboard shortcut allowing us quick transition between input languages on our keyboards. For many readers of TRADITION this is the move from English to Hebrew (and back again). Blau has shared his insider’s look into trends, ideas, and writings in the Israeli Religious Zionist world to help readers from the Anglo sphere gain insight into worthwhile material available only in Hebrew. This series is now heading off on hiatus and we thought it would be a good idea to talk with its author about what he’s accomplished in the 30 installments of the column. Yitzchak Blau, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem’s Old City, is an Associate Editor of TRADITION. Later in the episode, we meet Moshe Kurtz, who will be stepping in with a new series, “Unpacking the Iggerot,” exploring themes and topics at the intersection of halakha and hashkafa as they arise from the Iggerot Moshe of R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l. He joins us now for a quick preview of what we can expect from that upcoming series. Kurtz is the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, author of Challenging Assumptions, and host of the podcast Shu”T First, Ask Questions Later.

    59 min
  5. JAN 15

    PODCAST: Law and Philosophy in the Guide

    TRADITION’s Summer 2023 issue, recently made fully open access, contained a fascinating offering penned by Michael A. Shmidman, our distinguished editor emeritus, titled “Isadore Twersky’s Unique Contribution to the Study of The Guide of the Perplexed.” It is a presentation and analysis of five integral and interlocking components of Rabbi Professor Isadore (Yitzhak) Twersky’s understanding of Maimonides’ formulation of the relationship between the philosophic tradition and the Oral Law, particularly as expressed in the Moreh Nevukhim. Shmidman suggests that all of Maimonides’ works, as viewed by Twersky, “promote the integration, the blending, the fusion of law and philosophy. We should not bifurcate the most central Jewish figure of the medieval era into Rambam the halakhist and Maimonides the philosopher, but rather view his work as one united entity.” Because R. Twersky’s major scholarly focus was on the Mishneh Torah, his unique contribution to the study of The Guide of the Perplexed is, Shmidman suggests, sadly underappreciated—and that contribution is the focus of this essay. Michael A. Shmidman is Dean and Professor of Jewish History at Touro University Graduate School of Jewish Studies. This most recent essay originated as a lecture at a conference commemorating the 25th yahrzeit of R. Isadore Twersky convened at Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University (on September 11, 2022). We thought our readers would appreciate listening to Shmidman’s talk alongside reading his essay at TraditionOnline.org. The recordings of all the lectures at that daylong event, “Understanding Halakhah, History & Spirituality,” can be found on Revel’s YouTube channel—and we thank our friends at the Bernard Revel Graduate School for sharing this resource with our listeners.

    32 min
  6. 2023-11-27

    R. Emanuel Feldman Remembers Wars and Hopes for Jewish Revival

    As we continue to wrestle with the state of anxiety for what comes next at this troubling and traumatic time in Israel and around the Jewish world, we take strength from demonstrations of inspiring resilience and unity in our nation. We hope you’ve been following the content recently published on TraditionOnline.org responding to current events. In our upcoming Winter issue we hope to deliver some more substantive writing, tentative and initial as it may be, bringing the lens of Orthodox Jewish thought to bear on this war. In the meantime, as we try to make sense of things while navigating the maze we find ourselves in, we thought it would be useful to check in with TRADITION’s “elder statesman,” Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, whose wisdom, insights, and opinions cast useful light in the darkness—perhaps even more so as he enters the back end of his 10th decade with all the intellectual rigor readers of our pages have been accustomed to since his first early contribution in 1960. (Read all of R. Feldman’s TRADITION articles and columns here.) In this episode R. Feldman chats with our editor Jeffrey Saks about the current Gaza War in light of his memories of the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War; the challenges to Zionism and religious Zionism going forward; and his cautious optimism for a renewed Jewish spirit when the fog clears and we emerge victorious. They also talked about the role of TRADITION as a scholarly journal of ideas at a time such as this. Rabbi Emanuel Feldman served in the rabbinate in Atlanta for over 40 years before making his home in Jerusalem in 1991. He edited TRADITION from 1988 to 2001 and remains a valued counselor to our journal.

    36 min

Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox Jewish peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. It covers a range of topics including philosophy and theology, history, law, and ethics.

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