Interleaved: A Talmudic Podcast Netanel Zellis-Paley

How did the monetary guarantee of the ketubah develop? What light can similar contracts from the Ancient Near East and modern pre-marital financial agreements such as the pre-nup shed on the nature of the ketubah, including the question of whether it is binding?Prof. Michael L. Satlow is Professor of Judaic Studies and Religious Studies at Brown University. He holds a Ph.D. from JTS, and is an author of numerous works including the book Jewish Marriage in Antiquity, and the chapter “Rec...

CW// sexual assault/r*peWhat do Talmudic texts about vaginal bleeding and sexual assault tell us about how the rabbis perceived women’s humanity and subjectivity? Is a true gender-egalitarian halakha even possible?This is the second part of an interview. Listen to part one here.Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, I...

CW// underage sex and sexual assault/r*peWhat is the rabbis' definition of virginity, and why is it so complicated? What does it tell us about their view of feminine subjectivity and sexuality? Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, Identity, and Epistemology, focused on legal and cultural questions around the definit...

Last year around this time we were finishing up Tractate Pesachim — take another dip into our Peseach archive with this episode compilation featuring ideas from Kadesh to NirtzahWe thank our guests, Dr. Susan Weingarten, Dr. Jon Greenberg, Rabbi Dr. Vanessa Ochs, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Dr. Rachel Scheinerman, Dr. Marc Michael Epstein, and Dr. Sara Ronis for lending us their voices, ideas, and insights to enhance each step of our, and now your, seder. In addition to this audio experie...

What can levirate marriage teach us about ancient Jewish family structures? Why start Seder Nashim with death? Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics, HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director and Rabbinical Program Director in Los Angeles. She is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism, which explores the ancient rabbis’ understanding of family and familial relationships. Rabbi Dr. Weisberg also teaches frequently in informal settings...

Who really was Elisha ben Avuyah, and why was he a mistake of rabbinic interpretation? How did he become a blank canvas for the Rabbis’ heretical anxieties? Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, a nonprofit, international, UNESCO-sponsored interfaith organization. A noted scholar of Jewish studies, he has held academic posts at Tel Aviv University and has served as director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Mor...