Truths - Jewish Wisdom for Today

Levi Brackman
  • 5.0 (3)
  • SPIRITUALITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Hosted by Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman, "Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today" is an insightful podcast exploring the confluence of religion, science, and philosophy. The podcast serves as a platform for curious minds who value nuance and pursue wisdom. It is not designed for individuals seeking absolute truths or those inclined towards unquestioning religious adherence, but instead for those who traverse our rapidly evolving world as seekers and explorers. With the mission to impart valuable insights rooted in Jewish perspective that resonate with contemporary times, "Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today" learns from distinguished guests, shares insights with listeners, and adapts with time and context. This podcast stands as a guiding light for those questing for wisdom and a nuanced understanding of spirituality amid the complexities of the modern world.

  1. FEB 1

    Why Transcendence Matters: The Inner Work Behind Outer Action

    In this solo episode, Levi revisits his conversation with Rabbi Manis Friedman and argues that some of the deepest Hasidic ideas can become distorted when presented as shortcuts. Through a formative story from his teens—culminating in an extended personal conversation with Rabbi Yoel Kahn—Levi explores the full “ladder” of Hasidic consciousness: Daas Tachton (the world’s dependence on God) and Daas Elyon (the acosmic view that only the Divine truly is), and the paradox of living inside both at once. He then tackles the practical stakes: spirituality vs. godliness, inner work with the animal soul, prayer as contemplative avodah, and why mitzvot require love and awe to “fly.” The goal isn’t to attack a person—but to restore the missing context so God doesn’t get reduced to ritual. Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    48 min

  2. FEB 1

    Effectively, the Frum World Has No God - A Conversation with Rabbi Manis Friedman

    Does God need us? Does God need mitzvot? In this episode of Truth: Jewish Wisdom for Today, Levi Brackman sits down with Rabbi Manis Friedman for a direct, unfiltered conversation about one of the most emotionally-charged theological debates online — and what people are often actually arguing about underneath the headlines. We explore whether “need” implies lack, or whether it’s a sharper way of saying desire / ratzon — and what happens when you take that idea all the way into classic Chassidic territory: Tzimtzum, Atzmus, bitul, das elyon vs das tachton, and the tension between mystical “unknowability” and a relationship with Hashem that’s concrete, knowable, and obligation-centered. In this conversation: What Rabbi Friedman means by “need” (and what he doesn’t mean) “Bitul to the mystery” vs “bitul to Hashem’s ratzon” Is the world nothing… or essential… or somehow both? Does chasing transcendence bring you closer to Hashem — or subtly make it about you? Why some Orthodox religious culture can feel like “laws without God” — and whether that’s fair Guests: Rabbi Manis Friedman Also joining: Yoni Katz (setting up the debate + clarifying the question) ⚠️ Note: This is a philosophical / spiritual discussion, not practical halachic guidance. If you enjoyed this, please like, subscribe, and comment: When you hear “God needs us,” what do you think it means — and what should it mean? Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 4m

  3. 11/27/2025

    Rabbi Yitz Greenberg on Haredim, Dissent, Ecstasy, and The Triumph of Life

    What happens when a leading Orthodox theologian says that parts of the Haredi world exclude dissenting voices — and that doing so can actually undermine the Torah’s deepest call to choose life? In this episode of The Truth Podcast, host Levi Brackman sits down with Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg to talk about Haredim, dissent, ecstasy, and his new book The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism. Rav Yitz lays out a bold claim:  Judaism, at its core, is a religion of choosing life — and halakha is not just a legal code but a disciplined way of maximizing life and minimizing death in every action we take. Together they explore: Haredim and dissent – what happens to a community when dissenting voices are shut out “to protect the Torah,” and why pluralism might actually be a religious obligation.How halakha can be re-seen as a life-maximizing practice, from eating and kashrut to work, speech and power.Why vegetarian ideals, environmental concerns, and climate questions can all be read through the lens of “living on the side of life.”The danger of letting left-wing or right-wing politics hijack Torah, and how to let Torah critique all ideologies instead of becoming their mascot.What it means to say that God is totally present and totally hidden in our time – and how that changes the way we daven, say berachot, and live as Jews in a secular age.Very practically: how an ordinary person can begin to cultivate divine consciousness so that daily life – going to work, making a bracha, meeting another human being – becomes an entry point to ecstasy.This is not a bashing session and not fluffy spirituality. It’s a serious, honest, sometimes uncomfortable, but ultimately uplifting conversation about how to live a real Jewish life in a complicated world. If you care about Judaism, spirituality, theology, Haredim and pluralism, or just how to live a life that leaves more life behind than it started with, this episode is for you. Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 7m

  4. 11/17/2025

    The Wonder Effect: From Shliach to Business Success to Author – A Conversation with Adam Haston

    In this episode of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today, Levi Brackman sits down with his longtime friend Adam Haston, real estate investor and author of The Wonder Effect: An Adventurous Guide for Igniting Your Passions and Pursuing Your Calling. Drawing on nearly 30 years of shared history from yeshiva and Chabad outreach, Levi and Adam explore how to move from “just sitting” through life to actually living with vision and purpose. They unpack core ideas from The Wonder Effect — crushing limiting beliefs and “idols,” knowing yourself, using curiosity as a compass, and building a concrete vision for your next 3–5 years — and put them into conversation with Chassidic and Kabbalistic concepts like ratzon (deep will), kavana (intentionality), and bittul (self-transcendence).  Along the way they talk about: why people are afraid to really look at themselves; how to distinguish your true purpose from other people’s expectations; the “Jonah complex” and fear of success; why many religious people never actually experience spiritual ecstasy; and how the same inner work that leads to a meaningful career can also open you to a genuine encounter with the Divine. What you’ll hear in this episode: How two former yeshiva bochurim ended up talking about AI, real estate, and wonderThe origin story of The Wonder Effect and why Adam wrote it for his kids“Crushing idols”: breaking false self-images and inherited narrativesPractical ways to start discovering your calling if you feel you “have no passions”Purpose as an answer to “What am I for?” — religiously and psychologicallyEcstasy, bittul, and why you can’t reach God while protecting your imageThe danger of confusing spiritual experience with spiritual truthHow Jewish sources on ratzon and Keter map onto modern purpose-in-life researchPerfect if you’re feeling stuck, rethinking your life direction, or looking for a bridge between Jewish spirituality and modern personal-growth tools. Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 19m

  5. 11/07/2025

    Not Leaving, Not Faking: Staying Haredi While Asking Real Questions - With Rabbi Yitzchok Lowy

    Rabbi Yitzchok Lowy grew up in Lakewood in a Hasidic–yeshivish home, learned in top Lithuanian yeshivot, and later immersed himself in the world of contemporary Hasidic and Kabbalistic teachers.  In this conversation, we sit together in his beit midrash in New York and trace the “origin story” of his Beit Midrash Iyun LaMachshava—a study space built for people who can’t turn their minds off, but also don’t want to walk away from Torah or community. We talk about the disappointment that pushed him away from standard mussar and hashkafa talks—“flat, one-dimensional” Torah that never allows for real complexity—and the attraction he felt to the broader “Hasidic renaissance” and Chabad-inflected thinkers who took ideas, soul, and inner work seriously. But then we follow him further, to the moment he realizes that even those teachers live in their own “boxes,” have red lines they refuse to cross, and sometimes won’t follow their own arguments to their logical end. From there the conversation opens into bigger questions: the difference between faith and knowledge, why “I believe” is not the same as “I know,” and why the simple sentence “I don’t know” is, for him, a moral and spiritual stance rather than an admission of failure. We talk about the Rambam “ruining” the Talmud’s open-endedness, the loneliness of serious teachers who have no peers, the dangers of charismatic leadership and tzaddik-culture, and what it would take to build a real community of thinkers inside Haredi life rather than outside of it. If you’ve ever felt “too thoughtful for the system” but still deeply attached to Torah, people, and place, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar—in a good way. Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 60m

  6. 07/23/2025

    Chabad Without Lubavitch — A Conversation with Rabbi Avrohom Wilner

    Rabbi Avram Wilner has reissued, footnoted, and clarified key works of Rabbi Aharon of Staroshelye, a towering but under-learned student of the Alter Rebbe. We explore the fault line between learning Chabad as a path of inner avodah and affiliating with the modern Lubavitch movement; the two tiers of Kabbalah (universal vs. elite); the role of hispa’alus and bittul; and why emotion can’t be skipped if transformation is the goal. We also compare the Middle Rebbe’s methodical, head-to-heart pathway with Rabbi Aharon’s allowance for early emotion, and discuss today’s non-Lubavitch but Chabad-focused communities that focus on lived bittul.  Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 8m

  7. 07/07/2025

    Can a Post-Talmudic Orthodoxy Become Talmudic Again? – A Conversation with Menachem Fisch

    Is Orthodox Judaism still Talmudic — or has it slipped into safe, post-Talmudic conformity? Professor Menachem Fisch — Joseph & Ceil Mazer Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, Director of its Center for Religious and Inter-religious Studies, and Humboldt Research Prize laureate — joins Levi Brackman to reveal the Talmud as a radical engine of creative dissent and critical self-examination. Discover: Why the Bavli’s fictitious debates matter more than their “final” rulingsHillel vs. Shammai and the virtue of being offendableParallels between paradigm shifts in science and halakhic evolutionHow every learner can — and must — own the conversation🎧 Watch / listen now and rethink what it means to be a “Talmudic Jew.”  #Talmud #JewishPodcast #MenachemFisch #Orthodoxy #JewishWisdom Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 26m

  8. 06/25/2025

    First-Language Judaism vs. Rule-Book Religion: My Conversation with Prof. Moshe Koppel

    Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman sits down with Prof. Moshe Koppel—mathematician, long-time Israeli resident, and author of Judaism Straight Up—to explore what it means to “speak” Judaism naturally instead of consulting a rule book at every turn. Highlights include: Shimen vs. Heidi: two real people who illustrate organic tribal Judaism and cosmopolitan universalismWhy thick social norms help communities last, and how thin “fairness-only” ethics can fall shortThe role of instinct, family memory, and everyday practice in shaping halakhic decision-makingHow concrete beliefs and abstract theology each serve different emotional and intellectual needsA brief look at DICTA, Koppel’s project that applies language-tech tools to classic Jewish textsIf you’re curious about living tradition, social cohesion, and the balance between rules and fluency, this conversation lays out the ideas clearly. Support the show Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.

    1h 2m
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Hosted by Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman, "Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today" is an insightful podcast exploring the confluence of religion, science, and philosophy. The podcast serves as a platform for curious minds who value nuance and pursue wisdom. It is not designed for individuals seeking absolute truths or those inclined towards unquestioning religious adherence, but instead for those who traverse our rapidly evolving world as seekers and explorers. With the mission to impart valuable insights rooted in Jewish perspective that resonate with contemporary times, "Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today" learns from distinguished guests, shares insights with listeners, and adapts with time and context. This podcast stands as a guiding light for those questing for wisdom and a nuanced understanding of spirituality amid the complexities of the modern world.

Information

  • Creator
    Levi Brackman
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    130
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Truths - Jewish Wisdom for Today
  • Show Website
    Truths - Jewish Wisdom for Today