Jewish Insights with Justin Pines

Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS)
  • 4.7 (16)
  • Judaism
  • Updated Weekly

Exploring Judaism’s key ideas, people, rituals and memory with Rabbi Justin Pines, CEO of JBS. To learn more about JBS, visit JBSTV.org Hinei Ma Tov theme song by Av Vachim

  1. 19h ago

    The Real West Bank with Tuvia Tenenbom

    "Excuse me, is this yours?" It turns out that may be the most dangerous question you can ask in the Holy Land. Tuvia Tenenbom, bestselling author, playwright, and the journalist Die Welt called "Michael Moore and Borat in one", spent nearly a year living in the territory some call Judea and Samaria and others call the West Bank, through an active war, with Iranian missiles passing overhead. His new book, Excuse Me, Is This Yours?, is the story of what he actually found. In this hour, Justin Pines sits down with him for a conversation that runs from a Bnei Brak childhood to a hilltop above Nablus. Tenenbom holds degrees in mathematics, computer science, fine arts, and journalism, completed rabbinical studies in Jerusalem, founded the Jewish Theater of New York, and has written more than forty plays. He is the author of four Der Spiegel and five Israeli bestsellers, translated into ten languages, with earlier books embedding him in Germany, across America, in Europe's refugee camps, in Britain, and among the Haredim. Get the book: Excuse Me, Is This Yours? https://www.gefenpublishing.com/products/excuse-me-is-this-yours?srsltid=AU7gw4Vf-iiflmHR42zNd6-XhBwgM_CI80zzSI5wAX9jGtH6OtVIgBI1   This episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines is made possible in part by Bryna and Joshua Landes, in honor of their beloved mother, Sora Landes.

    The Real West Bank with Tuvia Tenenbom

  2. Oct 7

    Friends Producer Kevin S. Bright

    Kevin S. Bright was executive producer of Friends for all ten seasons and directed more than 50 episodes of one of the most beloved shows in television history. His newest documentary, The Bridge, follows ten young Israeli survivors of October 7th to Los Angeles for the legendary Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. There, rock musicians from bands including Guns N' Roses, Van Halen, and Black Sabbath help them work through grief, fear, and survivor's guilt, and find their way back to their own voices. In this episode of Jewish Insights, Justin Pines sits down with Kevin for a conversation that runs from the Lower East Side to Central Perk to Tel Aviv. Kevin S. Bright's credits include executive producer of Friends, executive producer of HBO's Dream On, producer of the In Living Color pilot, and executive producer or director of the documentaries Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story, Best and Most Beautiful Things, October 8th, and It's Dorothy. The Bridge airs on JBS. To bring the film to your university, Hillel, or community, visit thebridgedoc.com.

    Friends Producer Kevin S. Bright

  3. Sep 30

    What Is the Torah, Really? With Rabbi Ken Spiro

    What is the Torah? If you think it's just the Five Books of Moses, you're only seeing the surface. The Torah encompasses the written law, the oral law, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and an extraordinary chain of transmission and interpretation that stretches from Mount Sinai to today. In this episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, historian Rabbi Ken Spiro walks through the full story of the Torah — what actually happened at Sinai (including the part most people don't know), when the written and oral laws were given and why God would deliver a law orally, the dramatic moment when King Josiah's workers discovered a lost Torah scroll in the Temple, Ezra's public reading at the Water Gate that transformed Jewish life after the Babylonian exile, why the oral law was eventually written down, how the Torah system survived the destruction of the Temple and centuries of exile, the role of the Rambam in organizing and transmitting the tradition, what the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed about the accuracy of the text over two thousand years, how traditional Judaism responds to the Documentary Hypothesis, and the living process by which rabbis derive Jewish law from these ancient sources today. Rabbi Ken Spiro is a historian, author, and Senior Lecturer at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. He holds an MA in History and rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and has lived in Israel since 1982. He served in a combat infantry unit in the IDF and is a licensed tour guide in Israel. He is the author of "WorldPerfect — The Jewish Impact on Civilization," "Crash Course in Jewish History," and "Destiny — Why a tiny nation plays such a huge role in history." His work has been featured on BBC, National Geographic, the History Channel, and Fox News. He hosts the weekly podcast "Remember What's Next" on Spotify and YouTube, and his writings can be found at kenspiro.com and aish.com.

    What Is the Torah, Really? With Rabbi Ken Spiro

  4. Sep 23

    Who is the Jewish Messiah? With Rabbi Ken Spiro

    Every year on Sukkot, Jews around the world read the prophet Zechariah's vision of a future in which all the nations of the earth come up to Jerusalem. Not on Passover. Not on Yom Kippur. On Sukkot — the holiday Jewish tradition identifies with the Messianic era itself. So what is the Messiah? For an idea this central to Judaism — woven into the daily prayers, enshrined as the 12th of Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith, built into the structure of Jewish history and Jewish hope — most Jews would struggle to say what Mashiach actually is, what he has to accomplish, or how anyone would recognize the real one. In part one of this two-part Sukkot and Simchat Torah special, Justin Pines sits down with Rabbi Ken Spiro — historian, author, and senior lecturer at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem — for an hour that turns a vague idea into something you can actually hold. Jewish Insights with Justin Pines airs on JBS (Jewish Broadcasting Service), available on Comcast, Spectrum, DirecTV, and Verizon. Watch more episodes at jbstv.org.

    Who is the Jewish Messiah? With Rabbi Ken Spiro

  5. Sep 18

    The Word That Brought the Golem to Life | Justin Pines Yom Kippur Message 2026

    Join JBS CEO Rabbi Justin Pines as he offers his special 2026 Yom Kippur Message, which calls on all people to take action to bring more truth, or "EMET" in Hebrew, into our lives.

    The Word That Brought the Golem to Life | Justin Pines Yom Kippur Message 2026

  6. Sep 16

    Returning to Yourself: Rabbi Avi Weiss on Yom Kippur

    This Yom Kippur, Justin Pines welcomes back his teacher and rebbe, Rabbi Avi Weiss, for an hour-long journey through the holiest day of the Jewish year.  Rabbi Weiss, founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (the Bayit) and founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat, opens with a tefillah he wrote and recites each morning: a prayer for help in giving thanks for the blessings he has, and in not letting his heart be weighed down by the blessings he lacks. From there, the conversation moves through the themes of the day including the shofar and teshuva – Rav Kook’s teaching that repentance is not only an accounting of past deeds, but a return to your own inner self. Strength and love – why love itself is not a feeling but a decision, an action. Kol Nidre – the power of words and the dangers of them. The confession (vidui), and the positive vidui Rabbi Weiss composed: ahavnu, we have loved; barachnu, we have blessed; gadalnu, we have grown. The Avodah, and the idea that every one of us can be a Kohen Gadol, and finally Neilah.  Rabbi Weiss reflects, “I would always think: God, don’t lock me out. Lately I’ve been thinking that maybe we should be saying: God, don’t lock me in. Let me go out. Let me experience the entire world." ”  Recorded on the eve of 9/11, Rabbi Weiss also reflects on walking into Ground Zero as a clergy first responder and finding a holy place, and on the soldiers, families, and small daily steps that have shaped his thinking since October 7th. He closes with a blessing.

    Returning to Yourself: Rabbi Avi Weiss on Yom Kippur

  7. Sep 9

    The Vulnerability of God with Gila Fine

    Can God be vulnerable? National Jewish Book Award winner Gila Fine explores the stunning talmudic tale of Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha, who entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur and was asked by God for a blessing (Berakhot 7a). What does it mean for an omnipotent God to ask a mortal for help? Through the lens of rabbinic literature, Shakespeare's King Lear, and modern philosophy, Fine reveals the difference between the God of the Bible and the God of the Talmud — and what divine vulnerability teaches us about the relationship between God and humanity.  Gila Fine is a lecturer in rabbinic literature at Shalem College and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and the author of "The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud," winner of the 74th National Jewish Book Award and the 2024 Rabbi Sacks Book Prize.

    The Vulnerability of God with Gila Fine

  8. Sep 2

    Michelle Farber: Bringing Talmud to the World

    The Talmud is the foundational text of Judaism — every law, every debate, every dissenting opinion preserved across 2,711 pages. For centuries it was accessible only to scholars. That is changing. Rabbanit Michelle Farber is the founder of Hadran and the host of Daf Yomi for Women, the first and only women's daily Daf Yomi podcast. From her dining room table in Israel, she has built a worldwide movement — bringing daily Talmud study into the lives of thousands of women and men from all backgrounds. The story of how the Talmud went from the study halls of the few to the daily lives of the many is a story of extraordinary breakthroughs — from Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi writing down the Mishnah, to Rabbi Meir Shapiro's Daf Yomi, to ArtScroll and Koren making the text accessible in English, to Rabbanit Farber's own work opening the Talmud to women around the world. In this episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, Rabbanit Farber shares her personal journey, what listeners can expect from her daily shiur, how Hadran has grown into a full ecosystem of women's Talmud learning, and why now is the time to start. She also teaches Justin some Talmud! A new Daf Yomi journey begins June 8, 2027. Whether you've never opened a Gemara or you've been learning for years, this episode is for you. Visit hadran.org.il to get started.

    Michelle Farber: Bringing Talmud to the World
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Exploring Judaism’s key ideas, people, rituals and memory with Rabbi Justin Pines, CEO of JBS. To learn more about JBS, visit JBSTV.org Hinei Ma Tov theme song by Av Vachim

Information

  • Creator
    Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS)
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    Jewish Insights with Justin Pines

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