The College Commons Podcast

HUC-JIR

The College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, is produced by Hebrew Union College, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning.

  1. David B. Oppenheimer: Great Minds, It Turns Out, Think Differently

    3D AGO

    David B. Oppenheimer: Great Minds, It Turns Out, Think Differently

    David Oppenheimer traces the diversity principle back two centuries. Biography: David B. Oppenheimer is a Clinical Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Pro Bono Program, and the Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-discrimination Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught at a number of universities, including the Sorbonne and University of Bologna, and published widely, including, among others, his most recent book, The Diversity Principle.

    24 min
  2. Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein: The rabbinate is changing faster than it’s shrinking (but it’s also shrinking)

    MAR 17

    Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein: The rabbinate is changing faster than it’s shrinking (but it’s also shrinking)

    Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein: The rabbinate is changing faster than it’s shrinking (but it’s also shrinking) Description: Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein breaks down a landmark study of road to the rabbinate. Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein is the Executive Director of Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation. Previously, Rabbi Epstein served as Executive Director of the 14th Street Y in Manhattan, and as a member of the faculty of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Rabbi Epstein publishes and teaches widely in the Jewish community, and has served at various congregations, Jewish youth groups and summer camps as an educator. In her current role at Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation, she oversaw the publication of a landmark study that came out in November of 2025, titled “From Calling to Career: Mapping the Current State and Future of Rabbinic Leadership.”

    26 min
  3. Rabbi Michael Zedek: Sit by the Fire and Tell a Story

    MAR 3

    Rabbi Michael Zedek: Sit by the Fire and Tell a Story

    Sit by the Fire and Tell a Story Description: Rabbi Michael Zedek shares his stories and the values the drive them. Biography: Michael Zedek is rabbi emeritus of two wonderful synagogues: Emanuel Congregation in Chicago and Temple B’nai Yehudah in Kansas City, Missouri. After his retirement from Emanuel, he served as senior advisor to the CCAR and now serves as rabbi-in-residence at the St. Paul School of Theology. A dedicated community activist, scholar, and teacher, Rabbi Zedek received a Fulbright-Hays Grant, and he was honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 2025, Rabbi Zedek published the book titled “People Are Like…” with the subtitle “Stories for young readers and readers who wish to stay young.”

    18 min
  4. Hannah L. and Rabbi Harvey Winokur: Jewish and Twelve-Step Traditions at the Crossroads of Addiction

    FEB 17

    Hannah L. and Rabbi Harvey Winokur: Jewish and Twelve-Step Traditions at the Crossroads of Addiction

    Jewish and Twelve-Step Traditions at the Crossroads of Addiction Description: A Jewish ethical tradition called Mussar and a uniquely Jewish approach to twelve-step recovery. Hannah L. is the author of Mussar in Recovery: A Jewish Spiritual Path to Serenity and Joy, which is the topic of today’s conversation. Mussar in Recovery offers an approach to recovery from addiction based in a complementary approach between the 12-step program and Mussar, a Jewish program of ethical development and self-improvement through the balancing of personal character traits. Rabbi Harvey Winokur, collaborator on Mussar in Recovery, is the founding, and since 2018, emeritus rabbi, of Temple Kehillat Chaim located in Roswell, Georgia. Rabbi Winokur is a Jewish spiritual director and facilitator of Mussar.

    28 min
  5. Adam Ferziger: A Patchwork of Jews

    FEB 3

    Adam Ferziger: A Patchwork of Jews

    Advancing Ellenson's Legacy Series Adam Ferziger: A Patchwork of Jews Opinions and approaches inhabit the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and practice, but how do they speak to each other? Biography: Adam S. Ferziger is an historian of religion, and he holds the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Chair in the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He researches Jewish intellectual, social, and spiritual responses to modern and contemporary life. His book Beyond Sectarianism, won a National Jewish Book Award and his newest work, Agents of Change: American Jews and the Transformation of Israeli Judaism, was published in July by NYU Press.

    36 min
  6. Arnold Eisen: Dimensional and Complex Judaism

    JAN 20

    Arnold Eisen: Dimensional and Complex Judaism

    Advancing Ellenson's Legacy Series Arnold Eisen: Dimensional and Complex Judaism More than a religion, resisting extremes, but also hard to pin down, Judaism and Judaism’s God inspire Arnold Eisen’s spiritual search. Biography: Arnold M. Eisen, a foremost authority on American Judaism, is professor of Jewish Thought and chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He previously served on the faculties of Stanford, Tel Aviv, and Columbia universities. He has contributed regularly to print and online media, including the Wall Street Journal, The Jewish Week, Huffington Post, and Tablet, on topics of Jewish education, philosophy, and values. He is a prolific scholar and author, most recently, of Seeking the Hiding God: A Personal Theological Essay.

    33 min
  7. Rabbi Dalia Marx: The Prayerbook as a Living Text

    JAN 6

    Rabbi Dalia Marx: The Prayerbook as a Living Text

    Advancing Ellenson's Legacy Series Rabbi Dalia Marx: The Prayerbook As a Living Text Rabbi Dalia Marx editor of the new Israeli Reform prayerbook muses on the siddur as both reflection and shaper of community. Biography: Rabbi Professor Dalia Marx is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy and Midrash at the Hebrew Union College, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar. She is also the co-editor of the new Israeli Reform Siddur called “Tefillat ha-Adam” together with Alona Lisitsa. She is a public intellectual in Israel, appearing regularly on Israeli media, and she co-hosts with Rabbi Dan Prat a sister podcast of this one in Hebrew, also on HUC Connect, titled “Kanfei Ruach”.

    28 min
  8. Rabbi Ed Feinstein: Every Sermon Tells a Story

    12/09/2025

    Rabbi Ed Feinstein: Every Sermon Tells a Story

    For Rabbi Ed Feinstein meaning-making is story-telling, and the rabbi’s business. Biography: Rabbi Ed Feinstein came to Valley Beth Shalom in 1993 at the invitation of the renowned Rabbi Harold Schulweis z"l, and succeeded Rabbi Schulweis as the congregation’s senior rabbi in 2005. He now serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, the Wexner Heritage Program, the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and lectures widely across the United States. He is the author of several books, and he enjoys a well-earned reputation as wonderfully engaging lecturer and storyteller, and one of this generation’s great sermonizers.

    29 min
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4.8
out of 5
25 Ratings

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The College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, is produced by Hebrew Union College, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning.

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