Madlik

Torah thoughts by Geoffrey Stern a post-orthodox Jew with a life-long love of Jewish texts + a irrev

07/03/2024

parshat korach - numbers 16 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday July 4th at 6:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Moshe pleads with God that only the guilty be punished and uses a divine title used in only one other place and not used again in all of Tanach: "God of the spirits of all flesh". This name for God strikes us as very universalist, even humanistic and as we broadcast from Vinci Italy we use it as a pretense to explore the many places, cultures and religions where the spirit of God may be found. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/576389 Listen to last year's episode: The People V. Korach and the previous year's episode: Flowing with Milk and Money

https://madlik.com/2024/07/03/the-spirit-of-all-flesh/

parshat korach – numbers 16 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday July 4th at 6:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Moshe pleads with God that only the guilty be punished and uses a div…

06/26/2024

parshat shelach - numbers 13 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday June 27th at 12:00 noon Eastern on Clubhouse. The so-called Biblical Spies are actually not characterized as undercover agents but rather as tourists or in Hebrew; Turim. Broadcasting live from Venice, Italy, we take this opportunity to explore the significant impact that journey has played in defining the Jew. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/575122 Listen to last year's episode: The Grasshopper Mentality and the New Jew

https://madlik.com/2024/06/26/wanderlust/

parshat shelach – numbers 13 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday June 27th at 12:00 noon Eastern on Clubhouse. The so-called Biblical Spies are actual…

06/19/2024

pashat beha'alotcha - numbers 8 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday June 20th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. We've encountered age limits in the Torah with regard to reaching the age of majority, military age and the age required to serve as a priest, but there is a singular verse which provides a mandatory retirement age and this is the subject of our discussion. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/574152 Listen to last year's episode: Kosher Q***r

https://madlik.com/2024/06/19/retirement-ageism-and-age-limits/

pashat beha’alotcha – numbers 8 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday June 20th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. We’ve encountered age limits in the Torah with regar…

06/05/2024

parshat bamidbar - numbers 1-3 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday June 6th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse as we start the fourth Book of the Torah. As the Torah quantifies and qualifies its members, there is nothing new with the emphasis on the genetic lineage of the tribes. What is surprising, is a strategically placed Rabbinic comment that whoever teaches Torah to another, Scripture regards it as though he had given birth to him. So, what is it... Nature or Nurture? Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/569859 Listen to last year's episode: God wants you to serve

https://madlik.com/2024/06/05/jewish-identity-nature-or-nurture/

parshat bamidbar – numbers 1-3 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday June 6th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse as we start the fourth Book of the Torah. As the Torah quantifies a…

05/30/2024

parshat bechukotai - leviticus 26 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday May 30th at 7:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. God threatens to scatter the Israelites among the nations. The Septuagint, in its Greek translation, coins a new word, maybe a new concept. A Greek word used to reference a people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently reside elsewhere....

parshat bechukotai – leviticus 26 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday May 30th at 7:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. God threatens to scatter the Israelites among the nations. The …

05/22/2024

parshat behar - leviticus 25 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for brunch on Thursday May 23rd at 11:00am Eastern on Clubhouse. Rabbi Mintz is in Israel and will share impressions of his recent visit to the only Haredi Hesder Yeshiva. The Talmud suggests that we set aside specific times for Torah study and we will use the Sabbatical year to focus on different ways that our tradition has offered for integrating study into civil society and military service. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/566480 Listen to last year's episode: Prozbul & Iska LLC

https://madlik.com/2024/05/22/times-for-torah/

parshat behar – leviticus 25 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for brunch on Thursday May 23rd at 11:00am Eastern on Clubhouse. Rabbi Mintz is in Israel and will share impressions of h…

05/14/2024

parshat emor - leviticus 23 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for an afternoon tea and Torah at 2:30 Eastern on Wednesday May 15th on Clubhouse. We usually think of Tishrei and the Fall as a marathon of Jewish holidays, but if you count Rabbinic and Israeli holidays, the seven weeks of Spring win the holiday race with ease. Pesach, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha'atzmut, Pesach Sheni, Lag ba'Omer and Shavuot....

parshat emor – leviticus 23 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for an afternoon tea and Torah at 2:30 Eastern on Wednesday May 15th on Clubhouse. We usually think of Tishrei and the Fal…

05/08/2024

a conversation with Rabbi Menachem Bombach Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and special guest Rabbi Menachem Bombach on Thursday May 9th for a Lunch & Learn at 12:30pm Eastern on Clubhouse. This year Yom Hazikaron; Israeli Memorial Day, will be different for many reasons and from many perspectives. We invite Rabbi Menachem Bombach, a maverick visionary in the Haredi community to join us for a conversation about the meaning, history and halachic significance of this day for Israelis in general and for the ultra-Orthodox in particular. Sefaria source sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/563501 Please watch video below:

https://madlik.com/2024/05/08/yom-hazikaron/

a conversation with Rabbi Menachem Bombach Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and special guest Rabbi Menachem Bombach on Thursday May 9th for a Lunch & Learn at 12:30pm Eastern on Clubhouse…

05/02/2024

parshat achrei mot - leviticus 16 - 18 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday May 2nd at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. From Rabbinic Judaism up until the present, we Jews "Choose Life". Was it always so? Was it so obvious? Is it the secret source of Jewish survival? And.... Is it at the core of the current conflict? Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/561608 Listen to last year's episode: Scapegoating

https://madlik.com/2024/05/01/life-comes-first/

parshat achrei mot – leviticus 16 – 18 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday May 2nd at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. From Rabbinic Judaism up until the present, we Jews &…

04/17/2024

This seder will be different from all other seders... Join Rabbi Adam Mintz and me on Clubhouse at 8:00pm Eastern for the Madlik Model Seder as we prepare together

04/16/2024

Join us on Clubhouse on Wednesday April 17th at 8:00pm Eastern. This year our Seder will be different from other seders. For the first time in many of our lives it will be a Leil Shemorim, a night of concern, uncertainty, fatigue and confusion. Let us follow the advice of the Rabbis to see ourselves as though we too are leaving our Egypt.......

04/12/2024

a visit to the Sh*ttim Institute; The Kibbutz Institute for Holidays and Jewish Culture, situated on kibbutz Beit Hash*ta in Northern Israel On the last day of a wartime visit to Israel, I visit the Sh*ttim Institute; The Kibbutz Institute for Holidays and Jewish Culture, situated on kibbutz Beit Hash*ta in Northern Israel. The Sh*ttim Institute has over 1,000 Kibbutz Haggadot and a million documents constituting the most extensive and unique archive of what I now recognize as Yehardut Yisraeli, organic Israeli Judaism produced on the kibutzim from the 1920's to the 1960's. Join us as we learn about the archive, it's history and it's potential to build resiliency and unity in Israel and the diaspora.

04/05/2024

a conversation with professor daniel polisar of shalem college Earlier this week I spoke with Professor Daniel Polisar, co-founder of Shalem College and his assistant, Hannah Liberman. We talked about the miraculous and sui generis emergence of the Hamal Yerushalyim; The Jerusalem Civilian Command Center, at the beginning of the October 7th War. We also tried to quantify and comprehend the IDF’s Cataclysmic Failure to provide basic protective gear for our troops. Link to the audio will be here shortly and on all major podcast platforms..

04/01/2024

In the Negev to meet with soldiers in the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Join Geoffrey Stern in the Negev to meet with soldiers in the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion, previously known as Nahal Haredi, a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. The soldiers are all Haredi and you will be hearing first from the commander and then from one of the new recruits, both of which spoke English and approached me to tell their story....

03/30/2024

Elimelech Crystal, a veteran Yom Kippur tank commander speaks out. Join us for a conversation with Elimelech Crystal; one of the leaders of Beyahad Em Lochamey Kippur 1973, an organization dedicated to supporting Israel's combat soldiers while at the same time protesting the current government. To Donate: Beyahad Em Lochamey Kippur 1973

03/27/2024

an interview with Ruth Calderon at Alma – Home for Hebrew Culture Join Geoffrey Stern in conversation with Ruth Calderon. In Israel while the war in Gaza rages on and with over 100 hostages still in captivity, we sit down with Talmud scholar and founder of Amla; Ruth Calderon to discuss the need to reclaim Jewish texts and create a shared cultural language in Israel..... now more than ever.

03/21/2024

parshat vayikra, vayikra 1 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday, March 21st at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. The Book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is also called Torat Cohanim (The Priestly Torah) and has traditionally been the first book to be studied by children in the Cheder. From the mouth of babes up until the present growing and no longer fringe group of Mikdashdikim who want to rebuild the Temple we try to trace and understand the unique place these laws play in Jewish theology and modern Israeli politics. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/553283 Listen to last year's episode: Oops I did it again

https://madlik.com/2024/03/20/torat-cohanim-then-and-now/

03/14/2024

parshat pekudei - exodus 38 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday March 14th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Moses feels obliged to acknowledge the individuals who designed and built the Tabernacle and to provide an exact accounting of all the funds used. We explore the profound place that transparency, accountability and most of all; honoring one's sources, play in Jewish tradition, culture and in light of the reckoning that lies ahead for the State of Israel and the Jewish People... Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/550971 Listen to last year's episode: Temples with no Cloud-Cover

https://madlik.com/2024/03/13/transparency-accountability-and-citation/

parshat pekudei – exodus 38 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday March 14th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Moses feels obliged to acknowledge the individuals who designed and…

03/06/2024

parshat shekalim - exodus 30 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday March 7th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. By tradition, the holiday of Passover is preceded by five specially named Shabbatot. The first is called Shekalim and we discuss the meaning of this shabbat in light of both Rabbinic and New Testament texts. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/549744 Listen to last year's episode for parshat Vayakhel: man made

https://madlik.com/2024/03/06/shekels-count/

parshat shekalim – exodus 30 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday March 7th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. By tradition, the holiday of Passover is preceded by five specially…

02/29/2024

parshat ki tisa - exodus 30 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday February 29th at 2:00pm Eastern for a Lunch and Learn on Clubhouse. We invite Berel Dov Lerner the author of the recently published: Human-Divine Interactions in the Hebrew Scriptures: Covenants and Cross-Purposes to discuss his book and .... the copper basin found in the Tabernacle. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/547714 Listen to last year's Episode: Wash Your Hands

https://madlik.com/2024/02/29/human-divine-interactions/

parshat ki tisa – exodus 30 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday February 29th at 2:00pm Eastern for a Lunch and Learn on Clubhouse. We invite Berel Dov Lerner the author of t…

02/22/2024

parshat tetzaveh - exodus 28 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday February 22nd at 2:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse as we explore the enigma of the Urim and Thummim; the priestly breastplate, within the context of the Torah's explicit rejection of sorcery and divination. And we wonder .... about contemporary incarnations of divination and prophesy in the form of opinion-polling and social media engagement. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/546029 Listen to last year's episode: Temple Politics

https://madlik.com/2024/02/21/the-sorcerers-apprentice/

parshat tetzaveh – exodus 28 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday February 22nd at 2:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse as we explore the enigma of the Urim and…

02/15/2024

parshat terumah - exodus 25-27 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday February 15th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. According to Rabbinic tradition Moses was shown a paradigm of the Menorah but was uncertain how to translate the vision into reality of the moment. Bezalel had no such reservations and succeeded where Moses failed. We use this tradition to explore the modern concept of Paradigm Shift and wonder whether we are at such an inflection point today. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/544480 Listen to last year's episode: WHEN GOD gets small

https://madlik.com/2024/02/15/paradigm-shift/

parshat terumah – exodus 25-27 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday February 15th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. According to Rabbinic tradition Moses was shown a paradigm of…

02/07/2024

parshat mishpatim - exodus 21 - 23 Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and special guest, the Reverand Dumisani Washington on Thursday February 8th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. As the rubber meets the road and the Torah begins to translate its vision of liberation into practical rules and regulations, we sense a patern. The Torah starts by addessing a legal institution close to home; slavery and provides laws of emancipation....

parshat mishpatim – exodus 21 – 23 Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and special guest, the Reverand Dumisani Washington on Thursday February 8th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. As …

02/01/2024

parshat yitro - exodus 18 Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and our special guest Vice Director General of the Ministry of Education in Israel; Muhana Fares for a discussion on Clubhouse on Thursday Febraury 1st at 8:00pm Eastern. Today we celebrate Yitro and our Druze brothers and sisters. We marvel at the superlatives that the Torah uses to describe Jethro and how the same characteristics of loyalty, leadership and integrity are showcased by Israeli Druze today.......

parshat yitro – exodus 18 Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and our special guest Vice Director General of the Ministry of Education in Israel; Muhana Fares for a discussion on Clubhouse …

01/24/2024

parshat beshalach - exodus Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for an afternoon coffee-break of Torah on Thursday January 25th at 2:00PM Eastern on Clubhouse. Nachshon is the posterchild of what Heschel called "Praying with your feet" and Judaism's clear bias for action over the status quo, action over reflection and action over prayer. We explore the darker side of Nachshon and the potential deficiencies of action bias in decision theory. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/539799 Listen to last year's episode: High Five

https://madlik.com/2024/01/24/nachshon-and-action-bias/

parshat beshalach – exodus Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for an afternoon coffee-break of Torah on Thursday January 25th at 2:00PM Eastern on Clubhouse. Nachshon is the posterchild…

01/18/2024

parshat bo, exodus 11 - 13 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for some afternoon Torah at 2:00pm Eastern on Thursday January 18th on Clubhouse. We explore how the plague of the firstborn represents the culmination of the Genesis critique of primogeniture and transcends the Exodus narrative in the Israelite law of the firstborn and first fruits. And we wonder how this effects the message of the Exodus. Sefaria source sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/538044 Listen to last year's episode: Hard Hearts

https://madlik.com/2024/01/17/entitlement-reform/

parshat bo, exodus 11 – 13 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for some afternoon Torah at 2:00pm Eastern on Thursday January 18th on Clubhouse. We explore how the plague of the firstbor…

01/11/2024

parshat vaera - exodus 7 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz at 8:00pm Eastern on January 11th on Clubhouse. We continue our exploration of Liberation Theology and its relationship with the Biblical Exodus. In his iconic "I Have A Dream" speech, Martin Luthur King Jr. shows his identification with a prophetic tradition which saw the universality of the Exodus story without diminishing its unique message for the Children of Israel. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/536664 Listen to a previous episode: Liberation Theology - for jews

https://madlik.com/2024/01/11/mlk-and-exodus/

parshat vaera – exodus 7 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz at 8:00pm Eastern on January 11th on Clubhouse. We continue our exploration of Liberation Theology and its relationship with …

01/04/2024

pashat shemot, exodus 1-3 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday January 4th at 1:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Following Classical Rabbinic sources that show a link between the Family Story of Genesis and the Birth of a Nation Story of Exodus we review a recently published book: Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins by Jacob L Wright and reflect on what made the Hebrew Bible so unique and its message so eternally timely. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/534972 Listen to last year's episode: Liberation Theology - for Jews

https://madlik.com/2024/01/04/exodus-and-the-birth-of-a-nation/

pashat shemot, exodus 1-3 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a Lunch & Learn on Thursday January 4th at 1:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Following Classical Rabbinic sources that show a l…

12/28/2023

parshat Vayechi - genesis 49 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday December 28th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. As we complete the book of Genesis, we look at a few verses that have been interpreted by both Jewish and Christian exegetes and explore how these commentaries may have been a conversation rather than a polemic. In the process, and without ignoring the divisive nature of religion, we wonder at the power of scripture and the potential for religion to bring us together. Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/533990 Listen to last years episode: Imaginary Prayer

https://madlik.com/2023/12/27/until-shiloh-comes/

parshat Vayechi – genesis 49 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday December 28th at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. As we complete the book of Genesis, we look at a few verses tha…

12/21/2023

parshat vayigash - genesis 44 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday December 21st at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Joseph is confronted with his long-lost family who thought he had died. While many of us celebrate during this holiday season, some of us wonder what difference our life has made. How different would the world have been without us?...

parshat vayigash – genesis 44 Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz on Thursday December 21st at 8:00pm Eastern on Clubhouse. Joseph is confronted with his long-lost family who thought he …

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