Podcast Episodes
21. Leo Strauss | Dr. Leora Batnitzky
J.J. and Dr. Leora Batnitzky look for hidden truths in Strauss' thought.
20. The Zohar | Dr. Daniel Matt
J.J. and Dr. Daniel Matt become wiser and gain understanding while discussing the Kabbalistic ideas of The Zohar .
19. Anti-Maimonides | Dr. Tamar Rudavsky
J.J. and Dr. Tamar Rudavsky trace the responses to Maimonides among Medieval Jewish Philosophers.
T.M. Rudavsky is Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University. She specializes in medieval Jewish philosophy and has edited three volumes: Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Perspectives(1984),…
18. The German Haskalah | Dr. Michah Gottlieb
J.J. and Dr. Michah Gottlieb shed light on the origins of the Haskalah in Berlin, and examine Mendelssohn's role in it.
17. The Real Maimonides | Dr. Noah Feldman
J.J. and Dr. Noah Feldman attempt uncover what Maimonides was really trying to do in his halakhic and philosophical works.
16. Sigmund Freud | Dr. Naomi Seidman
J.J. and Dr. Naomi Seidman wonder why Jews want to claim Freud so badly, and if that claim has merit.
15. Classics & Midrash | Dr. Simon Goldhill
J.J. and Dr. Simon Goldhill try to nail down exactly what Midrash really is and try to place the classical Rabbis in their historical context.
14. Yiddish Literature | Dr. Ruth Wisse
J.J. and Dr. Ruth Wisse unpack the world or modern Yiddish literature from its beginnings with Rav Nachman of Breslov through Chaim Grade and the contemporary state of Yiddish studies.
Ruth R. Wisse is professor emerita of Yiddish literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund. Her books on literature include The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey through Literature and Culture (2000); No Joke: Making Jewish Humor (2013); A Little Love in Big Manhattan: Two Yiddish Poets (1988); The…
13. Philosophy of Halakha | Dr. Yonatan Brafman
In this episode J.J. and Dr. Yonatan Brafman define philosophy of halakha and discuss the competing halakhic philosophies of Yeshayahu Leibovitz and Eliezer Berkovits.
Yonatan Brafman is an assistant professor of Modern Judaism in the Department of Religion and a member of the Program in Judaic Studies at Tufts University. He is a scholar of modern Jewish thought and a philosopher of religion. His research focuses on the intersection of Jewish thought, Jewish law, and contemporary moral, legal, and political philosophy. He also studies the implications of religious ritual for…
12. The Mishnah | Dr. Shaye J.D. Cohen
J.J. and Dr. Shaye Cohen go deep into the world of the mishnah and try to mark the boundaries between the world of the mishnah and the world of history.
Shaye J. D. Cohen is the Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University, one of the oldest and most distinguished professorships of Jewish studies in the United States. Before arriving at Harvard in July 2001, Prof. Cohen was for ten years the Samuel Ungerleider Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Brown…