Sat, Oct 24, 2009
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner asks some mystical questions about the creation of the world in the year's first Torah portion! Take a trippy voyage through Kabbalah and Torah with a Star Wars-tinged style.
Sun, Oct 25, 2009
Writer and performance poet Matthue Roth tells it like it is (or was?) about Noah, the ark, different types of birds and two ways to be in the world.
Mon, Oct 26, 2009
An uplifting, bewitching song from Stereo Sinai, written from Sarah's point of view. It's a music video set in the ancient world, and we can't get it out of our heads.
Sat, Oct 31, 2009
There's so much to see in this week's parsha that Evan Wolkenstein, experiential educator, decides to zoom in and focus on the story of two relatively minor characters. (Although one of them - baby Ishmael - is an actual minor. Snort.)
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Step into a desert oasis and get to know Rebecca as a young girl. Goldie Goldbloom shares a medieval commentary on this story that is startling but rich with wisdom for us today!
Sat, Oct 30, 2010
Ready for a Rumble? Meet twins Jacob and Esau as they begin their tumultuous relationship on the inside. Their mom Rebecca doesn't know what's up! Can we trust our own analysis of situations, or do we need help? Y-Love narrates.
Sun, Jan 31, 2010
Count yourself lucky - you've got expert Esther Kustanowitz helping you keep score in a soap opera of, well, biblical proportions. Meet Jacob's family...and pay attention: there's a lot of members.
Sun, Jan 17, 2010
Ready to rumble? Award-winning novelist Dara Horn brings a real chiddush - new angle - to the incredible story of Jacob's midnight wrestling match. Prepare to get the wind knocked out of you.
Fri, Dec 11, 2009
Remember Joseph? Yeah, the many-colored-coat guy. Well, it seems to bring out the nasty in a bunch of Original Ganstas - Joseph's bros. Hip Hop artist Daniel Silverstein (aka Danny Raphael) lays down the story for us in rhyme.
Fri, Dec 18, 2009
Parshat Miketz is positively dreamy. From cows to corn, this story is full of enigmatic clues to what's up in Egypt. Sociologist Tobin Belzer brings us inside the brain of the great dream interpreter: Joseph.
Fri, Dec 25, 2009
Are you ready for Joseph's big reveal? Judah and his brothers are in for an ancient Biblical extreme makeover, as Liz Nord tells the tale, when they find out who's *really* Pharoah's right hand man in Egypt.
Fri, Jan 1, 2010
After journeys, revelations, struggles and visions, our ancestors take stock of their blessings in this week's parsha, the last one in Bereshit - closing out the book of Genesis. Marcus J. Freed - poet, teacher, playwright and actor - gives voice - or is that voices? - to the whole thing.
Fri, Jan 8, 2010
A burning bush that talks would probably make most of us stutter, but Moses had a speech impediment even before his divine shrubbery encounter. Why did G-d ask this shepherd "with a heavy tongue" to be a spokesman? Jason Lieberman, an advocate for the contemporary disabled, takes a stab at the answer
Fri, Jan 15, 2010
It's possibly the best known Bible story, period. A rousing "Let my people go" kicks of weeks of frogs and hail and boils, but Rabbi Katie Mizrahi explains that those weren't even the REAL plagues.
Fri, Jan 22, 2010
What's it like to be the greatest sidekick ever? Actor and writer Joel Stanley takes us INSIDE the head of Aaron, Moses's number one man (ahem...and his brother). Plagues! Confrontations! And poison-tinged political drama where Moses and Pharoah's attendants attack each other...with snakes??
Fri, Jan 29, 2010
Red Sea walkers, pull on those wetsuits and hit the rapids of Parshat Beshalach! This week's narrator Eli Winkelman - a foodie with a hunger for social change - takes us on the scenic route out of Egypt, wading out of the Red Sea and into a land of bad food and water.
Mon, Feb 1, 2010
Overworked? Got no time for friends or family? Take a tip from Yitro. In this week's G-dcast, Leah Jones shares with us some wisdom from Moses's non-Jewish father-in-law that pretty much changes the course of Jewish history.
Fri, Feb 12, 2010
People of the book, dive in to a video, won't you? Author and professor David Henkin talks about the act of writing in this week's G-dcast...in an attempt to discover what we need books for, anyway.
Fri, Feb 19, 2010
What would YOU build to house your most precious possessions? Who would you hire as the architect? Furniture designer Rafael Kushick helps us understand the divinely architected blueprints for the holiest - and most confusing - building project ever attempted.
Fri, Feb 26, 2010
You're never fully dressed without a smile...or if you're a priest, a tunic made of crimson, gold and purple linen and wool. Explore Priestly Fashion Week with Atlanta's most fashionable punk, Patrick Aleph of PunkTorah.com.
Thu, Mar 11, 2010
The Children of Israel brought what their hearts moved them to bring in the building of the first Sanctuary...and this week's G-dcast is brought to you from singer/songwriter Alicia Jo Rabins' heart. Tune in for a musical piece - about art - from a consummate musician and artist
Fri, Mar 12, 2010
If this week's Torah story is about drawing close to God, then get ready for a ticklish snuggle. Tiny Ninja Theater's Dov Weinstein tells a hilarious tale of love, devotion and building a future together with your Significant Other.
Fri, Mar 19, 2010
Welcome to Leviticus - in Hebrew, the book of Vayikra. This is where things start to get kinda bloody. Plunge into the wild world of Biblical sacrifice with the spiritual insight of Rachel Kohl Finegold, whose clear and inspiring explanation of animal sacrifice brings all the gory details to life!
Fri, Mar 26, 2010
Sacrificing for your community - it's nothing new. Only, these days we don't usually do it with cows, rams, bulls and crackers! Join legendary indie publisher Jennifer Joseph for a recipe for how to sacrifice in the most "hardcore holiest of holy" ways.
Fri, Apr 9, 2010
A musical in two acts, this week's G-dcast is so catchy that you'll be singing it in the shower for the rest of the year. (Just warning you.) DON'T STOP BEFORE YOU GET TO THE SECOND PART AT 1:50!!
Fri, Apr 16, 2010
Tazria is possibly the grossest parsha in the entire Torah, full of scaly skin, sprouting sores and breakouts of Biblical proportions. Join the contagiously comic chronicler of crustiness Jennifer Traig for a tour of Biblical skin disease. Bring your own pimple cream.
Sat, Apr 17, 2010
Picking up where we stopped scratching in the last episode, it's back to infestations in Metzorah. But as Rabbi Steve Greenberg explains, a "tzara'at" rash can infiltrate your clothes and your house...not just your skin. Tune in for tips on staying disease-free.
Fri, Apr 23, 2010
Bad stuff goes down in the desert. God demands discipline: sends the Israelites to the corner with a bunch of heavy-duty rules to study. In Acharei Mot, Amichai Lau-Lavie revives his Bar Mitzvah parsha to share what he's learned after 27 years of sitting in the corner with this text.
Sat, Apr 24, 2010
What if Leviticus Rhymed?? This week's Torah portion is chock full of rules for living...and the genius of singer/songwriter Elana Jagoda is that she took all those rules and made them rhyme. And rock. Give Kedoshim a listen and we promise, you won't soon forget what's holy and what's not.
Fri, Apr 30, 2010
Sometimes, you've just gotta speak up. Texting, blogging, tweeting, Facebooking - they don't count. It's hard for a lot of us, and it was REALLY hard for Moses. So this week, Temim Fruchter steps out in front of the drum kit to give us some advice on how to do it well.
Fri, May 7, 2010
Betcha didn't know that the Torah has lots to say about sustainable farming practices. Organic farmer Emily Freed explains the laws of the land in down-to-earth language. So get your hands, or at least your ears, dirty!
Sat, May 8, 2010
You probably already know that the Torah isn't all rainbows and angels. Mirroring the angry tone of this week's Torah story, G-dcast gets kinda dark and cranky for a change. Jeremiah Lockwood sets the scene with moody guitars and a voice that draws you in...to vengeance.
Fri, May 14, 2010
Just the facts, ma'am. Reporter Helen Chernikoff digs into the statistics of the Israelite census and tells us some interesting stories about the people who were wandering in the desert - much more than just their ages and occupations. Take a look bemidbar - in a desert - and see what you can learn about people.
Fri, May 21, 2010
Hold onto your hats, this is a really intense G-dcast. One of the oddest, most thorny episodes in the Bible involves a man who suspects his wife of adultery. Inbal Freund-Novick, an Israeli activist for women's rights, tells the difficult tale of the accused wife in Parshat Naso. Hard to believe this stuff is in the Torah, but it's undeniably fascinating.
Fri, May 28, 2010
It's raining chicken! Hallejuah! And trumpets and divine wrath! Lots of stuff happens in Beha'alotcha, the parsha so eventful you can't pronounce its name without going to rabbinical school. So Jon Madof and Charlie Buckholtz strapped on their banjos and wrote a folksong about it.
Fri, Jun 4, 2010
Will the Promised Land be flowing with milk and honey, or giants and battles? This week's guest narrator, Jay Michaelson invites the spies of Parshat Shelach Lecha to look inside themselves and see what the true story behind the challenges to come is: WE CAN DO IT!!
Fri, Jun 11, 2010
"Ready for a Rumble? It's Korach versus Moses ONE NIGHT ONLY! At the TABERNACLE! Who will prevail as the leader....who will face God's fury?"
Fri, Jun 18, 2010
A curious incident happens in Parshat Chukat, when a plague of burning snakes attacks the wandering Israelites...and Moses gets to work on a curious plan to stop the fearful biting. Malki Rose joins us from Melbourne, Australia to talk about the legacy of snakes in the Bible, and what we can do about them.
Fri, Jun 25, 2010
What's a cartoon series without talking animals? Thank God the Bible includes a loquacious donkey. Join Rabbi Andy Shapiro Katz for the gutsy, brainy story of a donkey who knew better than its rider.
Fri, Jul 2, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, we're here to talk about five holy women this week who have really cool names. Mahlah, Noa, Holga, Milcah, and Tirza drop in to teach us this week about asking for what you want...and getting it. That's right, it's the badder than bad, cooler than cool, great sisterly legal minds of the Book of Numbers: the Daughters of Tselophechad. Oh word.
Fri, Jul 9, 2010
The best G-dcast ever! (j/k!) No no, it's a great episode, we PROMISE! (As if!) You'll learn a lot! (Psych!) Okay for real though, Parshat Matot is about promises and oaths...and what to do when you just can't keep them. So if you're the type of person who might accidentally have sworn you'd be nice to your little sister this year, or that you'd eat less chocolate, or that you'd curse less, well...listen up.
Sat, Jul 10, 2010
Whether you're a country mouse or a city mouse, it's nice to know where home is. But when the Israelites get to the Promised Land, everyone is going to get home turf...except the Levites! Tune in to learn from city planner Jill Slater about how the Levites get taken care of.
Fri, Jul 16, 2010
Flash forward! Moses is nearly 120 years old. No one who was wandering in the desert for 40 years is around anymore except a few good men. (Joshua and Caleb.) Moving from Numbers (Bemidbar) to Words (Devarim) means switching gears in the Torah, and Shawn Landres gives us a gentle landing. Tune in to review history and learn how not to repeat historical mistakes in the days to come!
Fri, Jul 23, 2010
This week's parsha is a sea of reeds, literally! Take the Shema and beatbox it through a harmonica...that's how Yuri Lane kicks off Parshat Va'etchanan, which teaches us how to love God with all our hearts and all our souls. His harmonica is a groovy background to Rachel Havrelock's telling of the whole story of how Moses passes along some serious information to Joshua, who's gonna pick up the torch, er, staff, when Moses dies.
Fri, Jul 30, 2010
Why on earth would Moses tell the people, to circumcise their hearts? (Like, ouch!) And how do you do that anyway? Check in with what Lindsay Litowitz says in this week's G-dcast...and then start sharpening your scalpels!
Fri, Aug 6, 2010
Chanan Rosin, of the Jerusalem band Majuda, sings about life and how to live it in Parshat Re'eh. Blessings in your life and on the land can be yours, a father tells his infant twins...and Moses tells the Children of Israel...if only they will follow the advice of another "parent."
Fri, Aug 13, 2010
Double your justice, double your fun? Why does the Torah tell us "Justice, JUSTICE shall you pursue"?? To beat us over the head with a point, or to tell us something more? Join Rabbi David Saperstein for a lesson in the rules of just being, and being just.
Fri, Aug 20, 2010
A mitzvah is a commandment, and this week's parsha is chock full of them - 70 mitzvahs all told! Jeremy Benstein is an Israeli environmental leader who is our guide into Ki Teitzei this week. Join him, some cats, dogs, oxen, donkeys and more than a few birds to hear what the Torah has to say about preventing the suffering of animals.
Fri, Aug 27, 2010
Thinking about the covenant between the People and God can be hard and sometimes alienating...so Rav Raz and Leah Hartman - the Jerusalem couple who narrate this week's parsha - describe it like a joyful marriage. So put on your dancing shoes and celebrate with them in this week's G-dcast!