Dash Of Drash

Every morning for the month of Elul, leading us into the New Year, it is traditional to blow and hear the shofar whose voice is supposed to wake us up. There is so much meaning and mystery in those sounds. This episode shares a few of them.

It can be hard to feel satisfied in this world that screams at us that we always need more! There is an important relationship between satisfaction and gratitude and the power of blessings. The rabbis of the Talmud invite us to say 100 blessings a day and one of the sources is from this week's Torah portion, Ekev, which says "you will eat, you will feel satisfied and you will bless God for the good land that has been given to you" (Deuteronomy 8:10). We explore the connection between sustenance, appreciation and blessing.

In Parshat Etchanan, the second portion from Devarim, the Book of Deuteronomy, along with the Shema and second version of the Ten Commandments, we are introduced to the concepts of devekut, cleaving to Godliness, and ayn od milvado; there is nothing other than God. Does this mean that if we are spiritual, we transcend all the grossness of our physical world? It means so much more than that.

The third Jonathan from London is Jonathan Boyd who is the Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (http://www.jpr.org.uk) in London. Jon, a good friend, uses statistics wisely and carefully to define trends in the Jewish community. As Tisha b'Av, when we commemorate destruction and loss, approaches, this discussion reflects primarily on what the research shows about antisemitism today.

Towards the end of The Book of Numbers, there is a list of 42 places on the Israelite's journey as they approach their new home. It is reminiscent of the wanderings of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers of which there are some 65 million in our world today. Marc's mentor, teacher and friend Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg of New North London Synagogue, has been an important activist and together they reflect on a Jewish approach to the desperate situations facing immigrants and refugees in our times.

The film maker Jonathan Glazer is Rabbi Marc's oldest friend and for years, they have enjoyed conversations on where art, religion, spirituality and culture meet and diverge. They met at JW3, London's Jewish Community Center, and talked for hours. On the Jewish calendar, we find ourselves in a period of three weeks of mourning as we approach Tisha b'Av, commemorating the destruction of two Temples in Jerusalem and other catastrophes. Among their discussions, Jonathan and Marc talk about destruction, loss and human brutality through the lens of Jonathan's new film project on Auschwitz and our troubling world.

In Parshat Hukkat (Numbers 19:1-22:1), Miriam and Aaron die and Moses is told that he will not lead the people into the Promised Land. Recorded live at Ramah in the Rockies, Rabbis Gavriel Goldfeder and Salomon Gruenwald join Rabbi Marc for a lively conversation about the transitions in leadership. Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder works at MIT Hillel and has a website and publishing house called "Alternodox." Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald is Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in Denver.

In Parshat Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32), the leadership of Moses and Aaron is challenged and the source of that challenge is Korach. He seems to have some sound arguments, but does he really? We learn most not from the challenge, but from the response of Moses. Is this incident about truth or power?

After a little break of a few weeks, Dash of Drash producer Sari Levy has some burning questions about havdalah, the soul and so much more. Join the conversation.

This episode was recorded on a recent trip to Jerusalem before the current explosion in violence and the relocation of the US Embassy. The rabbis make a distinction between earthly and heavenly Jerusalem and these reflections on the power of Shavuot from the heart of the world have the hope of heaven and the prayer of healing. Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan is the founding Rabbi of Nava Tehila in Jerusalem and shares her musical vision of prayer and insights on this Holiday of receiving the gift of Torah, zman matan Torataynu.

This week is the sixth and penultimate week of the counting the Omer. It is Yesod, which is about foundation, connection, sexuality and integrity in relationship. We also end the third book of the Torah this week, Vayikra (Leviticus), with so many laws and rituals of purity, the body and blood. A woman priest and a male rabbi reflect on some of these themes in this painfully disturbing, confusing and empowering times of #metoo and more.

This week's parsha (Emor) includes the instruction to count 50 days, the period known as Sefirat HaOmer. In the Torah, this is an agricultural ritual linking the barley harvest to the wheat harvest marking each day with a special wave offering of barley; for the rabbis it marks the journey from freedom of slavery in Egypt to accepting the covenant of the Torah at Sinai (Pesach to Shavuot); and for Kabbalists it is a period of deep spiritual refinement with each day representing a quality of profound significance. Recorded on the 31st day of counting the Omer, Tiferet of Hod, this episode reflects on the power of the fifth week of the Omer - Hod, which is admission, gratitude, splendor and transparency - getting ourselves out of the way!

This episode comes live from Jerusalem in a period that some call "the Israeli High Holidays," moving from Yom HaShoah, commemorating the Holocaust, to Yom HaZikkaron, memorial day for the fallen soldiers and victims of terror and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. This year marks Israel's 70th birthday. Rabbi Marc's teacher and friend Reb Mimi (Rabbi Doctor Reb Mimi Feigelson) has recently moved back home to Jerusalem after 16 years living in the US. She teaches and mentors rabbinic students. Together Reb Mimi and Rabbi Marc reflect on the implications of Israel at 70 and Jerusalem in particular.

As our Jewish calendar takes us on the journey from slavery to freedom to receiving the Torah on Sinai, join a conversation at BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy with its director Jory Hanselman. BaMidbar, the nation's first Jewish wilderness therapy program, integrates Jewish learning and values into an intensive backcountry, therapeutic experience. During Passover, students embark on a physical and metaphorical journey as they explore the things that bind them, and finding a healthy pathway forward. Jory Hanselman and Rabbi Marc Soloway discuss the uniquely Jewish approach BaMidbar takes to mental health and recovery.

The process of preparation and the practice of Pesach can be intense, and is really intended to be a journey of liberation. Michael Kagan from Jerusalem is an old friend and the author of The Holisitc Haggadah (KTAV Publishing), which is a fascinating guide to the inner journey that the Pesach Seder offers us. Join Rabbi Marc and Michael as they delve into some of the mysteries of this powerful holiday.

The transition from the Book of Exodus to Leviticus can feel abrupt in its move from dramatic narrative to bloody sacrifices. It is too easy to dismiss the details of these priestly rituals as alien relics of an ancient world. Dena Weiss, head of the Beit Midrash (House of Study) at Hadar in New York, in conversation with Rabbi Marc, shares insights on contemporary resonances of the themes of the sacrificial cult.

The Book of Exodus closes with the vision of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) becoming manifest, being built and completed under the leadership of architect and builder-in-chief Betzalel. Moses has been the visionary and now needs the practical skills of the craftsmen. This relationship reminds us the importance of different skills and complimentary personalities in teams.

The Shabbat before Purim is called Shabbat Zachor, where we are reminded of the obligation to remember what our arch enemy, Amalek, did to us on our way out of Egypt. This is a reflection on the power and complexity of memory, including remembering Bev Goodman who died this week without memory and how we remember the victims of the shooting massacre in Florida.

"Let them take offerings for Me; every person whose heart is generous..." With this instruction from Parshat Trumah (Exodus 25-27), the detailed spiritual work of constructing a Mishkan (Tabernacle) and Mikdash (Sanctuary) begins and occupies many, many verses of the Torah. What does it mean to have a generous heart and how do we build sacred space?

After the ecstatic and transformative moment of revelation at Sinai, Parshat Mishpatim (Exodus 21-24) calls on us to pay close attention to the details of our lives and the impact we have on others and the world around us.