x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

Temple Emanuel in Newton

Bringing weekly Jewish insights into your life. Join Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz, Rabbi Michelle Robinson and Rav-Hazzan Aliza Berger of Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA as they share modern ancient wisdom.

religion & spirituality judaism

All Episodes

00:17:06

Shabbat Sermon: Happy New Year? with Rabbi Michelle...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/01/04

January 4, 2025

en

00:34:35

Talmud Class: It's Not What Happens, it's the Story...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/01/04

Earlier in the year, Taffy Brodesser-Akner wrote about her father's friend who was kidnapped at knife-point 50 years ago. It was a powerful piece--both for the thoughtful discussion of this original trauma and its impact on her and on her family friend. But the real story wasn't the kidnapping, nor the way the kidnapping re-ignited memories of her own lived traumas. The real story was that her article inspired countless emails from total strangers who reached out to share their own stories of

en

00:21:35

Shabbat Sermon: Living Legacy - It's Complicated with...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/28

One of the most magnetic moments drawing us to shul is the observance of a yahrtzeit, the anniversary of our loved one’s passing, which offers us a precious opportunity to show up again for our beloved departed, to say a few words about them, and to recite Kaddish in their memory. Ordinary people who do not show up at shul all that much the rest of the year show up for their loved one’s yahrtzeit. That is through all the seasons. That is through the snow and the cold and the ice. And they do that

en

00:18:28

Shabbat Sermon: No Finish Line with Rabbi Wes...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/21

I have a thought experiment for you. In honor of Hanukkah, which begins Wednesday night, find a photograph of you lighting Hanukkah candles with your family from 25 years ago. Take a good long look at that old photo. How does it make you feel? For many of us, it can be complicated.On the one hand, there is a certain wistful beauty to it. Our children were so young and small and cute. We were so much younger. Our parents were alive, standing with our children, three generations lighting candles

en

00:23:21

Talmud Class: The All-Powerful Recency Bias - What...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/21

Immediately ahead are seven years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt. After them will come seven years of famine, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. (Genesis 41: 29-30) Truer words were never spoken. Joseph’s interpretation of how lean years swallow up fat years, how bad times swallow up good times, how seventy years of life and health get swallowed up by a decade of dementia, when we struggle to remember what our loved one used to be like—his words were true

en

00:17:24

Shabbat Sermon: This Is No Time For Zealots with Rav...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/14

The volume of outrage in our world has hit a crescendo. All the time I hear questions like, “how can you bear to be around someone who voted like that?!” or “how can you stand working with people who are so anti-Zionist or who are so pro-Israel?” As if people who do not rage against those they disagree with are somehow condoning or supporting evil perspectives. Young people, already stressed by the pressures of their own lives, feel pressured to respond to hateful social media posts and/or to

en

00:41:28

Talmud Class: What Can We Do About the Ugliness and...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/14

The murder last week of CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York in broad daylight inspired large-scale celebration. The article from the Times and social media posts show delight in his murder; the celebration of his murderer as a hero. What is wrong with us? How could thousands of Americans celebrate murder? There is an ugliness and hate in our nation now. Is there any way to heal it? Our reading this week deals with violence in a violent place, Shechem: the rape of Dinah, the revenge of

en

00:41:16

Shabbat Sermon: Not Giving Up On with Rabbi Wes...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/07

On a Tuesday in late October, 2022, Jared Goff, a quarterback for the Detroit Lions, was summoned to a meeting in the office of his coach Dan Campbell. The summons gave Jared Goff a pit in his stomach. He figured he was going to be benched or released—fired. Some version of bad news felt inevitable. Goff had begun his career with the Los Angeles Rams, who had traded him to the Detroit Lions for the Lions’ former quarterback, Matthew Stafford. In his first year, Stafford led the Rams to a Super

en

00:41:16

Talmud Class: What is a Good Prayer for an Anxious Time?

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/12/07

Is everything going to be okay? We live with that question every day.Is everything going to be okay with Israel? December 7, marks 14 months of war, and the situation is still murky, unresolved and painful for all. This week when he was in dialogue with Michelle, Donniel Hartman was real, and real was not upbeat. Is everything going to be okay with our country? We are a 50-50 nation. Both halves have deep convictions and deep anxieties. The side that is not in power is worried. Is everything

en

00:14:55

Shabbat Sermon: Who Will You Be? with Rabbi Michelle...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/30

Listen to a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend sermon with Rabbi Michelle Robinson

en

00:12:16

Shabbat Sermon: The Healing of the Gila Monster with...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/23

Last week, I came across a fascinating article in the New York Times Magazine. Kim Tingley, in her article “‘Nature’s Swiss Army Knife’: What can we Learn from Venom ?” writes about the incredible potential of highly toxic reptile and insect venom to provide pharmaceutical miracles. It turns out that reptile and inspect venom contains hundreds, even thousands of molecules, which each have the ability to act in powerful ways on the human body. In the aggregate, the venom can have disastrous

en

00:41:32

Talmud Class: Perspective

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/23

Dear friends,There is a fascinating paradox in our Torah reading this week. On the one hand, we've spent these last weeks reading about the trials and tribulations of our ancestors. In our Talmud class, we've discussed how loss, trauma, and pain shape their lives. We've seen how they suffer from dislocation, dashed hopes, and painful interpersonal dynamics. And yet, at the end of their lives, the Torah focuses not on the challenges they've endured but on the complete and total blessing of their

en

00:16:54

Shabbat Sermon: Bound with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/16

What does Naftali Herstik, a pre-eminent cantor at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem for 30 years, have in common with Bobby Allison, who was one of the greatest race car drivers in American history, who won 85 NASCAR races over 30 years? One is an all-time great cantor. The other is an all-time great race car driver. They both recently passed away. But they share something important in common in how they lived which speaks to one of the greatest mysteries of the Torah—the meaning of the binding of

en

00:39:56

Talmud Class: Hagar and Sarah - What Does Our Pain Do...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/16

We are plumb in the middle of two of the hardest stories in the Torah. Genesis 16:1-16 tells of Sarai’s continued inability to get pregnant, which leads her to assign her servant Hagar (literally the stranger) to Abram so that she might conceive a child with Abram who would somehow be reckoned as Sarai’s child. When Abram and Hagar have relations, she gets pregnant right away. It does not go well. The two women hurt one another. “Abraham cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she (Hagar)

en

00:14:38

Shabbat Sermon: Holy Flying Fish with Rav Hazzan...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/09

I have a friend who is a therapist. She tells the story that once, she had someone in her office who was really struggling. As he shared story after story of misfortune and sorrow, she found herself thinking, “oy, he really needs a therapist.” Then, the patient paused and asked her for her wisdom. “Oh no,” she thought, “I am that therapist.” I’ve never felt this story more deeply. This week, I looked at the sermon schedule and thought, “oh no…I am supposed to be the rabbi.” How do you speak to

en

00:35:38

Talmud Class: An Iconoclast, a Philosopher, or An...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/09

A consequential week, in America and in Israel. How can Torah help us become better versions of ourselves? How can Torah help us become better citizens here and better lovers and supporters of Israel? This week we begin the Abraham story. Why Abraham? Why did God pick him? We know that God picked him, but we have no idea as to why. In his essay A Palace in Flames, the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks offers three explanations based on three different midrashic traditions. One, Abraham was an

en

00:14:38

Shabbat Sermon: Our Ark and Our Arc with Rabbi Wes...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/02

On the morning of Kol Nidrei—Friday, October 11 to be exact—my colleagues and I were doing a Kabbalat Shabbat service with our youngest learners, our preschool children who range in age from 15 months to 5 years old. Yom Kippur was in the air. Kol Nidrei with all its solemnity, was in 9 hours. How to convey Kol Nidrei intensity to our youngest learners? So I asked them: what is your favorite Jewish holiday? One hand after another shot up. The first young child answered: Halloween! The second

en

00:35:38

Talmud Class: Lot is a Lot - What Do We Learn From...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/11/02

The biblical character Lot presents a unique challenge. He appears in three portions, Noach this week, Lekh L’kha next week, and Va-yera two weeks from now. He is a supporting actor in multiple chapters in Genesis: chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, and 19. And yet no one ever talks about him. We don’t mine his story. We avoid him. There is good reason why we stay away from Lot. The end of his story is gross, in fact doubly gross. Incomprehensibly, he offers his two virgin daughters to the rapists of Sodom

en

00:20:27

Shabbat Sermon: If Our Cup Feels Empty, Even When It...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/10/26

The question always is, what’s next? And the answer is, let’s be together. What’s next? This is a question that weighs on me in every facet of my life. My son Avishai, who many of you know well after his many years at Hebrew school here and around at services, for a long time would have the same question for us when we first woke up. “What’s for dinner?” And, truthfully, we hardly ever knew. It’s hard enough to keep of track of who is getting who to where they need to be when. So the thought of

en

00:15:47

Shabbat Sermon: Understanding the Death of Yahya...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2024/10/19

How are we to understand the death of the leader of Hamas, and the mastermind and architect of October 7, Yahya Sinwar? Does his death mean that an end to the war, and the beginning of the day after, is closer? Or should Israel’s military continue the fight? What will Sinwar’s death mean for our hostages? These questions are hugely important and above my pay grade. Our question this morning is how do Jewish values help us interpret this moment?

en

541 results

Similar Podcasts

Jeff Haygood, Pastor

PodPoint

PASTOR ALVARO VALENCIA

Pastor Alvaro Valencia

Grace Life Church CT.

PodPoint

Pleasant View Church

Ted Nance

Christian Heritage Church"s Podcast

PodPoint