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

Jewish Ideas to Change the World

Valley Beit Midrash

Jewish Ideas to Change the World delivers thought-provoking content by leading Jewish thinkers with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. It is produced by Valley Beit Midrash. Valley Beit Midrash (VBM) is dedicated to social justice as driven by Torah ethics. VBM"s mission is to improve lives through Jewish learning, direct action, and leadership development. Listen to VBM"s other podcasts: • Social Justice in the Parsha (weekly divrei Torah by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz) • Pearls of Jewish Wisdom

religion & spirituality judaism

All Episodes

56:44

Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2026/01/15

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Elliot DorffAbout The Event:Drawing from Chapter 3 of the book, Ethics at the Center: Jewish Theory and Practice for Living a Moral Life, this session will explore how Western, Christian, and Jewish traditions understand the nature of the human being, and how these differing perspectives shape a wide range of moral issues.About The Speaker:Elliot Dorff, Rabbi (Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1970), Ph.D. in philosophy (Columbia University,

en

64:14

Bal Tashchit: How to Turn an Ancient Law Into a Force...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2026/01/02

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi David SeidenbergAbout The Event:The law against wasting or destroying things, Bal Tashchit, is a torch held up by Jewish environmentalists to prove that Judaism cares about the Earth, but the law, as it is codified in halakhah (Jewish law), is that you can destroy anything if you can make a profit doing it. We will delve into the roots and interpretations of Bal Tashchit, including Rambam, Ramban, Sefer Chinukh, and others, to find the basis for fixing

en

59:00

How Are These Responsa Different From All Others?

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/27

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. David Golinkin.About The Event:Responsa are written answers by rabbis to halakhic questions. Since 1985, I have written approximately 900 responsa, over 200 of which have been published. In this lecture, I would like to explain my methodology by describing six characteristics of my Responsa, and giving examples, primarily from my most recent volume: Responsa in a Moment, volume 6.*Source Sheet:

en

55:59

Lessons from the Olive Tree for Families, Jewish...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/24

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jon Greenberg.About The Event:This program will explore the symbolic and halachic significance of the olive tree. The questions we’ll examine include:Neglected agricultural and political reasons that the olive oil Chanukah displaced an earlier symbol of Chanukah,Why the 15th of Av became a day for matchmaking,How the social and technological history of olive use mediates a five-hundred-year-old debate about how to read the Talmud, andThe beautiful lesson

en

59:23

What We Celebrate When We Celebrate Hanukkah: Four...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/18

A hybrid event with Rabbi Ben Greenfield. About The Event: Classic Rabbinic sources offer very different answers to a key Hanukkah question: what exactly are we celebrating on this holiday? From Medieval Zionism to Rabbinic Pacifism, we'll explore 5 vital “retellings” of the Hanukkah story with very different takes on these 8 days.About The Speaker: Ben Greenfield serves as Scholar in Residence, VBM Las Vegas, and as the Director of Jewish Learning at The Adelson Upper School in Las Vegas

en

63:10

Animals as Kabbalistic Masters

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/17

A virtual event presentation by Dr. Jonnie Schnytzer. About The Event: Animals don’t receive much attention in kabbalistic texts and even less so in scholarship on kabbalah. When they do, it is predominantly to teach humans to be better humans. Howrome anonymous kabbaalist who believed there was a deeper connection between humans and animals, to the point that stories were told about animals that shared kabbalistic secrets. What can they teach us today about animals, humans, and a shared

en

57:49

Power and Politics in the Hebrew Bible

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/16

A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi David Kasher. About The Event: The epic narratives in the Books of the Prophets take us on a dramatic journey from the chaotic days of the Judges to the building and breaking of the Israelite monarchy in Samuel and Kings. Along the way, we encounter prophets, priests, and kings locked in a struggle over the meaning of power, justice, and leadership. Together we’ll explore how these stories reflect the political theory of the Hebrew Bible, and ask what

en

67:45

Before Good & Evil: Moral Relativism in Jewish Ethics

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/15

A hybrid event presentation by Rabbi David Kasher About The Event: What does it mean to call something “good” or “evil”? Are moral values absolute, or do they depend on culture, context, and perspective? This class explores how Jewish texts across the ages have grappled with questions of moral relativism — examining biblical narratives, rabbinic debates, and modern philosophical reflections to uncover how Jewish tradition understands the foundations of moral judgment. *Source

en

64:33

A Jewish Trinity: Contemporary Christian Theology...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/11

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill About The Event: The Christian affirmation of a triune God has always perplexed and confounded Jews. Can Jews move beyond understanding the Trinity as inherently tri-theistic? This talk serves as an entry into a range of issues in Jewish-Christian theological differences, presenting a Jewish understanding of topics in contemporary Christian theology, such as the Trinity, original sin, and incarnation. Brill will discuss how Jews and

en

5:01

Faith, Healing, and Hope: Mitch Albom in Conversation...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/08

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with author Mitch Albom to talk about faith, healing, and hope.Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster, and musician. His books have collectively sold 42 million copies worldwide; have been published in 51 territories and in 48 languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. In 2006, he founded

en

27:23

“Heart of a Stranger” with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl — In...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/12/05

Rabbi Shmuly sits down with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl to talk about her new book Heart of a Stranger. Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl serves as the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, the first woman to lead this flagship congregation in its 185-year history. Under her leadership, Central Synagogue has grown to become one of the largest synagogues in the world, including congregants attending via livestream in more than one hundred countries. Born in Korea to a Jewish American

en

55:31

Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of Liberal Democracy

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/26

A virtual event presentation by David M. Elcott, PhDAbout The Event: At a moment when liberal democracy is so deeply threatened and we search to understand how this can be occurring at this point in history, a new prize-winning analysis Faith, Nationalism, and the Future of LiberalDemocracy by David Elcott comes to offer a cogentexploration of the ways religious identity fuels illiberal nationalist and populist democracy across the globe, fromthe United States to Israel, from India to

en

53:07

Yochanan’s Gamble: Judaism’s Pragmatic Approach to Life

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/25

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc Katz About The Event: Some two thousand years ago, the story goes, a rabbi named Yochanan made the epitome of pragmatic gambles—wagering the entire fate of the Jewish people. His quick thinking inspired generations of subsequent rabbis to navigate their own ethical challenges pragmatically—determining truth, upholding compromise, convincing others, keeping peace with neighbors, avoiding infighting, weighing sinning in hopes of promoting a greater

en

52:10

Why Jewish Knowledge Matters: Rethinking Jewish Literacy

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/19

A virtual event presentation by Professor Jon LevisohnAbout The Event: Jewish educators worry about Jewish literacy. Jewish leaders worry about it. Jewish parents definitely worry about it. And sometimes individual Jews worry about their own Jewish literacy, too! “Jewish literacy” gets thrown around a lot, especially when people talk about American Jews being “Jewishly illiterate.” But what does that actually mean? Is there a Jewish pop quiz we all failed? In this thought-provoking session,

en

60:56

Great Jewish Heretics

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/18

An event presentation by Dr. Elias Sacks About The Event: Is it offensive and blasphemous to say that God loves us? Is Judaism nothing more than the laws of an ancient kingdom that have been mistaken for a religion? Does God have body parts, romantic relationships, and other human-like characteristics? We will explore ancient, medieval, and modern Jewish thinkers who have answered “yes” to these questions, as well as other Jewish thinkers who have deemed such ideas to be heretical

en

65:40

Conscious AI – The New Golems?

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/13

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Mois Navon The event is co-sponsored by: ASU Jewish Studies and Congregation Or Tzion About The Event: While hard to imagine, scientists are working on building robots (and chatbots) with human-level consciousness. Is this something to look forward to? Mois Navon's talk will make you think about life, love, and humanity. About The Speaker: Mois Navon is one of the founding engineers of Mobileye, where he designed the EyeQ family of SoC (System On a

en

52:59

And She Arose: Jewish Women Leaders for Our Troubled...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/11/05

A virtual event presentation by Professor Sylvia Barack FishmanAbout The Event: And She Arose: Jewish Women Leaders for Our Troubled Times will document and analyze important public leadership roles played by Jewish women, leading up to and in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war. This discussion will paint detailed pictures of Jewish women courageously filling leadership lacunae during troubled and troubling times, drawing on their passionate

en

18:47

Torah Perspectives on Transhumanism: Professor Navon...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/10/30

Rabbi Shmuly sits down with Mois Navon, a founding engineer of Mobileye, where he designed the EyeQ family of SoC (System On a Chip) – the chip powering the autonomous vehicle revolution.Mois is also an ordained rabbi who has published numerous articles on Jewish law and lore. Working at the intersection of Torah U’Madda, he received his PhD from the department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, where his dissertation applies Jewish philosophy to address the ethical questions

en

62:33

Jews and Biblical Criticism

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/10/29

A virtual presentation by Dr. Marc BrettlerAbout The Event:The belief that the Torah is a composite book written by people over a long period of time, that the Hebrew Bible text that we use contains errors, and that the Bible was influenced by ancient Near Eastern texts, are main elements of the historical-critical analysis of the Bible. What is the variety of reactions to these developments of the last few centuries within the Jewish community? To what extent have Jews of different types

en

28:13

The Untold Story of Lethal Injection: Professor Lain...

Jewish Ideas to Change the World ·

2025/10/24

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz interviews Professor Corinna Lain.Professor Corinna Lain is the S. D. Roberts & Sandra Moore Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. Professor Lain’s scholarship focuses on two areas—Supreme Court decision-making and the death penalty—and she has published numerous articles and essays about lethal injection over the last decade. Her work has appeared in the nation’s top law journals, including the Stanford Law Review, University of

en

129 results

Similar Podcasts

Jeff Haygood, Pastor

PodPoint

PASTOR ALVARO VALENCIA

Pastor Alvaro Valencia

Grace Life Church CT.

Joseph Levesque

Pleasant View Church

Ted Nance

Christian Heritage Church"s Podcast

PodPoint