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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

00:19:36

Shabbat Sermon: Two Lights with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/20

How did we get from Saturday night to Thursday night?The arc of this past week, the dizzying emotional trajectory, is hard to explain, a genuine mystery. Saturday night, December 13, was Bondi Beach and Brown. The Hanukkah celebration by the Sea that became the Hanukkah massacre by the Sea. The school shooting at Brown, an hour from here, where we have students, parents of students, and long-time faculty at Brown who are members of Temple Emanuel.Just five nights later, Thursday night, December 18,

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00:45:06

Talmud Class: When, If Ever, Should We Say "You Should"?

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/20

We are all horrified by the mass shootings at Bondi Beach and Brown University that coincided with Hanukkah. We mourn the tragic and senseless loss of innocent life. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded. So too we are horrified by the murder of 47-year old MIT professor Nuno Loureiro in his Brookline home. So too we are horrified by the assaults on Jews this week in the subway in New York City. How to understand such hate and darkness on Hanukkah, a time of love and joy, is on

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00:33:05

Questions to Humanity - Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz with...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/17

Omri D. Cohen’s new book ‘Questions to Humanity’ contains 106 questions from people all over the world to humanity at large. Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz and Omri discuss what inspired the project, how he gathered the questions, and what we can all learn from the questions of our fellow man.You can learn more about about Questions to Humanity at https://qtohumanity.com/, on Amazon and with the video series on Instagram.

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00:13:09

Shabbat Sermon with Rabbi Aliza Berger

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/13

December 13, 2025

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00:41:07

Talmud Class: For Our Children and Grandchildren Who...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/13

Every once in a while, I read a d’var Torah that takes my breath away—an interpretation that is original, creative, casts a new light on an old question, and does it so persuasively that I can no longer see any other way to read the text.Josh Foer is the founder of Sefaria, a free online digital library of Jewish texts. He is also the co-founder of Lehrhaus, a Jewish tavern and house of learning in Cambridge. He is also on the board of The Jim Joseph Foundation where he recently offered a new lens

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00:18:28

Shabbat Sermon: Worry with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/06

I once met with a family after their beloved mother and grandmother had passed away. Her son shared that whenever he would visit her, she would say to him before he left, please call me to let me know you got home. One day, as he was taking leave, she said to him again: please call me to let me know you got home. He finally said: “Mom, I live in Newton. You live in Newton. We have both lived in Newton all our lives. I live 10 minutes away. And Mom, I am 62 years old! Do I still have to call?” And

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00:40:18

Talmud Class: The Jersey Dilemma - Does Our Tribal...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/12/06

In this vintage Jerry Seinfeld bit, the comedian captures a moral dilemma of our time, in America, in Israel, in the world: our jersey color shapes our moral vision. We identify with our team, whom we root for, and it shapes how we see the world. For our team, yay! For the other team, boo! But what about the moral equities?Can we root for our team and also see the humanity of the other team? Or does rooting for our team necessarily mean we cannot or should not see the humanity of the other team? Is

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00:48:15

Shabbat Sermon: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over with...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/11/29

In the festive spirit of Thanksgiving weekend, let me start with two trivial pursuit questions. Who famously said “It ain’t over till it’s over”? And what was the context for this observation?Answer: It was Yogi Berra who said: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” And he said it in 1973 when he was managing the underachieving New York Mets. Their season had been a long slog. They could not win consistently. After one particularly dispiriting defeat, reporters asked Yogi Berra if their playoff hopes were

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00:30:37

Talmud Class: A Broken Love Story

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/11/29

The Talmud, Bava Metzia 84A, has an emotional story about a love gone bad. Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish are drawn towards one another. They become mentor-disciple and then colleagues. They bring out the best in one another. Reish Lakish marries Rabbi Yochanan’s sister, and the couple has children. And the text hints, strongly, that in an age before gay was okay, they were attracted to one another. And then, it all falls apart. They say mean things to one another. Why they do so is not clear. The

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00:13:44

Shabbat Sermon with Rabbi Michelle Robinson

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/11/08

November 8, 2025

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00:36:29

Talmud Class: Zionism is Both Core to the Jewish...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/11/01

These two things are both true.Literally from the first page of the Jewish story, Zionism is core, central, essential, at the heart of, Judaism. There is no Judaism without Zionism. There is no Judaism without the State of Israel. The Jewish story begins with these lines from our reading this week:The Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)That land turned out to be Canaan, so named because a people

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00:19:41

Shabbat Sermon: Now, Life. with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/25

Joy! How do we get back to joy? There are plenty of times in our lives when joy is easy. We saw that this morning. When a beautiful daughter and granddaughter like Adeline Lake is born, joy is easy. When that beautiful baby grows into a radiant and wonderful teen like Robin whose Bat Mitzvah we celebrate today, joy is easy. When we dance at the wedding of a loved one who has found love, joy is easy. Joy is easy not only at these lifecycle moments. When we love to ski, and we are on the slopes

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00:39:15

Talmud Class: Can We Talk About Our Country in Our...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/25

Last Shabbat Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, a preeminent Conservative rabbi of a preeminent Conservative synagogue, gave a sermon telling his congregants not to vote for Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York.His opening paragraphs: “To be clear, unequivocal, and on the record, I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of New York Jewish community.Mamdani’s refusal to condemn inciteful slogans like “globalize the intifada,” his denial of Israel’s legitimacy

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00:13:14

Shabbat Sermon with Rabbi Michelle Robinson

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/18

October 18, 2025

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00:11:21

Shemini Atzeret Sermon with Rabbi Michelle Robinson

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/14

October 14, 2025

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00:18:29

Shabbat Sermon: Dare to Be Hopeful, or Cautiously...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/11

Obviously, there is only one thing to talk about. Please God in the next few days the twenty Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza are to be released as part of phase one of the deal brokered by President Trump, his team, and a host of nations. More than two years after they were taken hostage, these twenty surviving hostages who have been in hell for an eternity will at long last be home, reunited with their families. And the question is, how do we process this monumental and joyful

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00:13:20

Sukkot Day II Sermon: Our Father's Kiddush Cup with...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/08

Do you remember, with crystal clarity, a class that you attended thirty years ago? I remember one such class like it happened yesterday—both what was said in the class, and how it made me feel.It was a class attended by rabbinical and cantorial students, and Jewish educators and federation workers. The class was taught by Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, who was at the time a congregational rabbi in Minnesota. Elka has since gone on to head the Wexner Foundation. The class was August, 1995, in Cape Cod. The

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00:24:39

Sukkot Day I Sermon: Building a Sukkah of Hope One...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/07

On October 7, 2023, the world changed both in Israel and here in the United States for us as Jews. Antisemitism has become mainstream, most visibly in academia. On the first day of Sukkot, October 7th, Dr. Mark Poznansky shares stories from the trenches of academic medicine where he and his colleagues are making a difference and charting a path for us to make a difference too.

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00:21:55

Shabbat Sermon: Now Is the Best Time to Be Counter...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/04

Judaism has always, from the very beginning, been a counter point to the surrounding culture. Most of us have grown up in a Jewish community that has struggled to blend our surrounding culture with our ancient tradition. But as the culture around us becomes unbearable, maybe this is the exact time to reclaim our roots!About Rabbi Ravid TillesRabbi Ravid Tilles is the School Rabbi and Director of Jewish Life and Learning at Schechter Boston. He and his wife, Yaffa, and three sons are members of the

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00:31:30

Talmud Class: King David the Fallen and Redeemed...

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life ·

2025/10/04

Every Sunday morning, in the daily psalm, Psalm 24, we praise consistent, steady, disciplined ethical behavior: Who may ascend the mountain of Adonai? Who may rise in God’s sanctuary? One who has clean hands and a pure heart. Unlike the teaching from Berakhot, that the penitent stands in a place the Tzadik cannot stand, the Sunday psalm exalts consistency, discipline and self-restraint, not struggle and growth. Tomorrow we will examine two biblical characters who embody

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