Keep the Faith with Shammai Engelmayer

There's no disconnect here. The laws of permitted and forbidden creatures have much to say about the rule of law and what it means to act as if one is above the law. The audio quality may not be great this week, but the message is an important one.Support the show

All things Passover, all things Pesach, are high up on the contemporary issues list, starting with the budge-busting shopping needed to buy the foods we're allowed to have in our homes on Pesach. And what about some of the foods we're not allowed to have, like corn flakes for breakfast or maybe a hot bowl of oatmeal? Corn and oats are considered no-nos on Pesach—but are they really? Before this podcast ends, you'll discover that you don't need to take out a second mortgage on your house or forego some of your favorite foods just because it is Passover.  And that's the topic for this week, the Carefree Guide to Everything, Passover or Pesach Made easy.I'm privileged to be joined in this episode by Rabbi Aaron Abadi, the man behind the website, kashrut.org. It's a website you really should get to know throughout the year, not just when Purim ends and the march to Passover begins. Rabbi Abad and I engaged in a rather free-flowing discussion at times, and I hope you find it as interesting and as much fun as I did. Support the show

On Sunday morning, February 9th, I couldn't help but do exactly the opposite after I ran through my morning news feed. That's because one item in the news that morning made my heart rejoice and my mind to conjure up the image of Elon Musk running through the White House West Wing muttering the name “Engelmayer” in disgust. You probably know why, and there is danger for our democracy built into that.Support the show

Planning on celebrating New Year's tonight and tomorrow? If yes, listen at your own risk! The kvetch who ruined Chrismukkah is at it again. If you do listen, it runs under 20 minutes and there's a lot of study material packed into it, so you might want to take notes.Support the show

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Don't be fooled by what the pundits tell us about why Donald Trump won and Kamala Harris lost. While their analyses have some merit, they skirt the two issues that the results themselves prove were the real reasons Harris lost: she was a she, not a he, and she didn't have the "right" color skin. Judaism rejects both factors--and it does so starting "in the beginning," Chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of Genesis, Sefer B'reishit, where woman, NOT man, is the first human created as we understand what humans look like.Support the show

Given the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other horrific storms around the world, all blamed on global warming, Sukkot, which arrives Wednesday night, offers us an opportunity to discuss this question: What does “green,” which symbolizes things environmental and ecological, have to do with Jewish festivals? The answer is “everything,” and so, that's the topic for this week. Support the show

We're podcasting a few days early this week because the High Holy Days begin tomorrow evening, which is when Rosh Hashanah 5785 begins. Very few people really understand what the purpose of this 10-day period that ends on Yom Kippur is—but we need to understand it because the very future of the world is at stake. And that's not an exaggeration.Support the show

Shammai's Episode No. 151We need to take the issue of hate very seriously as we approach the Election 2024 finish line, because of North Carolina Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson's long well-documented history of hateful rhetoric, including outrageous Holocaust denial comments and statements wishing Adolf Hitler was still alive. We also have to take very seriously the support Donald Trump has given him, at least up until yesterday, including hosting a fundraiser for him at Mar-A-Lago earlier this year, and calling him a rising Republican star. And we also have to take very seriously the support the GOP has given him and still does. Finally, we also have to take very seriously the support and the hate Robinson, Trump, and the GOP nationally are running on. Be afraid. Be very afraid.Support the show

Summer is over and we're back to our biweekly schedule. The topic for this week is how Benjamin Netanyahu has dishonored the memory of his brother, someone over whose dead body he built his career. That is what Benjamin Netanyahu did. He began building his entire career on the legacy of his dead older brother, Jonathan (Yonatan in Hebrew), whom the IDF calls “one of Israel's greatest soldiers.” Yoni Netanyahu put hostages before his own safety. It cost him his life at Entebbe. Bibi Netanyahu puts Bibi and his political career before the safety of hostages. He will say and do whatever he deems necessary to stay in office for as long as possible. Friday marks the start of his 18th year as prime minister, albeit not consecutively. Every day that he stays in office, because of his hubris, he not only trashes Yoni's memory and leaves the 101 hostages in the hands of Hamas murderers, he risks the safety and security of the State of Israel.Support the show

In this special summer episode, the contemporary issue being explored is the one day in every Jewish year that way too many of us choose to ignore (assuming that we even know it exists): the grueling nearly 35-hour fast smack in the middle of summer known as Tishah B'Av, which this year begins on Monday at sundown. Those of us who are aware of it want nothing to do with it because it is the ultimate downer day on the Jewish calendar. A downer it surely is, but that's not what Tishah B'Av is really about. Tishah B'Av is truly a day of uplift. Take 15 minutes and listen to why I say that.Support the Show.

I contend that former President Trump, because of his rhetoric, is to blame for creating the atmosphere that allowed that horror to happen. I also blame his rhetoric for the culture of violence in America. I cite chapter and verse from his statements since mid-2015 to support this. Someone for whom I have great respect said I was an idiot for thinking this way. This episode gives you the chance to decide whether I am an idiot. I can't wait to read your e-mails.Support the Show.

As we prepare to celebrate the creation of this democratic republic of ours, two seemingly unrelated events (they are very much related in a profound way) threaten to fundamentally change this country--and not in a good way. Those events are the effective creation of an imperial presidency by the U.S. Supreme Court and President Biden's so-far steadfast refusal to end his campaign for re-election. How these two events tie together, and how we can avert the threat they pose, are what this episode is about.Support the Show.

Once again, a state's display of the Ten Commandments has become an issue that will most certainly be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which narrowly decided the issue 44 years ago, but this time may be different. The Ten Commandments, are not commandments at all, but a preamble to the Covenant God made with Israel, which does contain commandments--613 commandments, not just 10.Support the Show.

The ignorance being displayed by college campus protestors is astounding--and it bodes ill for this country as well as for Israel. This isn't a very long episode, but it IS an important one.Support the Show.

The way to have constructive and meaningful s'darim next week is to study the Haggadah beforehand.  That requires some help from more modern versions and haggadah commentaries. This episode explains why. It's being released several days early to give everyone time to buy one of these volumes and to study it.Support the show

What do I know about Jewish law? I'm a heretic. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that nonsense over the years—including from some members of my own family. So this week I'm going to let someone else say the things about keeping kosher that I've been saying—an Orthodox rabbi, no less. This episode is a newly edited version of one I presented last year.Support the show

Purim begins after Shabbat ends and lasts until sundown on Sunday. You might think you know all there is to know about Purim. If you do, this episode may show how much more there is to know about the book from which Purim sprung--Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther. This episode runs for about a half-hour but I hope you find it both interesting and informative.Support the show

What with last Thursday having been Leap Day, with the leap month of Adar II beginning on Saturday evening with Rosh Chodesh, and the Muslim month of Ramadan beginning on Monday, I thought it would be interesting to leap into a discussion of how the secular and Jewish calendars we use today came to be. Did you know, for example, that there was one year that was 445 days long? Do you know why there is a leap day in the secular calendar, a leap month in the Jewish calendar, or why Ramadan and the other 11 Islamic months regress every 32.5 solar years through the entire secular calendar?Support the show

At 10 a.m. this morning, when I recorded this episode, there already had been 2,266 people who died by guns so far this year. That number is now up to 2,294. That averages out to nearly two gun deaths every hour since the new year began.Between January 1st and today, there have been 55 mass shootings and eight mass murders.As of this morning, 37 children under the age of 11 had been killed by guns; it's up to 38 now. It's up for teenagers between ages 12 and 17. It was 172 this morning and it's 173 now.We are in the midst of a major gun violence crisis that must be addressed. That's the subject of Episode No. 139.Support the show

The weather these days is a killer--literally. Scores of thousands of people died in 2023 of severe weather-related causes, and deaths are already mounting in the first six weeks of 2024. Judaism has much to say about our role in minimizing the threat climate change is posing on us.Support the show

On Monday, we here in the United States and also in Israel will celebrate Martin Luther King Day. That we celebrate this day here is understandable and commendable. After all, he was a great warrior for equality and justice for all people. But why is this day marked in Israel, too? And why will many synagogues and Jewish organizations here hold their own celebrations this weekend and throughout Monday's observance? Support the show

We who do not live in Israel have always maintained that we have no right to interfere in the Jewish state's internal affairs. Given the explosion of Jew-hatred we are seeing around the world, however, it is clear that "Jew" and "Israel" are synonymous in the eyes of the world, so this Diaspora hands-off attitude is a luxury we no longer can afford. We need to do all that we can to move Israeli voters away from the extreme right and its ruinous policies.Support the show

We hear a great deal these days about whether Israel is violating international law in the way it's conducting its war with Hamas in Gaza. The opposite, in fact, is more likely to be true. Given that Israel is the Jewish State, though, a fair question is whether Israel is also violating Jewish law in this war. This episode addresses that question.Support the show

The media are helping to stoke worldwide anti-Semitism in the way they report the war Israel is fighting with Gaza. Why? Well, consider these two facts: The New York Times rehired an avowed Jew-hating, Hamas-loving avowed fan of Adolf Hitler to cover the war from Gaza. And it was just revealed that journalists the major media rely on for their coverage not only may have had advanced knowledge of the June 7th horror (and so could have warned Israel in time to prevent it) but actually went into Israel with the Hamas murderers. There's lots more, and though this is long (about 32 minutes), it's well worth listening to.Support the show

The deadliest mass shooting of 2023 took place Wednesday night, and 2023 is on track to break the record for mass shootings. Here is another look at the issue and what Jewish law has to say.Support the show

Ourleaders here in the U.S., Israel, Canada, and the world are failing us. We who live in the U.S. are paying for it by having a dysfunctional Congress. Judaism offers guidelines for the qualities leaders should have, and it gives us the responsibility to put the right people in leadership positions,Support the show

When will Canada finally own up to its dishonorable history toward the Jews? When will it finally and forcefully own up to its clearly mixed record when it comes to the Holocaust, and when will it finally and forcefully stand up to the anti-Semitism that seems to be growing yet again in Canada, as it's doing in the United States and elsewhere? These are all subjects of this episode, which was prompted by a disturbing incident that occurred in the Canadian Parliament just three days before Yom Kippur, which continues to send shockwaves around the Jewish world. The fallout from that incident also continues to this day. If those who don't live in Canada feel Canada's Jewish problem is of little interest to them, a principle of Jewish law says otherwise, and in uncompromisingly blunt language. Support the show

Most people think the sins for which we seek forgiveness are the "ritual" or "religious" ones: not observing Shabbat or keeping kosher, and so forth. Most people also think that if they pray hard enough, their sins are forgiven by the time Yom Kippur ends. Actually, that forgiveness doesn't happen until the start of the next Yom Kippur--except for the sins between us and God, which are forgiven each year just at the moment Yom Kippur begins. There is a lot of misunderstanding about Yom Kippur and this podcast tries to correct many of these.Support the show

This episode is jam-packed with issues we need to consider during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including: Women's rights; workers' rights; gun violence and gun control; the plight of the poor and disadvantaged; the influx of migrants coming across our Southern border; how business should be conducted; what our responsibilities are to the environment and ecology; and so much more. Support the show

This is the second episode in a 3-part series designed to help us with the awesome tasks of reflection (already underway) and repentance (it begins three weeks from tonight with the start of the High Holy Days). The topic this week deals with our responsibilities towards the poor and the disadvantaged in our society.Support the show

There's one week left before the season of reflection and repentance begins with the beginning of the month of Elul. Unless we take the five weeks from today leading up to Rosh Hashanah 5784 to examine who we are and who we should be, how we've lived our lives in the past year, and what we need to atone for and correct, the High Holy Days are, to put it bluntly, an exercise in futility and very much a waste of time.Support the show

This week, Israel's parliament, and the behest of a prime minister on trial for serous offenses, spit in the face of Torah law and endangered the state in ways most serious.Support the show

Yes, I did praise the Supreme Court my last podcast, but only because I wanted us to have reason to celebrate on July 4th and three High Court rulings gave us reason to cheer. There is, however, more to fear than to cheer coming out of this court, which is eroding our rights in so many areas.Support the show

It was touch-and-go for a while, but thanks to six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court there's great reason this coming Tuesday to celebrate the founding of the American Republic 247 years ago on July 4th, 1776. At the same time, there's also reason to be concerned about the ethics of some of the justices on the High Court. I discuss both in this week's podcast.Support the show

The title says it all. You may be surprised, though, at some of those laws.Support the show

The world has a way of ignoring history when it comes to Israel and the Palestinian issue—and the world's media plays along.. This is a 30-minute episode but it's filled with information all of us should be aware of given the level of reporting on the conflict and the efforts by the Palestinians, the BDS movement, and even some members of Congress to undermine the legitimacy of Israel.Support the show

Here are some gruesome statistics: On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner here in the United States. The National Domestic Violence Hotline, in fact, receives an average of 1,000 calls per day from people being abused, most of whom are women. Three women are killed here every day by a current or former intimate partner. That's nearly 1,100 women killed by a partner each year. In Canada, a woman is killed every six days by her intimate partner. That's 60 women each year killed by an intimate partner. Worldwide, 137 women worldwide are killed by their partners or family members every single day. That's just over 50,000 women killed by someone close to them every year.  Domestic abuse is a serious problem, and Jewish law has much to say about it.Support the show

Unless both sides can compromise on some of their most strongly held positions, the U.S. will, for the first time ever, default on its obligations this summer, to a devastating effect here and around the world. The need to compromise is something Judaism has much to say about, and Congress and the Administration should pay serious heed.Support the show

"They" say it never happened. It's all made up. Just a work of pure fiction. Nothing in Egyptian history supports it. So why can't we eat a bagel during Passover? Why do we have to go to all the trouble and expense to vicariously relive events that were invented by anonymous biblical authors? Well, in this 40-plus episode, I demonstrate just how wrong they (the scholars who insist on this) are so very wrong.Support the show

A Passover Primer unlike any you have ever seen before but one you will wish you knew about all along. Vodka before dinner and beer during? Whole wheat bread for luncheon sandwiches? Oatmeal for breakfast? In this episode, we interview an Orthodox rabbi who says it is all Kosher for Passover. No need for a Kosher for Passover stamp, either. Just check the ingredient label of any food you cannot do without on Passover. At the bottom, the label must warn about allergens. If it does not say “wheat or barley,” this rabbi says it is okay to use. Better still, getting the kitchen ready for Passover is no big deal and can be accomplished in a couple of hours, he says. Support the show

I covered some of this in last week's column in the Jewish Standard, but I have limited space for my columns and there's so much more to talk about, so even if you read the column, listening to this episode.  The word “defund” has only one meaning, regardless of what dictionary we use. To defund something is to take away the money from that something. The slogan “Defund the police” is just another way of saying “let's get rid of the police altogether.” That slogan, though, is what stands in the way of dealing effectively with police violence.  We should be advocating, instead, for the right ways to meet the problems that are so readily evident in such cases as the deaths of George Floyd and Tyre Nichols.Support the show

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Does this sound familiar? “The biggest mistake in Judaism that we have today is that it's either black or white. You're either doing everything exactly perfect or you're doing nothing. And that is absolutely not the way the system works and that's not the way it ever was; if you go back in history, it was not this way, if you go back a thousand years and more. In Judaism, everyone has their observance level and everyone's goal in life should be to do better. And it's more important not to steal than to put on tefillin.”Yes, this is something I say—often—but on this week's episode, those words were spoken by an Orthodox rabbi, Aaron Abadi, the son of the sainted Rabbi Yitzchak Abadi, one of our leading halachic authorities who has spent most of his nearly 90 years trying to give Judaism back to the people by sensible rulings rather than onerous stringencies. Aaron Abadi is the driving force behind the website based on HaRav Yitzchak Abadi's teachings: kashrut.org. You should listen to the podcast, and then you should check out the kashrut.org website. I believe you will find both to be quite enlightening.Support the show

The most extremist right-wing government in Israel's history was sworn in on Thursday amid dire warnings from U.S. Jewish leaders about the potential dangers its proposed agenda will have on the relationship between American Jews and the Jewish state. Our man in Israel, longtime journalist Charles Byblezer, offers his insights in this nearly 30-minute episode.Support the show

The title says it all. There is a valid reason to celebrate Chanukah (without giving it a Christmas coloring), and that is the concept it brought into the world: Freedom of Religion. We're still struggling with that today. We should celebrate the Festival of Lights for what it is. Here's why.Support the show

I'm joined this week by our man in Israel, Charles Byblezer, for a very insightful discussion about the goings-on in Israel. A week before the U.S. midterms, Israel held its fifth election is less than four years--and the results are causing hand-wringing and hair-pulling among Jewish leaders here in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Diaspora. The government Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is most likely to form will lean to the far right politically and, just as important, religiously. There even may an attempt to turn Israel into a theocracy, if the No. 2 party in the expected coalition government gets its way. Support the show

I thought I was done with the midterms and the threat they pose to us, but something happened on Saturday in Jacksonville that made me realize there was more I needed to say. Donald Trump is a racist generally and an anti-Semite specifically, and from almost immediately after announcing in mid-2015 that he would seek the GOP nomination, he gave the haters out there the green light to come out of their dark holes once again. And now, Republicans all across the country have taken Trump's playbook and made it their own, as the Jacksonville incident confirmed yet again in the case of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's leading opponent for the 2024 nomination.Support the show

 This is NOT a political podcast in the sense of promoting a political agenda. It's about a very serious threat to our democracy in general and to us Jews in particular. To those who say "It can't happen here," the fact is that it has already begun to happen here and the midterms may be our best chance of stopping it before it is too late. Support the show

There is nothing antiquated or embarrassing about Sukkot or its rituals. In fact, in a world beset by repeating environmental disasters caused by global warming, it may well be the most significant Jewish observance with regard to the natural world we live in.Support the show

This week's episode completes the series on many of the matters we must be concerned  with--and that we must atone for if we failed to act on these concerns in 5782--in approaching the High Holy Days and Yom Kippur especially. Women's rights...workers' rights...issues involving the migrant wave coming across the Southern U.S. border...how business affairs must be conducted...and so much more are covered here. I refer to the episode as "The Roadmap to Repentance on steroids" because it covers so much territory. PLEASE NOTE that my next podcast will air on October 7 because I need to concentrate on preparing services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Support the show