Podcasts about Judaism

More people know about the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten today than knew about him just 100 years after his death. But Akhentaten was no average ruler. He fundamentally changed religious worship forever, and may even have started Judaism itself. So why did he disappear from history? Was he simply forgotten to the sands of time – or did he fly too close to the ‘Aten'?--Patreon - Ad-free & Bonus EpisodesYouTube - Full-length Video EpisodesTikTok / Instagram

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this conversation, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore questions of who/what God is, and how Elul might be a perfect time to explore questions around divinity. This Elul episode is the third in a series of four that are being released as part of Elul Unbound 2026. -------------------------------------- Looking for an intro to Judaism course? The UnYeshiva's gotchya covered, via our course Judaism Inbound: An Introduction to Judaism for Everyone. Head to JudaismUnbound.com/2026-courses/p/inbound-9-26 to learn more! Financial aid is available for all who need it. To check out all our Elul bonus episodes from previous years, which can still be relevant to your experience of Elul this time around, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2026 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our Elul Unbound Shabbat gatherings here, where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with fellow Unbounders.

In Day 194 of Orchot Tzaddikim, The Ways of the Righteous, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe continues the Gate of Fear of Heaven with a fascinating comparison between the human being and the universe itself. If mankind reflects Hashem in a tiny and limited way, then the structure of the human body can likewise be understood as a miniature reflection of the greater world.The Orchot Tzaddikim draws parallels between the heavens and the human body: the skull resembles the heavenly firmament; the palate creates divisions within the body just as the firmament separates the waters; and the life-giving soul resides within and directs the body. Just as the universe is governed by the One Creator, the many organs and systems of the human body are unified and directed by one life-force.The author continues this imagery by comparing the seven openings of the head—two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth—to the heavenly luminaries and planets. The larger message is that the human being is a remarkable microcosm of Hashem's creation. The more carefully we contemplate ourselves and the world around us, the more opportunities we have to recognize the wisdom embedded throughout creation.Rabbi Wolbe then turns from anatomy to character. Just as the animal kingdom contains gentle creatures as well as predators, human beings can develop very different qualities. Some live peacefully and compassionately, while others behave like predatory animals—using their strength to hurt or take advantage of others.The crucial difference is that we can choose. Hashem created the abilities and forces within creation, but human beings decide how those powers will be expressed. We can use what Hashem has given us constructively or destructively. Fear of Heaven therefore means not merely marveling at creation, but recognizing our responsibility within it and consciously choosing what kind of person we wish to become._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on March 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 28, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim,  #HumanBody, #Creation ★ Support this podcast ★

In the Messianic Era, will the Jews influence the gentiles to respect Judaism, or will the gentiles' respect for Judaism influence the Jews to value their own religion?

Indestructible Garments

Monday Morning Cooking Club's Merelyn Chalmers her family's story of survival, and piecing together hundreds of treasured family recipes from Jewish communities around the world, including her mother's top-secret yellow cake recipe.Merelyn grew up tied to the apron strings of her mother, an Hungarian Jew who had survived Auschwitz and eventually ended up in Western Australia.In Perth, she met a man who had his own remarkable World War Two survival story, after fleeing Poland and being conscripted into the Polish regiment of the Red Army.For the couple, Perth became their Garden of Eden, where they raised Merelyn and her older brother in peace.From her mother, Merelyn learnt how to make the perfect pastry in her pyjamas at midnight; how to fry schnitzel properly; and how to make a succulent roast for Shabbat. And from her father, Merelyn learnt how to appreciate both an Aussie barbecue of snags and steaks, as well as the acquired taste of Gefilte fish.Years later, Merelyn would join a group of women who decided to raise money for charity by putting together a cookbook filled with treasured family recipes from Jewish communities in Australia and around the world.As a member of the Monday Morning Cooking Club, Merelyn finally convinced her mother to share her secret recipe for yellow cake, a chiffon cake that had become famous in suburban Perth.A Year of Jewish Cooking is published by Simon & Schuster.You can find out more about the Monday Morning Cooking Club online.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores cooking, cookbooks, holiday cooking, Jewish cooking, stories of survival, origin stories, Bondi, Shabbat, Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Pesach, Hanukkah, family recipes, secret recipes, charity, books, writing, Shoah tapes, Holocaust, Auschwitz, refugees, migration, first generation Australians, Kosher kitchen, Judaism, religion, cultural identity, children of immigrants, Communism, Stalin, Hitler, Soviet Union, Spielberg.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Morning Offering, August 26, 2026 is brought to you by Catholic Coffee https://bit.ly/4hOxFevFather Brad explores the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes before showing how the Dead Sea Scrolls transformed our understanding of Judaism, Scripture, and the world of Jesus.Every morning, join Father Brad as he begins the day with prayer and reflection. In a few short minutes, Father Brad guides you in prayer, shares a brief reflection grounding your day in the Church's rhythm of feast days and liturgy, and provides you with the encouragement necessary to go forward with peace and strength. Disclaimer: The ads shown before, during, or after this video have no affiliation with Morning Offering and are controlled by YouTubeLet us do as the saints urge and begin our days in prayer together so as a community of believers we may join the Psalmist in saying, “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3-4)________________

This week I have two stories for you. The first is about a brilliant young doctor who abandoned his Jewish roots for the royal courts of Europe. The second is about the Taz, son-in-law of the Bach, and the days of unexplained silence he received from the holy Megaleh Amukos of Krakow. If you're enjoying these Chassidic stories, please take a quick moment to buy me a coffee. https://ko-fi.com/barakhullman Thank you! I deeply appreciate your support! Link to Two Cups of Tea, my first story video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d48AFirymU Also available at https://soundcloud.com/barak-hullman/a-new-kind-of-healing To become a part of this project or sponsor an episode please go to https://hasidicstory.com/be-a-supporter. Hear all of the stories at https://hasidicstory.com. Go here to hear my other podcast https://jewishpeopleideas.com or https://soundcloud.com/jewishpeopleideas. Find my books, Figure It Out When You Get There: A Memoir of Stories About Living Life First and Watching How Everything Falls Into Place and A Shtikel Sholom: A Student, His Mentor and Their Unconventional Conversations on Amazon by going to https://bit.ly/barakhullman. My classes in Breslov Chassidus, Likutey Moharan, can be found here https://www.youtube.com/@barakhullman/videos I also have a YouTube channel of ceramics which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@thejerusalempotter

In this conversation, bestselling historian Bart Ehrman argues that ideas we now take for granted—caring for strangers, helping those in need and expanding our moral concern beyond family and tribe—were anything but obvious in the ancient world.Bart has spent much of his career challenging traditional Christian beliefs. But in Love Thy Stranger he makes a surprising historical case for Christianity's positive legacy, while remaining candid about the harm the church has also caused. Along the way we explore Jesus' relationship to Judaism, why the early church may have changed his teaching on forgiveness, whether Christianity transformed the moral imagination of the West, and what—if anything—we stand to lose as faith continues to decline.After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Nick wrestle with what it means to be shaped by Jesus' moral vision while no longer holding all the beliefs that once came with it.Interview starts at 11m 44sBooks, quotes, links →The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful and wonderful listeners. By supporting us, you gain access to Nomad's online spaces—like the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge, and Book Club—as well as bonus episodes such as Nomad Contemplations, Homegrown Conversations, and Nomad Revisited.If you'd like to join our lovely community of supporters, head over to our Patreon page. You might even be rewarded with a Nomad pen or our coveted Beloved Listener mug!If a monthly commitment isn't possible right now, a one-off donation is always deeply appreciated—you can do that here.Looking to connect with others nearby? Check out the Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook group.And if you're up for sharing your own story, we regularly post reflections from listeners on our blog—all with the hope of fostering deeper understanding, connection and supportive relationships. If you'd like to share your story on the blog, contact us for more information here.

In this episode of Holy Days, Holy People, we explore Tisha B'Av—the saddest day on the Jewish calendar—and discover why a day devoted to remembering tragedy is also one of Judaism's most powerful lessons about hope.Fellowship President and Global CEO Yael Eckstein explains how Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, along with centuries of suffering endured by the Jewish people. Yael shares the solemn traditions of the day—from fasting and reading the Book of Lamentations to sitting low to the ground in mourning—and reveals the deeper purpose behind them: remembering sorrow does not mean surrendering to it.You'll also hear timeless teachings from Fellowship Founder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, of blessed memory, as he reflects on the tragedies remembered on Tisha B'Av and the promise of restoration still to come. Bishop Paul Lanier concludes the episode with a moving prayer, reminding people of faith that God has called us for this moment and invites us to take part in His purposes.The episode also remembers Anne Frank, whose young voice survived the hatred that sought to silence her. Her story gives a human face to the tragedies mourned throughout Jewish history, while reminding us all of the extraordinary hope that sustained God's people through centuries of exile, persecution, and loss.Whether Tisha B'Av is a day you've observed for years or one that you're discovering for the first time, this podcast will deepen your understanding of this solemn Jewish observance, show you why biblical faith makes room for grief without giving way to despair, and encourage you to trust that even in the darkest moments, God is still writing a story of redemption.Continue your journey through the Bible and the Jewish roots of your faith at The Fellowship's Learn Center.

This week we are joined by Ophira Eisenberg! Ophira Eisenberg is a Standup Comedian, Writer, and Podcast Host (NPR, CBS, CNN, The Moth, HBO, Comedy Central, iHeart) who headlines theaters and comedy venues across the world, tours regularly with the Moth Mainstage, and hosts the weekly parenting-comedy podcast Parenting is a Joke (Webby Finalist for Best Host). Her new comedy special, I Used to Be Nicer produced by Lewis Black/Stark Raving Black Productions is available now. She also hosted NPR's trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for 9 years. Her breakout memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press) has been optioned for a television series, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars won Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts and just finished a successful European tour. She recently returned from the Just For Laughs festival where she performed her 3rd gala for CBC/Global Television. In this episode, we talk about stand-up, storytelling, and the experiences that shaped Ophira's comedic voice, covering everything from performance anxiety to Jewish identity and parenthood. Ophira reflects on toggling between her stand-up persona and her public radio storytelling work, how growing up in Calgary shaped her outsider perspective, and why some audiences respond best to specificity and intelligence. The conversation also turns personal, digging into family silence and inherited trauma, and tracing her path from a single weekend comedy workshop to a full-fledged career. Recommendations From This Episode: Here All Along Empire Records Follow Ophira: @ophirae Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: aloneatlunch@gmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

Our culture often treats aging as something to resist. Judaism sees it differently: years are not merely something that happen to us; they can become a source of wisdom, purpose, and depth. Drawing on the mitzvah of shiluach hakein in Parshat Ki Teitzei, the Torah's promise of long life, the mitzvah of honoring parents, and the Rebbe's teachings about aging, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explores what it really means to “lengthen our days.”As Elul invites us to look back over another year, the deeper question is not simply, “How much older did I become?” but “How much deeper did I become?”Through the moving example of Brahm and Ilana Shiller, the sermon becomes a meditation on courage, resilience, love, and living fully even when life does not unfold as we would choose. Perhaps a long life is measured not only by how many days we receive, but by how much life we put into each day.Key PointsJudaism does not see aging as decline. Long life is a blessing, and lived experience itself carries dignity and holiness.You can retire from a career, but never from purpose. As our stage of life changes, our mission may change with it, but our ability to matter does not disappear.Ki Teitzei teaches us not to exploit devotion. Both shiluach hakein and honoring parents remind us to recognize and honor those whose love causes them to keep giving.Elul is not merely about another year passing. Growing older happens automatically. Growing deeper requires choice.Difficulty can reveal character. Real positivity is not denying pain; it is being able to say, “This is hard, and I am still going to live today.”Courage also belongs to the person standing beside the struggle. Caregivers and spouses carry their own quiet burden of love, worry, strength, and hope.Arichut yamim, long life, can also mean full days. A day filled with love, laughter, generosity, presence, and an open heart contains an extraordinary amount of life.The Elul question: We cannot always choose what happens to us, but we participate in choosing who we become within what happens.#ParshatKiTeitzei #KiTeitzei #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Bible #BibleStudy #Elul #chabad #Rabbi #JewishWisdom #AgingWithPurpose #LongLife #purpose #resilience #Courage #ShiluachHakein #chassidus #therebbe #LivingFully #gratitude #JewishInspiration #RabbiBernath Rabbi Yisroel Bernath's New Book The Forgiveness Experiment is Available now:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6Audiobook: https://bit.ly/4tPFZhVSupport the showGot your own question for Rabbi Bernath? He can be reached at rabbi@jewishndg.com or http://www.theloverabbi.comSingle? You can make a profile on www.JMontreal.com and Rabbi Bernath will help you find that special someone.Donate and support Rabbi Bernath's work http://www.jewishndg.com/donateFollow Rabbi Bernath's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ybernathAccess Rabbi Bernath's Articles on Relationships https://medium.com/@loverabbi

The Morning XTRA with Tug and Los delivers conservative talk on the biggest political, cultural, and news stories of the day. Smart analysis, unapologetic opinions, and real conversations every weekday morning. Every weekday from 6a to 10a! Victor Armendariz fills in for Tug! First thing to know: We have ourselves a blowfish operation Bill Maher says being Jewish ended Ossoff’s chances at being anything bigger on the Left Darlene Graham faceplants in the South Carolina Senate Debate Watch The Morning XTRA every weekday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the Xtra 106.3 YouTube or listen on the Xtra 106.3 App

The Morning XTRA with Tug and Los delivers conservative talk on the biggest political, cultural, and news stories of the day. Smart analysis, unapologetic opinions, and real conversations every weekday morning. Every weekday from 6a to 10a! Victor Armendariz fills in for Tug! On today's show, With Tug still out, Victor Armendariz joins Los for another full morning of political, cultural, and sports commentary. The guys kick things off with the state of college sports, the WNBA back in the news, and the Freedom 250 IndyCar Race in D.C. They also take on the “blowfish operation,” Bill Maher's comments about Jon Ossoff, and Darlene Graham's South Carolina Senate debate performance. The guys dig into the DSA's plans, whether the black community is sold on Talarico, and the debate over liberal men's mental health. Plus, they discuss Karmelo Anthony's legal situation, the Trump administration's $3 billion taxpayer savings, the possibility of the NHL returning to Atlanta, the “Resist” movement, and whatever happened to the Old NYC. Watch The Morning XTRA every weekday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the Xtra 106.3 YouTube or listen on the Xtra 106.3 App

Week three of our August Chagigot is a personal one. Today we're playing "Chagigat Shirei Chatuna" - an hour of Israeli wedding songs - and there's a reason this one hits close to home: Josh's daughter got married the very next day! That's right, this episode was recorded the night before her wedding, so you can imagine the mood in the studio. In honor of the occasion, we're playing an hour of the best Israeli songs about weddings and celebration. We also asked our listeners for their most interesting - and sometimes craziest - stories from Israeli weddings they've attended, including a few genuine wedding horror stories! Some great responses came in from our Facebook Live audience, and if you're listening to the podcast and have your own story to share, call or text our WhatsApp hotline at 732-844-9778 - we'd love to hear it! Mazal tov to the happy couple, and enjoy the music! (Original Air Date: August 23, 2026) Full YouTube playlist at https://tinyurl.com/4yvw82fx Bring Josh Shron, 'Israel's Soundtrack Storyteller,' to your community, and help spread the joy of Israeli music around the world! Visit https://www.joshshron.com/ Love the show? Please help us grow by becoming a member of Israel Hour Radio: https://www.patreon.com/c/MyIsraeliMusic

This week on the Mark Levin Show, we should encourage independent engagement with ideas like those of Justice Clarence Thomas rather than selling out to the left, communists, socialists, Islamists, the Woke Reich, isolationists, or others who have fallen into traps pushing greater interventionism or abandoning the dollar as the reserve currency. The prevailing hate directed at America, its founders, symbols, belief systems, Judaism, Christianity, and Israel should be condemned. We must maintain constitutional conservatism! President Trump, as Commander-in-Chief, made the decision to go to war with Iran and destroy their nuclear regime. Not Benjamin Netanyahu or anyone else. He did. But the Woke Reich neo-fascist isolationists can't accept that. In the past, Democrats and Republicans would have united behind this decision. Now, Democrats and Democratic Socialists on the left and the Woke Reich on the far right are undermining Trump and our troops. We know what the Iranian regime will do if they get their hands on nukes. We know they already fund terror groups all over the world. We know they push their ideology to the young, including right here in America. Right now, in the USA, weak governors allow fortress mosques to be built in our communities. In their hatred of Jews, the Woke Reich are ok with Iran and Putin. The Woke Reich are the modern-day appeasers of Hitler in the 1930s, but they don't have the integrity to admit it. Later, in the 1970s gas prices jumped due to OPEC's boycott of the U.S. over its Israel policies. Back then people blamed the oil companies instead of OPEC. Today the same manufactured hostility targets AI data centers. Governors ban or endlessly delay them with false pollution claims once used against fracking. The real issue is electricity: decades of blue-state regulations and anti-capitalist obstruction have blocked grid upgrades. Critics now complain data centers will consume too much power, yet refuse the solutions—expand the grid and let the centers build their own generation, including nuclear. Adversaries, especially China, face no such constraints and will dominate future technology, military, space, and health-care advances if America continues this economic self-sabotage. Furthermore, one of the dangers of so-called national conservatism, which has a relatively small following, is that it overlaps with the left by de-emphasizing individualism and stressing that each nation-state should simply be what it wishes. This isolationist approach should be rejected. We need to affirm American sovereignty, strong borders, traditional religion and culture, traditional family structures, and opposition to international institutions like the UN in favor of the Constitution. National conservatism's economic protectionism and interventionism skate too close to the left and serve as excuses for isolationism, centralization that erodes federalism, and more government control; the opposite is needed—deregulation, further tax cuts, and shrinking the central government—lest economic collapse destroy civil society, as the COVID-era attacks on liberties in blue states and cities already demonstrated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ken Rosato fills in for Mark Simone. Ken recaps yesterday's intense thunderstorms that left most of the tri-state area with major flooding. Yesterday was National Radio Day, and there were many celebrations, including a big one from I Heart Media. President Trump has been pushing to pass the Save America Act for a while and is pushing it even harder. You shouldn't be registered to vote if you are an illegal alien in the USA. Socialism and Liberalism may have gotten us to massive voting fraud.  Could the war in Iran cost President Trump the midterms? So far, it looks that way if a solution in the Middle East doesn't evolve soon. Ken dives into how Judaism may be part of the USA's religion for some citizens. We also explain how different ethnic groups may have changed the religion in different parts of the world, especially when there is a void, and Ken explains how Christianity may be shifting.  Ken interviews Roger Friedman from Show Biz 411. Spider-Man 'Brand New Day' continues to break records as it heads into its fourth week topping the box office! 3 Madonna Movies are coming this fall! There's a film in New York that's playing right now, and Roger tells you what it is so you can check it out!  A Seattle nonprofit company that cleans drug paraphernalia from streets is now under investigation, and Ken explains this to you. Andrea Suarez, who is a politician, is the founder of this, and Washington State is allegedly not happy about the cleanup of drug paraphernalia. What is happening with liberal Caucasian women? This question comes after a woman is held in contempt in Albany, NY, for having ties to ISIS to attack the capital of Albany, New York.  Ken interviews attorney Ron Berutti. Ken talks with Ron about a controversial case involving a transgender teen, the transgender teen's parents, and the school's alleged role. The guys dive into the confusion over parental consent and gender-affirming procedures that may have happened before the teen turned 18. 

Ken Rosato fills in for Mark Simone. Could the war in Iran cost President Trump the midterms? So far, it looks that way if a solution in the Middle East doesn't evolve soon. Ken dives into how Judaism may be part of the USA's religion for some citizens. We also explain how different ethnic groups may have changed the religion in different parts of the world, especially when there is a void, and Ken explains how Christianity may be shifting.  Ken takes your calls!  Ken interviews Roger Friedman from Show Biz 411. Spider-Man 'Brand New Day' continues to break records as it heads into its fourth week topping the box office! 3 Madonna Movies are coming this fall! There's a film in New York that's playing right now, and Roger tells you what it is so you can check it out! 

Ken Rosato fills in for Mark Simone. Could the war in Iran cost President Trump the midterms? So far, it looks that way if a solution in the Middle East doesn't evolve soon. Ken dives into how Judaism may be part of the USA's religion for some citizens. We also explain how different ethnic groups may have changed the religion in different parts of the world, especially when there is a void, and Ken explains how Christianity may be shifting. 

Max Picard (1888–1965) was a Swiss-German philosopher, physician, and mystic whose profound vision and work speaks with extraordinary force to our increasingly noisy and distracted age —yet whose voice seems more necessary now than ever. Born in Schopfheim, Germany, near the Swiss border, to Jewish parents, Picard trained as a physician before abandoning medicine in 1918. Increasingly disenchanted with the mechanistic direction of modern science, he turned away from clinical life and withdrew to the quiet landscapes of southern Switzerland, settling in Caslano and neighbouring villages, where he devoted himself to contemplative writing and exploring silence, solitude, presence, and the sacred power of the human word. In 1939, Picard converted to Roman Catholicism from the Judaism of his youth.A deeply original thinker, his life and work were marked by an uncompromising simplicity and inwardness. He deliberately avoided academic institutions, intellectual fashion, and public prominence, yet maintained friendships and correspondence with some of the most perceptive minds of the twentieth century, including Hermann Hesse, Gabriel Marcel, Gaston Bachelard, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this conversation, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash explore what it means to enter a "Thurs-Year" (a "Thursday" of years in the Shmita cycle, as a 5th year out of seven overall). This Elul bonus episode is the second in a series of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2026. -------------------------------------- Energized about Jewish learning and unlearning? Dive into our upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! Classes include Jewish Time Travel: Discovering the Shapes of Our Past and Future (Xava De Cordova), Avinu Malkeinu? Is God "Our King" (Laynie Soloman), and Hannah, Hagar, Sarah: The Women of Rosh Hashanah (Alicia Jo Rabins). Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to learn more! Financial aid is available for all who need it. To check out all our Elul bonus episodes from previous years, which can still be relevant to your experience of Elul this time around, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2026 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our Elul Unbound Shabbat gatherings here, where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with fellow Unbounders.

In episode 502 of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse begin what promises to be a multi-part deep dive into the Parable of the Good Samaritan — one of the most culturally embedded and theologically rich stories Jesus ever told. But before a single character hits the Jericho road, the hosts ground listeners in something easily overlooked: the charged context in which this parable is told. A lawyer — trained, confident, adversarial — steps forward not to learn but to test. What follows is a masterclass in how Jesus turns the law back on those who wield it as a weapon. This episode covers Luke 10:21–36, explores the covenant of works and covenant of grace, the noetic effects of sin, and why the Good Samaritan is far more than a lesson in being a helpful neighbor. Buckle up. Key Takeaways The lawyer's question is self-contradictory from the start. Asking "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" smuggles a works-righteousness assumption into the very grammar of the question. Inheritance by definition is received, not earned. Jesus does not give the lawyer a new paradigm — He reorients him to the true one. The covenant of grace is not a New Testament innovation. It runs through every Old Testament covenant administration. The lawyer should have already known this. "Do this and you will live" is not a Pelagian concession. Christ is holding out the law's own terms — perfect, total, unrelenting obedience — not to suggest it is achievable, but to expose its impossibility and drive the lawyer (and us) to the only alternative: mercy. "Desiring to justify himself" is more complex than it first appears. Tony argues that the desire to fulfill the covenant of works is not inherently wicked — it is the misguided belief that one can which is the problem. This distinction creates room for reading Christ's response as genuinely merciful instruction, not merely rebuke. The noetic effects of sin mean accurate theology can be deployed in service of self. The lawyer knows the right answers and still uses them to avoid repentance. Correct doctrine alone does not save. The fundamental human problem is not ignorance — it is the will's bondage and the heart's self-love. The parable is primarily Christological, not merely ethical. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. The story is not first about mercy ministry; it is about who binds up our wounds when we are left for dead on the road, unable to save ourselves. The priest and the Levite are not exonerated by their ritual obligations. Considerable ink has been spilled trying to justify their passing by on grounds of Levitical purity concerns. The parable refuses that exit. Everyone in the story — and everyone listening — already knows what the right thing to do was. Key Concepts The Covenant of Works Is Not a Black Box One of the more quietly important arguments Tony makes in this episode is that the covenant of works was never meant to be mysterious or inaccessible. When Jesus responds to the lawyer's question by asking, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" — He does so with a visible assumption: there is a clear, knowable answer, and the lawyer should be able to give it. And he does. Love God completely, love your neighbor as yourself. The covenant of works was always coherent and comprehensible. The problem has never been that its demands were obscure. The problem is that no one — save the Mediator — has ever kept them. Jesus is not introducing a new ethical framework. He is forcing the lawyer to confront a standard he has always known and has never met. The Lawyer as a Warning to Reformed Christians Jesse closes the episode's first movement with a pointed and personal application that cuts across theological self-satisfaction. The lawyer is not a caricature of ignorance — he is a portrait of someone with accurate, affirmed theological knowledge who instinctively deploys it in the service of self-justification the moment he senses conviction. Jesse names this directly as a danger particularly acute in Reformed circles, where doctrinal precision can become a subtle mechanism of self-defense rather than an occasion for repentance. The Reformation's great recovery of grace must not become a new form of the very disease it diagnosed. Knowing the right words about total depravity, the covenant of grace, and the mediator does not exempt anyone from the need to actually be humbled by them. Theology is not armor against repentance — it is, rightly received, the road toward it. Context Is Not Just Setup — It Is Part of the Lesson Tony and Jesse both emphasize that Luke 10:21–24 is not merely throat-clearing before the real content begins. The theological statement embedded there — that the Father has hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children, that no one knows the Son except the Father or the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him — is the hermeneutical key to everything that follows. The lawyer approaches Jesus as one rabbi testing another. But Luke has already told his readers that this is not a conversation between equals debating interpretive options. It is the Lawgiver being questioned by someone who does not recognize Him. The parable that follows is not just an answer to a legal question. It is a revelation — the kind that only happens when the Son chooses to give it. Memorable Quotes You do not want to pit the law against the one who has given the law, the one whose character is represented in the law — because you're always going to get owned, and you'll get owned before you realize you've just gotten owned on multiple levels. - Jesse Schwamb Jesus is trying to sort of reorient them back to the true paradigm of grace that is present under all of the Old Covenant administrations. It's not so much a matter of developing a new framework and imposing it on this guy. It's really trying to say, 'Listen — think about this for a second. Think about the fact that, yes, you know you have to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, your whole mind, and you have to love your neighbor as yourself. You've answered correctly. If you can do those things, you will live.' — with the subtext: and of course you cannot possibly do those things. - Tony Arsenal The fundamental human problem is not primarily ignorance, but the will's bondage and the heart's self-love. It's a problem no amount of correct discipline or doctrine alone can fix apart from some kind of regenerating grace — which is exactly what Jesus is going to illustrate for us in the mercy he's about to display in this parable. - Jesse Schwamb Full Transcript Tony Arsenal: [00:00:00] This parable is not primarily about us figuring out how to do mercy ministry. Like, that's important. It's probably an outcome of this. It's probably something for us to think about. But really, this is actually Christ saying, like, "Hold on a second here, dude." Like, "Let's just think about this." Do you need someone who is going to tell you to pick yourself up off your bootstraps and cross to the other side of the street and leave you to your own devices? Or do you need someone who's gonna throw you on their donkey, who's gonna bind up your wounds, who's gonna pay the innkeeper, and is gonna pledge to pay everything that is owed for your salvation? Right? That's not too on the nose here, I think. Welcome to episode 502 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm [00:01:00] Jesse  And I'm Tony, and this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey, brother.  Jesse Schwamb: Hey, brother. Well, we've got a big one to talk about on this episode. We're marching further and further into all of the glorious parables Jesus told as part of His teaching. And as you and I kind of joked before we began, I mean, what did you call it? Did you say this is, uh, the big daddy?  Tony Arsenal: It's the big daddy, one of the big daddy parables.  Jesse Schwamb: It's one of the big daddy parables. Now, this one is probably second maybe only to the prodigal son. Yeah But in terms of its ubiquity and its kind of just common knowledge in culture, this one ranks right up there. And before I reveal what it is, which you may already know, I was thinking how so many times we look at the Beatitudes as expression of a master class in Jesus teaching the law, and I think that's true. But as I was reading and thinking about this particular parable, I thought, "I don't know. I think this one is, uh, right up there," because [00:02:00] this is like law on law. It's double law. Yeah It's law coming back at the law giver who's trying to use the law to test Jesus, and then Jesus tests him with the law that He himself gave His people. It's... I'm already getting too excited- ... and we've got something to do before we get there. But we're talking about the parable of the Good Samaritan. And so I can't imagine, can I just make a prediction up front? I, you know where I'm going with this, and probably everybody else does. Uh, this is gonna be like two conversations-  Tony Arsenal: At least ...  Jesse Schwamb: probably.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah, at least two.  Jesse Schwamb: Is that fair? Because I realize we, of course, wanna get to the parable itself, and oh, my goodness, how much ink has been spilled. Even going back to, like, if you read, like, Augustine or, like, the early church, like the Patristics, the Church Fathers, there are so much that could be said, and maybe some stuff that just shouldn't be said about all the allegorical potential intent here about these characters. But [00:03:00] there's so much amazing stuff that happens in the opening of this, that's not just the setup, but it is its own lesson, and I'm real excited actually to talk about that with you before we even get into, like, all the good stuff that everybody expects that you wanna talk about. So we're gonna do it all. Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Jesse Schwamb: We're gonna do it all, but it'll take time.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. I'm interested to see if we're even on the same page about where to start reading, 'cause I, I think we might not be, and that's gonna be fun. So we'll, we'll let it fly and see what happens. It'll be our own little, uh, podcast game.  Jesse Schwamb: But, uh, I think- Well, I mean, we're gonna be in Luke chapter 10, but I guess to your point, we should be starting in Luke chapter one to get to this. Yeah.  Tony Arsenal: Exactly. But  Jesse Schwamb: we, we do have to back up quite a bit, and I was gonna ask you about that. Yeah. But I, apparently we're just gonna play that on the fly and see where we go.  Affirmations Denials Segment Jesse Schwamb: But of course, the Reformers had their five solos. Chalcedon had its, what, seven withouts. We've got opinions, and we're just as confident about ours, so of course it's time for affirmations, denials, where we affirm something that we think is good or awesome or [00:04:00] we wanna recommend, and we deny, again, something that is not so great or maybe just plain annoying. So before we talk about the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Tony, what do you got for us on this episode? Are you affirming with something, or are you gonna come in with a denial?  Tony Arsenal: Well, I've got two affirmations. That's fine. One is just- I will allow it ... a declaration of joy, and one is, like, a real affirmation. I, I just can't... It would be remiss of me not to share with our podcasting family that my son August and my daughter Adeline, uh, joined the visible church today as- Hear, hear ... uh, non-communicant members. Uh, Augie and Addie were baptized on the 16th of August of 2026, uh, into the visible church, into the name of Jesus Christ. Uh, was, it was just a great service. Um, it's funny because I've been- been talking with Augie. One of the thing with toddlers when you're doing something big like this is you kinda have to talk about it and practice and rehearse, rehearse it and, and get them ready for it. And up until maybe, like, I don't know, three days [00:05:00] ago, every time it would come up he would be saying, "I don't wanna be baptized. I don't wanna be baptized." And, um, you know, I, I, I, you know, I don't wanna force him to do something, but also, like, I make him eat vegetables. But, um- ... he, I, I think it was nerves, and I think something clicked in his head and all of a sudden he was very excited to be baptized. So, um, it was great. We've been talking about, you know, what baptism is, God's promise to you that if you trust him he'll save you. And so today he- Right ... he was like, "God's gonna make a promise to me to save me." So he was very excited. Nice. And he did a great job just standing quietly and listening to the pastor talk. Uh, and Addie was, was, was just a beautiful little girl, and she, um, she loved it as well. So that's just a bonus affirmation. I don't know that I could get through a podcast without gushing over that.  Glorify App and Devotionals Tony Arsenal: Uh, but the, the affirmation I have, uh, this is an, an app that I think some of our listeners may have heard of. Um, some may roll their eyes at it, to be honest with you. Um, I stumbled on this because, uh, you have an Oura Ring, don't you, Jesse? Jesse Schwamb: I do.  Tony Arsenal: You [00:06:00] do, yeah. So for those who don't know, an Oura Ring is like a little wearable ring that's like a, almost like a fitness tracker, but it tracks biometrics, pulse rate, temperature, all these different things, sleep. Um, there's a startup, uh, that has been doing a GoFundMe or a funding kind of thing for, uh, what they're calling like a Christian version of an Oura Ring. So it does a lot of the same things, sleep tracking, basic biometric tracking. Hmm. But it also has like alerts built in, and it's tied into an app that they use for devotionals. So it'll, it'll remind you to pray. It'll remind you, you know, bring you to an app to do a devotion. But the app it uses is a standalone app that I looked up, and it's called Glorify. Have you ever heard of this app before this evening? I have heard of  Jesse Schwamb: this, yeah.  Tony Arsenal: So Glorify is just a small devotional app. Uh, it's not much different than you would expect based on the name. It is connected to this, uh, to this Glorify ring, which again is, is sort of like an Oura Ring tied into this app. But this app basically is, is [00:07:00] designed to help you complete short daily devotional exercises, and they're usually very brief. They're based on a very brief, um, a very brief passage of scripture. Today's passage, uh, c- there's a quote. So today's quote is from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It says, "True love does not consist in finding the perfect person, but in faithfully loving an imperfect one." Not sure why this devotional app is using a romance, uh, quote from Bonhoeffer of all people. But that was today's. Um, and the passage is Proverbs 5:15-17. So it's a, it's a devotional based on two verses, which is fine. So you read the passage. There's a very brief devotional on that passage, and then sort of a guided prayer, and they have both premium and free models. The premium model includes like you can listen to the devotional, you can listen to the prayer. Um, but just for example, today's prayer, it, it's very simple. "Loving Father, thank you for, uh, thank you because you're faithful and unchanging. In a world [00:08:00] marked by broken promises, disposable relationships, you remain the same. Teach me to reflect that faithfulness in my relationships. Help me to love with perseverance, grace, and commitment following the example of Christ. Protect marriages, strengthen families, restore what needs healing. May every relationship be marked by respect, truth, and genuine love. Shape in me a heart of integrity that honors you in both the small and significant choices of life. In Jesus' name, amen." So I think what I love about this, and this, I mentioned last week that there was, this is kind of like, sort of like the fluffy evangelical devotions. Like- Right ... there's not a ton of like solid doctrinal meat- But like, it's still nourishing. And sometimes we need a little bit of help. Sometimes we don't know what to pray, we don't know what to read, we're not sure. Sometimes in, I think in our Reformed circles, we feel like if we're not reading large portions of scripture and reading deep theological treaties or long, complex devotionals, that we're really not doing anything, and that's just not the [00:09:00] truth. So I've been using this in addition to other devotional studies I'm doing. I don't do it every day. I mean, there's some like streak functionality, kinda like habit tracking type stuff that's built into it. Um, but it's nice. It's nice to be able to pick it up, read a very short scripture, a brief devotional thought, and then have some guided prayer. I know one of the reasons I don't pray as often as I ought to is because I struggle to know what and how to pray. So even having some written prayers, I mean, this is why the Psalms are good, things like the Valley of Visions are good. Um, having some pre-written prayers that you genuinely pray but you're not having to come up with in the moment can really help. Right. So the app is called Glorify. I know it's available on iPhone. I'm not sure about Android. I'm sure it probably is. I'm sure they wanna have a pretty broad ecosystem. Um, and, and it's good. Again, it's, it's not anything fancy. It's not anything like super technical. Uh, and as I kind of alluded, like some of it's a little weird. Um, I, I didn't read the proverb. I think maybe the proverb is about romantic relationships, why they're, why they're tying in that, um, Bonhoeffer quote in, in the prayer. [00:10:00] But, um, even that, like it's pretty innocuous. And the quotes, like you don't have to read the quotes. It's not like you have to have to do that. Um, you could jump in, just read the scripture or just read the devotion and just do the prayer and you would be fine. So check it out. It's called Glorify, available on iPhone for sure. I'm pretty sure it's on, on Android. And maybe it's something you add daily, you know, this kinda thing like you do when you're on the bus or you're waiting at the grocery store, something quick you can do when you might be wasting that time just sorta sitting around or scrolling Twitter. Again, Twitter's fine. You can use your leisure time as you see fit. But if you wanna fill it with something like this, something that is more spiritual, then this would be a good option to just add a little bit of, uh, a little bit of nourishment to your diet where you might not otherwise be getting it  Jesse Schwamb: I have no proof of this, but I just keep saying it anyway. It might be that we're living in the golden age of really great- ... daily worship resources. Like, something to actually cultivate, not just, like, a devotional nugget, but something that actually leads you into a pattern and a habit of [00:11:00]worship, giving your attentive focus on Jesus. And I love that. So, uh, uh, 'cause I was just thinking, like, I was trying to look back on some of our past affirmations here. We've talked about the book Walking in Faith. I just gave everybody Awake My Soul last week. You're coming in with the Glorify app. I- we've talked about Dwell, if not recently, we've talked about that for some time. It's like a great Bible reading app, and there's lots and lots of new features, by the way, coming out on that- Yeah that are fantastic. And then, yes, all these other great prayers. I, I see, like, these books on prayer, like, actually, I'm sorry, like, prayer books, I guess, as, like, a great way to kinda... It's like a jumper for your car. You know what I mean? Like, just gets you started. What a, what a lovely thing to come into a place and have a launching pad. And I've been using a lot of Into His Presence, which is a collection of Puritan prayers, sometimes because, for instance, this just happened, where I wanted to pray for someone who was just going through a rough time, a good friend of mine. And I went to that place to kinda start and frame, knowing that I was gonna sit down with him and pray, how I might be able to do that well and [00:12:00] effectively. And these things are just, like, really phenomenal resources. It's just an amazing time to have all these things at our disposal. So that's another great option. It's, it's really more about, like you and I have talked about, Tony, like, whatever gets us into that pattern, whatever gets us, like, authentically experiencing under our own volition, coming in the discipline of sitting before God in daily worship with that expression being pretty broad in its representation- Yeah is to really include something of devotional time in the scriptures, memorization, metabolation, metabolizing. Metabolation, I'm just gonna make that up as, like- ... what happens when you, when you take the scripture and metabolize it into your own life. Meditating on it and, you know, again, maybe looking through the confessions and creeds that have shaped our distilled understanding of what the scripture teaches so that we're enhancing and edifying our mind. We're also engaging the heart, and then we're engaging God and ourselves in communication with Him through prayer. I'm all for anything [00:13:00] that gets us into those rhythms, reminds us of the importance of them, and like we talked about last week, makes it so that when we think about what it means to be married to Christ, so to speak, it's not just about whipping out some kind of marriage certificate to prove that, but that we actually have a frame and a behavioral pattern that fits a married person, that- Yeah how they act, how they think, how they behave, how they communicate, they're never too far away from their lovely spouse in some way or another. And so I think that these tools are great ways to get us exactly into that kind of mindset and practice.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah, absolutely. And like I said, like, I think- In our Reformed circles, we can, you know, we, we tend to be maybe a little eggheaded, and we, we tend to be a little more intellectual and, and a little more, I don't know, studious. And there's nothing wrong with that. Um, but I think sometimes it can breed a sort of, uh, elitism and arrogance. Sure. Uh, this is a perfectly valid devotional tool. Yes. Mm-hmm. And, and I think, [00:14:00] you know, kinda like the old adage, like, well, what's the best translation of scripture? Well, whichever one you're gonna read. Exactly. Like, what's the best devotional tool? Whichever one you're gonna use, whichever one's actually gonna bring you into the Word, uh, on a, on a regular basis. Um, and again, like, two verses of the scripture is two verses of the scripture that you might- Right ... not have other spent time, otherwise spent time reading. And it really is short enough, and it saves your progress. Like, you can do, you can do the quote in the morning, and then you can check the scripture on the way to the, you know, the word work, on a stoplight or whatever. Um, if you have the, the paid subscription, you can listen to this stuff, you know, on the, the bus or whatever. Um, so check it out. Glorify app, they have a ring they're making. It's in funding, I guess, if you wanna check it out, you can check that out too. I am neither affirming nor denying whatever this Glory ring is, Glorify ring. But, um, but yeah, the app is great. The, the app is free, and it's, it's worth even just checking out and adding once in a while to your day  Jesse Schwamb: The glory ring or the glorify ring sounds like almost too Tolkien, even for me  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It's the one ring to rule all of your devotions. [00:15:00] Uh, and in the, and in the morning bind them. Jesse, save me from the trail I was about to go on, and, and I was gonna speak in the language of Mordor, I think, on accident. Uh, save us from this. What are you affirming or denying?  Jesse Schwamb: That's  Tony Arsenal: beautiful. Please tell me it's the language of Mordor. Elvish AI and Music Pick Jesse Schwamb: Uh, no, but can I just say at the risk of really taking us really far afield so early on, which is not necessarily off-brand for us, I have done this... I, I don't know if I should be ashamed by this or I should be excited by this. But- ... um, the Elvish tongue in the Tolkien universe-  Tony Arsenal: Oh, no. ...  Jesse Schwamb: is like, there's several... If you're super nerdy, you'll know there's like several different kind of iterations or formulas of it, and there's no, like, official language like Klingon, but there ha- it has been studied, and basically, like, it's kind of like the Eugene Peterson of the language. Like, there's, like, just kind of a dynamic equivalent or an expression of words. Anyway, all that to say- ... there's several languages that, uh, Microsoft Copilot will just not [00:16:00] translate because it says, like, "This one, this language doesn't actually exist. There's not enough for me to do anything." Let me tell you something. Tolkien Elvish is not one of those languages, and I actually built an agent, because I have a coworker who can, uh, who can appreciate all this stuff, that takes a text, translates it into this kind of academic high-level Elvish from Tolkien, and then translates it back to English. That makes anything you're saying way better and far more poetic and just absolutely amazing. So if you wanna have some fun, go and do that with whatever your favorite AI model is. Anyway, that's free of charge. Real quick, my affirmation is more music. It just turns out I've found this band, and I've been listening to them a lot. The band's name is Thronebreaker, which is just a phenomenal name, I think, for any group. Uh, it's amazing. Uh, th- this is... I'm gonna read you their description from Spotify. It just says, "Thronebreaker is Christian metalcore built for the bruised, the doubting, and the ones still fighting their way home." And what I've really been [00:17:00] loving about them is it is kind of like Wolves at the Gate adjacent. It's really lovely music. It is melodic, so it's, there's not just that there's that kind of hard edge, but that is present in it. But, uh, the music is really lovely and beautiful, and in part that's because they're going through this, like, drip of releasing music where they're taking, like, old hymns or maybe songs if you're of a certain age like I am of kind of childhood Sunday school- And they're taking the lyrics, not the melody, and they're reimagining them. So they have two versions of Jesus Loves Me that they just released. They have the old We're Gonna Cross, a song called Glory to the King Most High. These songs are just saturated with gospel. Like, they're just all power, all encouragement, and all authority represented in Jesus Christ. They're incredible, and I've j- where I've, what I've been really blessed by is these two versions of Jesus Love Me are just fantastic. Like, they're orchestral. There is a children's kind of chorus at one point, and it got me [00:18:00] singing that song again, and really, maybe to what you were saying before, Tony, like sitting in those three words, which are really phenomenal words to hear. And so I have been surprised at how moved I've been by what really I, I first understood, of course, as a children's song with simple truth that seems, you know, depending on how long you've known some part of the gospel, obvious. And yet I found them all new again, and a, a really lovely way of just sitting in the truth of God in music that I didn't expect to find. So if you're interested in any of that or maybe just curious of what it would sound like if a Christian metalcore band took Jesus Loves Me and turned it into their genre, then honestly you should just go check out Throne Breaker. I mean, you pretty much have to at this point.  Tony Arsenal: I, I don't ever have anything to add to your musical affirmations or denials, 'cause I, I just don't. What I do have to add is that Throne Breaker actually sounds like some sort of really [00:19:00] amazing, like, mace-type weapon in Lord of the Rings. Yes.  Jesse Schwamb: Yes,  Tony Arsenal: it does. Or like a big hammer that a dwarf carries. And I would also like to say that if you ask Google Gemini to translate something into Tolkien English, it not only will do it, it will tell you how to pronounce it.  Google Elf: A ava aini Ilai amel i trona se.  Tony Arsenal: What do you think that was, Jesse?  Jesse Schwamb: No idea.  Tony Arsenal: First of all, that was elevated Quenya, a Quenya. Yes.  Jesse Schwamb: Yes, that's  Tony Arsenal: the one. Classic Quenya.  Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  Google Elf: A leta Ilai amel aima.  Tony Arsenal: I would be willing to bet... Actually, let's do this.  Jesse Schwamb: Ugh.  Tony Arsenal: Uh, we don't give out prizes very often. Uh, I will say to anyone who can tell me what that is, the first person that emails, uh, or, or goes into the Telegram chat, we'll do this. We'll be professional podcasters and drive people to one of our channels. Here we  Jesse Schwamb: go.  Tony Arsenal: The first person who goes to our telephone, our Telegram chat and tells me what that [00:20:00] means, what that, uh, Elvish means, will get a Reformed Brotherhood T-shirt.  Jesse Schwamb: Oh, that is big.  Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Jesse Schwamb: That-  Tony Arsenal: So I'm gonna, I'm gonna play it one more time.  Jesse Schwamb: Okay, here we go. Everybody listen. Every- All right, pull over. Stop your vehicles. Here we go.  Google Elf: A leta Ilai amel aima.  Tony Arsenal: There it is, everybody.  Jesse Schwamb: I'm not being a cry- I have a guess, but I, I, I wanna try to win the T-shirt, so I'm gonna- Yes ... wi- withhold. All right. Uh, yeah, that's, that's super fun. Did it, um... Did you also translate it back into English from that  Tony Arsenal: just to see- No, I'll do that later, 'cause that would give away the, that would  Jesse Schwamb: give away the prize. Yeah, it's, it's... We'll have to save that for next week, because that, that is the fun. It creates, like, what I was doing to, to have fun with this coworker is take very technical, like, work-related emails, and I would send it through. It would go through that iterative process, and I actually loved how it, it was talking. Like, it wa- this was an email about risk, and it, it gave, like, these beautiful grand metaphors that didn't sound corny or cheesy. That's the beautiful thing. That's amazing. It [00:21:00] was like true Elvish. Like, you were just like, "I wish I spoke that way all the time about, about risk." And it, like I said, it wasn't just like... You could, you could obviously throw something in and be like, "Make this Shakespearean," or, you know, "Make this, you know, sound like, you know, Milton." This is way better. This is way better, because it's not, like, actually trying to manipulate what you're saying. It's takes, like, the dynamic equivalent of what you said, then translates it back with way more kind of poetic infrastructure while maintaining, like, the essential meaning that you have. I'm, I'm selling this too hard. Everybody just has to go out and try it. So, all right, you know what's at stake here, but here's how you have to win this. If you want a chance, if you want a chance at winning this, you gotta go to t.me/reformedbrotherhood, t.me/reformedbrotherhood, and that link will take you to the Telegram app and our little corner of it, and you're gonna find there's a bunch of chats there. You gotta go to the affirmations or denials chat, and then you gotta put in what is the translation of what Tony just played.[00:22:00] I just love... Isn't it amazing, though, that, like, y- as you discovered, there's more than one version of Elvish available? Yeah. And they do differentiate between the various kinds. This is a big deal. I learned there are actually scholars who have, like, again, filled in kind of like the details of the language- Oh, yeah taking as a basis what Tolkien had there. Yeah. So I think that this is the best. We couldn't have conceived of this if we'd actually tried and planned for it, so-  Tony Arsenal: It's true ...  Jesse Schwamb: it's just better that it all happened in, in real time. It's true. And, and speaking of which, I think now we get to have the fun of figuring out, uh, where in Luke chapter 10 are we gonna begin? Or should we just start in Luke 1 and just let's see how far we can get reading  Tony Arsenal: in this- I could have, I could have Google Gemini read it in elevated Kenya, Quenya I did try to get it to put it in Sindarin, and it wouldn't do it for some reason. I'm not sure. Maybe this anti-Sindarin bias in Gemini,  Jesse Schwamb: man. Disappointing.  Tony Arsenal: It's disappointing.  Jesse Schwamb: Dis- disappointing. So let's kick off some Good Samaritan talk, which again, I think is gonna take us [00:23:00] through maybe in the next couple of conversations, in part because, like I said, we're not even gonna start at, uh, verse 25 because there is so much more that needs to be said, I think, before that. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think actually the proper place to start this, and I, I'm guessing Jesse probably, whether he was there or not, he probably figured out where I was going, uh, over the course of the last 20 minutes or whatever. Um, I actually think the proper place to start, at least one of the proper places to start, is in verse 21. Yeah. Um, and I- we'll talk about why that is. And I'll... I'm gonna read here, um, 21, uh, through the end of the parable. Uh, and this is Jesus talking. He says in this, uh... Well, it, this is, um... Yes, uh, I'll just read it here. "In the same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one who knows who the Son is except... No, no one knows who the Son is [00:24:00] except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Himself.'" Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and hear what you hear and did not hear it." And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live." But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and he saw him and passed on the other side. So likewise a Levite, [00:25:00] when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. Whatever you, whatever more you spend I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" And he said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "You go and do likewise."  Jesse Schwamb: I think you're right, of course, to back us up into verse 21 because I don't want to keep saying it's always a setup, but Jesus is certainly giving us like the right context in which... Well, Luke of course is the author here and as he's explaining the teaching of Jesus, he does so well to start out with some irony that we don't realize is gonna be ironic until we get to the, to verse 25 [00:26:00] when we realize who's testing Jesus, who's setting this all up. So this idea that the Holy Spirit, everybody rejoicing in the Holy Spirit and the knowledge and the wisdom, the intelligence that's revealed through the Holy Spirit to all of these lesser people and in particular here emblematic the infants That here we have kings and rulers, and in this case, this beloved scholar of the law, who all have this adventure in missing the point. They think, in fact, they're looking for the one who is to set them free, and they can't even see that it's Him who is before him. And yet, incidentally, God has already revealed all these things to the lowest, to the ones who are the most humble, the meek, the mild, the down and outs, the ones who are weak by the view of everybody else. And so it's amazing that if we just kinda, again, like blow past it into, like, just all the characters, we don't see that the teaching starts actually well above this, that even everything we're about to understand, that unfolds in our lives, ev- every spiritual incarnation and insight that we have [00:27:00] first starts with God himself in his revealing it to us both in his general revelation, but of course, in the specific revelation of his teaching. So I like that you started us there, because I, I'm with you. That's where this whole thing launches off, right?  Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Parables Reveal and Conceal Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and as we come into when we very, like very start of this, uh, series, the, the parable series, Jesus sort of embeds a theology of parables into this introduction, right? Or I should say Luke does. But this, uh, this is written a- as though all of this is occurring as sort of one event. Right. And likely it was, right? So sometimes, uh, in the Gospels, events are kind of, like, moved next to each other for thematic reasons. It's possible that that's the case. It seems like this may have actually just been one, one teaching, and I'll, I'll talk about why that is in a second here. Um, but at the very least, this is placed next to each other in the Gospel almost as, like a, "Here's the theology of parables. Now, here's actually that happening in real [00:28:00] time."  Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  Tony Arsenal: And then also, like, a parable kinda demonstrating it, right? So the theology of the parable here is that there are many prophets, kings who desire to see what it is that, that, uh, uh, the disciples are seeing, right? And all things have been handed over to the Father or to, to the Son, by the Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father. No one who knows who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal, right? So the, the theology of parables here presented in Luke is that the parable itself is being used as a way to reveal the Father and the Son to those whom the Son chooses to reveal it to. The Lawyer as the Fool Tony Arsenal: And that leaves us with this lawyer, um, sort of playing, playing the fool in almost like a dramatic sense, right? In a lot of drama, there's kind of like the fool character who's sort of like the foil or the idiot of the thing who's, who's unaware and is almost like made an example of, right? Um, I, I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but there's often a character in a play who's like, uh, it's [00:29:00] almost like the opposite of the everyman, right? The everyman in a, in a play- Right ... or in a movie is sort of like the outsider who things gets explained to, and he's sort of the proxy for, for the audience. Um, I think like, um, Hawkeye in Avengers is kind of the everyman. He's sort of just like this regular dude swept up in this thing, and oftentimes he's the one that, uh, the big characters are explaining things to. And really what that is is the big characters are explaining that to the audience through this proxy. There's also this concept of the fool in a lot of these plays or movies who's sort of like the dummy, the idiot of the play, who things are explained to, and it's still a way to explain it to the audience, but the character doesn't get it. And so that's kind of, kind of the role that this lawyer is playing in this, this narrative here. He, he steps forward. He's like, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answers his question, and then in this like sort of like stunning moment of, like unawareness, he's trying to justify himself. He says, "Well, who is my neighbor?"[00:30:00] As though that's a question that needed to be asked, right? I think, like, we sort of think of it as like, "Oh, yeah, that's a valid question." I actually don't think it is. Like, it's pretty obvious, in the Old Testament at least, who your neighbor is. It's the people who live immediately with you. It's the other people of Israel. It's the people in your immediate concentric circles, the people you have direct access to. Um, and so then Jesus explains it through this parable, and whether or not he gets it at the end, I guess is maybe a little bit unclear. We can talk about that as we get there. But at least in the beginning, he's portrayed as this sort of, like, fool who doesn't understand what Jesus is saying, and then this parable is taught. So it's this theology of, um, revelation to those whom it is intended to, and further obscuring from those it's intended not to, not to illuminate, which is identical. Uh, maybe it's a different flavor of the same thing, but it's the same thing as what Matthew had and what Jesus taught- Right ... in Matthew with the parables. Jesse Schwamb: Right. It definitely is, again, illustrating, again, God's divine prerogative. I think you really have to do a lot of theological gymnastics [00:31:00] to try to work yourself out of a place here that says, like, "Well, this, this knowledge is accessible to all people."  Tony Arsenal: Right.  Jesse Schwamb: That if somehow we just work hard enough, study hard enough, come even before God with the right attitude or do the right things, that somehow all this will be made plain to us, and that's certainly not the truth here. In fact, again, the ironic setup is you have this lawyer asking this question, which creates this strange contrast because here's a man trained in the law, and he approaches the very wisdom of God to test him while the little children already perceive what this fool cannot. So it's irony upon irony, and then I, I like what you're saying. I think, and we'll get to this to anticipate a bit, I'm reading this as he's hoping that the answer to whom is my neighbor, just like he- he's received the affirmative from Jesus saying, "Yes, you understand. Go and do these things. This is life," and we'll get to all of what that means, I think, as well in terms of the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. But I think he's hoping that the definition of neighbor is gonna mean that he has [00:32:00] already accomplished the thing then, so that if there's somehow- Yeah ... he could just set the right boundaries. He could say, "Ah, yeah, I'm already good then, Jesus. I already, already did all that stuff." So- It's wild to me that it, it all starts with, of course, like some kind of scribal specialist in the Torah, of course, likely some kind of Pharisee by theological alignment. And as I'm looking at the notes here, what I find particularly stunning as we start this out is that Luke, of course, is able to speak several times in this parable to the intent. And so he says right away with great kind of fanfare and description that the intent here from this scribal Torah person was to test or to tempt, which is the same verb used of Satan's temptation of Christ and of Israel's testing of God in Deuteronomy 6, which of course Jesus is gonna quote here later on. So it's not, of course, like sincere inquiry, like you're saying. It, it is like adversarial probing. It is like really profound setup. It is dripping with like [00:33:00] ulterior motive. It's seeking to expose Jesus as either like heterodox or as diminishing the law's demands. And I think we've talked about this before, so Tony, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure in one of the previous parables we talked about sometimes how these get set up with this kind of weird like oxymoronic setting. Inherit Eternal Life Debate Jesse Schwamb: So like this question of se- uh, uh, itself, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  Jesse Schwamb: It's like more than just theologically revealing. Biblically it's self-contradictory, 'cause of course like we talked about inheritance, I think actually when we went through the, the parable of the prodigal. By definition, that's received, of course, on the ba- basis of relationship or promise. It's not earned by performance. And if the inheritance comes by a law, it no longer comes by promise, right? I think that's like Galatians. So the lawyer's question already portray- portrays like some kind of weird works righteous paradigm. E- even if you think he's really after trying to understand the true intent of God's heart [00:34:00] behind the law, he is assuming at least in this question that eternal life is some kind of wage that he can earn rather than a gift to be received by grace through faith. And that's a fundamental error that the entire subsequent exchange, including the parable, is designed to expose. It's both, like you're saying, Tony, he has not learned yet what it means to be in the kingdom of God. He's outside of that, and so he's trying... Now Jesus is bringing in this corrective action, as it were, set up in a story, but he's gonna turn the law on him, which, which I don't wanna get too excited about that yet. But he's... But essentially, here we have somebody who's the expert in the law trying to leverage the law by way of force against the one who he does not understand has all leverage and authority over him, and is in fact the law giver himself So he's gonna, Jesus is gonna drive him to see his own ability to keep the law that he claims to honor, and that's more than just brilliant. This is what the law does. You do not wanna pit the law against the one who has given the law, the [00:35:00] one whose character is represented in the law, because you're always going to get owned, and you'll get owned before you realize you've just gotten owned on multiple levels, and I think that's what basically unfolds here. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, I, I have a little bit of a different take on the, the word inherit here. Um, I don't think what you're saying is wrong, um, but I think there's a little different flavor here, and actually, I, I think it, it still sort of propels us forward to the conversation we have to have, um, about the law and the gospel and the covenant of works, the covenant of grace. The, the Greek that lays under this word is, uh, it's a compound word of the word for, like, lot or portion and the word for law. And so, so the, this force of the word is more along the lines of, like, what shall I do to have a legal right to eternal life? Like- Right ... inherit, I think we hear inherit, and we think of, like, um, like what you get when someone dies, and so, like, obviously there's nothing you do to earn it, and that's certainly an element of the way this [00:36:00] word is used in some instances. I think reading this and kind of how, how the rest of the text plays out, this lawyer is coming forward and he's like, "What do I need to do to have a rightful legal claim to eternal life?" Right? We might even be able, and this is where it comes into the covenant of grace, covenant of works k- kind of paradigm. We might even be able to say that what this lawyer or this person comes forward to ask Jesus is, how do I gain, how do I gain the benefits of the covenant of works, right?  Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: Yep. That's language that was developed later that's not, not, like, biblical language in terms of, like, the actual language within the text, but that's the force of what he's saying. What must I do to be a rightful legal... Uh, what must I do to have a rightful legal claim on all of the blessings of the covenant of works, is really the question that's here. And so Jesus' answer is so instructive- Right ... 'cause what he says is, "Well, what's written in the law?" Like, he, he basically says, like, "Well, you should be able to tell me, teacher- Exactly of [00:37:00] the law, like, what, what needs to happen there." And there's an assumption on Christ's part that, like, there is an answer. I think sometimes, sometimes we, we, uh, we make an error in thinking that the covenant of works was never attainable, that it's somehow this, like, um, it's almost like a black box. Like, nobody could know what we have to do to, like, obtain eternal life. That's absolutely not the assumption Jesus makes. Jesus not only knows that there's an answer, it's such a straightforward answer that he expects this scribe to be able to answer it, right? And the scribe can, right? The scribe says, "Well, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength, and your neighbor as yourself," right? The summary of the law. Just good old classic Westminster larger, shorter catechism. Where's the law summarily comprehended? Summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. And then, then again, I don't know the questions exactly, but then it also, like, says, like, "Where does Christ summarize this?" Well, you should love the Lord your God, and you should love your [00:38:00] neighbor as yourself, right? Covenant Works and Grace Tony Arsenal: So the, the lawyer comes forward and says, "What do I need to do to have a legal right to all of the blessings of the covenant of works?" Christ says, "Well, what do you think?" He says, "Well, you obey the entirety of the law." And he says, "You've answered correctly. Do this. Obey the entirety of the law and you will live." So the parable itself doesn't necessarily speak to this law, gospel, covenant of works, covenant of grace paradigm. The, the parable is used to show that not only does this lawyer know what is required of him, but that he won't do it.  Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: And I think that's really key, because even in the parable, within the parable itself, there are these figures that know what they should do, right? I, I think, um, we'll get into it, but there's a lot of ink spilled on almost like, um, explaining [00:39:00] why the priest and the Phar- phar- and the, the Levite almost like did the right thing by going to the other side of the room, and it points to like, well, their priestly and Levitical responsibilities, if they touch a dead body, like they can't do those things, and those things are so important. Like, there's a lot of ink spilled trying to almost explain why what they did is right, when the point of the parable is that actually we all know what the right thing to do in that sense was. And even the most righteous people in the mind of the hearers, the Levites and the priests, the most righteous people, even they don't do what they're supposed to do. Jesse Schwamb: Right.  Tony Arsenal: This, this paradigm, this gospel law paradigm, law gospel paradigm, this covenant of works, covenant of grace paradigm, is so baked into the very like fabric of, of human thought that it's just there. And Christ takes this time to point out to this lawyer, like, "You know what's expected of you." And so that's why the phrase desiring to justify himself is so key [00:40:00] here. I actually think that the, the, the I don't wanna go so far as to say, like, that this person was regenerated in the midst of this conversation, 'cause I don't know that. But I actually think that there's a forward movement of this lawyer as he interacts with Christ that is optimistic. I'm optimistic about it, right? Right. He starts out trying to test Jesus, then he star- then he moves to having a desire to justify himself. I think we hear that, we read that, desiring to justify himself, we automatically think that that's a negative thing. But if we think about justifying himself in terms of what he's talking about, how do I fulfill the obligations of the covenant of works, that's not a bad thing to wanna do. Right. It's not bad to wanna obey God's law and to lay claim to His promises. It's a misguided notion of something we can't accomplish, but in itself, desiring to justify himself is to desire to fulfill the obligations of the covenant of works. That's not necessarily a bad thing. And so I think this is a merciful, a merciful [00:41:00] teaching on Christ's part. He's trying to instruct this guy to say, "Look, you can't do it. And even if you could do it, you wouldn't do it. So let's, let's talk about mercy instead and what that looks like." And that's where we get to kind of the end of the, uh, the end of the parable.  Jesse Schwamb: And again, we have to remember that we know that the intent here is actually to test or try Jesus, so He's certainly being merciful by using this opportunity not to just put him on blast, but to actually provide true instruction. And of course, like, that was, to some degree, this turning the question back would've been, like, a rabbinic pedagogical technique, but theologically, this is what floors me, is from the jump, Jesus refuses to let this man treat Him merely as one more voice among competing rabbis. Yeah. Instead, He holds that lawyer to the standard of God's own revealed word by, like you said, asking not just what does it say, but how do you read it? Mm-hmm. He's pressing not just for, like, some kind of recitation, but for the lawyer's own understanding and application, and Jesus is gonna hold him [00:42:00] accountable to his own hermeneutic. So by, by the time we get the answer, we know as readers, and all those present would've understood, he already knows the right answer, and he's not ignorant to God's requirements. He already summarizes the whole moral law correctly, encompassing both tables of the Decalogue. And so I think that does lead us then to this statement that we probably should spend a little time on, like, do this and you will live, like you introduced for us. Like, what does that even mean? Because i- it's not, like, in my view It's not like a Pelagian or Arminian concession that law keeping actually saves. I mean, it is the covenant of works principle stated truly inexorably that the law as law does promise life to perfect obedience. But that's the exact problem. I, I like what you said that it's not as if we can't understand what it would be to comprehend or contemplate this perfect law and what it means to fall under the covenant of works. It's just that he also presents for us at the same time this covenant of grace in which life is [00:43:00] granted freely through faith in the mediator who alone fulfills all of these laws' demands. So it's wild in this back and forth that's happening here where it's... I don't even know if it's fair to say this is like the most incredible subtext ever. I'm imagining trying to process this in real time and realizing everything that's being said, not just listening to what's being said and like the technical answers going back and forth. But I think like you said, that the Spirit even here is at work, I would like to believe, in the life and at the heart and the mind of this lawyer who's bringing forward this question with nefarious intent first to test and to undermine, and then is being drawn in almost inexorably into this debate to more profound understanding about a covenant based on works that cannot be accomplished, uh, in perfect obedience except through the mediator who organizes and distributes liberally this covenant of grace to his children for whom he has accomplished at least passively and then actively in his obedience in life and death. And so Jesus' reply is, I [00:44:00] think, thus a very genuine like if that functions to expose an impossibility. I, I don't think he's teaching salvation by works here, of course. He is holding out the law's own terms so that the lawyer and everybody else listening, and even us as well, can discover through this narrative which is about to happen the impossibility of self-produced righteousness, which again is what this gentleman is theologically all about. He's trying to justify himself. And that is precisely the pedagogical strategy like Paul uses later when he systemizes all of this by saying that the law was our guardian or school master until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. I think- Yeah ... and it's only because God is good to us and we might sit in some of this teaching, I think this is all in play. So, so I ask you, like, have I gone too far with all this? Like, how much do you think in the real time was being processed? And maybe that's a horrible question to ask because we know the Spirit does this work of illumination and enlightenment, and we're on the other [00:45:00] side of this and have this time to sit and to kind of parse and to really kind of just be pickled in all of this. But there's so much happening here, right?  Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. Uh, maybe I'll answer the question a, a little bit of a different way. I think, um- We often can think about Old Testament religion, if we wanna kinda call it that. We think about Old Testament religion as though it was totally uniform and, um, entirely legalistic. Right. Uh, my- the, the listener is gonna panic a little bit when I say this, so please don't freak out, but I, I think N.T. Wright, uh, and some of the new perspective on Paul stuff is a, a little bit helpful in this, in that it gives us a foil to sorta push against. Yes. The new perspective on Paul is this idea that, um- Paul was not saying that Judaism was legalistic and Christianity is a grace-based religion, right? He, m- [00:46:00] um, N- NPP is not, is saying, um, Paul was not correcting New or Old Testament religion. And where they go wrong is that they say that Paul actually retains this concept of covenantal faithfulness, covenantal nomism fidelity. Uh, where I think, where I think they're right is that this idea that, like, the Old Testament religion is entirely legalistic and Paul was just sort of correcting that, I think that's way too simplistic. And the reason I say that is that the Mosaic Covenant for, you know, w- and predominantly this podcast is coming from a sort of Westminster Confession of Faith Presbyterian perspective, give or take, right? The, the broad Reformed tradition would say that the, the Mosaic, uh, covenant, the Davidic Covenant, all of the covenants of the Old Testament, and we can break them up in all sorts of different ways, but all of the covenants of the Old Testament, [00:47:00] um, with maybe the exception of the Noahic Covenant, and there's some debate about that, all of those are They're not just, like, supporting structures for the covenant of grace, but they actually are the covenant of grace in various administrations. If that's true, and of course we believe that it is, if that's true, then the people of those covenants understood that on some level. Right. Right? So to think that, like, people under the administration of the covenant of grace somehow thought that they were operating under a legalistic framework doesn't make any sense. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah,  Tony Arsenal: that's true. So, so where I think that applies here is I think this person coming forward, it's not as though the concept of the covenant of grace... Again, that's language that we would develop later, but the concept that God graciously saves His people by the counsel of His own will, apart from their works of righteousness, apart from their meritorious effort, that God [00:48:00] simply extends His grace and conveys the cov- the blessings of the covenant of works to those who trust in the mediator, those who trust in the one to come, the, the forthcoming serpent-crushing seed, right, if you wanna use- Right language from Genesis 3. The, the idea that God simply graciously conveys the blessings of the covenant of works to those people Um, that's not something that's alien to the Old Testament, right? It's not alien to the, even to the Mosaic economy. The most law-based of all of the Old Testament, um, covenants, even that starts with the concept that these people are God's people who he redeemed out of Egypt, right? Right. The redemption out of Egypt comes before the giving of the law, and the giving of the law is a result of the redemption out of Egypt. So to think that this lawyer comes forward, and again, this had been sort of corrupted and distorted and had become a very works-based, uh, [00:49:00] meritorious-based understanding. But the idea that this framework of a covenant of grace is totally alien to this guy just doesn't, it just doesn't, I think it doesn't play. And so I think rather than us read this as I think sometimes we do, of Christ as kind of like giving this guy, trying to give this guy an entirely new paradigm, or like the rich young ruler is very much a parallel kind of situation. We read this, this guy comes forward, he's like, "What do I gotta do to earn eternal life?" Christ is like, kinda basically says like, "Well, you dum-dum, you can't. And I'm gonna demonstrate for you that you can't by- Right ... taking sort of like this situation that you can't possibly believe that you fulfilled and telling you to fulfill it." That's the outcome of this. We'll get to that when we get to the end of the parable. Um, he's not trying to give them a new paradigm. He's trying, in my opinion, he's trying to sort of reorient them back to the true paradigm of grace that is present under all of the Old Covenant administrations. So it's not so much a matter of like [00:50:00] developing a new framework and impli- like imposing this new framework on this guy. It's really trying to say like, "Listen- Think about this for a second, dude. Think about this, right? Think about the fact that, yes, you know you have to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, your whole mind, and you have to love your neighbor as yourself, right? You've answered correctly. If you can do those things, you will live. With the subtext, which I think is what you're getting at, the subtext of, like, and of course you cannot possibly do those things. Right. Right. So what's the alternative, my friend? The alternative is not justifying yourself by somehow identifying who the person is that you have to love the most. The, the, the, um, the... Well, we'll get this when we get to the parable itself, but the, the alternative is... This will be interesting, 'cause I'm not sure that we... I don't know where you are on this, but, um, the alternative is that there's someone out there who shows us mercy. [00:51:00] Right. There's someone out there who takes care of our need despite our total inability to do so. Jesse Schwamb: That's right.  Tony Arsenal: That's the alternative to the covenant of works, is the covenant of grace. I m- maybe I'm, like, hinting at it too much, so I'll just say it. Like, Jesus is the Good Samaritan, right? Like, there's something for us to learn about our own justification here and our own- Right ... like, um, our own need to be merciful, to treat people as our neighbors. But just like we talked about when we talked about, like, what does the least of these mean, this parable, uh, I'm totally, like, burying the lede for next, next week, but that's fine. This parable is not primarily about us figuring out how to do mercy ministry. Right. Like, that's important. It's probably an outcome of this. It's probably something for us to think about. But really, this is actually Christ saying, like, "Hold on a second here, dude." Like, "Let's just think about this." Do you need someone who is going to tell you to pick yourself up off your bootstraps and cross to the other side of the street and leave you to [00:52:00] your own devices? Or do you need someone who's gonna throw you on their donkey, who's gonna bind up your wounds, who's gonna pay the innkeeper, and is gonna pledge to play- pay everything that is owed for your salvation? Right? That's not too on the nose here, I think. Right. And, and I really look forward to, like, unpacking that, although maybe we don't need to now, but I think, like, this parable is so much more about how salvation works than it is about, like, what it means to have a good neighbor and to be a good neighbor. I think we get bogged down in that, and I just am really excited to talk more about, like, what I think this parable actually gets at.  Jesse Schwamb: I agree, and it's happening in the contex

A conversation with Art Vernon, a naturist and a rabbi, who believes that social nudity does not violate his religious beliefs and traces the origins of non-sexual nudity to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Vernon discovered social nudity at Fire Island National Seashore about 15 years ago. In the years following, he has practiced naturism in the United States and in Israel and he relates some of his experience as the only nude bather on Israeli beaches. He has also been surprised to discover naturists among Orthodox Jews. Links to useful information and items mentioned in this episode:(note that the links only work on the show’s website because they are stripped out of the RSS feed due to common distributor rules forbidding direct links to nudity) Gunnison Beach Fire Island National Seashore Israeli Naturist Federation Tel Aviv Pride Parade Haifa Pride Parade Shangri-La Ranch Photo: A Menorah with the Star of David in front of a naturist woman Episode CLXXI NOTE: Due to censorship rules, links only work on the main show website at naturistlivingshow.com.

Death of the Ego

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

The angels have entered Sodom, and Lot has pulled them into his home despite the risk, in a city where sheltering a guest overnight is itself a crime. Rabbi Epstein and Tom pick up as the meal Lot serves turns out to be matzah, and the timing is not incidental. This is Passover night, centuries before the Exodus, the night the Torah ties to the very possibility of freedom. Lot has spent years chasing what Sodom offers and could never walk away from it on his own. Now G-d is about to take the choice out of his hands, and the conversation traces what that kind of mercy actually costs.That night the men of the city surround the house, and Lot makes an offer to the mob that is hard to read as anything but appalling. Rabbi Epstein and Tom work through what he might have been calculating and how the Sages weigh a failure like that. When the angels finally strike the crowd blind and drag Lot inside, warning him to gather his family before dawn and get out, he doesn't move. The Torah marks the moment with a cantillation so rare it appears only a handful of times in the entire text: he lingers.They end on the question they'll pick up next episode. If you've earned the right to survive judgment, have you also earned the right to watch it happen?

“Did Paul believe Jesus is God?” This question leads to a discussion on the clarity of Paul’s writings regarding Christ’s divinity. Additionally, the conversation touches on how early Christians observed the Sabbath without many churches, the nature of the true Church, and the Seventh Day Adventist perspective on soul sleep and the commandments. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 04:02 – In the Early Church how did people keep the sabbath holy if there wasn't many churches to go to? 15:16 – I struggle to see if Paul believed Jesus is God based on his writings. Can you help clarify? 29:15 – How do we respond to the claim that every church is part of the one true church? 34:15 – What is your opinion on the Seventh Day Adventist claim on soul sleep and the 10 commandments in relation to the sabbath? 47:50 – Who was the first the pope and how did he become pope? 52:23 – Is the Catholic Church an extension of Judaism or is there some intersection

Audiobook Excerpt. Ann Coulter. Godless: The Church of Liberalism. Chapter One. "If a martian landed in America and set out to determine the nation's official state religion, he would have to conclude it is liberalism, while Christianity and Judaism are prohibited by law. Many Americans are outraged by liberal hostility to traditional religion. But as Ann Coulter reveals in this, her most explosive book yet, to focus solely on the Left's attacks on our Judeo-Christian tradition is to miss a larger point: liberalism is a religion—a godless one. And it is now entrenched as the state religion of this county. Though liberalism rejects the idea of God and reviles people of faith, it bears all the attributes of a religion. In Godless, Coulter throws open the doors of the Church of Liberalism, showing us its sacraments (abortion), its holy writ (Roe v. Wade), its martyrs (from Soviet spy Alger Hiss to cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal), its clergy (public school teachers), its churches (government schools, where prayer is prohibited but condoms are free), its doctrine of infallibility (as manifest in the "absolute moral authority" of spokesmen from Cindy Sheehan to Max Cleland), and its cosmology (in which mankind is an inconsequential accident). Then, of course, there's the liberal creation myth: Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. For liberals, evolution is the touchstone that separates the enlightened from the benighted. But Coulter neatly reverses the pretense that liberals are rationalists guided by the ideals of free inquiry and the scientific method. She exposes the essential truth about Darwinian evolution that liberals refuse to confront: it is bogus science. Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called gaps in the theory of evolution are all there is—Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution's proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the "evolving" peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes. Still, liberals treat those who question evolution as religious heretics and prohibit students from hearing about real science when it contradicts Darwinism. And these are the people who say they want to keep faith out of the classroom? Liberals' absolute devotion to Darwinism, Coulter shows, has nothing to do with evolution's scientific validity and everything to do with its refusal to admit the possibility of God as a guiding force. They will brook no challenges to the official religion. Fearlessly confronting the high priests of the Church of Liberalism and ringing with Coulter's razor-sharp wit, Godless is the most important and riveting book yet from one of today's most lively and impassioned conservative voices. "Liberals love to boast that they are not 'religious,' which is what one would expect to hear from the state-sanctioned religion. Of course liberalism is a religion. It has its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints, its own total worldview, and its own explanation of the existence of the universe. In other words, liberalism contains all the attributes of what is generally known as 'religion.'" —From Godless

Among Israelis working to protect West Bank Palestinians from settler attacks, members of the leftist religious group Bnei Avraham are outliers. The group aims to show “another face of Judaism,” one member says. Also in today's stories: why milestone diplomatic moments in Iran and Gaza fell flat; why Russia banned an anti-war party from legislative elections; and what the updated Endangered Species Act means for the species it protects. Join the Monitor's Matthew Bell for today's news.

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

Jay cannot figure out why Anthony Bourdain was so beloved and asks Christine to research his restaurant reviews. | Mike Finoia is sitting in for Bobby as they guess what chicken nuggets are actually made of. They watch a video of an assembly line of slurry that may be poultry. | Jay has decided to switch his weight loss drug and also to embrace his Judaism. Got to MikeFinoiacomedy.com for all his tour dates with Ron White and listen to his SXM Grateful Dead Show! *To hear the full show to go www.siriusxm.com/bonfire to learn more! FOLLOW THE CREW ON SOCIAL MEDIA: @thebonfiresxm @louisjohnson @christinemevans @bigjayoakerson @robertkellylive @louwitzkee @jjbwolf Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Bonfire ad-free and a whole week early.  Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Theologically conservative Christians believe apparently contradictory things about Judaism and Jewish people. On the one hand, they will often describe Jewish people as being “the people of God.” On the other hand, they typically hold that, as non-Christians, Jewish people are condemned to go to hell when they die. How do these attitudes fit together? Is it possible to hold them together consistently? What do the answers to these questions tell us about conservative Christians' understandings of Judaism and Jewish identity? And why are questions like these ones we're not supposed to ask in church? Join Dan for this week's episode to find out! Get signed copies of American Caesar at Annie Bloom's: ⁠⁠https://annieblooms.com/⁠⁠ Join us September 16 at Annie Bloom's for the American Caesar book launch!

In Day 193 of The Ways of the Righteous (Orchot Tzaddikim), in the Gate of Fear of Heaven, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe continues exploring the remarkable ways human beings reflect, on a limited scale, qualities Hashem placed into creation. Just as Hashem distinguishes between good and evil, human beings possess the capacity to discern between them. And just as Hashem created and formed the world, mankind has been endowed with extraordinary creative abilities—to build, plant, develop, transform, and accomplish.But human potential does not mean effortless success. Rabbi Wolbe emphasizes that there are no shortcuts. Greatness requires hard work, Torah study, understanding the ways of Hashem, and ultimately Hashem's assistance. The extraordinary capacities placed within us are possibilities that must be cultivated.The lesson also draws a fascinating parallel between Hashem and the neshamah: neither can be perceived with our physical eyes. We cannot see a soul entering the body at birth or departing at death, yet its reality defines human life. Similarly, the inner thoughts of another person remain hidden from us, while Hashem knows what lies within every heart.Rabbi Wolbe then explains the purpose of the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hara. Human beings were deliberately placed into a world of competing impulses so that our choices would have meaning. Our capacity to build or destroy, plant or uproot, accumulate or relinquish, exercise power or restraint creates the arena in which free will operates. The challenge is not to live without an evil inclination, but to strengthen the Yetzer Tov sufficiently to govern it.The lesson concludes with the essential balance between Divine judgment and Divine mercy. Rabbi Wolbe discusses Rashi's teaching on the opening of the Torah: creation is introduced with the Divine name Elohim, associated with judgment. Yet a world operating through strict judgment alone could not endure. Human beings need the possibility of making mistakes, repenting, growing, and trying again. Hashem therefore allows mercy to accompany judgment.Our greatness is found precisely within this system. We possess tremendous potential, but we also possess competing desires and the ability to fail. The person who repeatedly chooses the Yetzer Tov over the Yetzer Hara transforms that struggle into spiritual greatness. Such a person, Rabbi Wolbe concludes, is truly fortunate—and fortunate is the mother who brought such a person into the world._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on March 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 19, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim, #Nefesh, #Ruach, #Neshamah, #JewishSoul, #MindOverEmotion, #YetzerHara, #SelfControl, #InnerBattle, #LiveWithPurpose ★ Support this podcast ★

Dr. Catherine Bonesho, a professor of Early Judaism at UCLA, joins Lexie to discuss enjoying ancient languages as a grammar puzzle, identifying as a scholar of ancient Judaism in the Greek and Roman periods rather than simply “biblical studies,” her “Intro to Judaism” course spanning from Tanakh to contemporary media and Los Angeles practices, and reflections from UCLA's 2025 Bible conference centered Esther and Daniel. So tuck in your togas and hop aboard Trireme Transit for this week's exciting odyssey! Don't forget to follow us on Bluesky, Facebook & Instagram or visit our website www.theozymandiasproject.com! Originally recorded August 28, 2025. Learn more about Dr. Bonesho: https://nelc.ucla.edu/person/catherine-bonesho/Check out her Legacies of Ancient Persia episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Rgdpp4r9R3EDGwXBgrLcV Check out the recorded lectures from UCLA's 2025 Bible Conference: https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/media/video-library/?sort=dateDesc&view=list&event=097e12dd-2069-4264-bf09-2d63c6bf6062 Custom music by Brent Arehart of Arehart Sounds and edited by Dan Maday. Want a transcript of the episode? Email us at theozymandiasprojectpodcast@gmail.com and we can provide one. Ancient Office Hours is a proud member of Mnemosyne: The Memory Collective, a podcast network and creator collective for historians, archaeologists, artists, and other creators and educators dedicated to sharing content about and featuring the ancient world that is accurate, accessible, and inclusive. To learn more about the collective and its contributors, check out collectivemem.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

This week I have three stories for you. The first is about a wealthy timber merchant who turns away a freezing stranger — and the dream that follows. The second is about Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and a single fleeting thought late one night. The third is about a businessman who visits the Lubavitcher Rebbe expecting to make a donation. If you're enjoying these Chassidic stories, please take a quick moment to buy me a coffee. https://ko-fi.com/barakhullman Thank you! I deeply appreciate your support! Link to Two Cups of Tea, my first story video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d48AFirymU Also available at https://soundcloud.com/barak-hullman/the-blank-check To become a part of this project or sponsor an episode please go to https://hasidicstory.com/be-a-supporter. Hear all of the stories at https://hasidicstory.com. Go here to hear my other podcast https://jewishpeopleideas.com or https://soundcloud.com/jewishpeopleideas. Find my books, Figure It Out When You Get There: A Memoir of Stories About Living Life First and Watching How Everything Falls Into Place and A Shtikel Sholom: A Student, His Mentor and Their Unconventional Conversations on Amazon by going to https://bit.ly/barakhullman. My classes in Breslov Chassidus, Likutey Moharan, can be found here https://www.youtube.com/@barakhullman/videos I also have a YouTube channel of ceramics which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@thejerusalempotter

In Day 193 of The Ways of the Righteous (Orchot Tzaddikim), in the Gate of Fear of Heaven, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe continues exploring the remarkable ways human beings reflect, on a limited scale, qualities Hashem placed into creation. Just as Hashem distinguishes between good and evil, human beings possess the capacity to discern between them. And just as Hashem created and formed the world, mankind has been endowed with extraordinary creative abilities—to build, plant, develop, transform, and accomplish.But human potential does not mean effortless success. Rabbi Wolbe emphasizes that there are no shortcuts. Greatness requires hard work, Torah study, understanding the ways of Hashem, and ultimately Hashem's assistance. The extraordinary capacities placed within us are possibilities that must be cultivated.The lesson also draws a fascinating parallel between Hashem and the neshamah: neither can be perceived with our physical eyes. We cannot see a soul entering the body at birth or departing at death, yet its reality defines human life. Similarly, the inner thoughts of another person remain hidden from us, while Hashem knows what lies within every heart.Rabbi Wolbe then explains the purpose of the Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hara. Human beings were deliberately placed into a world of competing impulses so that our choices would have meaning. Our capacity to build or destroy, plant or uproot, accumulate or relinquish, exercise power or restraint creates the arena in which free will operates. The challenge is not to live without an evil inclination, but to strengthen the Yetzer Tov sufficiently to govern it.The lesson concludes with the essential balance between Divine judgment and Divine mercy. Rabbi Wolbe discusses Rashi's teaching on the opening of the Torah: creation is introduced with the Divine name Elohim, associated with judgment. Yet a world operating through strict judgment alone could not endure. Human beings need the possibility of making mistakes, repenting, growing, and trying again. Hashem therefore allows mercy to accompany judgment.Our greatness is found precisely within this system. We possess tremendous potential, but we also possess competing desires and the ability to fail. The person who repeatedly chooses the Yetzer Tov over the Yetzer Hara transforms that struggle into spiritual greatness. Such a person, Rabbi Wolbe concludes, is truly fortunate—and fortunate is the mother who brought such a person into the world._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on March 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 19, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim, #Nefesh, #Ruach, #Neshamah, #JewishSoul, #MindOverEmotion, #YetzerHara, #SelfControl, #InnerBattle, #LiveWithPurpose ★ Support this podcast ★

On Monday's Mark Levin Show, we should encourage independent engagement with ideas like those of Justice Clarence Thomas rather than selling out to the left, communists, socialists, Islamists, the Woke Reich, isolationists, or others who have fallen into traps pushing greater interventionism or abandoning the dollar as the reserve currency. The prevailing hate directed at America, its founders, symbols, belief systems, Judaism, Christianity, and Israel should be condemned. We must maintain constitutional conservatism!  Rep Hakeem Jeffries attacks Justices Sam Alito and Thomas over alleged ethics issues while ignoring Justice Sonia Sotomayor's corruption. Sotomayor is the most ethically corrupt justice on the Court. She used taxpayer-funded court resources and staff to promote and sell her book by requiring organizations to purchase copies for her speeches, thereby earning substantial profits.  Jeffries shifted from ethics complaints to attacking a Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because Democrats disagree with the ruling and seek to control the Court.  Also, there is no real substantive distinction between the DSA and the Democrat Party. The Democrats, as the more experienced institutional establishment, simply avoid overtly using terms like communism, Marxism, or even socialism while pursuing the same radical American Marxist agenda, differing mainly in approach, style, verbiage, and the speed of implementation rather than the underlying goals. Both seek to destroy the courts, citizenship, the Electoral College, and the voting system; promote open borders with no ICE deportations; centralize power in their own hands; and attack capitalism despite occasional claims otherwise. Later, Rep Randy Fine calls to discuss intense antisemitic attacks in his Republican primary.  Even Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats have condemned this. He also credits Florida's long stretch of conservative governance for keeping radical elements out and making the state a model of freedom and opportunity.  Afterward, the Iranian regime will not fall through economic pressure alone and must be destroyed. The IRGC—the true backbone of the regime—is replacing regular army generals and top brass with its own loyalists while preparing extensive escalation plans. Iran's leadership is growing more confident, remaining skeptical of Trump's motives, shifting into a survival economy, and viewing any talks as a mere pause before further conflict. Finally, Alyssa Rosenheck calls in to discuss her new book - White. Blonde. Jew.: A Call to End Extremism, Speak Up, and Reclaim Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Selective Ignorance, Mandii B is joined by super producer A-King and Jason “Jah” Lee for another unpredictable mix of current events, culture, crime, politics, technology, religion, and internet debates. After previewing the week’s biggest stories [ 00:45 ], the crew settles in with some signature banter about generational differences and everyday life [ 02:52 ], including the frustrations of Atlanta parking and navigating the city [ 07:27]. Things get even more personal when they debate airport pickup etiquette, friendship expectations, and exactly how much inconvenience a real friend should be willing to endure [ 14:53 ]. In “This Is America,” the conversation turns serious with the case of Memphis mother Kendra Scott, who was charged with first-degree murder and a firearm offense after 20-year-old Rodarius Morton was found in her 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom and fatally shot as he was leaving [ 20:21 ]. The crew examines the complicated circumstances surrounding the case, including reports concerning Morton’s learning disabilities and questions about Tennessee consent laws, culpability, parental protection, and legal nuance [ 21:43 ]. They then wrestle with the emotional aftermath, potential guilt, and the role of gun laws and split-second decision-making [ 32:27 ], before extending the debate to another scenario involving a porch shooting and the boundaries of self-defense [ 34:09 ]. The episode then shifts to healthcare after discussing Cassandra Barksdale, a Georgia woman who says she underwent an unnecessary hysterectomy after Kaiser Permanente mistakenly identified her biopsy as aggressive uterine cancer [ 34:34 ]. The hosts react to the devastating consequences of the reported medical mix-up [ 37:18 ] and emphasize the potentially life-changing importance of seeking second opinions when facing major diagnoses and irreversible procedures [ 41:33 ]. From healthcare, the crew moves into money and technology with a discussion about the federal push toward cryptocurrency regulation [ 42:45 ]. They debate the risks and usefulness of digital currencies, including how crypto can become an alternative when traditional banks and payment processors restrict transactions connected to sex work and other industries [ 48:18 ]. That leads into a broader—and characteristically heated—conversation about the service industry, consumer expectations, money, and the frustrations surrounding modern customer service [53:19 ]. The political conversation picks up with reactions to anti-Muslim backlash surrounding New York City Mayor Zalmay Mandami and his participation in 9/11 memorial events [ 01:01:39 ]. The crew examines rhetoric surrounding Muslim identity and so-called “foreign-sounding” names [ 01:07:34 ], before discussing how names can influence racial, religious, and cultural perceptions in political campaigns [ 01:09:36 ]. A conversation involving ChatGPT and perceptions of Muslim names follows [ 01:12:49 ], leading to a debate about whether changing or Americanizing names can alter how people are treated [ 01:15:32 ]. The hosts then react to Rep. Nancy Mace’s comments about Islam [ 01:16:50 ], broadening the conversation into what travel and exposure to different cultures can teach people about religion [ 01:20:19 ] and the shared Abrahamic roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam amid continuing racism and religious prejudice [ 01:23:41 ]. No Holes Barred: A Dual Manifesto Of Sexual Exploration And Power” w/ Tempest X! Sale Link Follow the host on Social MediaMandii B Instagram/X @fullcourtpumps Follow the crew on Social Media @itsaking @jaysonrodriguez @mrhiphopobama Follow the show on Social MediaInstagram @selectiveignorancepodTiktok @selective.ignoranceX/Twitter @selectiveig_pod Closing out the episode, things get lighter—and considerably more provocative—when the crew reacts to Devin Walker’s “ethical wiggering” commentary, using the viral phrase to debate cultural appreciation, participation, authenticity, and the complicated history of white figures operating within Black cultural spaces [ 01:26:22 ]. They begin building their own tongue-in-cheek list of examples [ 01:27:57 ], discussing figures from entertainment, music, and sports before landing on Paul Wall and a conversation surrounding the Confederate flag [ 01:37:53 ]. A final detour into a Drake tour rumor brings the main episode toward its conclusion [ 01:40:54 ], before the crew previews what’s coming next on the bonus episode [ 01:41:51 ]. From crime and medical accountability to cryptocurrency, Islamophobia, cultural identity, and appropriation, Selective Ignorance once again finds humor, disagreement, and deeper questions inside some of the week’s most complicated conversations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Day 192 of The Ways of the Righteous (Orchot Tzaddikim), in the Gate of Fear of Heaven, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe explores the extraordinary greatness and potential Hashem placed within every human being. Humanity is unique among creation because we possess a neshamah capable of attaining wisdom, penetrating profound ideas, and recognizing both the physical world and the spiritual reality behind it.Rabbi Wolbe compares the Torah to life's owner's manual. A table, computer, or even a door comes with instructions explaining how it should be assembled and used. Life is infinitely more complicated, so Hashem gave us His instructions as well. The Torah teaches us how to approach marriage, raise children, develop ourselves, and understand the purpose for which we were created. If we want to know how to maximize life, we need to study the manual provided by its Creator.The lesson compares our relationship with Hashem to a king who brings trusted servants into his innermost chambers, reveals his treasures and secrets, and entrusts them with tremendous responsibility. The very fact that the king shares so much with them demonstrates how highly he regards them. Similarly, Hashem allows humanity to discover the extraordinary wisdom embedded throughout creation and gives us dominion over the physical world. This should awaken us to both our greatness and our responsibility.Rabbi Wolbe then offers a fascinating explanation for humanity's seemingly endless ambition. Our sages teach that one who has one hundred wants two hundred, and one who has two hundred wants four hundred. The soul originates from a lofty spiritual realm and naturally yearns to rise higher. But when that tremendous drive becomes redirected through the physical body, the desire for spiritual greatness can become a pursuit of bigger houses, greater wealth, higher positions, nicer possessions, and more honor.The goal, therefore, isn't to eliminate our drive for greatness—it is to redirect it upward. The closer we become to Hashem through Torah and mitzvot, the more we uncover the enormous spiritual potential already within us. Rabbi Wolbe concludes that human beings are capable of far more than we imagine. By fulfilling Hashem's will, we become increasingly connected to Him and can transform the soul's endless desire for "more" into an endless pursuit of wisdom, holiness, and closeness to God._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on March 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 18, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim, #Nefesh, #Ruach, #Neshamah, #JewishSoul, #MindOverEmotion, #YetzerHara, #SelfControl, #InnerBattle, #LiveWithPurpose ★ Support this podcast ★

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

In Day 192 of The Ways of the Righteous (Orchot Tzaddikim), in the Gate of Fear of Heaven, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe explores the extraordinary greatness and potential Hashem placed within every human being. Humanity is unique among creation because we possess a neshamah capable of attaining wisdom, penetrating profound ideas, and recognizing both the physical world and the spiritual reality behind it.Rabbi Wolbe compares the Torah to life's owner's manual. A table, computer, or even a door comes with instructions explaining how it should be assembled and used. Life is infinitely more complicated, so Hashem gave us His instructions as well. The Torah teaches us how to approach marriage, raise children, develop ourselves, and understand the purpose for which we were created. If we want to know how to maximize life, we need to study the manual provided by its Creator.The lesson compares our relationship with Hashem to a king who brings trusted servants into his innermost chambers, reveals his treasures and secrets, and entrusts them with tremendous responsibility. The very fact that the king shares so much with them demonstrates how highly he regards them. Similarly, Hashem allows humanity to discover the extraordinary wisdom embedded throughout creation and gives us dominion over the physical world. This should awaken us to both our greatness and our responsibility.Rabbi Wolbe then offers a fascinating explanation for humanity's seemingly endless ambition. Our sages teach that one who has one hundred wants two hundred, and one who has two hundred wants four hundred. The soul originates from a lofty spiritual realm and naturally yearns to rise higher. But when that tremendous drive becomes redirected through the physical body, the desire for spiritual greatness can become a pursuit of bigger houses, greater wealth, higher positions, nicer possessions, and more honor.The goal, therefore, isn't to eliminate our drive for greatness—it is to redirect it upward. The closer we become to Hashem through Torah and mitzvot, the more we uncover the enormous spiritual potential already within us. Rabbi Wolbe concludes that human beings are capable of far more than we imagine. By fulfilling Hashem's will, we become increasingly connected to Him and can transform the soul's endless desire for "more" into an endless pursuit of wisdom, holiness, and closeness to God._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on March 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 18, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim, #Nefesh, #Ruach, #Neshamah, #JewishSoul, #MindOverEmotion, #YetzerHara, #SelfControl, #InnerBattle, #LiveWithPurpose ★ Support this podcast ★

God is so great He can use even human sinfulness to serve His purposes. During the time of the Exodus, He used Pharaoh to spread His reputation throughout the ancient world (Ro 9:17), and here in Paul's day He was using Jewish hostility to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. The rejection of Jesus by so many in Judaism had forced believing Jews to cease preaching in synagogues, and in some cases to flee for their lives. The focus of their evangelistic efforts were now turned toward the Gentiles (Ac 18:4-11). This shift had already resulted in the ingathering of thousands of new believers, and as the presence of the Holy Spirit transformed their lifestyles, their Jewish neighbors and friends could not help but observe the change. Paul passionately hoped that seeing the impact of salvation on the Gentiles would serve to provoke many Jews to jealousy; in time they too would long to have the same blessings. They too would long to possess the righteousness of faith. Paul understood this shift of emphasis toward the Gentiles to be a strategic move on God's part which would result in more Jews coming to Jesus in the long run. That does not mean Paul thought God wanted to save Jews more than Gentiles. He's showing us that God was at work, making something good out of a bad situation. He was directing Jewish hostility so that it would not end in defeat, but in the salvation of more Gentiles and Jews. This is what Moses had prophesied would take place. He had said someday God would use the Gentiles to make Israel jealous (Ro 10:19; Dt 32:21). When those who initially rejected the gospel saw the Holy Spirit resting mightily on their Gentile neighbors, they would be forced to ask whether or not they had been mistaken in their rejection of Jesus. In other words, God had a plan to reach their hearts by another way. He hadn't given up. He'd merely changed tactics. To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's book Understanding Romans, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge. The book has all the notes from each sermon in this series. Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge. And if you would like to receive a copy of Pastor Steve's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Revelation at no charge, we are still giving this book out as well!  

Steven defends the study of messianic prophecy as a profitable endeavor for believers, and discusses the centrality of Messianic Prophecy in Judaism portrays Jesus the Messiah at almost every turn. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1094/29?v=20251111

Rashi Class, a weekly exploration of Torah featuring a deep dive on the text and lively conversation focused on an 11th-century French commentary, conducted by Rabbi Rebecca Schatz at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on Monday, August 17, 2026. (Zoom)

Rabbi Amy Bernstein's weekly Torah study class via Zoom - Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:17 - August 14, 2026

Elul is the 12th and final month of the Jewish calendar year. Elul Unbound is a Judaism Unbound initiative all about making Elul meaningful, through creative digital modalities. In this conversation, Lex Rofeberg and Wendie Bernstein Lash kick off this year's Elul Unbound experience. This Elul bonus episode is the first in a series of four that will be released as part of Elul Unbound 2026. -------------------------------------- Energized about Jewish learning and unlearning? Dive into our upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! Classes include Jewish Time Travel: Discovering the Shapes of Our Past and Future (Xava De Cordova), Avinu Malkeinu? Is God "Our King" (Laynie Soloman), and Hannah, Hagar, Sarah: The Women of Rosh Hashanah (Alicia Jo Rabins). Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to learn more! Financial aid is available for all who need it. To check out all our Elul bonus episodes from previous years, which can still be relevant to your experience of Elul this time around, click here. Join our bi-weekly journey through Elul Unbound 2026 by signing up at this link, and sign up for our Elul Unbound Shabbat gatherings here, where we will be forging our kavanot (intentions) for the new year in real time with fellow Unbounders.

Send us Fan MailSomatic Healing, Emotional Safety & the 5 Foundations of Marriage | Miriam Racquel & Dovid FeldmanIn this episode of From The Inside Out Podcast with Rivkah Krinsky and Eda Schottenstein, we welcome marriage helpers Miriam Racquel and Dovid Feldman, a Chabad couple who work with couples and individuals. They share their personal journey from meeting in college through different paths in Judaism, and how they now combine Dovid's strength-based, solution-oriented therapy and 12-week Recreating Intimacy program with Miriam Racquel's somatic mind-body healing. The conversation explores nervous system states in marriage, how to trust bodily signals while interpreting them wisely, and practical communication tools that avoid criticism and blame. They discuss rising divorce rates, social media's anti-marriage bias, emotional regulation, “letting go” of expectations, emotional safety, receiving, and intimacy differences between men and women. They close with Torah- and Rebbe-based perspectives, quotes, and resources including their websites and books.SPONSORSSwimplyToday's episode is sponsored by Swimply — the app that lets you book a private pool by the hour, no crowds, no chaos, just your own space to swim with your family. With pools available across all 50 states, it's an easy, private way to plan a fun summer outing. Use code INSIDEOUT10 for 10% off your next booking.

In Day 191 of The Ways of the Righteous (Gate of Fear of Heaven), Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe explains that while human beings are given dominion over creation, that authority carries responsibility. Animals were created to serve mankind—not because they are unimportant, but because humanity possesses something infinitely greater: an eternal soul. We are commanded to treat animals with compassion and even feed them before ourselves, yet our unique role is to elevate creation through our relationship with Hashem.Rabbi Wolbe emphasizes the extraordinary greatness of the neshamah. Before birth, the soul exists in a realm of perfect spiritual clarity, but at birth it becomes enclosed within a physical body. The crying of a newborn symbolizes the soul's transition from unlimited closeness to Hashem into a world of confusion and physical limitations. Throughout life, the soul longs to return to that closeness, while the body constantly seeks physical gratification. Our task is to allow the soul—not the body—to direct our choices.Using the metaphor of a rider and a horse, Rabbi Wolbe teaches that the neshamah must hold the reins while the body serves merely as its vehicle. The body is necessary to perform mitzvot and acts of kindness, but it must remain subordinate to the soul's higher purpose. When the soul guides the body, every physical action becomes elevated into something eternal.The lesson also explores why Judaism teaches the future resurrection of the dead. Both the soul and the body contribute to a life of righteousness: the soul inspires holiness, while the body performs the mitzvot. Therefore, both ultimately share in the eternal reward when they are reunited in the World to Come.Finally, Rabbi Wolbe explains that the vast universe—the sun, moon, stars, and all of creation—exists not for the temporary body but for the eternal soul. Every aspect of creation is designed to inspire us to recognize Hashem's greatness and draw closer to Him. The purpose of enjoying this world is not indulgence but elevation: to use every blessing Hashem gives us as a means of strengthening our relationship with Him._____________This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Peter & Becky BotvinRecorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on February 23, 2026, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on August 14, 2026_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Hey Rabbi! Podcast: https://heyrabbi.transistor.fm/episodesPrayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.orgv_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #FearOfHeaven, #YiratShamayim, #Nefesh, #Ruach, #Neshamah, #JewishSoul, #MindOverEmotion, #YetzerHara, #SelfControl, #InnerBattle, #LiveWithPurpose ★ Support this podcast ★