Podcast appearances and mentions of Leon Kass

Does technology liberate us or enslave us? How do our social interactions affect our sense of self and our emotional health? Listen as author and master teacher Leon Kass and EconTalk's Russ Roberts do a close reading of a few paragraphs of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and explore some of the deepest aspects of our relationships with each other and with our technology.

This week the Jewish people is not just celebrating, but reenacting the Exodus from Egypt that our ancestors undertook many generations ago. The complex, ritualized retelling of this story can be found in the Haggadah, the text that structures the Passover's ceremonial meal, or seder. But of course the defining telling of this story is to be found in the book of Exodus itself. In 2021, the great Jewish thinker Leon Kass published a searching, capacious commentary on that book called Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus. Not long after, he sat down with Mosaic's editor Jonathan Silver to record a video course based on his commentary, consisting of eight, roughly hour-long episodes. This week, we're bringing you the audio version of episode two, focusing on the national narrative created in the text. The episode addresses the character of Moses, the nature of Egyptian society, the purpose of the plagues, and the essence of awe and reverence, all against the backdrop of the Exodus's three defining components: the promulgation of a national story, a law to structure society, and an elevated national aspiration that provides the Jewish people with a mission. You can watch the entire video course, free of charge, by enrolling here, and you also explore our other courses as well.

For this week's episode, we had the unique opportunity to sit down with Professor Leon Kass, Dean of Faculty at Shalem College and the author of Shemot commentary, 'Founding God's Nation. Leon Kass is a lifelong enthusiast of liberal education and was trained in medicine and biochemistry before shifting from the practice of science to thinking about its human meaning. The series asks what axiomatic ideas sit at the root of Israel's national formation, without which we wouldn't be who we are? How might we adjust our current trends in the Jewish world to realign with these principles? This week's episode has been dedicated by the Millers in memory of their Bubbie Marcia. To donate to Matan or sponsor a podcast episode, visit the Matan Website's DONATE page: https://www.matan.org.il/en/donatenow/

In this podcast we return to Genesis 9 and Noah's planting a vineyard and then getting drunk.  One asks why this story was highlighted in God's TORAH תּוֹרָה, His instruction?  And then what about the aftermath when his son Ham sees Noah drunk and naked in the tent.  What is going on?  This is one of several instances where the Lord our God, Yahvay יהוה, does not give us clear precise understanding.  Scholarship is all over the map in providing reasonable commentary on this event.  One concludes that there is no clear answer to all this.  One Jewish scholar, Leon Kass, in his Genesis commentary offers his view.  Kass seems to think this is all about family.  Ham brought shame upon his dad and over and over again TORAH תּוֹרָה,  Yahvay's יהוה instruction, has a lot to say about family.  Kass notes that in Genesis chapters 1-11 that this has nothing to do with the Hebrews or Judaism.  So this event in Genesis 9 is seemingly to teach all mankind.  Kass makes a superb added idea as to the purpose of this story.  But, once again, there are many other ideas and opinions.  Kass' opinion, however, makes a lot of sense as you will see as you join us in this study. We will also come to Genesis 10 and come face to face with the notorious Nimrod.  We are taught that Nimrod was pure evil was the guy who had the Tower of Babel built.  But, as we will see all this is pure fantasy.  These are legends made up by the rabbis in Rabbinic Judaism.  These legends then “slid easily” into the church as well and not we are teaching the Bible and pushing that legends and made up rabbinic views are truth.  They are not.  So, this lesson is quite important to study and consider the truth behind the word of God and the character of Nimrod and what the Bible says about him and not some rabbi who made up some fictional account since to that rabbi it seemed to fit his agenda or view.  We can not and should not teach that someone's opinion or made up views are truth.  That is why I focus on teaching the Torah in its historical context.  We must get at what God's original intentions were when He inspired Moses to write His Torah.  We need to focus on the words of our Lord and our God when He said … So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue (the Greek is MENO G3306 – it has the idea of relying or persevering) in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (Joh 8:31-32)   Rev. Ferret - Who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8qth6w4e56oub9js1w1gu/BackgrndTeacher-mar-25-2020.pdf?rlkey=f14fr2wmde5fezjmnrny8cycl&dl=0

Length: 1 hour 30 minutesSynopsis: This evening (11/2/23), in Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we moved on to the next clause in our mishnah about the interrelationship between binah and daas. We tackled what I believe is one of the most difficult Rambam's I know. With Hashem's help - after a crash-course style review of the Aristotelian concepts of form and material - we were able to actually uncover a nice and useful idea in the Rambam's commentary! We might not have learned other meforshim this time, but I'm really happy with what we learned from the Rambam! -----מקורות:אבות ג:יטמשלי ג:יט-כ; כד:ג-דרש"י - משלי א:הרש"י - דברים א:טורמב"ם - אבות ג:יטרמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ב:ג; ד:זרמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים א:סחLeon Kass, "The Hungry Soul" pp.35-36-----This week's Torah content has been sponsored anonymously in the hope that we will hear less sad news about things we can't control and learn more Torah to bring about change in ourselves, and in those aspects of the world which we can control.-----If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.-----Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Recently, the U.S. Senate held a closed-door meeting with the biggest names from the world of big tech, such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg. Senate leadership informed the media that the purpose of the meeting was to have a conversation about how the federal government could “encourage” the development of artificial intelligence while also mitigating its “risks.”  Given that focus, it's more interesting who wasn't invited than who was: no ethicists, philosophers, or theologians, nor really anyone outside the highly specialized tech sector. For a meeting meant to explore the future direction of AI and the ethics necessary to guide it, nearly everyone in that room had a vested financial interest in its continued growth and expansion.   Thirty years ago, in his book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, cultural critic Neil Postman described how technology was radically reshaping our understanding of life and the world, both as individuals and societies. Too often when it comes to new technologies, we so mix “can” and “should” that we convince ourselves if we can do a thing, we should.   The shift toward a technocratic society redefines our understanding of knowledge. Technical knowledge takes priority over all else. In other words, the how is revered over the what and the why. In the process, things are stripped of their essential meaning. The distinction between what we can do and what we are for is lost. Technocratism also comes with a heavy dose of “chronological snobbery,” the idea that our innovations and inventions make us better than our ancestors, even in a moral sense.  Another feature of a technocratic age is hyper-specialization. In higher education, students are encouraged to pursue increasingly detailed areas of study. The result is those who can do, but most have not truly wrestled with whether they should. Downstream is one of the corruptions of primary education, in which elementary and secondary teachers spend a disproportionate amount of their preparation on education theory and pedagogy rather than on the subject areas they need to know. In other words, they study the how far more than the what and the why.  Of course, those who are researching, inventing, and developing AI should be invited to important meetings about AI. However, questioning the risks, dangers, or even potential benefits of AI requires answering deeper questions first–questions outside the realm of strict science:  What is the goal of our technologies? What should be our goal? What is off limits and why? What is our operating definition of the good that we are pursuing through technology? Where is the uncrossable line between healing and enhancement, and what are the other proper limits of our technologies? What are people? What technocratic challenges have we faced in the past, and what can we learn?   The questions we commit ourselves to answering will shape our list of invites, among other things. The presidential years of George W. Bush are mostly defined by his handling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. However, he also faced a specific challenge of our technocratic age. How he handled it is a model for the technocratic challenges of today.  A central issue of Bush's second presidential campaign was embryonic stem cell research. Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards promised that if John Kerry became president, “people like [actor] Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.” Bush strongly opposed the creation of any new stem cell lines that required the destruction of human life, including embryos. His ethical clarity was due in part to remarkable work done by the President's Council on Bioethics to develop an ethical framework for promising technologies.   In fact, their work led to an incredible volume of stories, poetry, fables, history, essays, and Scripture. Published two years into Bush's first term, Being Human is unparalleled in its historical and ideological depth and breadth. Chaired by renowned bioethicist Leon Kass, the Council consisted of scientists, medical professionals, legal scholars, ethicists, and philosophers. The title Being Human points to the kinds of what and why questions that concerned the Council, before dealing with the how.   Historically, President Bush's position on embryo-destructive research has been thoroughly vindicated. The additional funding committed to research into adult and induced pluripotent stem cells produced amazing medical breakthroughs. But none of the promises of embryonic stem cell therapies ever materialized, even after his Oval Office successor reversed Bush's policies, rebuilt the Council around only scientists and medical researchers, and released enormous funding for embryo-destructive research.   Of course, had the utopian predictions about ESC materialized, the killing of some humans to benefit others would still have been morally reprehensible. Ends do not justify means. This is an ethical observation, not a scientific one.  What we “should” or “shouldn't” do with AI depends heavily on the kind of world this is and the kinds of creatures that human beings are. If, as some have argued, AI is to be accorded the same dignity as human beings, then replacing humans in entire industries and putting tens of thousands out of work is not morally problematic. If human beings are unique and exceptional, and both labor and relationships are central to our identity, the moral questions are far weightier.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Maria Baer. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

Most everyone who reads it loves the book of Ruth, with its bucolic settings, its charming loves, its grace, and its devoted characters—Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth herself. Alongside that appeal, the book of Ruth also conveys truths about the human condition: about who children are and what they mean for the life of a woman, a family, and a nation; about the complementary human and divine sources of redemption; and about a distinctly Hebraic sense of the shape of a human life. These ideas and more are offered up in a 2021 book about Ruth by Leon Kass and Hannah Mandelbaum, Reading Ruth: Birth, Redemption, and the Way of Israel. The origins of their book—a line by line commentary on Ruth—is itself a story no less moving than the text it interprets. Hannah Mandelbaum is Leon Kass's granddaughter, and they began to read the book of Ruth together while mourning Amy Kass, Kass's late and beloved wife of 54 years and Mandelbaum's grandmother. In so doing, they followed a path that Ruth herself treads, from desolation to gladness, with a distinguished Jewish future unfurling along the way. Leon Kass is an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought, the author of many books, including studies of Genesis and Exodus, and the dean of faculty at Shalem College in Jerusalem. In this conversation, recorded at an event in 2021, he joins Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver to talk about Reading Ruth and writing it with his granddaughter. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes.

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless:On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton UP, 2021). Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode is here. Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program's podcast, Madison's Notes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As I am about to be ordained in just five days, I am ending and beginning. So is Genesis and the Jewish people. How will my leadership change, and who will lead the Jewish people? What happens to Joseph? Listen for a really interesting commentary coming from Leon Kass in The Beginning of Wisdom. Also—Have you ever thought of writing your own eulogy? Or death-bed confession, your Viduy? Whaaat?? Yup. Listen.

This week, Zohar is joined by Leon Kass, Dean of Faculty at Shalem College, to discuss the Book of Genesis, Rousseau, Odysseus, moral vs. intellectual virtue, the challenge of transmitting tradition, and the need for clever people to accept their limits.

This week, Zohar is joined by Leon Kass, Dean of Faculty at Shalem College, to discuss the Book of Genesis, Rousseau, Odysseus, moral vs. intellectual virtue, the challenge of transmitting tradition, and the need for clever people to accept their limits.

In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/4/22), we answered SOME of the questions we raised in Part 1. Although not all the ideas came to full fruition, I'm satisfied with the approaches we developed. Note: towards the beginning of the shiur I mention that I intended to open a can of worms. I decided to make that into a separate recording, and to not share it. If you're really interested, reach out to me and ask whether I'm okay sharing it.-----מקורות:ויקרא יח:א-ג,כד-לרמב"ן - ויקרא יח:גבכור שור - ויקרא יח:גLeon Kass, "The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis" pp.207,211Jonathan Grosman, "Creation: The Story of Beginnings" pp.329-331Rabbi Aaron Zimmer, Methodology of Learning Medrash Animals in the Ark -----This week's Torah content has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder. Rabbi Feder recently published a book called Gematria Refigured: A New Look at How the Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers (2022, Mosaica Press). The approach to gematria he presents in this book is neither fluffy nor fanciful, but rational. If you're interested in some sample chapters, click here. If you have a social media platform and are interested in promoting or reviewing Rabbi Feder's book, let me know and I'll put the two of you in touch. The book is available for purchase at https://mosaicapress.com/product/gematria-refigured/.-----If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.-----If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.-----Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissBlog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.comWhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren’t our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of […]

What kinds of tools do we need to make big decisions, and why aren't our universities training us to make them? Are universities doing students a disservice by occupying them with myriads of boxes to tick? Are students right to prefer money to meaning? Madison Program alumni Ben and Jenna Storey discuss the philosophy of making choices and of restlessness, and critique the way universities treat those topics. Ben and Jenna are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department, where they focus on political philosophy, classical schools, and higher education. Previously, they directed the Toqueville Program at Furman University in South Carolina. They are the authors of Why We Are Restless. Their website: https://www.jbstorey.com/about-2 Their book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691211121/why-we-are-restless  Their recent New York Times op-ed on choice: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/opinion/college-students-happiness-liberal-arts.html  Prof. Barba-Kay's tribute to Leon Kass mentioned during the episode: https://mediacentral.princeton.edu/media/The+Humanists+VocationA+Leon+Kass+as+Thinker+and+Teacher/1_bxkd7xqv 

Employing true critical thinking in our current cultural environment requires no small measure of courage. Our guest today, Fr. Raymond de Souza, is no stranger to making his thoughts known in the public sphere as one of the longest standing columnists for the National Post (among countless other titles and accolades). Father de Souza shares with Jake and Brett his proudest commentaries published by the paper, how his critical thinking was developed at the family dinner table, and the importance of reading books by those you do not agree with.    Discussion Questions   What stood out to you in this episode? How would you describe the line between courage and arrogance? How can we be more courageous with voicing our opinions while not becoming arrogant? What do you think of Father de Souza's encouragement to read more, especially books by those you disagree with?   Resources   The National Post The writings of GK Chesterton The writings of GS Lewis, including “The Problem of Pain” The Hungry Soul, Leon Kass (book) The writings of Peter Kreeft Father de Souza's website: fatherdesouza.com   Connect with Way of the Heart: Facebook: @wayoftheheartpodcast Instagram: @wayoftheheartpodcast Website: www.wayoftheheartpodcast.com   Never miss out on an episode by hitting the subscribe button right now! Help other people find the show and grow as holy men by sharing this podcast with them individually or on your social media. Thanks!   Audio editing by Forte Catholic

By Nick Bostrom.Abstract:Positions on the ethics of human enhancement technologies can be (crudely) characterized as ranging from transhumanism to bioconservatism. Transhumanists believe that human enhancement technologies should be made widely available, that individuals should have broad discretion over which of these technologies to apply to themselves, and that parents should normally have the right to choose enhancements for their children-to-be. Bioconservatives (whose ranks include such diverse writers as Leon Kass, Francis Fukuyama, George Annas, Wesley Smith, Jeremy Rifkin, and Bill McKibben) are generally opposed to the use of technology to modify human nature. A central idea in bioconservativism is that human enhancement technologies will undermine our human dignity. To forestall a slide down the slippery slope towards an ultimately debased ‘posthuman' state, bioconservatives often argue for broad bans on otherwise promising human enhancements. This paper distinguishes two common fears about the posthuman and argues for the importance of a concept of dignity that is inclusive enough to also apply to many possible posthuman beings. Recognizing the possibility of posthuman dignity undercuts an important objection against human enhancement and removes a distortive double standard from our field of moral vision.Read the full paper:https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/dignityMore episodes at:https://radiobostrom.com/

By Nick Bostrom.Abstract:Positions on the ethics of human enhancement technologies can be (crudely) characterized as ranging from transhumanism to bioconservatism. Transhumanists believe that human enhancement technologies should be made widely available, that individuals should have broad discretion over which of these technologies to apply to themselves, and that parents should normally have the right to choose enhancements for their children-to-be. Bioconservatives (whose ranks include such diverse writers as Leon Kass, Francis Fukuyama, George Annas, Wesley Smith, Jeremy Rifkin, and Bill McKibben) are generally opposed to the use of technology to modify human nature. A central idea in bioconservativism is that human enhancement technologies will undermine our human dignity. To forestall a slide down the slippery slope towards an ultimately debased ‘posthuman' state, bioconservatives often argue for broad bans on otherwise promising human enhancements. This paper distinguishes two common fears about the posthuman and argues for the importance of a concept of dignity that is inclusive enough to also apply to many possible posthuman beings. Recognizing the possibility of posthuman dignity undercuts an important objection against human enhancement and removes a distortive double standard from our field of moral vision.Read the full paper:https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/dignityMore episodes at:https://radiobostrom.com/

In his essay, “L'Chaim and Its Limits: Why Not Immortality?” Dr. Leon Kass asks, “If life is good and more is better, should we not regard death as a disease and try to cure it?” While “curing” death may seem far-fetched, the so-called trans-human project seeks to do just that. Kass, an Orthodox Jew, wrote the essay for those with no or with little religion. Wyoming Catholic College philosopher, Dr. Daniel Shields gave the participants in this year's Wyoming School of Catholic Thought this introduction to Kass' essay before we broke into seminar groups.

Does a healthy marriage have to have friendship at its core? How do rings of relationships, institutions and communities around a marriage support that most intimate of covenants? Humanities greats Mark Schwehn of Valparaiso University and Leon Kass of Shalem College (formerly of the University of Chicago) reminisce about teaching college students on these questions, truths they discovered in their own marriages, and the layered bonds developed over lifetimes of different experiences.

In this conversation with Matan Faculty member Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash, we discuss Professor Leon Kass' commentary on the book of Shemot published in 2021 ('Founding God's Nation'). With a lifelong academic background in bioethics and literature, in this confusing modern age Kass has become one of America's wisest voices of virtue.

This evening (12/31/21), in our Thursday night hashkafah shiur (which is usually not recorded), we continued our multi-part series on the Rambam's shitah about hashgachah, using David Guttman's essay "Divine Providence - Goals, Hopes, and Fears, כי כל דרכיו משפט" as our guide. Tonight we focused on the difficult and abstract concepts of matter and form. First I gave my own overview, which showcased the presentation given by Leon Kass in his book, "The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of Our Nature." We then read Guttman's overview, which we didn't even come close to finishing. We'll continue next week (בג"ה).----------Link to David Guttman's essay, "Divine Providence - Goals, Hopes, and Fears, כי כל דרכיו משפט"----------This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Albert Hanan and Justin Coskey in honor of Aryel and Batya's wedding.----------If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.----------If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.----------YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweissBlog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.comGuide to the Torah Content of Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/2021/04/links-to-torah-content-of-rabbi-matt.htmlAmazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_share

We open with this podcast with a discussion about good books, and why we read what we read, and in particular, how fiction can draw you in, grab you, and give experience. Reading fiction is no mere escapist cope, but rather an invitation into other worlds and broadened horizons, a kind of pilgrimage of the imagination.   In the second half, Rod pivots to talk about the rise of DMT and other hallucinogens, and the coming mainstreaming of these kinds of "religious hacks." Are they "real," or are they mere phantoms of the mind. These questions move us into a discussion about spiritual realities, and the relative cultural naivete of the modernist delusions. We are participants in the meaning-deserts of modernity, and old books might provide a way to re-enter into the mysteries of creation.       Links:   Carl Trueman podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OulW5T-9pgY&t=11s Mary Harrington podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-PANVg0QR0&t=4s How God Becomes Real by T. M. Luhrman: https://www.amazon.com/How-God-Becomes-Real-Invisible/dp/0691164460/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639595917&sr=8-2 That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-Fairy-Tale-Grown-Ups/dp/B00HTK8EQQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=ZOSQNBP0TBVM&keywords=that+hideous+strength+by+c.s.+lewis&qid=1639596153&sprefix=that+hide%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-4 R. L. Wilkins' "Church As Culture": https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/04/the-church-as-culture Leon Kass' The Hungry Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Soul-Eating-Perfecting-Nature/dp/0226425681 Charles Taylor's The Secular Age: https://www.amazon.com/Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674986911/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=charles+taylor&qid=1639596347&s=books&sr=1-1    

“Today, we are supercompetent when it comes to efficiency, utility, speed, convenience, and getting ahead in the world; but we are at a loss concerning what it's all for,” Leon Kass writes in his 2017 book “Leading a Worthy Life.” “This lack of cultural and moral confidence about what makes a life worth living is perhaps the deepest curse of living in our interesting time.”Kass spent more than 30 years as an award-winning teacher at the University of Chicago, where he gained a reputation among students for his commitment to the big questions of human existence and the study of classic texts. And he's written books and essays on marriage, sports, ethics, friendship, romance, the philosophy of food, biblical wisdom and more. In many ways, Kass's career represents a lifelong effort to grapple with the biggest question of all: What does it mean to live a meaningful life?This conversation, between Kass and the New York Times Opinion columnist David Brooks, is an attempt to answer that question. Along the way, they discuss the difference between choosing a career and discovering a vocation; the key ingredients of a successful romantic relationship; how to distinguish between superficial friendships and life-altering ones; why finding the right job is less about searching within ourselves and more about committing to something beyond ourselves; Kass's view that the most distinctive thing about individuals isn't their race, gender or class but “the ruling passions of their souls”; and what the biblical Exodus story can teach Americans about how to live together more harmoniously.Mentioned:Founding God's Nation by Leon KassThe Second Mountain by David BrooksBook Recommendations:Nicomachean Ethics by AristotleThe Hebrew Bible, especially Genesis and ExodusDemocracy in America by Alexis de TocquevilleDaniel Deronda by George EliotThis episode is guest-hosted by David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, whose work focuses on politics, culture and moral formation. He currently serves as chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. and is the author of several books, including “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.” You can follow him on Twitter @nytdavidbrooks. (Learn more about the other guest hosts during Ezra's parental leave here.)Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of "The Ezra Klein Show" at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.“The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Annie Galvin, Jeff Geld and Rogé Karma; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Special thanks to Kristin Lin and Alison Bruzek.

Tonight (11/3/21) we concluded our multi-part series of shiurim on "The Saga of Kayin." Don't be misled by the title: this may have been the conclusion of an epic, but the conclusion itself wasn't exactly epic, since I didn't have enough time to work EVERYTHING out. Still, the theory we proposed in Part 3 was successfully applied and supported, and we were satisfied with the ideas and insights we gained along the way. Now it's time to find our next great adventure in Chumash Exploration!----------מקורות:משלי ג:ט-יברש"י – בראשית ד:ט-י,טז,יט-כאטור פירוש הארוך – בראשית ד:טרבינו בחיי – בראשית ד:טרד"ק – בראשית ד:ט-יתרגום אונקלוס – בראשית ד:יLeon Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom p.144-148ר"י אבן כספי – בראשית ד:יז,כג,כוקאסוטו – בראשית ד:כג-כדתלמוד בבלי עירובין דף יח עמוד במהרש"א חידושי אגדות (שם)רמב"ם – מורה הנבוכים א:זרב הירש – בראשית ד:כהאבן עזרא – בראשית ד:כורשב"ם – בראשית ד:כוספורנו – בראשית ד:כואברבנאל – בראשית ו:א----------This week's Torah content has been sponsored anonymously for the continued recovery of Rabbi Moskowitz. May Hashem grant Ha'Rav Meir ben Esther Malka a refuah shleimah.----------If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.----------If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.----------YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweissBlog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.comGuide to the Torah Content of Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/2021/04/links-to-torah-content-of-rabbi-matt.html

Second in the series: Some straight talk about the class formation and core principles dating back to the founding of the Fellowship Class 36 years ago.  FRAN AND DON'S THlNGS TO PONDER from Fellowship Class teaching, September 2021 From Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning: "When we cannot change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves!" "The last of the human freedoms we have is how we respond to any given set of circumstances [no matter how dire!]." "Those who have a 'why" to live can bear with almost any 'how." From Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith: (what we called "Big G, little g"):   What he described as God or the god of your life is whatever is "the object of ultimate concern in your life .... which promises total fulfillment and offers complete satisfaction even if all else in your life goes away." And so....who, Who or what, What is the God or god of your life? (That's easy to name, if you'll just be completely honest about what in your life makes you completely happy even though it/they are all you have.) Our faith demands all of us to be centered on it- body, mind, soul, spirit -now and forever, our emotions and feelings, both conscious and unconscious, ego, superego, etc. - and encompasses our decisions, choices, behaviors, promises, and follow-through - with total fulfillment and complete satisfaction. Who/what is the God/god of your life right now? And do you live out that ultimate concern each and every day? From Leon Kass on the meaning of God's word "good" in Genesis 1: "A being is good insofar as it is fully formed and fully fit to do its proper work...Precisely in the same sense that man is in the image of God, man is not yet "good" - not determinate, finished, completed, or perfect. It remains to be seen whether [each person] will be able to complete himself (or be completed).............................................................................. Man is capable enough of deviating widely from the way for which he is most suited or through which he -  and the world around him -will most flourish."                       Leon Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis, p.39. FELLOWSHIP CORE BIBLE VERSES Acts 20:24 - "I do not count my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."                              [give God glory] Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives within me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me."                                      [let Christ live through me] Romans 12 - the entire chapter, especially vs. 6 ff: "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them." Verses 9-21 spell out the ways we can interact with others with Christian love. John 5:19-20, 30b - "Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the  Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does likewise." And, remembering that when Jesus was on Earth He was fully human with His own strong will, "I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." Can the same be said of each of us?f Philippians 1:27,2:5-8,12-13 -  "Only let your manner of life be worthy of  he gospel of Christ... standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel...Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality of God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death upon a cross...Therefore, my beloved,...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 1:6 -- "And I am sure that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion."

This week on “The Learning Curve,” guest co-host Jason Bedrick and co-host Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Leon Kass, MD, the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kass describes the important pieces of wisdom and humanity people today can still learn from reading the Book of Genesis, the topic of his 2003 work... Source

This week on “The Learning Curve,” guest co-host Jason Bedrick and co-host Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Leon Kass, MD, the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kass describes the important pieces of wisdom and humanity people today can still learn from reading the Book of Genesis, the topic of […]

  We need things that spark inspiration. But one of our go-to spiritual practices has been sullied by harmful, fear- and compulsion-driven ways of interpreting what is written. Leon Kass, a professor of Great Books at University of Chicago, offers his approach, with much to recommend it. Cassie leads a time of meditation following the […]

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/israel-studies

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

Everything, in the end, comes down to Exodus. Everything that we are as a civilization goes back to Exodus. Every person, religious or not, who wants to consider him or herself educated needs to engage with Exodus. And, fortunately for us, the noted academic Leon Kass has provided us with that unique thing—a book that is both magisterial and readable. We will discuss with him his 2021 work, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus (Yale University Press, 2012). Kass examines Exodus in meticulous detail. We learn, among other things, that Exodus is a story of how all human beings can rise from the depths of despair and oppression and of how one group, in particular, formed a society that has influenced many others down to this day in everything from compassion for the downtrodden to humane treatment of animals to wise stewardship of the land. Not to mention the fact that our foundational laws and traditional family and current government structures derive from the events narrated in Exodus. Kass writes, “I undertook this study mainly to explore basic questions of people formation: What makes a people a people? What forms their communal identity, holds them together, guides their lives? For what should they strive? Exodus speaks to these questions through two unfolding and intersecting stories: the founding of the Israelite nation via deliverance and command, and the growing knowledge of God via divine revelation.” This is the perfect treatise for general readers on questions that are as relevant as ever: What is justice? What do we want our nation to be? What is my personal responsibility to others? The book also brims with drama—we are dealing here, after all, with Moses and mountaintops, pharaohs and plagues, God’s love and human faithlessness. For those not raised in religious households, this book is a gateway to understanding those who were and enriches us culturally. We will focus primarily in this interview with Dr. Kass (he is also a physician and one of the leading bioethicists of our times) on the role that the Sabbath plays in Exodus and in our own lives. His treatment of that subject alone demands attention. Give a listen. Hope J. Leman is a grants researcher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

What makes a people a people? What forms its communal identity? The second book of the Bible, Exodus, tells of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, their journey through the wilderness, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the building of the tabernacle, and much else. Exodus and its abiding mysteries have been studied for millennia as a source for wisdom and understanding about theological questions as well as human affairs. Joining us to discuss Exodus is Dr. Leon Kass, emeritus professor at the University of Chicago and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Kass has just published the new book Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus, a monumental work in which he considers Exodus in a philosophical spirit, and shares striking insights on its theology, anthropology, and especially its politics. In this Conversation, he reflects on what he has learned through his study of Exodus—and argues that, regardless of our religious affiliation or beliefs, Exodus has much to teach those who read it with an open mind.

What makes a people a people? What forms its communal identity? The second book of the Bible, Exodus, tells of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, their journey through the wilderness, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the building of the tabernacle, and much else. Exodus and its abiding mysteries have been studied for millennia as a source for wisdom and understanding about theological questions as well as human affairs.  Joining us to discuss Exodus is Dr. Leon Kass, emeritus professor at the University of Chicago and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Kass has just published the new book Founding God’s Nation: Reading Exodus, a monumental work in which he considers Exodus in a philosophical spirit, and shares striking insights on its theology, anthropology, and especially its politics. In this Conversation, he reflects on what he has learned through his study of Exodus—and argues that, regardless of our religious affiliation or beliefs, Exodus has much to teach those who read it with an open mind.

What makes a people a people? What forms its communal identity? The second book of the Bible, Exodus, tells of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, their journey through the wilderness, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the building of the tabernacle, and much else. Exodus and its abiding mysteries have been studied for millennia as a source for wisdom and understanding about theological questions as well as human affairs.  Joining us to discuss Exodus is Dr. Leon Kass, emeritus professor at the University of Chicago and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Kass has just published the new book Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus, a monumental work in which he considers Exodus in a philosophical spirit, and shares striking insights on its theology, anthropology, and especially its politics. In this Conversation, he reflects on what he has learned through his study of Exodus—and argues that, regardless of our religious affiliation or beliefs, Exodus has much to teach those who read it with an open mind.

Tanya White is a graduate of Matan’s Matmidot program and teaches in Matan’s Raanana and Zichron Yaakov branches. She has lectured for Matan in North America and her zoom classes attract hundreds of students from around the world. In this conversation she speaks about her journey as a philosophically curious young woman in England to becoming a revered lecturer and writer on the cusp of completing her doctorate in post-holocaust theology. Tanya’s intellectual creativity and passionate personality leaves a moving mark on all those she meets. Items mentioned in this episode: R. Irving Greenberg, about whose works Tanya is writing her doctoral thesis: https://rabbiirvinggreenberg.com/ On Tanya’s nightstand: Leon Kass, Leading a Worthy Life https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Worthy-Life-Finding-Meaning/dp/1594039410

“Should we welcome, or even tolerate, the cloning of human beings?” That is the question with which Dr. Leon Kass, M.D., Ph.D. opens his speech at a conference focused on coalition-building hosted by Americans United for Life in 1998. Dr. Kass covers the science, morality, and human rights concerns underpinning the debate on the ethics of human reproductive cloning—the attempt to make copies of the human person. As Dr. Kass puts it, “We have to decide nothing less than whether human procreation is going to remain human, whether children are going to be made rather than begotten, and whether we wish to say yes to the road that leads to the dehumanizing hell of brave new world.” Dr. Kass served as the Chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005 and has been engaged for more than 40 years with ethical and philosophical issues raised by biomedical advances and, more recently, with broader moral and cultural issues. His most recent book, “What So Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song,” seeks to promote American identity, character and citizenship. Dr. Kass’s evergreen remarks, delivered nearly a quarter century ago, remain fresh and relevant. Dr. Kass lays out how to avoid what he terms the “Frankenstein-ian hubris” of those who would promote reproductive human clones.

Leon Kass, long-time teacher of classic works at the University of Chicago and now Dean of Faculty at Shalem College in Jerusalem, talks about human flourishing with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Drawing on an essay from his book, Leading a Worthy Life, Kass gives a broad overview of Aristotle's ideas on how to live. This episode also discusses the listeners' votes for their Top 10 EconTalk podcast episodes for 2020.

Leon Kass of the University of Chicago and Shalem College talks with Tom and Sarah about his new book Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus. We discuss the difference between Egypt and Israel and the meaning of the plagues. We also talk about the seminar as a ritual or form and the meaning of the seminar table. We conclude with a discussion of why the Hebrew Bible should be part of a program of liberal education. Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus. (https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Gods-Nation-Reading-Exodus/dp/0300253036/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2XL9DSBAWOY8Y&dchild=1&keywords=founding+god%27s+nation+reading+exodus&qid=1614814057&sprefix=founding+god%27s+%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1) The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis. (https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Wisdom-Reading-Genesis/dp/0226425673/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/143-9475481-2911919?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0226425673&pd_rd_r=4273b4e6-e83f-41e5-9921-6926d0b4cd16&pd_rd_w=rbR2M&pd_rd_wg=Hj0jJ&pf_rd_p=f325d01c-4658-4593-be83-3e12ca663f0e&pf_rd_r=F75CQA03WKNX3C01Q5NH&psc=1&refRID=F75CQA03WKNX3C01Q5NH)

Leon Kass's new book shares a lifetime of reading and teaching the book of Exodus.

How should we read the book of Exodus? Dr. Leon R. Kass discusses his answer to this question from his recent book, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus. Dr. Kass is the Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago, and formerly served as the Chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics under George W. Bush. He has published a host of works in medicine, bioethics, and most recently, biblical studies. Dr. Kass believes that reading Exodus should start with humility and curiosity—perhaps the author of Exodus knows something we don't. From there, we can begin to see Exodus for what it is: a book that not only recounts the story of Israel, but also reveals themes and principles that apply to any person or nation. Specifically, he describes the difference between a multitude and a people, what Exodus has to say about technology, and why God chose a lowly slave people to be His covenantal servants. Show notes: 0:00 Reading with open eyes 4:20 Learning from the great texts 6:55 Genesis, Exodus, technology, and bioethics 13:28 The three things a people needs 19:50 The covenantal foundation of Israel 24:49 Why God started with a lowly people 30:10 Slavery in ancient Israel 35:19 Epistemology in Exodus Learn more about Dr. Kass and his work. Show notes by Micah Long. Credits for the music used in TBM podcast can be found at: hebraicthought.org/credits.

Shmuel Rosner and Leon Kass discuss Kass's latest book: "Founding God’s Nation: Reading Exodus".   Leon R. Kass, M.D., Ph.D., is the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago and the Madden-Jewett Scholar Emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

In episode 22, I am joined by the philosopher David McPherson, of Creighton University, to discuss Huxley’s famous sci-fi dystopia, “Brave New World.” We discuss how technological progress can accelerate processes of dehumanization and how the loss of piety transforms how we experience love and desire. Along the way, we bring in help from Nietzsche, Alasdair MacIntyre, Cora Diamond, Michael Sandel, and of course, Leon Kass. As always, I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In November of 1945, the American Jewish Committee established a new, independent magazine of Jewish ideas, with the goal of explaining America to the Jews and the Jews to the America. This month, Commentary marks 75 years of publishing about everything from culture, politics, and history to foreign affairs, Israel, and Jewish thought. During that time, it has proven to be one of America’s most influential journals of public affairs and central fora for great Jewish debates. The late Irving Kristol is said to have called it the most important Jewish magazine in history. He was probably right. In the history of American Jewish letters, Commentary is responsible for bringing Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, and Cynthia Ozick to the attention of the reading public. During the Cold War, the magazine fought against the then-reigning foreign-policy paradigms of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Not one, but two separate Commentary essays helped secure their authors’—Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jean Kirkpatrick—appointments as United Nations Ambassadors. And in the field of Jewish and Zionist ideas thought, the magazine has over the years published such leading Jewish scholars as Gershom Scholem, Emil Fackenheim, Leon Kass, and Ruth Wisse. Commentary was for many years edited by the legendary Norman Podhoretz, who was followed by Neal Kozodoy (now Mosaic’s editor-at-large); it is now led by John Podhoretz, the guest of this podcast. In this conversation with Mosaic Editor Jonathan Silver—inspired by the magazine’s 75th anniversary issue—Podhoretz looks back at his own history with Commentary, reflects on the work of an editor, recalls how Commentary shaped American Jewish history, and articulates why Commentary still matters three-quarters of a century after its birth. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Bret Stephens, one of the United States' great public intellectuals over the past two decades, joins Mark for the podcast today. Among his many achievements, Bret has been the editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post, editor at Commentary magazine, editorialist at The Wall Street Journal, and currently has a column in The New York Times. He has chosen a passage which is often overlooked in biblical commentary, Genesis 14, to discuss with Mark today. Their conversation begins with Bret sharing the story behind being cited in Leon Kass' book about Genesis, and his extensive summary of the selected text. Throughout this summary, he and Mark demonstrate how the passage presents the foundation of a Jewish philosophy of a just war and international engagement, discuss a selection of applicable analogies, explore its moral and geopolitical purpose, and review Abram's declaration of independence. The episode concludes with Bret explaining the argument the passage makes against Jewish pacifism and for the moral use of power, and then offering the lessons he has learned about mankind. As Bret states, this text ‘is telling us things that are relevant…to our ideas about what politics and foreign policy ought to be about, and why it's useful to have a foreign policy that is rooted in a moral concept rather than in a material one' – a ‘continuing and eternal implication' that is of paramount importance throughout the country and, indeed, the world, these days. Episode Highlights: The story behind Bret being cited in Leon Kass' book on Genesis Bret's summary of the text and its context How it presents the foundation of a Jewish philosophy of a just war and international engagement Analogies with the raid on Entebbe, the 1967 war, and Woodrow Wilson entering WWI The moral and geopolitical purposes of this passage Abram's declaration of independence The passage as an argument against Jewish pacifism and an argument for prudence and the moral use of power The lessons Bret has learned about mankind Quotes: “I am to Torah scholarship what John Belushi was to sobriety.” “It is among the most political of chapters in Genesis.” “That's probably my proudest boast intellectually, that Leon Kass cited something I had written as an undergraduate.” “This is really the story of the genesis…of a Jewish concept of foreign policy, a Jewish concept of a just war.” “The is the first time the word Hebrew is used in the Bible.” “There is politics taking place, and there is a strategic quandary, and there's also a moral quandary, and Abram has to think about how he resolves this.” “It's not exactly the raid on Entebbe, but it's close.” “This is an extraordinary victory against overwhelming odds, prefiguring…so many of Israel's wars.” “Abram is mentored and learns about God from a gentile.” Genesis 14 https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.14?lang=bi&aliyot=0

## Introduction So in our studies so far this year, we have tried to re-enforce our theme, “Change What You Love.” We began with wisdom literature in our study of Ecclesiastes. We did two topical summer series, Love the Commandment and Love the Church. And now we are going to end the year with a narrative. Today we begin a 16-week series on the life of Joseph that will take us to Christmas. In our study of Joseph, we see in narrative fashion how love changes. We see the bad love behind jealousy, rage, condescension, lust, power, self-pity, and self-loathing transformed into good love resulting in forgiveness, compassion, self-sacrifice, and worship. We see a man remarkably mature from a 17-year-old soft and immature boy to a 110-year-old sage in such a way that the young Joseph would not recognize his future elderly self if he had met him. God uses failure/success, mistreatment/promotion, suffering/fame to shape the affections of Joseph into a God-loving, enemy-forgiving, leader and savior of a nation. This is a drama that, if you let it, will change your life. Background So let’s dive into this fascinating story. The story of Joseph begins in chapter 37 of the book of Genesis. And one of the things that might be obvious but worth saying is that the author of the book of Genesis would have expected you to have read the 36 chapters leading up to this story. They are connected and there is a larger story that is being told. So I want to spend just a moment understanding where this fits into the book. I’m not doing the obligatory background step here. This is absolutely essential to understanding the narrative. So if you focus, I’ll move efficiently. Deal? Genesis literally means beginnings. And in the beginning, everything is good. It begins with God’s very good animals, living on his very good land, filled with his very good birds. The creation story climaxes with the creation of Adam and Eve, two very good beings specially made in the image of God. Over and over we read that everything is good. And of course, the reason it is all so good is because God is good. This entire good created order is shattered when the goodness of God and his good creation is called into question. God says don’t eat of this tree in the middle of the garden. And he only gives them a one-sentence reason, because if you eat it you will die. Because I am good, you can trust me that this is true. But then they ask this damning question, “How can God know what’s good for me?” I’m the only one who can know that. And so they become the judge of what is good and eat the forbidden fruit. And rejecting God’s good always means choosing a world without good. The poison of sin begins to leech into every aspect of life. If you cut a flower from a vine, it doesn’t wilt instantly. In fact, it looks great but slowly, because it is cut off from the source of life, it dies. And the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis describe the horrible wilting effects of sin. And everywhere we look in these first 11 chapters, instead of good, we see evil. The ground is cursed. Cain becomes jealous of his brother and kills Abel. God looks down on the world he created his summary was, Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God destroys the world in a flood. The Tower of Babel describes the pride of men and people’s evil desire to become like God. And so the first 11 chapters set up the problem. The absence of good has created this space for evil to invade. And it’s painful. The next rest of the book begins to suggest a solution. God appears to a man Abraham and says out of you shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed. He makes a promise to him. The rest of Genesis, chapters 12-50, trace a promise of God through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph to restore good. Over and over again, God makes good promises to evil men. God is faithful while man is faithless. A faithful God revealing himself to faithless men. Now, this is an important point because by the time we get to the New Testament the patriarchs have been immortalized into history as the founding fathers of the Jewish faith and are held in high honor. The Pharisees were proud to say, “We are children of Abraham.” It’s a badge of honor to associate yourself with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But if you read the story of the actual patriarchs as described in the actual narrative, they are a bunch of losers. These guys are a bunch of chauvinistic, cowardly men who use their wives as shields to protect themselves from danger. They are faithless bufoons who revert to paganism, superstition, and generally are an embarrassment to the Christian faith. Now I want to say something here. The point of Genesis is to establish exactly that fact! The goal is to point to God’s faithfulness despite the faithlessness of his chosen people. Maybe the best way to point this out is to illustrate an interpretive problem we’ve likely all had. When you read the book of Genesis there are some embarrassing chapters. After the flood, we read of Noah getting drunk in a tent and involved in some sort of super awkward, lewd behavior. I’m not sure you’ll find an episode of Veggie Tales on that story? And there is no commentary. You just read that and get uncomfortable and move along. You have the rape of Dinah in chapter 34, where Jacob’s daughter Dinah is raped and then the 11 brothers of Jacob go out and murder in cold-blooded circumcision trickery the entire tribe that raped her. And again, there is no commentary. You are thinking, “Is that what God wanted?” I mean, you can search high and low and you are not going to find a Sunday School flannel graph to go along with some of these stories. In chapter 38, you have this story of Judah who thinks he sleeping with a temple prostitute but is really being tricked by his daughter-in-law Tamar who was widowed. And she’s doing that because Judah forced her to remain a widow. I mean, awkward. The whole time, we are wanting God to provide some commentary. Why are you including this stuff in the Bible? This is really messing up my family devotions with my 7-year-old. I’ve heard people say, “I could never worship a God who condones the polygamous marriages we read about in the heroes of the Christian faith. I mean look at Abraham. Look at Isaac. Really? This is the model of how God wants his people to be?” All of this illustrates a profound misunderstanding of the point of Genesis. Your intuitions are absolutely correct. These guys are a bunch of losers. But look at what God can do despite losers. This is why it is so important to see the book as a whole because commentary does come at the end. The whole book is highlighting the failure of men. Adam fails, Cain fails, Noah fails, Abraham fails, Isaac fails, and Jacob fails. They all failed. These men were polygamous, jealous, petty, greedy, and in almost every way, faithless. And then you have God who just intervenes and delivers. That’s how you are supposed to read the book. Now to be sure, you don’t get this until the very end of the book. That’s when it all connects. It all clicks. Have you ever watched a movie where you have no idea how you are supposed to interpret anything until the very end and then great reveal happens and it all makes sense? That’s how the book of Genesis is structured. And that great reveal, this interpretive key comes at the very end of the book, at the climax of both the Joseph narrative and the book of Genesis as a whole. We get this powerful statement, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” That’s the commentary on the book of Genesis we were looking for? What does God think of all this crazy narrative? They are wilting flowers cut off from the source of life! Without the life-good they can only do evil. They were evil and did evil. But God is greater than their evil. They meant it for evil but God is good and therefore can redeem it. Joseph So, as we open up chapter 37 and look at the story of Joseph, let’s remind ourselves that we are in a narrative of brokenness where evil is very much afoot. In Joseph’s case, this brokenness was most keenly felt in his own family. Genesis 37 begins. Now let’s talk about Joseph’s family. Most of us come from a home where we have an imperfect father and an imperfect mother. Joseph came from a home where he had an imperfect father and four imperfect mothers, technically two wives and two surrogate mothers. Joseph’s father was married to two wives, Rachael and Leah, who also happened to be sisters. How Jacob came to be married to Rachel and Leah is a story unto itself filled with deception and trickery and doesn’t exactly paint the great patriarchs in very flattering light. You will remember that Rachael and Leah are sisters who are bitter rivals. Rachel is beautiful, bright-eyed, is loved by her husband. Leah is not as beautiful, dull-eyed, and is not loved by her husband. You might think Leah doomed in this marriage save one factor. Rachel can’t get pregnant; Leah on the other hand, if Jacob just winks at her from across the room is instantly three months pregnant. Now in our culture, sadly, having children is not valued very highly. However, in the ancient near east, nothing is more important than bearing children and in particular, male children. Male children carry on the family name and strengthen a tribe. Having male children is like hitting a grand slam in baseball. It’s like draining that eagle in golf. I mean these are things you keep track of on a scorecard. And Rachael and Leah are keeping score. And in chapter 29:32 you have that scorecard. Chapter 29 is the chronicles of the labor and delivery ward of Jacob’s tribe. And chapter 29 begins with Leah giving birth to all these children. And she’s giving birth to them at this astounding rate of one verse at a time. In verse 32 that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son—she called him Reuben; verse 33, she conceived again and gave birth to a son, called him Simeon; verse 34, she conceived and gave birth to a son and called him Levi; and verse 35, she conceived again and gave birth to a son and she called him Judah. And then the narrative pauses. 29: “Then she stopped having children.” So far the score is Leah four, Rachel zero. The story continues in chapter 20. Rachel, when she saw she was not bearing Jacob any children, became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die.” Jacob says, “What’s your problem woman? I’m not God. I can’t control this stuff. That’s God’s business.” And so Rachel did what was customary at the time: she took the servant maid Bilhah that she had been given and she gave her to Jacob as a surrogate wife. Rachel was thinking, “Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family.” Any children born through the servant maid would be credited as children of Rachel. And so Bilhah gets pregnant, Bilhah gives birth to Dan in verse 6, and to Naphtali in verse 7. So now the score is Leah four, Rachel two with an asterisk. Now the jealousy and fighting and resentment and envy between the sister builds. Leah’s childbearing ability stalls out and so she decides on the same strategy with her maidservant, Zilpah. And Zilpah and Jacob get together, and Zilpah in turn gives birth to Gad in verse 10, and then to Asher in verse 13. And then you have this unbelievable thing here where they’re trading sexual favors for mandrake crops. Mandrakes are a vegetable from the nightshade family that were believed to be aphrodisiacs. Rachael says, “I want some of your son’s mandrakes,” presumably so that she can get pregnant. Apparently, they worked for Leah and so Rachel wants some. Leah says, “No way. You took away my husband. I’m not helping you.” Rachel said, “I’ll let you sleep with him tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” What in the world? Don’t look at me like I’m being inappropriate. I’m just reading the Bible here folks. So with that, Leah becomes pregnant, she bore Jacob a fifth son. So she named him Issachar. And then she conceived again, and she bore him a sixth son, Zebulun. And then she pops out a daughter named Dinah. Can you believe this? I mean, this is like a rabbit factory. We got kids all over the place. So here’s the score at the top of the ninth inning. We got six boys and a daughter straight up by Leah; two by her servant maid, so that’s nine; two by the other servant maid—that’s eleven. So we got ten boys, one girl, one dad, four mothers, two of them concubines. You think you’ve got a complicated family? The family contained all the ingredients for a psychological nightmare. Why do we mention this? You need to remember something very important. Even though there are 11 children running around, Rachel has never born Jacob a son. She still has not had a son of her own. For all these years, she has been sterile. Rachel is loved but can’t produce any children to be loved. Consequently, she is steaming and raging with jealousy over her sister. She desperately wants a son. It would validate her womanhood. It would bring her honor. It would strengthen the tribe. She envisions that if only I could have a son, my husband’s love would be complete and my value would be established. And finally, one day it happens. Rachel, the very loved wife, gets pregnant and produces a very, very loved child. Joseph. Joseph was literally the fulfillment of a dream for Rachel. Her whole entire life since she was a little girl, she was told that her purpose in life was to bear children for the tribe. She wanted so badly to have a child. And now finally, here he was. This is a dream come true. How do you handle a gold medal? How do you handle a trophy? What do you do with your most precious possessions? So the narrative begins. Now notice, Leah is not mentioned even though she bore most of the children. Why mention Bilhah and Zilpah? That detail is there to remind us of the family tension. Joseph is living as a privileged son of the favored wife among the riff-raff offspring of concubines. He was the full-blooded favorite. That’s bad. But, the tension on that family spring is just beginning to wind. Now a ton of ink has been spilled on this verse. Was Joseph: an innocent young boy simply telling the truth about his evil, older brothers and unjustly hated, OR was he a spoiled brat ratting on his older brothers and getting what was coming to him? Like most things, the truth is probably in the middle. Certainly, there must have been elements where Joseph took advantage of his privileged position. The brilliant Jewish commentator Leon Kass (professor emeritus on the Committee of Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and chairman of the Presidential Council on Bioethics from 2001–2005), suggests that Genesis 37:2 be translated: “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding his brothers among the flock.” So if this is correct, it would be a play on words. The older brothers are shepherding the sheep while the younger brother is shepherding the shepherds. Joseph was his father’s pet and his reports were designed to keep it that way. Do you really think that basking in the favoritism of his father, Joseph was able to resist all negative effects? Certainly, he developed in overconfidence and bit of self-righteousness tinged with arrogance. Lest you get too judgmental, let’s remember that we all do this. Let me ask you to recall everything you said about other people this week. You probably spoke to other people about your mother, your brother, your kids, your friends, your enemies, those you are jealous of, those you have a hard time with. So recall those conversations where you reported on the behavior of others. Now let me ask you, was it completely correct? So often we leave out slight details or embellish small bits to give a bad report. Joseph was a junior in high school. I don’t think he’s free of these temptations. That being said, some scholars insist that the story of Joseph as a whole gives no evidence that he had such a character flaw. It certainly betrays character flaws in his brothers. The way they respond to Joseph’s report demonstrates that Joseph’s reports may well have been accurate. It also appears that Jacob could trust Joseph but not them. I’m sure there are elements of truth in both of these perspectives. The virtues and vices of Joseph’s intentions are unclear, but how Jacob treats Joseph is perfectly clear. Now you have to understand how significant this would have been. This would be like making all the older kids ride bikes and giving the youngest baby of the family a Tesla. I mean the degree of favoritism here is embarrassing. The literal reading here is a coat to the hands meaning a long-sleeved coat. Most clothing of this era were tunics without sleeves. The idea of a “coat of many colors” comes from the older Septuagint which says, “many-colored coat.” It very likely could be both. Multicolored, long-sleeved coats were common among royalty. The short-sleeved versions have been depicted in many Egyptian papyri. In a world in which material is costly and color is very scarce, this would have been very extravagant and symbolic of high favor and prestige. Now, this isn’t just a nice gift. This is way more than getting a Nike sweater. Do you know what’s at stake with the coat? You have to understand. Almost certainly what is at stake is the first-born blessing. Even though it’s not stated explicitly, the brothers are stewing with jealousy because they can see the writing on the wall. The blessing always came at the end of life but they could see it plain enough. Their inheritance is getting stripped away by dad’s little pet. Now we look at this favoritism and it’s appalling to us. But remember, this was the son of his old age. This last one would come first. After all, he, too, was the last one who became first (25:23). So why did Joseph’s brothers hate him? So far we are told at least four reasons: He was born of the most loved wife. Whether it was for this reason or other reasons, the text straight up says, he was more loved than they were. He was given a special coat indicating that their inheritance and blessing was being stripped away. He was a snitch. Now if that wasn’t enough, we get a fifth reason. Now the dream needs no interpretation here. This isn’t like the dream of Nebuchadnezzar or even like the dream of Pharaoh later in the story where you have cryptic elements and strange symbols. The dream is so obvious in its interpretation and so crude that it flat out just feels like the made-up delusions of a narcissistic teen. It’s just arrogance in dream form. It’s not like it’s really even artful or poetic. It’s just crude, cave-man poetry. Me big and powerful thing. You weak and tiny thing. You bow to me. Haha. The brothers needed no interpretation. The Hebrew uses a grammatical construction here, the infinitive absolute, that conveys utter surprise that he would dare utter such a thing. Now, if that wasn’t enough, the audacity of it all continues. Maybe you are one of the brothers and you start cooling down and dismissing this as the looniness of immaturity and you are trying to give your brother the benefit of the doubt. But then this happens. Eleven stars huh? Okay, that’s it. This dream is so pretentious, so bald-faced and unapologetic. I have so much gravitational awesomeness that I’m like this supernova in the center of the galaxy and the entire solar system revolves around me. All you 11 weaklings will be captured by my gravitational awesomeness. Even mom and dad will be captured by my awesomeness. I am so awesome… Now the fact that this was universally nauseating to the family is evidenced by verse 10. Even dad, who favored him so highly that he gave him the Tesla, can’t stomach the attitude. Now I want to end on the question that Jacob asks Joseph, “What is this dream you have dreamed?” The story of Joseph begins with a dream. Let’s think for a moment about dreams. Dreams are, as yet, unmaterialized conceptions of how the world could be or might be. We dream of all sorts of things. We make little distinction between whether it happened while sleeping or awake. A kid might dream of becoming an astronaut, or dream of winning the lottery, or dream of getting married. Most dreams are simply dreams. They are impossible hopes. The most unlikely of all possible outcomes. Most dreams are statistical impossibilities. I dream of taking over Amazon or Google. I mean what are the chances? Joseph here has a dream that implies that he will be ruler of all men. That’s a crazy dream, especially given his position. As a kid, you may have dreamed that you would become president of the United States. And it’s likely that your parents deflated your sails in short order. They said, listen, the chances of that are so low. Maybe try being a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter. This is kind of what Jacob seems to do with Joseph. Joseph, listen, you aren’t going to rule over us. That’s impossible. I want you to think just how impossible this dream really is. Suppose you were an Iranian shepherd captured in battle by the US Forces and detained as a prisoner of war and in Guantanamo Bay. What are your chances of being president of the United States as an uneducated, Iranian POW? I mean you have a greater chance of being struck by lighting 500 times in a row than that dream coming true. Now let me ask you this, "What is the difference between a pipe dream and prophetic dream? The difference is not in the odds. The difference is in the divine power to turn it into reality. God was hidden in Joseph’s dream. When God is at work, nothing can stop it, even when everyone wants it stopped. And that’s going to be the drama for the rest of the book. You see, Joseph’s dream is a threat to everyone in the family. When Jacob rebukes Joseph, do you see what’s behind that? This is no longer funny, Joseph. If it stays a dream, no harm, no foul. But you seem to be pretty assured of this. If that dream even so much as hints as entering into reality we have a serious problem. And everyone in the narrative is going to try to kill the dream. And the battle for the rest of the book is going to be between God who is hidden in the dream and the dream killers. But because God is in the dream, it can’t be stopped. Joseph’s brothers can’t stop it. Potipher’s wife can’t stop it. The baker can’t stop it. Pharaoh can’t stop it. Joseph overcomes the millionth, billionth odds and actually rises to power in a foreign nation to the glory of Yahweh, the God of Israel. You see, when God is for us, who can be against us? Like Jesus, Joseph, the one despised and rejected by his family, ultimately is the agent of their salvation and countless others. Joseph shows how God’s secret providence is behind the darkest deeds of men and works to their ultimate good. What a story! Application Now last week you were handed this Joseph booklet. And if you didn’t get one, they are fanned out beautifully in the foyer beneath the triple screens on your right as you exit. You’ve kind of been bombarded with booklets. But take some time in this. Every week you’ll be given discussion questions for your family devotions, for your small group, or just for you personally. There are also some suggested resources and extra resources to dig deeper.

How has Jewish tradition view sexuality, love, and the family? These topics are particularly relevant today and secular society's views on it are constantly evolving. How has the modern Jewish community's interactions with surrounding cultures and religions affected our perspectives on sexuality and love? In this episode, Ari speaks with Miriam Krupka on how the Tanakh views these subjects as well as modern thinkers, ranging from Eliezer Berkovits to Joseph Soloveitchik to Leon Kass, and secular figures such as C.S. Lewis. Miriam Krupka serves as the Dean of Faculty at the Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan, where she teaches Tanakh and Jewish philosophy. Learn more about this course: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7eabclz3o5gvcf/Love%20and%20Intimacy%20in%20Jewish%20Thought%20-%20Reader.pdf?dl=0 Check out our offerings at tikvahfund.org/hs

The biblical book of Exodus “not only recounts the founding of the Israelite nation, one of the world’s oldest and most consequential peoples...but also sheds light on enduring questions about nation building and peoplehood.” So writes Dr. Leon Kass in the introduction to his scintillating, profound, and meticulously close reading of Exodus, Founding God’s Nation, forthcoming from Yale University Press in January 2021. In this remarkable commentary, Kass masterfully draws out, line by line and chapter by chapter, the enduring moral, philosophical, and political significance of this most important biblical book. In April 2020, just ahead of Passover, Mosaic published an excerpt from Dr. Kass’s book, as “The People-Forming Passover.” The essay focuses on the events of the night before and the morning of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt—events rehearsed each year at the Passover table—and on their significance in the formation of the Jewish nation. In this week’s podcast, Kass sits down with Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver to explore and elucidate his essay. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble as well as “Ulterior” by Swan Production.

Leon Kass discusses Leading a Worthy Life.

Sefer Bereishis series. Yosef’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams drawing upon the teachings of chazal as well as Leon Kass

Sefer bereishis. This class draws upon the classical sources as well as an idea by rabbi chanoch waxman and dr. Leon Kass

In this Episode I sit down with my mom, and occupational therapist at UCSF Medical Center, to discuss her experiences with patients who have had organ donations. You will discover the difficult designs both the doctor and the patients will make. This leads us into the future of this scientific phenomenon and try to hypothesize what may happen in the future according to the books Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Being Human by Leon Kass.

What is the good? How can wisdom-seeking men and women discover it? And how can knowing it help us live worthy lives? These are the questions Professor Leon Kass has been pursuing for over half a century. Born into a secular, Yiddish-speaking home, Dr. Kass earned his medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry before turning his attention to the world of the humanities and the wisdom of Athens. Thus began a decades-long career of teaching and public service that has taken him from the University of Chicago to the President’s Council on Bioethics, from Washington think tanks to Israel’s first liberal arts college. During this time, Professor Kass has been a prolific writer, publishing countless essays, many of which have now been gathered in his newest book, Leading a Worthy Life: Finding Meaning in Modern Times. In this remarkable podcast, Tikvah Executive Director Eric Cohen sits down with his teacher and mentor for a wide-ranging conversation about Professor Kass’s new book as well as his life, work, and intellectual journey. They discuss the Jewish milieu of Kass’s youth, the nature of liberal learning, the wisdom of the Hebrew Bible, and the winding path Dr. Kass has followed as he moves—intellectually and spiritually—ever closer to Jerusalem. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as Midnight Three by Sirus Music. This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience of pre-college students at one of Tikvah’s summer programs. Click here to learn more about our educational offerings for students and young professionals.

Leon Kass discusses the exploration of human flourishing in Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” and its modern-day implications. The post Bradley Lecture Series Podcast: Human flourishing and human excellence with Leon Kass appeared first on American Enterprise Institute - AEI.

Leon Kass sits down with Ben Weingarten to discuss his new book 'Leading a Worthy Life', and a series of topics including finding meaning in a modern age, the decline but potential for rebirth of core values and principles of Western civilization, grappling with scientific progress and ethics and much more. Learn more in 'Leading a Worthy Life': https://www.encounterbooks.com/books/leading-worthy-life/ Leon R. Kass is a Professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago and Hertog Fellow in Social Thought at the American Enterprise Institute. Ben Weingarten is a Senior Fellow of the London Center for Policy Research and a Senior Contributor to The Federalist. Follow him on Twitter: @bhweingarten. 'Freeway' by Kurt Vile is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License. Download 'Freeway' here: tinyurl.com/p4tkyfb

When Jews raise their glasses in celebration, they toast “l'chaim!” “to life!” Judaism's belief in the inherent value of our time in this world permeates Jewish law and culture, and is perhaps most clearly seen in the principle that nearly every commandment is violated in order to save a life. But how far does this commitment extend? Does Judaism support any scientific and medical progress that promises to preserve and extend life? Or are there other Jewish commitments that ought to establish limits on what we do in our battle against death and disease? Could there even be a virtue in our mortality? These are just some of the questions Leon Kass considers in his important essay, “L'Chaim and Its Limits.” Published in First Things in 2001, the piece explores the question of man's mortality as it presents itself in Jewish sources and names the moral dilemmas posed by scientific advancement. In his podcast, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik joins Tikvah's Eric Cohen for a conversation about Kass's essay. They discuss the reasons for Judaism's concern with the value of human life; what rabbinic tradition teaches about body, soul, and afterlife; and how the family emerges as the most powerful Jewish answer to man's mortality. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as Ich Grolle Nicht, by Ron Meixsell and Wahneta Meixsell.

The revelation at Sinai was central to the transformation of the people of Israel into a nation. Fresh from their Exodus from Egypt, at the foot of that mountain, a nation of slaves heard the Lord Himself pronounce His law—His “Ten Commandments”—prescribing proper conduct toward God and man. It would be hard to overstate the influence of the Decalogue in the history of West. Even in our increasingly post-Christian age, the Ten Commandments remain a potent cultural symbol. Yet, for all this familiarity, their true significance remains elusive. In 2013, Leon Kass—one of America's deepest thinkers—sought to shed light on how the Ten Commandments ought to be understood. Published as Mosaic's inaugural essay, “The Ten Commandments: Why the Decalogue Matters” analyzes the meaning of each Divine command, placing it in the context of the Bible as a whole as well as the  permanent conditions of human nature. In this Tikvah Podcast, Professor Kass joins Jonathan Silver for a reconsideration of this important piece of commentary. In a conversation that looks back toward creation and forward to the civic character of the modern Jewish State, Kass and Silver take a deep dive into the first five commandments and their meaning. Their wide-ranging discussion touches on the nature of God's covenant with Israel, man's relationship with nature, and the indispensable role of the family in the life of the people of Israel. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as Ich Grolle Nicht, by Ron Meixsell and Wahneta Meixsell.

[This show first aired March 17, 2008.]  Michael Anissimov discusses transhumanism and its philosophical underpinnings.   "Transhumanism as Simplified Humanism" – Eliezer Yudkowsky   Stephen mentioned the (very) short story he wrote about Leon Kass. It is titled "The Treatment."   "One of the biggest flaws in the common conception of the future is that the future is something that happens to us, not something we create." - Michael Anissimov This quote was first published here at The Speculist and was reprinted in Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near. Michael Anissimov pointed us to both the A.I. Panic! blog and to the Lifeboat Foundation.  

Leon R. Kass, M.D., is Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, the Madden-Jewett Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, and one of the nation's most distinguished bioethicists. In this conversation, Kass recounts how he turned from the study of medicine to an examination of the moral questions and problems that modern science and technology pose for human life. Kass suggests that science, for all of the benefits it has brought to us, may not offer an adequate account of life as we experience it. Kristol and Kass also discuss the Bible as a source of wisdom and the similarities and differences between the Biblical view of man and the one found in Greek philosophy.

Leon R. Kass, M.D., is Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, the Madden-Jewett Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, and one of the nation's most distinguished bioethicists. In this conversation, Kass recounts how he turned from the study of medicine to an examination of the moral questions and problems that modern science and technology pose for human life. Kass suggests that science, for all of the benefits it has brought to us, may not offer an adequate account of life as we experience it. Kristol and Kass also discuss the Bible as a source of wisdom and the similarities and differences between the Biblical view of man and the one found in Greek philosophy.

Leon R. Kass, M.D., is Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, the Madden-Jewett Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, and one of the nation’s most distinguished bioethicists. In this conversation, Kass recounts how he turned from the study of medicine to an examination of the moral questions and problems that modern science and technology pose for human life. Kass suggests that science, for all of the benefits it has brought to us, may not offer an adequate account of life as we experience it. Kristol and Kass also discuss the Bible as a source of wisdom and the similarities and differences between the Biblical view of man and the one found in Greek philosophy.

Through a careful examination of each of the statements in the Decalogue, read in a wisdom seeking spirit, the lecture will seek to show the universal and enduring significance of the principles informing the founding of the Israelite nation. The Renee and Alexander Bohm Memorial Lecture 2011.

Through a careful examination of each of the statements in the Decalogue, read in a wisdom seeking spirit, the lecture will seek to show the universal and enduring significance of the principles informing the founding of the Israelite nation. The Renee and Alexander Bohm Memorial Lecture 2011.

Leon Kass and Amy Kass were for many years teachers at the University of Chicago. There, they taught great books, political philosophy, the Hebrew bible, literature, and many other subjects as part of the university's then-commitment to a comprehensive education. This conversation focuses on the experience of teaching as well as considers themes such as love, friendship, and courtship in contemporary America.

Leon Kass and Amy Kass were for many years teachers at the University of Chicago. There, they taught great books, political philosophy, the Hebrew bible, literature, and many other subjects as part of the university's then-commitment to a comprehensive education. This conversation focuses on the experience of teaching as well as considers themes such as love, friendship, and courtship in contemporary America.

Dr. Leon Kass, Chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, examines the ethical dilemmas surrounding stem cell research. Dr. Kass addresses the philosophical question: Why not immortality?

Dr. Leon Kass, Chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, examines the ethical dilemmas surrounding stem cell research. Dr. Kass addresses the philosophical question: Why not immortality?

Dr. Leon Kass, Chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, examines the ethical dilemmas surrounding stem cell research. Dr. Kass addresses the philosophical question: Why not immortality?

Podcast Transcript... The post Seeking Wisdom for a Modern World: A Conversation with Leon Kass appeared first on AlbertMohler.com.

This installment of Audition features interviews with the following guests:-- Leon Kass, on the people who shaped his thinking on bioethics and the meaning of the human-- Bernard Lewis, on how Islamic antipathy toward the West has been simmering since the late 17th century-- Thomas de Zengotita, on how the proliferation of signs and messages aimed to encourage us to buy things affect us in other waysAlso featured is an excerpt from the essay, "Shop Class as Soulcraft," by Matthew B. Crawford.Each of these interviews is part of much longer MARS HILL AUDIO programs which are now available as MP3 downloads.Thanks for listening!

  We need things that spark inspiration. But one of our go-to spiritual practices has been sullied by harmful, fear- and compulsion-driven ways of interpreting what is written. Leon Kass, a professor of Great Books at University of Chicago, offers his approach, with much to recommend it. Cassie leads a time of meditation following the […]