Episodes
Tuesday Aug 25, 2020
Does Pursuing Justice Begin with Carrying Around the Emoluments Clause?
Tuesday Aug 25, 2020
Tuesday Aug 25, 2020
In the section of Deuteronomy customarily called "Shoftim" (which means both "Judges" and "Leaders"), we find the famous command that "Justice, Justice You Shall Pursue" but strangely without reference to the pursuit of social justice, community organizing, or even the personal awareness of victims. Instead it might mean that people in that position begin the process by focusing on the emoluments clause and their oath of office. What if our personal Torah, our personal scroll we carry around with us and occupy our minds with every day, was not the entire Torah but just our oath of office? What would this tell us about the Torah's message to healing ourselves and our society?
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
The Rabbinic Commentators focus on the fact that Deuteronomy frequently and repeatedly uses the word ach, brother, to describe the needy person who isn't related to you. Whereas earlier in Torah, we are told not to oppress the "poor" or "afflicted" person, Deuteronomy modifies this language by insisting that we must loan to these people because they must be seen as our "brothers and sisters." I don't see any reading possible other than that the Torah is focusing on the problem of redlining, of consciously or unconsciously avoiding loaning money to people who look different from the family of the loan officer. In 2020, the Trump Administration has proposed changing the anti "redlining" guideliness in ways that bypass the Torah's concern, as I explain here.
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
The Conquest of The Land and The Problematic of "Indigenousness"
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Recently Rabbi Andy Kahn and Comedian Seth Rogen broadcast loud statements that Jews have been lied to and that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Israel. On the heels of these statements, the Jewish people in 2020 are going through the lengthy portion of Deuteronomy conveying both a demand of conquest and a moral framework. Can we learn from what the Torah is saying? Is the term "indigenous" just another progressive bludgeon that can mean whatever the twitterer wants it to mean? In this podcast, I explore a way forward.