kashrut

Season 1 of Meaningful Judaism is ending, but before we go, we just have to share some extra Torah that didn’t make it into earlier episodes. There’s the beautiful idea about angels that got cut from our episode on tzitzit – but we’ve found some amazing new evidence, so we’re bringing it back! And then there’s the problem of fish and birds. They got left out of the episode on kosher animals, so how do they fit into our theory of why some animals are kosher and not others? Join Imu Shalev and Beth Lesch as they reveal the answers to these questions, reflect on the reactions to our first season, and look ahead to Season 2.

Have feedback for us? Want to suggest topics for Season 2? Let us know: info@alephbeta.org

Meaningful Judaism is a project of Aleph Beta Labs. Aleph Beta is a Torah media company dedicated to spreading the joy and love of meaningful Torah learning worldwide. For our full library of over 1,000 videos and podcasts, please visit www.alephbeta.org.

To support this podcast, subscribe to Aleph Beta.

It’s one of the most famous of the Torah's laws: no eating bacon! But is there any particular reason for this restriction? Why does God permit us to eat cow but forbid pig? In this episode, Imu Shalev and Beth Lesch look for clues in the Torah’s language and zoom in on something that’s easy to miss: The Torah never actually says "Pigs aren't kosher." Actually, the word “kosher” doesn't appear at all in the Chumash (the Five Books of Moses). The Torah uses an entirely different word to describe those animals which we are permitted to eat, a mysterious word that most people wouldn't associate with the topic of kashrut at all. Could it be a clue to the deeper meaning behind why the Torah allows us to eat certain animals and not others?

Meaningful Judaism is a project of Aleph Beta Labs. Aleph Beta is a Torah media company dedicated to spreading the joy and love of meaningful Torah learning worldwide. For our full library of over 1,000 videos and podcasts, please visit www.alephbeta.org.

To support this podcast, subscribe to Aleph Beta.

What’s meaningful about not mixing milk and meat? Observant Jews who follow the Torah know that cheeseburgers are forbidden… but do you ever stop to ask why? What’s the problem with adding a slice of cheese to your hamburger? Why is it so important to God that we abstain? Is it some kind of test, that God wants us to not eating certain yummy things to prove that we’re committed to the Torah? Is it that God wants to make it extra complicated to keep kosher, so Jews will be more likely to socialize only with others who also keep the Torah? Is it a law that has no reason at all? Is it none of the above?

Imu Shalev and Beth Lesch explore this aspect of the laws of keeping kosher, delving deep into the Torah verse that instructs us “not to cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk.” Weaving together textual analysis, personal reflection, and joyful conversation, they arrive at a surprising and beautiful theory about the meaning of this law. Come along on the journey with them, and come away with an energizing new perspective on what it means to keep kosher.

This episode is the second in a three-part series exploring the topic of kashrut. (Part 1 is “What’s Meaningful About Keeping Kosher?”) Stay tuned for a future episode on the distinction between kosher and non-kosher animals.

Meaningful Judaism is a project of Aleph Beta Labs. Aleph Beta is a Torah media company dedicated to spreading the joy and love of meaningful Torah learning worldwide. For our full library of over 1,000 videos and podcasts, please visit www.alephbeta.org.

To support this podcast, subscribe to Aleph Beta.

What’s meaningful about keeping kosher? In this premiere episode of Meaningful Judaism, a brand-new podcast from Aleph Beta Labs, Imu Shalev and Beth Lesch tackle the topic of kashrut, or keeping kosher, beginning by raising a fundamental question that you might not have thought to ask: Does the Torah want us to eat meat?

Yes, we know that no Jewish holiday table seems complete without the brisket. But does that mean that the Torah wants us to kill animals and eat them? Is it a spiritually laudable thing to do? The more, the better? Or does the Torah express a more complex, even ambivalent attitude on the topic?

In order to answer this question, Imu and Beth delve deep into the Torah verses that govern how we slaughter animals and uncover the surprising meaning behind them. Over the course of their conversation, they consider our relationship with animals and with the earth, ultimately offering two compelling ways of thinking about the ethics of eating animals. Don’t miss out on this thought-provoking journey that begins with a serious study of Torah text and shows its profound relevance in our modern lives.

Stay tuned for future episodes that explore other intriguing aspects of kashrut (the laws of keeping kosher), such as the prohibition of mixing milk and meat and the distinction between kosher and non-kosher animals.

Meaningful Judaism is a project of Aleph Beta Labs. Aleph Beta is a Torah media company dedicated to spreading the joy and love of meaningful Torah learning worldwide. For our full library of over 1,000 videos and podcasts, please visit www.alephbeta.org.

To support this podcast, subscribe to Aleph Beta.

Understanding the controversy regarding the Kashrut of veal through the development of Halacha and its practical complexities.

Jordana and Shannon are on summer break, so we are going back to the beginning and resharing our first-ever episode. Celebrity chef Einat Admony, whose restaurants include Balaboosta and Taim, dishes (see what we did there?) about morning orgasms, likens kids to farts (“You just like your own”), and opines about guilt.Got a story to share? Email us at callyourmother@kveller.com. We’re waiting to hear from you. Or leave us a voicemail at 908-248-4273.

Music:
"Voicemail" by Khronos Beats
"Libertad" by Eaters
"Red Hot Mama" by Sophie Tucker
"Best I Can" by Jasmine Jordan (ft. Habit Blcx)

Celebrity chef Einat Admony, whose restaurants include Balaboosta and Taim, dishes (see what we did there?) about morning orgasms, likens kids to farts (“You just like your own”), and opines about guilt. Plus, Jordana describes the ongoing battle with her “feral child” about actually stopping what she’s doing in order to pee.

Peter didn’t write much.

No surprise here. As you will hear in this week’s PODCAST, the hyperactive-apostle could not sit still long enough to put pen to parchment.

There is one of the four Gospels credited to Peter—but even that he could not write himself. Peter employed Mark to record his recollections. And no surprise that in reading what could-well be entitled, The Gospel According to Peter as Told to Mark, the one word that jumps out at us in Peter’s fast-paced, out-of-breath memoir is the adverb “immediately.” (Mark uses it 42 times).

All of which is to say that on the rare occasions when Peter did park himself at a desk to inscribe his insights (only twice—1 and 2 Peter!), we should sit up and take notice.

Case in point: 1 Peter 3:15. “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.”

Words, BTW, that define for us a biblical approach to personal evangelism—AKA witnessing, soul-winning, sharing your faith.

When they ask, we explain.

A principle that Peter learned, and learned well, here in Acts 10.

The asker—Cornelius. Explainer—Peter.

Problem was—and it’s a HUGE problem indeed—Cornelius was an unclean Gentile centurion living in the unclean pagan city-capital city of Roman occupation of Peter’s land. This was for Peter One.Huge.Problem on multiple spiritually-threatening, faith-testing levels.

In order to understand, I need to put you into Peter’s sandals. And in order to put you into Peter’s sandals, I need to alert you to what has historically been the Greatest.Single.Threat to Judaism, and BTW, to us.

Now, allow me to lay out dots, and then connect these dots.

This entire discussion centers around one divine injunction, repeated several times in the Torah.

Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.

God bless you richly as you listen.