On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah
ReformJudaism.org
ReformJudaism.org
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah, a podcast presented by ReformJudaism.org. Each week, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union For Reform Judaism, will offer divrei Torah (insights into the weekly Torah portion) to help open up Jewish thought and its contemporary influence on your life. He condenses 2,000 years of Jewish wisdom into just 10 minutes of modern-day commentary. There are plenty of ways to interpret Torah and we want to hear what you think. You can weigh in on this week's Torah portion by talking to us on Twitter @URJ or at Facebook.com/reformjudaism.
Jun 15, 2020
After four years of bringing you a new episode nearly every week, this podcast is taking a little break. Listen to this episode to learn more about our hiatus and where to find us in the meantime.
Jun 8, 2020
Most of us today aren't tasked with wandering through the desert, like the ancient Israelites were... but we still find plenty to kvetch about! What if, instead of focusing on small annoyances, we turned to community-building and togetherness? This episode first aired in May 2018.
Jun 1, 2020
Parashat Naso, the longest of all the Torah portions, features a famous blessing – but what does it mean for us to bless one another? Is it a power reserved for clergy, or is it something any of us can do? In this episode, which first aired in May 2017, Rabbi Rick Jacobs talks about what kind of actions constitute a blessing and who, exactly, we have the ability to bless.
May 27, 2020
Chag Sameach and welcome to a special Shavuot edition of On the Other Hand! On this week's holiday episode, Rabbi Rick Jacobs talks about Ruth, her connection to this unique Jewish festival, and what her story of unity and bridge-building means for us as we celebrate Shavuot today.
May 25, 2020
Parashat Naso includes a passage about the sotah, the "errant woman" who is accused of adultery. It's a complex and problematic part of ancient Judaism, says Rabbi Rick Jacobs, so sometimes it's deliberately avoided. In this episode, though, which originally aired in June 2019, we deliberatly dive into figuring out what it means to us today.
May 18, 2020
The Torah commands us to take a census of the "whole Israelite community" – but who does the counting, and who, exactly, is counted? In this episode, which first aired in June 2019, Rabbi Rick Jacobs reflects on the Jewish community's chronic undercounting Jews of Color, as reported by a recent study. What does it mean to make equitable choices, and what will it take to truly count the entirety of our community?
May 11, 2020
How much do you care about the environment? Yourself? Other people? Rabbi Rick Jacobs talks about our fundamental responsibility to care for God's earth and attend to the neediest among us. It's not a newfangled, 21st-century idea; it's literally what our age-old biblical text calls for. So how do we do it? (This episode originally aired in May 2017.)
May 4, 2020
In ancient times, crimes of blasphemy were punished by stoning - but what does it really mean today to blaspheme? Rabbi Rick Jacobs explains the biblical prohibition against Chilul HaShem, desecrating God's name, and talks about what we are called to do to combat it. (This episode originally aired in May 2019.)
