by Max Hollander
Posted on November 13, 2019
Kissing as a spiritual experience? In this episode, we explore a cryptic text of the Zohar about the deeper meaning of a kiss. If you would like to learn it yourself, check out Zohar 2:124B.…
by Max Hollander
Posted on October 30, 2019
What are the halakhic and emotional issues associated with infertility and the Jewish community? In this episode, we explore the question of fertility treatments and the mitzvah to procreate, and what allowances halakha makes for undergoing such treatments on Shabbat and the halakhic category that applies in this case (is the person sick?…
by Max Hollander
Posted on October 7, 2019
Meeting your Beshert (Soulmate) on Yom Kipper? We are kicking off the first mini-text episode of the season with a Mishnah in Taanit, which sheds some light on the nature of Yom Kipper with an interesting ancient custom that young, single, Jewish women performed in the times of the Gemara.…
by Max Hollander
Posted on September 23, 2019
With the High Holidays quickly approaching it is time for us to take stock of our year. How should we approach teshuva, repentance, when the misdeeds are complicated and we cannot be confident we will change our future behavior? Is Teshuvah out of the question?…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 15, 2019
These sources accompany the Matzah and Sex episode of the Joy of Text podcast. 1. Yerushalmi Pesahim 10:1 ירושלמי פסחים י’:א’ ר’ יודן נשייא סחה וצחא שאל לר’ מנא בגין דאתא צחי מהו נישתי. א”ל תני ר’ חייה אסור לאדם לטעום כלום עד שתחשך.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 20, 2019
These sources accompany the Cross-Dressing on Purim episode of the Joy of Text podcast. 1. Rema, Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayim 696:8 רמ”א, שו”ע אורח חיים תרצ”ו:ח’ ומה שנהגו ללבוש פרצופים בפורים, וגבר לובש שמלת אשה ואשה כלי גבר, אין איסור בדבר מאחר שאין מכוונין אלא לשמחה בעלמא; וכן בלבישת כלאים דרבנן.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
These sources accompany the hair covering episode of the Joy of Text podcast. A. Nature of Obligation The verse in Numbers {source 1} implies that women (perhaps specifically married women) would normally have their head covered. This point is made explicit from Sifrei {source 2}, which emphasizes the fact that this was a norm, and does not frame it as an obligation. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
These sources accompany the seduction episode of the Joy of Text podcast. 1. Shabbat, 140b בבלי מסכת שבת דף קמ עמוד ב אמר להו רב חסדא לבנתיה: תיהוי צניעתן באפי גברייכו, לא תיכלון נהמא באפי גברייכו, לא תיכלון ירקא בליליא, לא תיכלון תמרי בליליא, ולא תשתון שיכרא בליליא, ולא תיפנון היכא דמפני גברייכו.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
On the Season 3 Finale we interview a Jewish woman who made the decision to be a surrogate and carry a child for someone else, with the support of her husband and their three young children. Carrie and Jamie Bornstein share personally and poignantly about what it means to help another couple become parents, and how their kids and their community dealt with this new reality.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
In this episode, Dr. Marcus and Rabbi Linzer tackle female masturbation and interview Miryam Kabakov about Eshel, a group for LGBT Orthodox Jews. In the Q&A: is it permissible to talk “dirty?”This episode was recorded live at Limmud NY. These sources accompany the third episode of the Joy of Text podcast.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
IUDs, condoms, the pill, oh my! We break down the pros and cons of these and other common birth control methods and the halachic considerations that render some forms of contraception more acceptable than others. Then we hear from internationally renowned educator Rivkah Slonim, the Chabbad rebbetzin at SUNY Binghamton, about her three decades of teaching Jewish college students about sex and marriage.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2019
Cautionary tales from the Talmud illustrate the power of sexual temptation to lead even the most revered rabbis astray… But do these stories make too much of desire? Hosts Rabbi Dov Linzer and Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus and moderator Rebecca Honig Friedman discuss a passage from Kiddushin 81a-b.…
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