Interleaved: A Talmudic Podcast

CW// Firsthand description of animal sacrifice Why is so much of Tractate Pesachim devoted to discussing the Korban Pesach, a ritual that most of the Sages never participated in? What does the modern Samaritan ritual look and feel like?Dr. Rachel...

What makes a korban, a Jewish ritual sacrifice, a korban? What does desire have to do with atonement?Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier is a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University and lecturer at the Bernard Revel Graduate School. He recently completed his PhD...

Where do our customs come from? Why were the rabbis so worried about preserving local custom?Rabbi Vanessa Ochs is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia where she teaches courses in Judaism, anthropology of...

When did horseradish become synonymous with maror? How does a botanical background enhance torah learning?Dr. Jon Greenberg is an educational consultant and teacher of science at the Heschel School in New York. He received his bachelor’s degree with...

An episode on Chanukah for the first chapter of a tractate all about Passover? Well, Chanukah doesn’t have its own tractate, and you deserve something fun before you spend 4 months learning everything about the official holiday of Jewish anxiety. So,...

With all of the technicalities and logistics involved in building and maintaining community Eruvin, it can be easy to overlook the humans who—expecting nothing in return—devote their time and energy to ensure everyone in their community can experience...

The Eruv is first and foremost a tool for community-building, but it’s easy to overlook the dividing line it creates between communities. How we can make our Eruvin less like fortresses and more like open-sided tents? What can the Talmud teach us about...

How on Earth does one curate a wildly popular museum exhibit about Eruv, one of the most technical topics in Jewish law? How is a museum exhibit like a page of Talmud?Zachary Paul Levine curated the exhibition “It’s a Thin Line: The Eruv and Jewish...

Who was Beruriah, the only woman whose halakhic opinion is recorded in the Talmud? What does her Torah mean for women Torah scholars today?Avigayil Halpern is entering her second year of study for rabbinic ordination at the Hadar Institute's Advanced...

In what ways is the Talmud like a building? How can a bunch of poles and wires—the Eruv—create a spiritual community?Dr. Mitchell Schwarzer is a historian of architecture who writes and teaches about urban and suburban built environments. He is...

Hadran Alach Mesechet Shabbat! At times this tractate felt like an arduous journey so in celebration of its completion we asked you, our listeners, about your journeys. Specifically, journeys like the one mentioned in the first mishnah in the last...

CW: death/dying. What was it like to die during the time of the Talmud? Did the Sages really believe that the body of the deceased has a life of its own? Dr. David Kraemer is a Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary, where...

Why is the Talmud’s primary discussion of Brit Milah found in the 19th chapter of Shabbat, of all places? How should we understand this ancient ritual in light of modern medicine, values, and conceptions of gender?Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence is a teacher and...

Can a single thread really change a whole fabric? How does a loom actually work?Anita Rabinoff Goldman is a textile artist who specializes in quilts based in Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of the University at Albany, with a degree in Art and Art...

How has safrut, the sacred craft of Jewish calligraphy, changed since the days of the Talmud? Why does it have such a rarefied air about it today?Jen Taylor Friedman is a soferet, a Jewish scribe, scholar, and educator. She is believed to be the first...

What does the Talmud think about prosthetic limbs? What would it think if it were written in 2020?Tziona Zellis is a certified occupational therapist assistant and tutor in Brooklyn, NY. Following a car accident and more than 20 surgeries, Tziona’s...

Does the Talmud dream? The final chapter of Berakhot dives into the Talmudic unconscious, delving into dreams, interpretations, and what it all means.Dr. Cheryl Goldstein is a practicing relational psychoanalyst and faculty member of the Institute of...

Why does an ancient article of clothing share a name with a heinous act of violence? Can one wear an ankle monitor on Shabbat in a coronavirus surveillance state? Explore these and other questions of Talmudic attire in the sixth chapter of Shabbat.Annie...

What, and how, did people cook in the times of the Talmud? What is Haroset, and why are there so many ways to make it?Dr. Susan Weingarten is an archaeologist and historian. As a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv...

In the midst of a global pandemic and widespread quarantine―when every day seems like Shabbat―how do we preserve the sanctity of our cherished sanctuary in time and space? Zackary Sholem Berger, MD, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Johns Hopkins...

What’s it like to be a Jewish farmer in 2020, and how can living off the Earth teach us to make better blessings on our food?Janna Siller is the Farm Director at Adamah Farm in Falls Village, and represents the Jewish non-profit Hazon as a member of the...

The first tractate of the Talmud, Berakhot, talks a lot about time. The time to pray the twice-daily Keriat Shema, the time one has to recite Grace After Meals, even the split-second of time that God gets angry every day. How did the rabbis of the Talmud understand how time works, and how does our modern understanding of time change how we think about the laws they wrote? Shalom Hartman Institute fellow and recent Jewish Studies Ph.D. David Zvi Kalman joins us on our inaugural episode to teach us about the history of Jewish timekeeping. Did the rabbis really understand time? Can we understand time as perfectly as God does? What is "Jewish time", anyway? All this and more; ta shma--come listen!