Twice Blest: Exploring Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible

Feb 21 2022 18

Welcome to Twice Blest, a podcast exploring Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible from the Yeshiva University Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. Hosted by Dr. Shaina Trapedo, Twice Blest brings you conversations with faith leaders, scholars, and writers that bridge the wisdom of Judaic and classical texts so we can live more informed and fulfilling intellectual and spiritual lives on an individual and communal level.

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"Remember me": Ghosts and the Afterlife in Hamlet and Rabbinic and Medieval Jewish Literature — With Dr. Susan Weissman

Feb 21 2022 68 mins

BONUS EPISODE: Shakespeare’s Hamlet opens with a seemingly straightforward question: “Who’s there?” Who’s there, indeed. The appearance of the ghost of his murdered father prompts Hamlet– and the play’s 16th-century audience– to grapple with a series of philosophical and theological questions relating to death and the afterlife. Does Purgatory exist? How does o

“I will better the instruction”: Sufferance and Vengeance in The Merchant of Venice and Jewish Thought — With Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerner

Sep 20 2021 42 mins

Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock as a cruel and vengeful Jew in the early 16th century gave rise to some of the most enduring racial stereotypes. He also gave Shylock depth and sympathetic qualities. In one of the most stirring speeches in all of Shakespeare, Shylock underscores his humanity, famously asking, “hath not a Jew eyes?” Yet the conclusion of that monologue requi

"That foul defacer of God’s handiwork": Bodies in the Hebrew Bible and Richard III — With Dr. Jeffrey R. Wilson

Aug 31 2021 40 mins

If, as we’re told in the Hebrew Bible, "God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good" (Genesis 1:31), how are we to understand physical imperfection? As "mistakes" by the divine? Manifestations of malfeasance? Or misinterpretations of creation? In this episode, Dr. Jeffrey R. Wilson explains the discourses of theology, physiognomy, and monstrosity that influenc

“The sin upon my head”: The Hebrew Bible in Shakespeare’s Henry V — With Professor Paul Cantor

Aug 24 2021 33 mins

Does religion dictate politics or does politics dictate religion? Is success achieved through strategy or spirituality? Should the king bear moral responsibility for his soldiers’ behavior in battle? Shakespeare shot to fame in the 1590s by tackling the critical questions of his day in dramas depicting the inner lives of medieval English monarchs. But he couldn’t have done it w

“The prop that doth sustain my house”: Jewish Women, Widowers, and Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice — With Dr. Chaya Sima Koenigsberg

Aug 17 2021 44 mins

Few literary characters have loomed as large and felt as "real" as Shakespeare’s Shylock. Though, as early 20th-century British Jewish historian Cecil Roth reminds us, he is a "sheer figment of Shakespeare’s imagination." Or was he? In this episode, Dr. Chaya Sima Koenigsberg illuminates Shakespeare’s (in)famous portrait of Shylock with her research on medieval Ashkenaz Jewry

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends”: Hamlet and Torah Tradition — With Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman

Aug 11 2021 32 mins

What is the relationship between values and action? How does one move forward when “time is out of joint”? In this episode, Yeshiva University President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman draws from his experiences as an educator, father, and academic leader to discuss the themes and human experiences central to Shakespeare’s Hamlet that complement and contrast similar stories from Torah t

“Speak what we feel”: Biblical Blessings and Beyond in Shakespeare’s King Lear — With Professor Julia Reinhard Lupton

Aug 11 2021 37 mins

What are blessings? Prayers? Protections? A performative act? In this episode, Professor Julia Reinhard Lupton, Shakespeare scholar and co-director of the UCI Shakespeare Center, rethinks the love gambit that opens King Lear as a battle of biblical prooftexts and tracks the presence and purpose of benediction in the play and beyond to reveal a cascade of blessings throughout Shakes

“His deputy anointed in His sight”: Kingship in Shakespeare and the Hebrew Bible — With Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik

Aug 11 2021 46 mins

How has the Hebrew Bible impacted the intellectual development of the West? How might a deeper understanding of Saul and David’s biblical narrative help us read Shakespeare’s meditations on the nature of kingship? In this episode, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, director of the YU’s Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, examines the legitimacy, majesty, and humility of mon

Introducing Twice Blest From the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought of Yeshiva University

Aug 02 2021 2 mins

Welcome to Twice Blest, a podcast from the Yeshiva University Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. Hosted by Dr. Shaina Trapedo, Twice Blest brings you conversations with faith leaders, scholars, and writers that bridge the wisdom of Judaic and classical texts so we can live more informed and fulfilling intellectual and spiritual lives on an individual and communal level. S