Parsha in Progress (Tablet Magazine)

It’s one of the thorniest stories in the Bible—when Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah. How could God demand filicide as proof of faith? This week on “Parsha in Progress,” writer Abigail Pogrebin (author of My Jewish Year) and Rabbi Dov Linzer (head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah) take on the Binding of Isaac and how it tests us even now.

This week on Parsha in Progress: Parshat Vayeshev—Do Good Intentions Matter? Abby and Rabbi Dov discuss the story of Joseph and his brothers.  Their conversation explores how to assess the role of Reuven, who attempted to save Joseph from death by suggesting the brothers throw him in a pit, but ultimately could not keep him from being taken into slavery.

This week, Dov and Abby consider the five daughters of Zelophechad, who asked to be allowed to inherit their father’s land as daughters, and examine when pushing back on injustice reaps rewards.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss the strange features of the book of Deuteronomy, and the costs and benefits of retelling national stories

How do we understand biblical commands that seem cruel? This week, we discuss the Biblical response to physical ailments, focusing on the case of the "metzorah" who is diagnosed with a skin disease and then sent to live outside the community, isolated for seven days.

Are second chances always second best? This week, Dov and Abby consider the aftermath of the broken tablets, and how humans can be partners in our own destinies.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss the scapegoat who is sent to die for the sins of the people of Israel, and debate how the Torah can guide us in our own grappling with guilt and forgiveness. You can email us at parshainprogress@tabletmag.com Find out more at http://tabletmag.com/parshainprogress

This week, Dov and Abby look at the Bible’s practical guides for giving to those in need, and considers how different ways of giving manifest today. You can email us at parshainprogress@tabletmag.com Find out more at http://tabletmag.com/parshainprogress

Parsha in Progress is off this week, so instead we're introducing you to Take One, the new Daf Yomi podcast from Tablet Magazine hosted by Liel Leibovitz. As Jews around the world begin a new seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, reading the entire Talmud one page per day, Tablet Magazine's new podcast, Take One, will offer a brief and evocative daily read of the daf. We launch the cycle with a brief introduction to the Talmud at large before diving into the text with Tractate Berakhot, page 2, and a meditation on the meaning of time, why you might want to think twice before you Netflix and chill, and how all these rabbinic strictures can help us make sense of our modern, messy lives.

Parshat Vayechi: Are humans the instruments of God, or are we responsible for our own actions? This week, we’re discussing the moment when Joseph acknowledges the evil his brothers did to him while assuring them that God used their actions for good. 

This week, Dov and Abby discuss why Noah is considered worthy enough to be the last man standing and the FIRST human to restart humanity. Why did God gave up on his own creation so fast, and how can Noah be called “righteous” when he didn’t protect anyone but himself?  At a time in this country when there’s so much talk about meanness versus compassion, whether we are good or evil— born mean or taught—it’s an ideal moment to revisit Noah’s selfishness, God’s exasperation, and the massive do-over of creation. 

This week, Dov and Abby wonder what it would mean if we all had the potential to be an Abraham, and how the divine promise of Israel lives on in Israeli politics.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss kindness, cruelty, camels, and the trait they think every marriage requires.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss sibling rivalry, the pain of infertility, and whether or not Genesis would pass the Bechdel test.

This week, we consider the sacrifices that go alongside growth and renewal, and how the commandment to let the earth rest impacted Biblical society, with insights into how those same implications play out today.

This week, we return to Mount Sinai to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, and debate what it means to say that every day, Jews must recommit to the contract.

This week, we look through the seemingly endless lists of names, numbers, and detailed descriptions of camp formations in the desert, and ask why the Bible felt this information was so important for us to know. 

This week, we look at one of the Bible's most severe punishments, that of being "cut off" from the people, and consider what actions today might separate someone from the Jewish community.

This week, we look at the rebellion of Korach, who tried to oust Moses as leader by claiming he was no holier than the rest of the Israelites, and consider Moses' unique reaction.

This week, we consider whether one can ever take the law into their own hands, and the pitfalls of vigilante justice.

This week, we discuss whether it was a betrayal to make the Exodus generation die in the desert, and debate whether their sin of doubting the goodness of the land earlier in the Bible is similar to Jews hesitant to move to Israel today.

This week, we debate what it means to "not shut your heart" against the needy, and why compassion is no substitute for justice when it comes to righting social wrongs.

This week, we have a lot of questions and few answers as we read some of the Bible's more unsettling passages, and consider what we could learn from situations we hope never actually happen.

This week, we discuss the poetic insistence of the Bible that every Jew should be able to feel ownership over the Torah's message.

This week, we conclude the full cycle of parshas with a candid reflection on the end of the podcast, and a consideration of what makes poetry a powerful vehicle for divine messages.

This week we discuss leadership in action, looking at the early life of Moses and considering the challenges of cultivating fierce ideological commitment alongside a deep and personal concern for individuals. 

This week we delve into the Song of the Sea, the Biblical poem which celebrates the drowning of the Egyptians and the Israelite exodus from Egypt, and whose central message has been reinterpreted throughout centuries of Jewish history.

This week, we discuss the ten commandments and consider how this text became foundational to understanding the Jewish relationship to God.

This week, we discuss the importance of Mount Sinai in collective Jewish memory, and why Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, even though he led the people out of Egypt.

This week’s episode covering the parsha Vayishlach, opens a discussion into one of the most disturbing events in Genesis: the episode known as “the rape of Dinah.” Is this a straightforward example of sexual violence and the silencing of a female victim? Or, as some more modern commentators have suggested, is there a more complicated story of forbidden desire and individual agency lurking beneath the violent surface? Abby and Rabbi Dov discuss.

This week, we discuss Pharaoh's odd visions and why dream interpretation was such a hot Biblical qualification for leadership.

This week, we discuss why Joseph is the one who cries the hardest.

This week, we discuss the purpose of the Ten Plagues, and why God didn’t expedite the whole Exodus-from-Egypt thing.

This week, we discuss the final plague of Egypt, and the impulse to provide bad answers to good questions.

This week, Abby and Dov consider the biblical warning against pride and the importance of cultivating gratitude 

This week, Dov and Abby discuss the laws in the Bible regulating kingship, and what it means to be a moral leader.

This week, Dov and Abby consider the difference between requiring people to sacrifice their first fruits to God and requiring them to write out the Torah in public, as the Israelites prepare to enter the Land of Israel.

In this episode, Dov and Abby discuss the sin of the Golden Calf, and consider why the sin against God demanded such a harsh punishment.

In this episode, Dov and Abby discuss the commandment to offer animal sacrifices, and consider the spiritual possibilities and detriments of sacrificial worship. 

In this episode, Dov and Abby discuss the death of two sons of Aaron the High Priest, killed by divine fire for offering an unrequested "strange fire" on the altar, and consider why the zealous worship of God can often lead to death of people.

This week, Dov and Abby look at the list of punishments promised for violating God’s commandments, and question the value of religious activity motivated by fear

With Simchat Torah now behind us, it’s time to start a new cycle of reading the Torah and what better way than with a podcast. This week we start at the beginning with Bereshet, Hebrew for “in the beginning,” the story of creation. Or, should we say stories since the Torah actually contains more than one account of Adam and Eve as this inaugural episode of “Parsha in Progress” reveals.

This week, we ask who really counts as the stranger and whether the answer upends the idea of compassion.

This week we discuss the Bible's detailed descriptions of the High Priest vestments, and why clothing is such a powerful site of identity for many people.

This week we discuss why the Israelites so freely donated their time and money to build the Tabernacle, and whether volunteer work is best focused on one's community or those outside it.

This week, we discuss the eternal flame lit in the Temple, and whether the miracle of Jewish endurance is a good reason to stay Jewish.

This episode discusses how it can be more difficult to connect with God in synagogue than, say, nature (which is how Dov feels), but also how the beauty and community of a synagogue makes it easier for some to be spiritually connected (how Abby feels). They also talk about the communal importance of the act of building a spiritual place, and why the process of a community coming together in a religious project can be just as meaningful as the end result.

This week, Dov and Abby disagree over whether unethical Bible passages should be reinterpreted, or disregarded, in modern times.

This week, Dov and Abby consider whether reliance on divine miracles is risky or brave, by analyzing the different actions of the Israelite spies sent to investigate the land of Canaan.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss why exactly Moses was denied entry into the promised land, and whether he got enough recognition for his leadership.

This week, Dov and Abby discuss God's insistence that the people of Israel will go astray when they enter the Promised Land, and consider the role of free will in sin.

This week, Dov and Abby reflect on the last parsha of the Torah, and the concluding message of Moses and the verses.

For this week’s Torah portion, Toldot, we encounter the story of Isaac and Rebecca whose prayers are finally answered when, after 20 years of trying to conceive, Rebecca becomes pregnant with twins. But the trouble starts right away as Jacob and Esau struggle in the womb and a simmering conflict ensues between the brothers and their parents. Listen as writer Abigail Pogrebin (author of My Jewish Year) and Rabbi Dov Linzer (head of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah) try to work out whether ‘pulling the wool over someone’s eyes’ can ever really be a moral act.

This week we revisit the rituals of reentry, and how the metzorah (expelling the infected) feels cruel, but maybe—especially in light of today’s pandemic—it was prescient.

This week we argue about whether ethical acts are equal to ritual ones, and if it’s more admirable to act because God commanded it, or because it’s simply the right thing to do.