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58th Century Judaisms

58th Century Judaisms

Josh Weiner

I believe that the world we live in is understood through words. I believe the more words we have the more we can be in this world. I feel lucky to have inherited a 3,000-year old Jewish tradition of expressing the world in words, and try to be a bridge between the old texts and where people are at today.​​I don't have so many answers to the fundamental questions of existence. I don't try to convince people about anything. But I like learning, I like to facilitate Jewish discussions, I like to help people explore how to be a Jewish human.
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Top 10 58th Century Judaisms Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best 58th Century Judaisms episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to 58th Century Judaisms for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite 58th Century Judaisms episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

58th Century Judaisms - Bread and Matza

Bread and Matza

58th Century Judaisms

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05/02/22 • 18 min

Some post-Pesach thoughts.... if chametz is so bad, why does Jewish law require it? Why is chametz central to Shavuot, and to life? Rebbe Nachman gives us some clues.
*Sources can be found here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/33290?lang=bi
*More Torah thoughts on my site: 58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - New Faces

New Faces

58th Century Judaisms

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03/29/22 • 23 min

One text leads to another, faces are masks are words are invitations are interpretations. We go on a journey within Jewish law and lore, from wedding feasts to Purim costumes to heretical readings of the Torah.
You can find all the texts here, and maybe reading along will make the listening easier: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/395527?lang=bi
You can find more Torah thoughts on my website, 58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - Half-Human Walls

Half-Human Walls

58th Century Judaisms

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09/19/21 • 16 min

We go on a bizarre halachic excursion through the sources on Sukkah building - specifically exploring the seemingly strange law: the walls of a sukkah can be made out of a person, as long as they don't know it. Knowing and not-knowing seem to be intrinsic to what a sukkah is all about...
Listen to the podcast, and check out the full source-sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/348191?editor=1
Read and listen to more here, or get in touch to share your thoughts: https://58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - Beasts of Elul

Beasts of Elul

58th Century Judaisms

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08/13/21 • 15 min

Looking at the month of Elul as part of the wider framework of "days of judgement". Our model is a surprising detail in religious taxation, the "tithing of beasts". As usual, the deeper we explore the more peculiar it becomes, giving lots of food for thought.
You can see the sourcesheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/341120
Please be in touch with any thoughts or feedback! You can write to me through the website: 58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - Shmita Part Two: Celebrating Calendar Chaos
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10/20/21 • 25 min

Looking into the sources of the Jewish calendar, we find more confusion than clarity. Different rabbinic texts propose different shemita calculations, putting everything in doubt. This class looks at the confusion, and tries to find - not the truth, but what to learn from the process.
* You can find the sourcesheet with all the texts here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/353689?editor=1​
* A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/

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58th Century Judaisms - Shmita Part One: You Must Be Kind!
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10/05/21 • 21 min

It's (supposedly) the shemita year this year, the Sabbatical year, when the land rests and debts are cancelled. The deeper we look at the laws of debt release, though, the more paradoxes and contradictions we find, until we (maybe) uncover the root of all laws - to cease to exist as law at all.
Listen to the podcast, and check out the full source-sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/351301?editor=1
Read and listen to more here, or get in touch to share your thoughts: https://58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - Called by Desire : 'Objet Petit a' and Vayikra
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03/06/22 • 19 min

The introduction to Leviticus is strange: God calls Moses and only then speaks to him (what is the function of the calling? What does it mean to be called?) And the word for calling, 'Vayikra', is traditionally written with a little letter alef at the end.
You can read the sources I used here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/389441
Using the texts of Rashi, Jacques Lacan and Maimonides, we try and figure out the function of this 'objet petit a', this surplus of meaning that drives the desire to transcend the system of law. One of the ways that this desire manifests itself is by doing the right thing, without being able to articulate why.
Without the little alef, the word 'Vayikr' means something like randomness, happenchance. It's the randomness of Purim, of Amalek, of sometimes being safe and sometimes being attacked, without a narrative to make sense of it. One way of getting out of this raw random reality is by making up a story: if you keep the commandments you will be rewarded, etc. Another way is to celebrate the randomness, get drunk, destroy illusions and fake stories. But sometimes we are 'called' to something above the bare facts of existence, a calling to fulfillment that doesn't have words to explain itself.
* For more Torah-related thoughts, visit 58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - Wings of Desire: what is a 'cherub'?
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02/02/22 • 14 min

I dug into the sources and commentaries, trying to find out what a 'cherub' looks like.
Bull?
Bird?
Baby?
Two lovers?
Symbols of symbols of symbols...
* You can see the texts I used here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/380622?lang=bi
* You can see more Torah-related work of mine on 58thcentury.world

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58th Century Judaisms - When does Justice Begin?

When does Justice Begin?

58th Century Judaisms

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01/26/22 • 15 min

A Torah exploration. Were the basics laws of justice given at Sinai, or after the crossing of the sea, or during slavery in Egypt, or to Noah, or to Adam, or even before creation itself?
I'll tell you why I think it matters. The last two years have severely weakened the authority of law for many people. The constantly changing regulations, uncertainty, protests and cynicism has brought us to treat the question "What's the law today?" as normal. And although we are usually referring to Covid-related restrictions of gathering and movement, the effect is to bring law itself into question. Just reading the newspaper raises other questions of the connections between law and justice. In that light, I explored Jewish sources on where law begins, and how particular or universal it is.
You can find the sources I use here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/378908?lang=bi
* Welcome to find more torah-related podcasts here, or on my website 58thcentury.world
* Find micro-sermons on my blog 120torah.wordpress.com
* Listen to a weekly Torah thought in slow simple Hebrew at www.buzzsprout.com/1882545

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58th Century Judaisms - God Sneezes Too

God Sneezes Too

58th Century Judaisms

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12/12/21 • 22 min

What blessing could be appropriate for COVID vaccinations? Using a Talmudic text as a starting point, we look at some little-known blessings for medical procedures, at the correct response for a sneeze, the creation of sneezes, and the spirituality of the randomness of disease and healing. Prepare for confusion!
* You can find the sourcesheet, including a few sources I didn't cover in the recording, here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/368754
* A project of 58th Century Judaisms: https://www.58thcentury.world/

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FAQ

How many episodes does 58th Century Judaisms have?

58th Century Judaisms currently has 19 episodes available.

What topics does 58th Century Judaisms cover?

The podcast is about Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Jewish, Prayer, Podcasts, Philosophy, Religious and Judaism.

What is the most popular episode on 58th Century Judaisms?

The episode title 'Bread and Matza' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on 58th Century Judaisms?

The average episode length on 58th Century Judaisms is 19 minutes.

How often are episodes of 58th Century Judaisms released?

Episodes of 58th Century Judaisms are typically released every 14 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of 58th Century Judaisms?

The first episode of 58th Century Judaisms was released on Jul 6, 2021.

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