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Dr Noam Cohen uncovers the fascinating link between the background to Isaac's birth and the Ugaritic text of the Aqhat Epic. 

Dr. Noam Cohen is Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. He received his PhD from NYU, with a dissertation examining portrayals of spousal violence in the Hebrew Bible and other ancient West Asian texts.

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Due to several requests we are extending this series of audios featuring Rabbi Jacobs, from 2005 recordings. All are also avaialable with video by visiting www.booksof.louisjacobs.org. A free months subscription is available.

Rabbi Louis Jacobs reflects in this video upon his past appointments, starting from his early steps as assistant Rabbi in Eli Munk’s Beit Midrash in Golders Green, and concluding with the creation of the New London synagogue and the instigation of the Masorti movement. He offers intimate descriptions of his experience in these communities, each time contemplating the religious outlook of their respective congregants and the various initiatives he undertook to further their development.

He takes the opportunity to offer some insights on what he refers to as minhag Angliya, or more simply, the traditional religious outlook of English Jews. The civility and intellectual integrity which, in his view, characterizes Anglo-Jewry, was lost over the past decades to a more haredi-influenced notion of hashkafah. Rabbi Jacobs debases this shift as ‘inauthentic’, and claims that it was with the intention of upholding the traditional religious outlook of British Jewry that he established the New London synagogue.

Finally, Louis Jacobs offers some insights on recent infighting within the English-Jewish community. He expresses certain reservations concerning the ideology professed by the Masorti movement, and in a similar vein, justifies his opposition to the Stanmore Accords, proclaiming that there is no use of holding back criticism in situations of ideological conflict.

The recording is followed by a short extract on mysticism, in which Rabbi Jacobs offers some reflections on the role of mysticism in contemporary Judaism. He puts forward his belief in the continued relevance of mystical and kabbalistic Jewish sources, each representing forms of expression of the ineffable. He debases, on the other hand, ‘Pop Kabbalah’, or the attraction to mystical excitement or ecstasy professed by a large number of individuals today (including Madonna, Barbara Streisand, or Mick Jager), arguing that such views are based on superstition, and come out as quaint.

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This very recently discovered audio tape has just been digitized. This lecture, although spoken almost 50 years  ago is an important contribution to the debate on Zionism. Simon Eder, Education Director of The Louis Jacobs Foundation  introduces the talk:-

Replacing this weeks podcast, we share a recording from Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs z"l in 1981. Speaking at a rabbinic conference in Israel, he sets out clearly how a Masorti approach to Zionism differs from Religious Zionism, and yet, with no less passion, or dedication to the sanctity of the land and what our commitment to the State of Israel should entail. As we grapple today, with what the future of Zionism should mean, his words, then are just as relevant for us now. 

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Rabbi Daniel Nevins explores the legacies of Jacob and Joseph and shares an important overarching lesson from the book of Genesis. 

Rabbi Danny Nevins is dedicated to exploring the sacred realm of Torah and its intersection with contemporary ethics, culture, and technology. Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Nevins was named Head of School of Golda Och Academy in 2021, dedicating himself to support the faculty and students in the creation of an outstanding and warm Jewish learning environment. Previously, he worked at The Jewish Theological Seminary as the Pearl Resnick Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership. He writes responsa on topics of contemporary halakhah, essays, prayers, and Torah commentaries, many of which can be viewed on his website - rabbinevins.com. 

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Simon Eder explores the way in which again and again Joseph connects the dots.

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Professor Naomi Graetz discusses Asnath, the mysterious wife of Joseph.

Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder (Beersheva: Shiluv Press, 2004), S/He Created Them: Feminist Retellings of Biblical Stories (Professional Press, 1993; second edition Gorgias Press, 2003), and Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating (Jason Aronson, 1998).

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Abraham Joshua Heschel was perhaps the most influential figure in Jewish thought over the last century. Born in 1907, he grew up in Warsaw amongst Polish Hasidim and indeed was descended Rabbinic luminaries on both sides. He was though perhaps always happiest at the nexus between the sacred and the secular. Heschel studied philosophy and Biblical criticism in Berlin before becoming a pivotal figure in America, where he galvanized the Jewish and non-Jewish world alike on issues of social justice. His Judaism was at once profoundly rooted in tradition and simultaneously subversive of the status quo. His theological commitments  always undergirded his courageous, outspoken efforts on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement, his protests against the war in Vietnam, and his work to improve Jewish and Christian relations following the Shoah. His output was of course prolific with works such as The Sabbath, The Prophets and God in Search of Man.

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Rabbi Shimon Felix discusses some of the key themes that we encounter in the Joseph story and shares their relevance for today. 


Rabbi Shimon Felix is the Executive Director Emeritus of the program. He was born in New York, and has lived in Jerusalem since 1973. Rabbi Felix has been associated with The Bronfman Fellowship since 1991. He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Hamivtar, where he served as educational director. Rabbi Felix has worked in a wide variety of educational programs including Michelelet Bruria, the Israeli school system and Yakar. He headed The Jewish Agency’s Bureau for Cultural Services to Communities and also served as assistant to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. He is the Director of Re: IL Regarding Israel.

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Professor Naomi Graetz discusses the rape of Dinah in light of both favourable and negative views of welcoming outsiders into the tradition. 

Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder (Beersheva: Shiluv Press, 2004), S/He Created Them: Feminist Retellings of Biblical Stories (Professional Press, 1993; second edition Gorgias Press, 2003), and Silence is Deadly: Judaism Confronts Wifebeating (Jason Aronson, 1998). Her current areas of interest are: teaching Jewish Sources about trafficking and workshops teaching women to study and engage in writing Midrash. She writes a weekly blog at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/naomi-graetz/. 

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Rabbi Samuel Klein discusses the parallels between Jacob's first encounter with Rachel and Marina Abromivic's performance at MOMA in 2010 entitled: ''The Artist is Present''.

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Rabbi Samuel Klein is Director of Jewish Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Samuel was Chief Jewish Officer of the Jewish Community Center San Francisco and Executive Director of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre, Montreal. He holds Masters degrees in Theology from Cambridge University and History of Art from University College London and trained as a teaching artist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

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Anthony Julius deconstructs the character of Abraham and hints at the unique challenge that he poses to our own Jewish identity today. 

Anthony Julius holds the chair in Law and Arts at UCL and is also the Deputy Chair of Mishcon de Reya. His publications include T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form and Trials of the Diaspora A History of Anti-Semitism in England. 

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Reuven Firestone explores Avraham's reconciliation with Ishmael in the Jewish and Muslim traditions. 

Prof. Rabbi Reuven Firestone is the Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he earned his M.A. and his rabbinic ordination, while his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies is from New York University. Firestone is the author of Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham Ishmael Legends in Islamic Exegesis (SUNY, 1990), Jihad. The Origin of Holy War in Islam (Oxford, 1999), Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Judaism for Muslims (Ktav, 2001), Trialogue: Jews, Christians, Muslims in Dialogue: A Practical Handbook (Twenty-Third Publications, 2007), Who are the Real Chosen People? The Meaning of Chosenness in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Skylight Paths, 2008), An Introduction to Islam for Jews (JPS, 2008), Learned Ignorance: An Investigation into Humility in Interreligious Dialogue between Christians, Muslims and Jews (Oxford , 2011), Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea (Oxford, 2012).

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Dr Eve Levavi Feinstein discusses the uniqueness of the sexual prohibitions outlined in Leviticus 18 and 20. 

Dr. Eve Levavi Feinstein holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. Her dissertation, Sexual Pollution in the Hebrew Bible (Oxford University Press), explores the Bible’s use of purity and contamination language to describe sexual relationships. She has also written articles for Jewish Ideas Daily and Vetus Testamentum. 

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Dr Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh asks whether Isaac is really Abraham's son and argues that he was in fact sacrificed. 

Rabbi Dr. Tzemah Yoreh, leader of The City Congregation, is one the intellectual leaders of Jewish humanism. He has been a student of the Bible since his earliest days, winning the Diaspora Division of the International Bible Contest in childhood. He attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he obtained his Ph.D. in biblical criticism in record time. He earned a second Ph.D. in Ancient Wisdom Literature at the University of Toronto for the joy of studying ancient text.

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Professor Christoph Levin argues that the character of Abraham prefigures key elements of the Exodus narrative. 

Professor Christoph Levin is Professor (Emeritus) of Old Testament at the University of Munich. He received his Ph.D. and Dr.habil. from Goettingen university, as well as a honorary degree from Helsinki university. Two of his books have been translated into English, Re-reading the Scriptures: Essays on the Literary History of the Old Testament (2015), The Old Testament: A Brief Introduction (2005). 

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Professor Ronald Hendel explores the multiple meanings of the Tower of Babel story and its relevance for today. 

Professor Ronald Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Biblical History and Northwest Semitic Philology and is author of many articles and books, including recently The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013). He is the general editor of The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition, a text-critical project sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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Prof Rav Rachel Adelman compares the blessings of Moses with those of Jacob in Genesis.

Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College. She holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009) and The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix, 2015). Prof Adelman is now working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press)

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Rabbi Zohar Atkins acts as the Defence Attorney for Cain and explains why the Cain and Abel story is far more complicated than we might first initially think. 

Zohar Atkins is is the Founder of Etz Hasadeh, a Center for Existential Torah. He is a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.
He holds a DPhil in Theology from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and semikha from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He received both an MA and BA from Brown University. In 2016, The Jewish Week named him one of the “36 under 36 Changemakers in Jewish Life.”

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Dr Gili Kugler asks whether the Exodus generation entered the land or died in the wilderness. 

Dr. Gili Kugler is a Senior Lecturer of Biblical Studies in the University of Haifa. Until recently she was a lecturer in Biblical Studies and Classical Hebrew at the University of Sydney. She holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and teaches and writes about topics such as chosenness in biblical theology, religion and politics in prophecy, and biblical narratives and mythology in light of modern psychology. She is the author of several articles as well as the book When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People: Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move (De Gruyter, 2019).

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Dr. Rabbi Michael Marmur is Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Hebrew University and a B.A. from Oxford. He is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Sources of Wonder, and his most recent publication is American Jewish Thought Since 1934: Writings on Identity, Engagement and Belief, co-edited with David Ellenson (Brandeis 2020).

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Zvi Koenigsberg shares just what and where the Gilgal is. 

Zvi Koenigsberg is the author of The Lost Temple of Israel. He spent almost a decade studying archaeology and the Bible under the informal mentorship of the late president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Professor Benjamin Mazar, who excavated the Western Wall. Koenigsberg worked with Professor Adam Zertal of Haifa University at the Mount Ebal excavations, which are the subject of this book.

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Chazan Jaclyn Chernett explores the meaning of Selichot and shares some of the wonderful melodies for the High Holy Days ahead!

Chazan Jaclyn Chernett is a founder member of Kol Nefesh Masorti, as well as a founder of Masorti Judaism in the UK, and the first woman in the UK to be ordained as a Chazan. A love of Jewish teaching and its expression through the music of the liturgy has been Jacky’s passion over many years, and led her on an inspiring Jewish journey of learning and teaching. She received her semichah as a chazan in 2006. In 2007, Jacky set up the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy), which provides competent lay individuals and groups with dedicated professional coaching and mentoring in leadership of Jewish prayer. 

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Dr Rabbi David Freidenreich discusses what the dietary laws teach us about holiness. 

Dr. Rabbi David M. Freidenreich is the Pulver Family Professor of Jewish Studies at Colby College. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of the award-winning book, Foreigners and Their Food: Constructing Otherness in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Law.

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Kristine Henriksen Garroway was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Bible at the HUC-JIR's Skirball Campus in Los Angeles in 2011. She received her doctorate in Hebrew Bible and Cognate Studies at the HUC-JIR/Cincinnati in 2009. She has spent time studying and researching in Israel and has participated in excavations at Ashkelon, Tel Dor, and Tel Dan.Garroway’s scholarship focuses on children using archaeology and texts of ancient Israel and Mesopotamia. She has published in various scholarly journals, and is a regular contributor to thetorah.com. Garroway’s books include: Children in the Ancient Near Eastern Household (Eisenbrauns 2014) and Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts (Society of Biblical Literature 2018), and The Cult of the Child: the Death and Burial of Children in Ancient Israel (Oxford, forthcoming). She is the recipient of the Biblical Archaeological Society’s 2019 Publication Award for Best Book Relating to Hebrew Bible.

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Professor Mark Leuchter’s field of research is ancient Judaism. His work includes the study of mythology in ancient Israel and Second Temple Judaism, the phenomenon of prophecy in the ancient near east, the formation of the Hebrew Bible, and the history of the Israelite priesthood. He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2003 and currently serves as director of Jewish Studies. He has previously served as coordinator of Biblical Studies at University of Sydney (Australia) and Visiting Professor of Hebrew Bible at University of Pennsylvania.

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Zvi Koenigsberg shares what light archaeology can cast when seeking to understand the whereabouts of ''The place that God will choose.''(Deut 12:5)

Zvi Koenigsberg is the author of The Lost Temple of Israel. He spent almost a decade studying archaeology and the Bible under the informal mentorship of the late president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Professor Benjamin Mazar, who excavated the Western Wall. Koenigsberg worked with Professor Adam Zertal of Haifa University at the Mount Ebal excavations, which are the subject of this book.

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Professor Gary Rendsburg discusses God's central promise of rain, grain and grass which lies at the heart of the second paragraph of the Shema. 

Professor Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His Ph.D. and M.A. are from N.Y.U. Rendsburg is the author of seven books and about 190 articles; his most recent book is How the Bible Is Written.

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Rabbi Daniel Zucker asks in what way is God One? He also explores how interpretation of the opening line of the Shema has changed throughout the ages?

Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker, D.D. is the rabbi of Temple Hatikvah (Flanders, NJ) and President and CEO of Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East. He holds an M.A. in Hebrew Letters, a Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) from JTS, and rabbinic ordination from HUC-JIR. A sampling of Zucker’s many articles on the Middle-East can be found on his blog.

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Rabbi Shoshana Cohen uncovers some of the key trends towards secularisation that we encounter with the Deuteronomist authors and find throughout the Book of Devarim.

Rabbi Shoshana Cohen is SHI Senior Faculty and Director of Campus Engagement for the Hevruta Gap-Year Program. In this role she serves as a faculty member, teacher, and mentor for North American gap-year students studying in Israel, prepares them for Jewish life in college, and supports them after they return to their campuses in North America. She was also a member of Cohort II of the Created Equal Fellowship. Prior to coming to Hartman Shoshana was a senior faculty member at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem for over a decade where she taught Talmud, Midrash and Gender Studies. She has served as scholar-in-residence in communities across the US.

Shoshana was the educational director of ATZUM’s Takum, a social justice beit midrash housed at the CY. She has completed advanced studies at Hebrew University, Matan and the Hartman Institute and has rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes. She is a founding member of Reshut haRabim, the Jerusalem Forum for Jewish Renewal Organizations. Lecturing in Hebrew and in English she has been on the faculty of the Drisha Institute, the Hartman Girl’s High School, Yeshivat Talpiot, and Yeshivat Hadar. 

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Rabbi Bradley Artson discusses the role of intention in creating new reality that both Mattot and Massei speak to in a number of important ways. 

Rabbi Bradley Artson is one of the leading voices in Conservative Judaism. Author, speaker, and the occupant of the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, where he is Vice-President. He is also Dean of the Zacharias Frankel College at the University of Potsdam in Germany, ordaining Conservative/Masorti rabbis for Europe.

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Professor Shawna Dolansky takes an historical-geographical approach to the daughters of Zelophehad. 

Professor Dolansky is Associate Professor of Religion and Humanities at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. She specialises in Biblical Studies, with a focus on the history and religions of Israel and the ancient Near East and the development of the Hebrew Bible.  Her research incorporates the tools of literary criticism, comparative religion, historical study, anthropology, archaeology, political science and classics in order to understand the worlds of the original authors and audiences of the biblical texts, and the subsequent development of Judaism and Christianity out of ancient Israelite religious beliefs and practices.

Professor Dolansky is the author of Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Biblical Perspectives on the Relationship Between Magic and Religion and co-author with Richard E. Friedman of The Bible Now.

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Professor Rabbi Joshua Garroway discusses Balaam as the prototypical Gentile seducer. 

Professor Rabbi Joshua Garroway is the Sol and Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. He holds a Ph.D. from the Religious Studies Department at Yale and ordination from HUC-JIR in Cincinnati. He is the author of, The Beginning of the Gospel: Paul, Philippi, and the Origins of Christianity.

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Professor Rabbi David Frankel shares his novel thesis that interwoven into the Merivah story are the missing opening verses of the non-Priestly spies story. 

Professor Rabbi David Frankel is Associate Professor of Bible at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where he teaches M.A. and rabbinical students. He did his Ph.D. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of Prof. Moshe Weinfeld, and is the author or The Murmuring Stories of the Priestly School (VTSupp 89) and The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel (Eisenbrauns).

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Dr Yitzhaq Feder uncovers the parallels between The skin disease Tzaraat in Leviticus and literature of the Ancient Near East.
 
Yitzhaq Feder is a lecturer in the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa and tel aviv His research synthesizes the traditional philological study of ancient texts with the cognitive science of religions. He has conducted research on purity and pollution in the Ancient Near East, the Hebrew Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and has examined how this work can be applied to psychological and evolutionary theory. His most recent research focuses on biblical notions of taboo and their implications for understanding the relationship between emotion and morality. His latest book, Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible: From Embodied Experience to Moral Metaphor, won the best book on the Hebrew Biblice from the Biblical Archaeology Society in 2023. 

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Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove explores the lessons of leadership that may be drawn from Korach. 

Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999, Rabbi Cosgrove earned his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His dissertation on Rabbi Louis Jacobs, a leading Anglo-Jewish theologian of the 20th century, reflects his passion for the intersection of Jewish scholarship and faith. Rabbi Cosgrove is the author of twelve collections of selected sermons, In the Beginning (2009), An Everlasting Covenant (2010), Go Forth! (2011), Hineni (2012), A Place to Lodge (2013), Living Waters (2014), Stairway to Heaven (2015), Rise Up! (2016), A Coat of Many Colors (2017), Provisions for the Way (2018), Tree of Life (2019), and Bring Them Close (2020). He is the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time: A New Generation Explores the Foundations and Future of Jewish Belief. His essays and op-eds appear frequently in a variety of Jewish publications, including The Jewish Week and the Forward.

Under Rabbi Cosgrove’s leadership, Park Avenue Synagogue seeks to inspire, educate, and support its membership toward living passion-filled Jewish lives. The rabbi aspires to make Park Avenue Synagogue a beit tefillah, a beit midrash, and a beit knesset – a house of prayer, learning, and gathering – and a kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation, where national Jewish conversations are lived.

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Dr Rachel Havrelock shares a critical reading of the scout story.

Dr. Rachel Havrelock is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and English at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Rachel’s book, River Jordan: The Mythology of a Dividing Line combines biblical studies, literary and political theory, and the politics of interpretation. Rachel’s current book project, The Joshua Generation: Politics and the Promised Land, focuses on the structure and meaning of the book of Joshua and its interpretation. Her co-authored book, Women on the Biblical Road, was the beginning of her work on gender and the Bible.

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Rabbi Daniel Silverstein explores Beha'alotcha from the lens of Chassidic Masters. 

Rabbi Daniel Silverstein directs, and teaches through, an online learning platform called Applied Jewish Spirituality. He also teaches at the Romemu Yeshiva, the Conservative Yeshiva and My Jewish Learning.

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Celebrating our 3,000th listenings, Simon Eder uncovers some of the many meanings behind the blessing perhaps more etched on the Jewish imagination - the Priestly Blessing!

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Rav Professor Rachel Adelman discusses the blessings and the curses at the end of the Book of Leviticus. 

Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College. She holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009) and The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix, 2015). Prof Adelman is now working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press)

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Professor Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His Ph.D. and M.A. are from N.Y.U. Rendsburg is the author of seven books and about 190 articles; his most recent book is How the Bible Is Written.

Professor Gary Rendsburg discusses Mary Douglas' proposal for the literary construction of Leviticus as a tabernacle. 

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Jeremy Tabick addresses the ableism of the laws of kohanim and how that interacts with the divinity of the Torah.


Jeremy Tabick is the Content Manager and faculty at Hadar, where he teaches, curates, and edits Hadar's content—both online and in print—and Project Zug courses. Jeremy is also pursuing a PhD in Talmud at JTS. He graduated from the University of Manchester (in the UK) with a Masters in Physics, and is an alumnus of Yeshivat Hadar and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He is a member of the Steering Team of Kehilat Hadar.

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Professor Israel Knohl discusses the innovation of the Holiness School and its introduction of ethical principles into the concept of Holiness. 

Prof. Israel Knohl is the Yehezkel Kaufmann Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Bible from Hebrew University. Knohl’s numerous publications include: The Sanctuary of Silence, which won the Z. Shkopp Prize for Biblical Studies and The Messiah before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh discusses the laws concerning the scapegoat and their possible application for our times. 

Dr Charles Middleburgh is founder rabbi of Congregation Shir HaTzaphon in Copenhagen and Dean and Director of Jewish Studies at the Leo Baeck College in London. Rabbi Middleburgh has lectured at Leo Baeck College since 1984 and has taught, over the years, Bible, Parshanut, Rabbinic Literature, Aramaic and Practical Rabbinics. He is now Reader in Bible and Liturgy.

Rabbi Middleburgh has a BA Hons in Ancient and Medieval Hebrew with Aramaic and Syriac and a PhD in Targumic Studies from UCL.

His publications include: Siddur Lev Chadash (assoc Editor); Machzor Ruach Chadashah (Co-Editor); High and Holy Days: A Book of Jewish Wisdom (Co-Editor) 2010; A Jewish Book of Comfort Co-Editor 2014; Prayers of Awe, 2010 – 2016 (contributor); Bright and Beautiful: Poems inspired by the Natural World (2015)

His research interests are Liturgy, Animal Iconography in illuminated medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Islamist Fundamentalism and Afghanistan.

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Professor Berel Dov Lerner considers the commentary of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk on the breaking of the Tablets. 

Berel Dov Lerner is currently an associate professor of philosophy at the Western Galilee College in Akko. He is the author of many articles in philosophy and Jewish studies and of the book Rules, Magic, and Instrumental Reason (Routledge 2002). His latest book is Human-Divine Interactions in Hebrew Scriptures Covenants and Cross-Purposes (Routledge 2024).

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Andrew Levy shares his own passion for the Song of Songs and its uniqueness within the Bible.

Andrew Levy is a senior lecturer in Law at BPP. He is a founder member of New North London's ASIF community. . He has been interested in Jewish texts for many years and is author of Love in the Time of Tyranny, A new perspective on the Song of Songs. 

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Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffat discusses how the Seder replicates the very paradigm of the Greek symposium and shares what makes it so relevant in every generation.  

Adam Zagoria-Moffet is the rabbi of St. Albans Masorti Synagogue. He was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where he also received an MA in Jewish Thought, studying the political philosophy of Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag (Ba’al haSulam). He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in Minnesota, New York, and Israel before moving to the UK. He co-edited the first Hebrew/English egalitarian Sepharadi siddur and runs the independent publisher Izzun Books. He often teaches about Sepharadi halakhah and culture as well as mysticism, mythology and ethics.

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Professor Rav Rachel Adelman takes us on a journey through the Haggadah reflecting on some important themes for contemporary times. In conversation with Simon Eder.

Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College. She holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009) and The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix, 2015). Prof Adelman is now working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press).