In a time when many feel alienated from traditional Jewish spaces, this series serves as a spiritual home for listeners who seek to connect Jewish ancestral feminist wisdom with our own svara (moral intuition). This limited series podcast offers a radical, fresh path to engage with Judaism to help us navigate the spiritual wilderness we encounter in our communal and personal lives.  Start your year with your heart tuned to “Survival Guide for Spiritual Wilderness: The Torah of Miriam” with inspirational stories, modern Jewish philosophy, ancient Jewish wisdom, Goddexx, and meditative exercises that we can integrate into our daily lives. 

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

1. The idea that Miriam has unique Torah to teach us is rooted in a passage in the Zohar (Shlach 12:116) that describes Miriam’s celestial yeshiva in which people learn the workings of the universe.
2. The lineage of Miriam is established in Exodus 1:21
3. The quote from Reb Zalman comes from Pnai Or Wisdom School can be found here,  with gratitude to Seth Fishman.
4. The Sufi song you heard can be found here.
5. The idea that Mitzrayim refers to a narrow place can be found in the Recanti on Vayigash.
6. We don’t actually know the economic breakdown of the ancient land of Egypt. This data reflects the economics of a similarly modern narrow place—America in the early twenty first century.
7. The chief ob/gyn is identified in the Hebrew Bible as Shifrah and her apprentice Puah. The medieval commentator Rashi (Rashi Exodus 1:15), picking up on a Talmudic idea (Sotah 11b), affirms the longstanding Jewish tradition that these are in fact Yocheved and Miriam.
8. The Hebrew word for Yocheved’s job is “miyaledet haivrit” which is usually translated as midwife of the Hebrews. Misogyny can cause us to devalue jobs traditionally held by women, so I prefer the gender neutral chief ob/gyn to better convey the role.
9. “Visions of Amram” is an ancient document discovered in the caves of Qumron that describe Amram’s shamanic visions. More here https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/13143/1/fulltext.pdf
10. The sacred text of Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:15:2 describes one of the surveillance systems created to find Ivri babies.
11. The story of Yocheved and Amram separating and Miriam, their daughter, challenging them can be found in the Talmud, Sotah 12a:11
12. The Ani Maamin prayer of faith in liberation is based on the 12th of Maimonides 13 Principles of Faith.
13. You can find more information on the Ani Maamin sung in cattle cars here.
14. The specific Ani Maamin song you heard can be found here.
15. The literal view of moshiach, a savior, on a calico donkey is described in the Talmud in Sanhedrin 98a:14.
16. I learned of Reb Zalman’s idea of Moshiachtzeit from my teacher, Reb Zalman’s student, Rabbi Victor Gross.
17. The notion that the right hand is connected to compassion, left hand strength can be found in Zohar Bereishit 15:173
18. To learn more Torah with Rabbi Jericho, find them on Substack at Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness or on Instagram @thealef or join them for a Temple of the Stranger ceremony.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

1. You can learn more about Rabbi Jericho’s experience leaving ultra-Orthodoxy in their memoir Cut Me Loose, under their old name, Leah Vincent.
2. Reb Zalman on spiritual vitamins here. With gratitude to Seth Fishman.
3. The Zohar on the sacred encased in harm can be found in Pekudei 26:248 
4. One of many examples of a mystic reading the Torah archetypically can be found in this teaching by the mystical master Rabbi Shefa Gold.
5. The story of Miriam sitting by the side of the river can be found in Exodus 2:2-10
6. For more on chochmah as Chakeh Mah see page 70 of The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism by Daniel C Matt.
7. The story of Idit, Lot’s wife can be found in Genesis 19:26; we learn the name of Lot’s wife in Pirkei DeRabbi Elizer 25:11; Recanti on trauma can be found in Vayera 11
8. One of the many places that the prostrate position, nefal al apay, is mentioned in the tradition include Targum Jonathan Numbers 24:16.
9. Kedushat Levi on Merarchok can be found Exodus, Shemot 6.
10. Sefer HaYashar on Miriam’s name can be found Sefer Shemot 24.
11. Learn more about Dr. Yosef Rosen at his website.
12. One of the many places where the principle yerida l’tzorech aliyah is applied is in Sfat Emet, Bereishis, Vayeshiv 12:4.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

1. The concept of Seventy Faces of Torah appears in many ancient sources including Bamidbar Rabbah 13:16
2. The excerpt of the song Elokai Neshama Shenatata that you heard can be found in its entirety here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6W8GxuBYNM
3. The story of Miriam approaching Basya begins in Exodus 2:7
4. The Elohai Neshama prayer that affirms the purity of all of our souls is based on a text recorded in Berachot 60b
5. Reb Nachman on “ma’at tov” can be found in Likutei Moharan 282:1-5
6. Learn more about Dick Schwartz’s teachings on the purity of Self in his book No Bad Parts.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

1. You can find the account of the people at the sea and the songs of Miriam and Moses in Exodus Chapter 14 and 15. Nachshon is named as the first person into the sea in the Talmud, Sotah 37a.
2. Maor VaShemesh, Beshalach 20 offers an extensive teaching on the power of Miriam’s song versus Moses’s song and the magic of circle dancing. 
3. Rabbi Beroka’s conversation with Elijah the Prophet can be found in Taanit 22a:7
4. Find out more about Dr. Marcie Beigel here. 
5. Look out for Becca Goldstein’s web presence coming soon! 
6. Find an overview on Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing here
7. The Zohar describes Yocheved and others singing Miriam’s exalted song in Sh'lach 25:199.
8. Bell hooks speaks ofPatriarchy as the single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation in her essay “Understanding Patriarchy,” chapter two of The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (Washington Square Press 2004) 
9. The Alshekh’s teaching on Miriam’s tambourine can be found in the Alshekh on Torah, Exodus 15:20.
10. You can see Rabbi Jericho’s current Shiru L’Adonay playlist here.
11. Reb Nachman of Breslov on the roshei teivos of “Vataan Lahem Miriam Shiru L’Adonay, Miriam chants to the people, Sing right now to Goddess,” can be found in Likutei Moharan 27:6:10.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

1. You can find the account of the people at the sea and the songs of Miriam and Moses in Exodus Chapter 14 and 15. Nachshon is named as the first person into the sea in the Talmud, Sotah 37a.
2. Maor VaShemesh, Beshalach 20 offers an extensive teaching on the power of Miriam’s song versus Moses’s song and the magic of circle dancing. 
3. Rabbi Beroka’s conversation with Elijah the Prophet can be found in Taanit 22a:7
4. Find out more about Dr. Marcie Beigel here. 
5. Look out for Becca Goldstein’s web presence coming soon! 
6. Find an overview on Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing here
7. The Zohar describes Yocheved and others singing Miriam’s exalted song in Sh'lach 25:199.
8. Bell hooks speaks ofPatriarchy as the single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation in her essay “Understanding Patriarchy,” chapter two of The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (Washington Square Press 2004) 
9. The Alshekh’s teaching on Miriam’s tambourine can be found in the Alshekh on Torah, Exodus 15:20.
10. You can see Rabbi Jericho’s current Shiru L’Adonay playlist here.
11. Reb Nachman of Breslov on the roshei teivos of “Vataan Lahem Miriam Shiru L’Adonay, Miriam chants to the people, Sing right now to Goddess,” can be found in Likutei Moharan 27:6:10.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.

Survival Guide for a Spiritual Wilderness is a part of the Judaism Unbound family of podcasts made possible with support from Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.