The Book of Memories – Details, episodes & analysis

God told Moses of His four-part plan for Israel's redemption from bondage, (which we symbolize by drinking four cups of wine at the Seder). 

Moses relayed the message to the Israelites: "And Moses spoke thus to the Israelites, but they did not heed Moses out of shortness of breath and hard bondage."

Join us for this bonus Pesach episode as we discuss how this verse describes not only a passing moment in early Israelite history, but our very predicament today. Emerge with a new understanding of the freedom we will celebrate (and anticipate) on Seder night. 

Join us this week for the season finale of The Book Of Memories, as we discuss the roadmap for world peace. 

Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks about exciting next steps for the podcast! 

"He established them to endure forever, providing a law that shall not be transgressed."  Thus does Psalms 148 describes God's institution of laws of nature-in other words, His justice. Does this divine justice relate to our human imperative to pursue justice in the legal and ethical senses? And if God's justice is expressed in His unyielding natural law, how can His occasional miraculous interventions, which break that law, also be called just? Join us as we discuss these questions and more, with the aim of understanding a term we are used to rolling off our tongues in prayer and learning. 

What is the purpose of Israel's exile? Is it a consequence of national sin, or a necessary condition for outreach to gentiles? On the surface, these are our sages' two main, opposing approaches, but in truth, they are two steps of one process by which ruptures in Daas Hashem are exposed and then repaired. Join us this week as we explore what this means, touching on some secrets of the Torah along the way. 

God called it "My Nation". Majorities of Jews throughout multiple ages made it their home. It was the location of a temple, altars and sacrifices to Hashem.  Rav Yehudah Halevy made pilgrimage to its holy sites... Egypt. Join us this week to learn why the difference between it and the Holy Land is subtler than one might think. 

Seventy from the house of Jacob went to Egypt, the first and prototypical place of exile.  Seventy is also the number of original "languages", or nations, that inhabit the world outside of Israel. Join us this week to learn how the fate of these seventy nations is linked to the children of Israel's role in exile and the ultimate redemption, and how we can consciously participate in this process. 

Maimonides tells us in his Guide that not everyone who has a veridical dream is a prophet, perhaps having in mind Joseph the righteous. But if Joseph was indeed not a prophet, he nonetheless had a mastery of the dream realm, one that offended his brothers yet caused the highest members of Egyptian society to seek his counsel. Tune in this week to learn how this dreaming power relates to exile, why the other sons of Jacob rejected it, how it can be activated through proper eating, and more. 

To  wait or to initiate? That is the question this week, for both womankind and for Israel. Join us to find out what it means and why it matters.

The Torah's laws and ethical directives ostensibly discourage both the valuing of physical beauty, and the occult. Yet both phenomena are prevalent in the Torah, particularly among our beautiful mother Rachel and her kingly descendants, such as Joseph, the dreamer of dreams, and King Saul, who consulted the necromancer of Ein Dor.  Join us this week for a discussion of how these phenomena relate to each other and whether and how there might be a valid place for them.

Esau greatly honored Isaac throughout his days, and yet his brother Jacob received their father Isaac's prime blessing. It is Israel alone that can actually fulfill the verse which commands "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long on the land that the Lord your God gives to you", and yet the Talmud teaches that certain of Esau's descendants continue to outdo Israel in honoring their parents. Join us this week for a discussion of what this means and how it can be.