The Study – Details, episodes & analysis

After over 60,000 downloads in over 100 countries, we are so glad to have brought an entire cycle of Torah study to our listeners. Rabbi Adam and Raviv look back at a year filled with inspiring conversation, insight, and wisdom. Thanks for joining.

The Study is produced by Evan Scott Nicholas and Raviv Ullman.
Artwork by Julia Pott. 

Robert Alter, Professor in the Graduate School and Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and award winning translator of the Torah joins Rabbi Adam and Raviv  to discuss why the Torah ends in a poem. We’ll discuss what clues this poem gives us about the ways in which people communicated and how they used language at the time the torah was written, and even their views on monotheism and the way judaism was practiced. 

Professor Alter is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, and is past president of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. Professor Alter has published 24 books unpacking the poetry and prose of ancient literature.

Sarah Hurwitz, former senior speechwriter for President Obama, head writer for First Lady Michele Obama, head speech writer for Hilary Clinton’s 2008 campaign and acclaimed author of Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There) joins Raviv and Rabbi Jess to discuss structure in speechwriting, the kind of Judaism they hope to practice, and how to transform study into action.

Dr. Kimberleigh Jordan, Associate Director of Educational Design at Wabash Center for Teaching & Learning in Theology and Religion shares a history of Spirituals,  and discusses with Rabbi Jess and Raviv how music can be an act of personal and political resistance, and how two cultures—Black Americans and The Jewish people—are inextricably tied. 

Shai Held, Rabbi, President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar Institute in New York City and author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence joins Rabbi Jessica Minnen and Raviv to talk through Parshat Pinchas, a fairly complicated portion. We'll come to understand how to interpret problematic texts in Torah, the connection between idolatry and our bodies, and Abraham Joshua Heschel's take on it all. 

Rabbi Matt and Raviv spend one last episode together, discussing a Maimonides quote that holds a theory of the creation of the universe, the difference between cults and religion, how portions of Torah might have been written to make us laugh, and a whole lot more.

Simon Shimshon Rubin, Director at the International Laboratory for the Study of Loss, Bereavement and Human Resilience, author of Working with the Bereaved: Multiple Lenses on Loss and Mourning  and Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology at University of Haifa School of Psychological Sciences joins Raviv and Rabbi Matt to discuss the psychological effects of losing those we love, Jewish practices that ritualize mourning, and he'll share some wisdom from Torah that’s been useful in his work.

Rabbi Elie Spitz, author of Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World and Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose has spent his career meditating, speaking, and writing about the afterlife. Raviv and Rabbi Matt talk with Rabbi Spitz about some of the many takes on jewish beliefs about life after death, notions of the soul, and even reincarnation.

Jonathan Zasloff, Professor of Law at University of California Los Angeles, joins Raviv and Rabbi Matt to unpack how Moses' negotiations with God informs the power we have to challenge laws and the tactics by which we might do so most effectively.

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society and author of The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds  joins Raviv and Rabbi Matt to discuss the nature of clouds, their relationship to ancient biblical texts, and why we project our own narratives onto them.

Check out The Cloud Appreciation Society at https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/