Jewish Law
66 episodes · Page 2 of 3
#4213: Pigeon on the Balcony: Law, Torah, and Biology
A pigeon nesting on a Jerusalem balcony raises legal, religious, and practical questions. Here's what Daniel needs to know.
#4142: Ghosts in the Talmud: Judaism's Hidden Paranormal Tradition
The Talmud opens with a ghost story. Here's what Judaism actually says about spirits, demons, and the afterlife.
#4141: Soul Recycling: Jewish Reincarnation Uncovered
Most Jews don't know Judaism has a reincarnation tradition. One rabbi's offhand comment reveals a hidden world.
#4119: Guilt as a Feature: How Judaism Processes Failure
Is guilt a feature or a bug in religious systems? One tradition has a built-in protocol for processing failure.
#4036: Is Jerusalem Becoming More Religious?
Two people eating pizza notice Jerusalem feels more religious. Are they right? We dig into the data and the psychology.
#4027: The Hand on the Head: Blessing Across Millennia
A spontaneous blessing in a Jerusalem cafe opens up 3,000 years of embodied tradition—from Jacob's crossed hands to the Friday night table.
#3857: Reincarnation Across World Religions: What Actually Comes Back?
Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — who actually believes in coming back?
#3720: Why Chabad's Yellow Moshiach Flags Survived the Rebbe's Death
How a Hasidic movement reconciled its Rebbe's death with messianic belief — and what it reveals about Judaism vs. Christianity.
#3608: The Lost Scent of the Temple: Incense in Jewish Tradition
How a core Temple ritual vanished from Jewish practice and became associated with other religions instead.
#3493: Murmuring Scriptures and Wandering Wilds: Ancient Meditation
How "hagah" (murmuring scripture) and "hitbodedut" (wilderness solitude) reveal meditation hidden in the Bible.
#3484: How the IDF Built Shabbat-Compatible Tech
The IDF's ingenious workarounds for Shabbat observance — from disappearing ink to indirect causation keyboards.
#3323: The 15-Word Blessing That Survived the Temple
How a three-verse biblical command became a mass spectacle drawing 100,000 people at the Western Wall.
#3264: What Were Ancient Tefillin Actually Made From?
Archaeological evidence reveals the original leather used for tefillin boxes — and it's not what most people assume.
#3238: Ancient Ink, Modern Scribes: The Chemistry of Kosher Ink
What’s really in that bottle of certified kosher ink? A deep dive into Talmudic chemistry, gum arabic, and the Sharpie-on-Tefillin debate.
#3237: The Scribes Who Count Every Letter
Inside the ancient craft of Soferut, where every letter in a Torah scroll must be perfect.
#3156: The 2,000-Year Campaign to Ban Brit Milah
Belgium may ban non-medical circumcision for minors. This isn't new — states have tried for two millennia.
#3083: Two Atoms Changed Everything: The Lost Blue Dye
How a single dye, chemically identical to plant indigo except for two bromine atoms, was lost for 1,300 years.
#2933: How 400 Yeshiva Students Became 66,000 Exemptions
How a 1947 letter to 400 students grew into the political backbone of Israel's governing coalitions.
#2930: How the Rabbis Saved the Bible's Most Dangerous Book
The book that says "everything is pointless" was almost cut from the Bible. Here's how the rabbis reinvented it.
#2929: The Radical Economics of the Sabbatical Year
How an ancient biblical debt reset is playing out in real time in Israel today.
#2926: Barley to Wheat: The Original Shavuot Grain Cycle
Before cheesecake and all-night study, Shavuot was a wheat harvest festival built on a barley-counting calendar.
#2870: Pottage, Cholent, and the Eternal Pot
Medieval pottage isn't dead — it evolved into Jewish Shabbat stews like cholent and hamin.
#2735: What Talmud Study Actually Trains Your Mind To Do
Why the Talmud preserves arguments you’ll never follow — and what that reveals about learning itself.
#2581: Did Ancient Jews Have Leisure?
Did ancient Jews ever relax, or was every moment supposed to be Torah study? The surprising history of leisure in Jewish tradition.