IKAR Podcasts

Prophetic Grief and Public Protest - Rabbi Sharon Brous

For millennia, we’ve tried to understand how Aaron, Moshe’s brother, remained silent, even acquiescent after suffering unimaginable loss. Some say his heart turned to stone—he simply could no longer feel. Prophetic grief, in contrast, is born at the intersection of heartache and fury, and rages against reality. When experienced by not only by individuals but by the collective, bursts of prophetic rage and grief—while imperfect political movements—have the power to overturn world orders. Some ref...

The Forgotten Story of Our Pilgrimage - Rabbi Morris Panitz

Three times a year, the Torah instructs, we’re meant to drop everything and set off on a collective journey to a sacred destination. While these pilgrimages have disappeared from our practice, it’s worth wondering why the Torah selects this religious behavior as the primary way to capture and reanimate the core values of these holidays. Pilgrimage, it turns out, is the ideal way to tell the story of Passover.

The Season of Our Freedom: What Does it Mean to Be Free? - Rabbi Dvora Weisberg

In Pirkei Avot, we read that "A free person is one who studies Torah." How can the study of Torah help us understand and appreciate what it means to be free?

SERMON: A Holy Justice, and a Just Holiness - Rabbi David Kasher

Rabbi Kasher’s farewell sermon, a pre-Passover reflection on the role of mitzvot in Jewish life.

We Were Strangers, Too - Rabbinic Intern Hannah Jensen

Right now we find ourselves approaching Passover where we are reminded of our oppression and slavery in Egypt and our eventual path toward freedom. This year it's coinciding with proposed new national policies to turn away more asylum seekers are our borders. How can we reconcile what is happening now with our own central narrative as a people who left everything to seek freedom? What lessons can we learn about how to use our voices to fight for more justice?

The Seeds We've Sown - Rabbi Robit Tsadok

Spring is springing and the month of Nissan is coming! What will your renewal and regeneration look like this year?

Rabbi Sharon Brous in conversation with Rep. Adam Schiff

Redemptive Art - Rabbi Sharon Brous

How our artists—then and now—transform even the deepest suffering into worlds suffused with beauty. Celebrating Betzalel, Robert Russel, and the artist within us all.

BEST BOOK EVER: ASTROLOGY with Chani Nicholas

Astrologer Chani Nicholas joins Rabbi Kasher to discuss astrology in the Torah and one of the greatest Jewish thinkers who just happened to be an astrologer himself. They discuss Ibn Ezra, the intersection of Judaism and astrology, the implications astrology has for concepts like fate and freewill, and so much more.

If We Want To, We Can - Rabbi Sharon Brous

After a week of violence, we must hear the torah of the streets of Tel Aviv. Brief reflections on the heartache and the hope.

Fasting before Feasting - Rabbi Morris Panitz

Purim summons us to joy, but how do we access that joy when our hearts hurt from the shameful display of excessive violence this past week in Huwara? Our tradition pleads with us to linger in grief before we get to Purim, to mark a solemn day of fasting and course correction. For, the only road to real joy travels first through grief.

Seeds of Hope and Defiance - Rabbi Sharon Brous

Parashat Terumah 5783 Entering Adar with hearts heavy from hate, our tradition reminds us of the messages embedded from the past, and their subversive claims on our future.

Yotam Polizer CEO of IsraAID & 2023 Charles Bronfman Prize recipient in conversation with R' Sharon Brous

BBE BONUS CLASS: PICTURES IN THE SKY: Pattern-Spotting at Sinai - Parshat Terumah

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from February 23, 2023

REPRO SHABBAT w/ R'David Kasher, Rabbinic Intern Hannah Jensen, & adult Bat Mitzvah Kieran Shamash

BBE BONUS CLASS: AN EYE FOR AN EYE - Parshat Mishpatim

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from February 16, 2023

The Root of Change - Rabbi Morris Panitz

Throughout the Book of Exodus, one Hebrew word- in its many forms- pops up again and again, pointing to the core message of this master story. Life can feel unbearably heavy, but you are never alone. With each other’s help, we can transform an overpowering weight into a way forward.

The Tears of Zion - Rabbi Sharon Brous

Parashat B'shallah - 02.04.2023 Israel is barreling toward an unrecognizable future. Let us not sleep through the revolution.

The Blessing of Re-Rooting - Rabbi Morris Panitz

Pharaoh’s Stubbornness, and Our Own - Rabbi Sharon Brous

Any one of the plagues could have been the one that changed everything. But each time, just as the threat receded, so too did Pharaoh’s will to change. We, too, are addicted to the allure of the status quo. And the shootings and the police killings persist. We must be stubborn in our pursuit of progress. Unyielding. May the memories of those whose lives were taken by violence this week stir us to work toward a more just and loving world.

Lady Justice - RSB in Conversation with Dahlia Lithwick

Moses, Isaiah, and Martin - Rabbi David Kasher

Reflections on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of the Hebrew Scriptures.

All We Own We Owe - Rabbi Panitz

In honor of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s 50th yahrtzeit, we revisit the central claims of his theology, exploring how wonder and a personal relationship with God can reorient our approach to a meaningful life. Wonder reminds us that we are recipients of a gift, summoning us to the ultimate question: what are we to do with this gift?

When God Calls Twice - Rabbi David Kasher

Making Our Way: Trusting a Path That is Both Short and Long - Rabbinic Intern Hannah Jensen

Much of the time it feels like we're on a different path than what we hoped for or asked for or dreamed. What can Joseph and Betzalel teach us about the gifts of two very divergent paths? What do we learn from a path that is both short and long?

Making Peace With Anxiety - Rabbi David Kasher

Miracle of Miracles: I Need You To See Me - Rabbi Sharon Brous

The candles in our window don’t just remind us of the miracles our ancestors experienced… they invite the world into our story. See us! we say. See our trial and our triumph, our struggle and our survival. Our story becomes real when it is held with care. And that may be the real gift, one we can give each other every day.

A Conversation with Standing Together: Jewish-Arab Movement for Peace & Social Justice in Israel

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings - Rabbi Ronit Tsadok

What would happen if we approached life with a posture of fullness rather than one of scarcity?

IKAR Presents: Ari Wallach, "Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs"

Rabbi Sharon Brous and Ari Wallach in conversation from 12/3/2022