The College Commons Podcast

The College Commons Podcast, passionate perspectives from Judaism's leading thinkers, is produced by Hebrew Union College, America's first Jewish institution of higher learning.

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Episodes

Rabbi Denise Eger: Torah for Our Times

For Rabbi Denise Eger, Torah helps us navigate the process of living. From acknowledging God's flaws to living with intention, Rabbi Eger gives us a Torah for our times. Rabbi Denise L. Eger is the founding Rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami, West Hollywood’s premier Reform Synagogue. Rabbi Eger is the President-Elect of The Central Conference of American Rabbis. the largest rabbinic organization in the world, and will assume the presidency as the third woman and first openly gay or lesbian person in...

May 06, 2016•30 min

Rabbi Paul Kipnes: Spiritual Parenting

Rabbi Paul Kipnes discusses the deep anxiety, stress and pressure on kids today and offers some wise advice for parents. Rabbi Paul Kipnes, MAJE, a popular lecturer on raising spiritually balanced, emotionally whole children, is leader of Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, California. A former camp director and North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) regional advisor, Rabbi Kipnes and his wife Michelle November MSSW co-wrote Jewish Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom, Activities, Rituals, and Pr...

May 05, 2016•21 min

Rabbi Aaron Panken: Jewish Texts Matter

Rabbi Aaron Panken discusses the impact and relevance of Jewish texts today. Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., is the 12th President in the 139-year history of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. As HUC-JIR President, Dr. Panken leads the four-campus international institution of higher learning and seminary for Reform Judaism. Ordained at HUC-JIR in New York in 1991, Rabbi Panken has served as a member of the faculty teaching Rabbinic and Second Temple Literature since 1995, Dean of S...

Apr 21, 2016•20 min

Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi: Critique and Rebuke

How far should we go to change someone’s opinion? Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi takes a look at Jewish tradition and draws a line. Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi serves the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion as the National Director of Recruitment and Admissions and President's Scholar. Prior to this appointment, Rabbi Sabath served as Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute and for over a decade as a member of the Institute's faculty, and directed the Hartma...

Apr 06, 2016•24 min

Reverend Jennifer Bailey: Faith Matters

Reverend Bailey explores how people of diverse backgrounds, skin colors, and racial identities can be brought to a space of equality. Rev. Jennifer Bailey, is the Founding Executive Director of the Faith Matters Network, a new interfaith community equipping faith leaders to challenge structural inequality in their communities. She is named one of 15 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress, Rev. Jennifer Bailey is an ordained minister, public theologian, and emerging national l...

Mar 25, 2016•35 min

Rabbi Dr. Samuel Joseph: Enriching Lay Leadership

Rabbi Samuel Joseph takes a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities for building congregational leadership. Rabbi Samuel K. Joseph, Ph.D. is Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Education and Leadership Development at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati, where he teaches in the rabbinical school. His special interest is how Jewish institutions and organizations, from schools to synagogues to national groups, can be most excellent as they seek to fulfill their mission and vision. T...

Mar 11, 2016•20 min

Rabbi Edythe Mencher: Being on the Margins

The cost of excluding people is an impoverishment of our world and our character. Rabbi Edyth Mencher takes a look at what holds us back from engaging wholeheartedly with people we think of as “other.” Rabbi Mencher serves as URJ Faculty for Sacred Caring Community and Coordinator of the URJ-Ruderman Family Foundation Initiative for Inclusion of People with Disabilities and is an adjunct faculty member of Hebrew Union College-JIR’s Interfaith Doctor of Ministry Program in Pastoral Counseling. Sh...

Mar 10, 2016•31 min

Rabbi William Cutter: The Right-to-Die Initiative

Dr. William Cutter argues both sides of California's Right-to-Die Initiative. Dr. William Cutter is Steinberg Emeritus Professor of Human Relations at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he held the Paul and Trudy Steinberg Chair in Human Relations, and was Professor of Modern Hebrew Literature and Education. He has taught at HUC-JIR since 1965, and has served in several administrative capacities throughout his academic career. In earlier stages of his career he founded thre...

Mar 09, 2016•11 min

Rabbi Dr. Michael Marmur: How We Talk About God

Rabbi Michael Marmur explores the way language influences how we think and speak about God. Dr. Michael Marmur is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Previously, he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. In recent years he has taught courses in Theology, Homiletics, and Pluralistic Jewish Education.Born and raised in England, Rabbi Marmur completed a B...

Feb 24, 2016•30 min

Mohammad Darawshe: Shared Society in Israel

Mohammad Darawshe discusses co-existence and equality, two ends of the spectrum in Israel. Mohammad Darawshe is the Director of Planning, Equality and Shared Society at Givat Haviva, the Center for Shared Society in Israel. Mohammad is Arab with an Israeli passport — a Muslim Palestinian citizen of the State of Israel. Like 20 percent of Israel's population, he is, as he puts it, a child of both identities. He brings an unexpected way of seeing inside the Middle Eastern present and future. Previ...

Feb 17, 2016•30 min

Dr. Steven Windmueller: Is the Jewish Vote Still Liberal in America?

Is the American Jewish Vote Still Liberal? Join Dr. Windmueller and Dean Holo as they unpack the Jewish political landscape. Dr. Steven Windmueller served as the Dean of the Los Angeles Campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from 2006 to 2010. In March of 2009, he was appointed to the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Chair in Jewish Communal Service. Prior to coming to HUC-LA, he has held a number of prominent positions within the Jewish community over the course of a thirty-year...

Jan 13, 2016•22 min

Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone: Muslim Violence through a Jewish Lens

Professor Firestone uses the Bully Pulpit to explain Muslim violence through a Jewish lens. Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone is the Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles. Since 1993, Dr. Firestone has served as associate and then full professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at HUC-JIR. He founded the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (CMJE), a joint program of Hebrew Union College, the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Foundation and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at...

Dec 03, 2015•31 min

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