Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on May 5th 2022 as we ask: what does it mean to be holy? Does holiness divide or unite us? Join us as we ask whether the revolutionary perception of holiness contained in the biblical text is eclipsed by puritanism and sectarianism.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/403778

Transcript: https://madlik.com/2022/05/04/divide-and-sanctify/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on April 28th for Madlik Disruptive Torah. A goat is thrown off a cliff to atone for our sins. A troubling rite with a rich history for the Jewish people and for Christianity that believes in a Savior who died to expiate the sins of mankind.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/401839

Transript on Podcast web page: https://madlik.com/2022/04/27/scapegoating/ 

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on Thursday April 7th 2022 as we explore how the affliction of Leprosy became identified with slander in Rabbinic texts. We’ll watch our tongue as we revisit the theme of Mitzvot as symbol, language and metaphor.  We'll see that the Rabbinic concept of slander covered a lot more than idle gossip and included character assasination, questioning the idealistic intentions of others, bigotry and even anti-Israel bias.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/398050

Transcript on episode webe site: https://madlik.com/2022/04/06/loose-lips-and-leprosy/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 31st 2022 as we use the Torah's treatment of postpartum impurity to explore postpartum depression, gender definition and female sexual needs and rights, to name a few stimulating topics...

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/396094

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/03/31/of-woman-born/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Michael Posnik recorded on March 24th 2022 on Clubhouse as we ask: Was the death of the two sons of Aaron a tragedy or the ultimate sanctification of God’s Name…. or both? We explore the concept of martyrdom in the Bible and Rabbinic texts and into modern times with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the creation of the State of Israel.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/394321

Transcript: https://madlik.com/2022/03/23/no-martyrs-no-more/

Parshat Tzav - Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz and grab a drink as we explore this week’s Torah reading and how it relates to Spring Folly and Spring Cleaning. Exposed to the ingredients that are used in the sacrifices we realize that Hametz, Matzah and Bread (not to mention hard liquor) have significance unrelated to the Exodus story and more related to the trials, violence as well as joys of life.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/392354

Transcript on episode website: https://madlik.com/2022/03/16/purim-st-patricks-day-mardi-gras-more/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on March 10th 2022 as they encounter the first mention of the Hebrew word for a mistake (Shegaga).  They explore the Biblical and Rabbinic idea of the stain, intention and the etiology of sin either as a deficiency in character or treatable condition.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/390805

Transcript on episode website: https://madlik.com/2022/03/09/oops-i-did-it-again/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on clubhouse on March 3rd at 1:00pm Eastern as we complete the Book of Exodus and its lengthy treatment of the construction of the Tabernacle. In so doing, we recognize the twofold message that the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of God filled the Tabernacle but also that when the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, on their various journeys. We use this observation to address the challenge of temples which lose their spiritual cloud-cover and ruminate on the necessity for movement in Judaism.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/388585

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/03/02/temples-with-no-cloud-cover/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on February 24th as we continue our discussion of melacha – work. Last week we discovered that creative work, even the construction of the holy tabernacle is subservient to the sanctification of time. This week we celebrate creative work as a reflection of the divine. We explore the eclipse of manual labor and the arts in Jewish culture during the exile and marvel at the rebirth of physical work and Jewish artifice in the writings of early Zionist thinkers and in the State of Israel.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/386520

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/02/23/jews-with-tools/

Parshat Ki Tisa - The Torah references the observance of the Sabbath in the context of building the Tabernacle (Mishkan). The Rabbis learn from this simple juxtapostion that there are 39 forms of labor prohibited on the Sabbath. If you observe the Sabbath you appreciate the deep significance and practical ramifications of this interpretation. We explore the connection between the Tabernacle and the seventh day.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/384711

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/02/17/architecture-in-time/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a new episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah. We’ll explore the Torah’s preeminent use of a hue of blue called Tekhelet in the construction of the Tabernacle and in the Priestly garb. This rare and dear dye; extracted from a non-kosher mollusk, was also used on the four-cornered tallit of every simple Jew.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/383005

Transcript: Episode web site: https://madlik.com/2022/02/09/why-blue-and-white/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on February 3rd 2022 as we explore a single verse: “Make Me a temple and I will dwell within them” This iconic verse, pregnant with meaning, enables us to visit classical Jewish commentaries and discover some surprising views of God’s relationship with His/Her creation, not just with a tabernacle or temple.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/380865

Transcript on Podcast episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/02/02/when-god-get-small/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded live on Clubhouse on January 27th 2020 discuss Parshat Mishpatim. Moses places twelve stone slabs (stelas) engraved with a code of law before his people. We take a look at the similarities and differences with other ancient Near Eastern Codes such as Eshnunna and Hammurabi and ask: What’s new with Moses’ Code of the Covenant?

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/379013

Transcript on Episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/01/26/moses-code-of-law-whats-new/

parshat yitro - Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on January 20th 2022 as we discuss the Torah portion that includes the Ten Commandments but is named after a non-Jewish priest. A priest who blesses God, successfully offers sacrifices, shares a sacred meal and, with God’s sanction, establishes institutions of jurisprudence for the Jewish People. For a religion that is known for exclusivism, we use this realization to explore inclusive and exclusive tendencies in Jewish tradition.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/377219

Transcript in episode web site here: https://madlik.com/2022/01/19/is-judaism-exclusive-or-inclusive/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on January 13th 2022. God leads the Jews on the scenic (long) route to the Promised Land and the classical commentators wonder why. All of them find a pedagogic approach but their conclusions are diverse and in some cases, perplexing!  We join the Israelites as they embark on this fateful trip into the desert and we learn a little something about long roads that are short and God’s Gracious Ruse.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/375388

Transcript on Episode web page: https://madlik.com/2022/01/12/gods-gracious-ruse/

Parshat Bo - A live recording of Madlik Disruptive Torah recorded on Clubhouse with Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz, Rabbi Abraham Bronstein and “The Haftorahman”, Reuben Ebrahimoff on January 6th 2022.

Can Biblical commandments evolve and have alternative meanings at different times and to different people? Mitzvot; for some an obligation, for others a political, cultural or fashion statement and for still others a magical charm. In Exodus 13 we are introduced to the first formal commandments given in the Torah; a book of Law. These laws relate exclusively to the celebration of the first and subsequent Passovers. Out of nowhere we also find the first reference to what was to become the commandment of Tefillin. We explore the classical commentators and modern scholarship to discover the multiple layers and nuances behind tefillin and possibly all mitzvot.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/373717

Transcript on episode web page here.

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on December 30th 2021as we use an innocuous reference in Rabbinic Literature to Pharaoh’s personal hygiene to explore the unique disposition of Judaism to the physical body and bodily functions and contrast it to other religions and cultures.

With special guest appearances by Josephus Flavius, Karl Marx, Ernst Becker and the Rabbis of the Talmud

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/372485

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2021/12/30/holy-crap-2/

Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse as we discuss Judeo-Christian Magical Thinking….. Moses encounters a miraculous burning bush, receives a magical rod and learns an incantation of the name of God. But the Rabbis of the Talmud call Jesus a magician…. We explore the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Judaism’s uniquely ambivalent attitude to the miraculous.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/371145

Transcript on Episode web site: https://madlik.com/2021/12/22/moses-reluctant-magician/

Parshat Vayechi - Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse December 16th 2021 as we recognize that Jacob introduced the handle #TwelveTribes. The book of Genesis ends, as does Deuteronomy with blessings over these iconic Twelve Tribes of Israel but the count is unclear. Joseph is at times counted as one tribe and at times subdivided. Shimon and Levi are likewise alternately diminished or removed. What are we to make of these inconsistencies and of Jacob’s desire to share the future? Join us as we discuss who’s in and who’s out and what it all means for us.

Special guest story - the rape of Dina or the tragic romance if Dinah and Shechem...

Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/369304

Transcript on episode web site: https://madlik.com/2021/12/15/members-of-the-tribe/

Parshat Vayigash - A live recording of Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded on Clubhouse on December 9th 2021 as they ask: What if our Prince of Egypt, was not an ancient-day Paul Samuelson using science and economic theory to serve society? What if Joseph and his Pharaoh were the villains and the new Pharaoh “who knew not Joseph” was an Egyptian patriot and liberator who saved the Egyptians from foreign exploitation? How would that change the message of the Exodus?

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/367055

Transcript on episode web page here.

Parshat Miketz- Shabbat Hanukkah - Food Fights-Gastro Diplomacy. Ancient Egyptians wouldn’t break bread with Hebrews and were known to have rigorous dietary restrictions..... How does this play out in the Exodus narrative and what does it mean for us? Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz for a live recording on Clubhouse December 2nd, 2021 for the first Madlik lunch & learn as we discuss the social power of food.

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/365771

Transcript on Episode website: https://madlik.com/2021/11/30/food-fights-and-gastro-diplomacy/

Parshat Vayeshev - Join Geoffrey Stern, Rabbi Adam Mintz and friends. Recorded on Clubhouse on November 25th as they explore how the story of Joseph and the patriarchal origins of the Exile to Egypt is interrupted by the story of Tamar and the matriarchal origins of redemption through the Davidic bloodline. They wonder whether we might re-read Genesis as Her Story?

With special “guest” appearances from Jonathan Kirsch (author of The Harlot by The Side of the Road) and Harold Bloom (the author of The Book of J).

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/365002

Transcript on podcast website here: https://madlik.com/2021/11/24/genesis-as-her-story/

parshat Vayishlach (genesis 32) Join Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz recorded live on Clubhouse on November 18th 2021 as they discuss arguing with God in the Bible and later Rabbinic texts and Jewish Literature. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel which we are told means to struggle with Man and God. How do we live up to this name?

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/363352

Transcript on episode web page here

Parshat Vayetzei - The Rabbis learn from the multiple use of the word MAKOM - Place in the story of Jacob's Ladder, that God is the Place of the World, but the World is not His Place. What can we learn from the Rabbis?

Special "Guests" Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza and the Kotzker Rebbe

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/360797

Transcript on Podcast Website: https://madlik.com/2021/11/10/hamakom-place-no-place/

Recorded live on Clubhouse on November 4th from Tzofar in the Arava of the Negev Desert in Israel with Rabbi Adam Mintz in New York, we explore Yaakov's name and career path and struggle with his twice stolen blessing. We ask how parents could give a child a name such as "heel-sneak" or "heal grabber' and how Israel could emerge from such crooked timber?

Special "guests" include Shmuel Yoseph Agnon and Isaiah Berlin

Sefaria Source Sheet: www.sefaria.org/sheets/358410

Transcript on Episode Website here.