Jewish Ideas to Change the World

An event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Armin Langer and Rabbi Moishe SteigmannAbout The Event: This year, we explore what freedom meant for the Israelites, who were included—and who were left out—in the Torah’s vision of liberation. We’ll reflect on how the call for freedom is both aspirational and incomplete and consider how its message resonates today. Together, we’ll imagine ways to carry forward the radical, unfinished work of freedom in our own lives and communities. This session will be co-taught by Rabbi Dr. Armin Langer of Congregation Shir Hadash and Own Your Judaism’s Moishe Steigmann, The Mindful Rabbi.*Source Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yxCsRJ6bzxYCemejgqN57ijfZUpN6LEI2aXu77kXvko/edit?tab=t.0About The Speakers: Rabbi Dr. Armin Langer serves Shir Hadash as a teacher and community builder, committed to creating a welcoming, intellectually curious, and spiritually grounded Jewish home. Born in Germany to a family of Hungarian immigrants, he brings a deep awareness of Jewish diversity, memory, and resilience to his rabbinate. Before moving to Milwaukee, he taught and led prayer in diverse Jewish communities across Europe, the United States, and Mexico. Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, he holds a PhD in Sociology from Humboldt University of Berlin. His writing appears in academic journals and public-facing outlets, including The Forward, Evolve, and The Conversation. He believes in a big-tent Judaism that brings Jewish tradition into conversation with contemporary ethical and social challenges.Moishe Steigmann, The Mindful Rabbi, is the founder and director of Own Your Judaism and is the director of Ohel Ayalah. He seamlessly blends ancient Jewish wisdom with contemporary mindfulness practices. Through his teachings, writings, and workshops, he continues to influence and lead the conversation on mindful living within and beyond the Jewish community. He also speaks, hosts livestream conversations, and offers Jewish Life Coaching and organizational consultation. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Rabbi Steigmann is a proud father of two children, loves sports, is passionate about living gratefully, and enjoys almost all puzzles and games. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Dr. Wendy Zierler About The Event: This class will trace the origin of my feminist Kaddish / COVID memoir and the related Shir Hadash project, as well as the title “Going Out with Knots,” and will cover some thematically related poems. *Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tT11EayuMRuXhgqP7FBTjAePMCHQCWG1/view?usp=sharingAbout The Speaker: Wendy Zierler is Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at HUC-JIR in New York. She received her Ph.D. and her MA from Princeton University and her BA from Stern College of Yeshiva University and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. In June 2021, she received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Maharat. Her most recent book, Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish / COVID Years with Hebrew Poetry (Jewish Publication Society), was named to Zibby Owens’ list of most anticipated books of Fall 2025. She is the author, previously, of Movies and Midrash: Popular Film and Jewish Religious Conversation (SUNY Press, Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in Modern Jewish Thoughtand Experience, 2017) and of And Rachel Stole the Idols: The Emergence of Hebrew Women’s Writing (Wayne State UP, 2004), and many articles in the fields of Jewish literature and Jewish Gender Studies. Most recently, she served as a consultant in the writers’ room of the Fox Prime Time TV Show The Faithful, a dramatization of the lives of biblical women, set to air in March 2026. As a fiction writer, she has written two collections of linked short stories as well as a middle-grade Jewish fantasy novel entitled The Return of Gerda Wertheimer. She is married to Daniel Feit and has three adult children. ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Shmuly has a sit-down interview with the founder of The Mussar Institute, Alan Morinis as they talk about the intersection of religion and spirituality in Judaism.Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one of the leading lights in the revival of the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar and is the author of Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (2002), Everyday Holiness (2007), With Heart in Mind (2014), and now The Shabbat Effect (2026). He is a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, zt”l, and in 2004 founded The Mussar Institute, which has grown to become the world’s leading provider of contemporary Mussar resources and instruction, offering courses, facilitator training, curricula for congregations and organizations, special events, speakers, and retreats. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Steven GotlibAbout The Event: What does Judaism REALLY believe about magic and divination? Join Steven Gotlib, an experienced magician/mentalist and former Tarot-reader, to delve into this fascinating and under-appreciated topic.*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sKlv6niYx2BOjjCQvslDf5mI22PgST3V/view?usp=sharingAbout The Speaker: Steven Gotlib is the Associate Rabbi at Mekor Habracha/Center City Synagogue and Director of the Center City Beit Midrash in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.*There were technical difficulties with the video for this class, and only the audio is accessible.* ★ Support this podcast ★

A hybrid event presentation by Alan Morinis The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ About The Event: The topic of this session will be the forthcoming book, The Shabbat Effect. The point of the book is to outline how observing Shabbat with the intention of developing certain inner traits germane to a Shabbat practice will prove useful all seven days of the week and is a step toward the ultimate human purpose of becoming whole and holy. About The Speaker: Alan Morinis received his doctorate from Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is one of the leading lights in the revival of the Jewish spiritual tradition of Mussar and is the author of Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (2002), Everyday Holiness (2007), With Heart in Mind (2014), and now The Shabbat Effect (2026). He is a student of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, zt”l, and in 2004 founded The Mussar Institute, which has grown to become the world’s leading provider of contemporary Mussar resources and instruction, offering courses, facilitator training, curricula for congregations and organizations, special events, speakers, and retreats. ★ Support this podcast ★

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi Ed FeinsteinThe event was co-sponsored by: The Hammerman Family & Congregation Or TzionAbout The Event:Each year we recite the story, with Pharaoh and Moses, frogs here, frogs there, and the splitting sea. It is our story, the foundation of our faith and vision of history. Buried in the story, beneath the songs and symbols of the holiday, is a message about the human condition and our mission in the world. Join us as we explore the message and its significance for our generation.*Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BJhJuROhpUab2YSlWxRJmG0dpjvdYEHg/view?usp=sharingAbout The Speaker:Rabbi Feinstein serves the Valley Beth Shalom community as a teacher, pastor, and visionary leader. He also serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, the Wexner Heritage Program, and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and lectures widely across the United States. He is the author of several books, including: Tough Questions Jews Ask – A Young Adult’s Guide to Building a Jewish Life, (Jewish Lights, 2003), Jews and Judaism in the Twenty-First Century: Human Responsibility, the Presence of God and the Future of the Covenant (Jewish Lights, 2007), Capturing the Moon (Behrman House, 2008) and most recently, Chutzpah Imperative! – Empowering Today’s Jews for a Life that Matters (Jewish Lights, 2014).Rabbi Feinstein was raised in the back of his parents’ bakery on the frontiers of the West San Fernando Valley. He graduated with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Judaism, Columbia University Teachers College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1981. Most recently, he received his Doctorate in Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) at Park Avenue Synagogue in New York for his dissertation: Rabbi Harold Schulweis and the Reinvention of the American Rabbinate.An engaging lecturer and storyteller, Rabbi Feinstein unites the ancient Jewish love of ideas with the warmth of Jewish humor. ★ Support this podcast ★

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz sits down with Rabbi Ed Feinstein to talk about Passover. Rabbi Feinstein serves the Valley Beth Shalom community as a teacher, pastor, and visionary leader. He also serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, the Wexner Heritage Program, and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and lectures widely across the United States. He is the author of several books, including: Tough Questions Jews Ask – A Young Adult’s Guide to Building a Jewish Life, (Jewish Lights, 2003), Jews and Judaism in the Twenty-First Century: Human Responsibility, the Presence of God and the Future of the Covenant (Jewish Lights, 2007), Capturing the Moon (Behrman House, 2008) and most recently, Chutzpah Imperative! – Empowering Today’s Jews for a Life that Matters (Jewish Lights, 2014). Rabbi Feinstein was raised in the back of his parents’ bakery on the frontiers of the West San Fernando Valley. He graduated with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Judaism, Columbia University Teachers College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1981. Most recently, he received his Doctorate in Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) at Park Avenue Synagogue in New York for his dissertation: Rabbi Harold Schulweis and the Reinvention of the American Rabbinate. An engaging lecturer and storyteller, Rabbi Feinstein unites the ancient Jewish love of ideas with the warmth of Jewish humor. ★ Support this podcast ★

An event presentation by Rabbi Ed FeinsteinAbout The Event:“Tradition!” sang Tevye, “that’s how we keep our balance!” Tradition is our superpower. We know that the words we say, the rites we practice, and the ethics we embrace have come down through the generations. But there is another source of our power, one not often recognized – our remarkable ability to re-invent, re-imagine, re-interpret our faith, our institutions, our identity in moments of crisis. This capacity for meeting catastrophe with spiritual creativity may be the real secret of our survival. At this moment of our history, we may need this capacity more than ever; we may need to call on our miraculous Jewish resilience.Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ax8KzpqoLsV4hVh0g6d1ztLidAXeo4Wx/view?usp=sharingAbout The Speaker:Rabbi Feinstein serves the Valley Beth Shalom community as a teacher, pastor, and visionary leader. He also serves on the faculty of the Ziegler Rabbinical School of the American Jewish University, the Wexner Heritage Program, the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and lectures widely across the United States. He is the author of several books, including: Tough Questions Jews Ask – A Young Adult’s Guide to Building a Jewish Life, (Jewish Lights, 2003), Jews and Judaism in the Twenty-First Century: Human Responsibility, the Presence of God and the Future of the Covenant (Jewish Lights, 2007), Capturing the Moon (Behrman House, 2008) and most recently, Chutzpah Imperative! – Empowering Today’s Jews for a Life that Matters (Jewish Lights, 2014).Rabbi Feinstein was raised in the back of his parents’ bakery on the frontiers of the West San Fernando Valley. He graduated with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Judaism, Columbia University Teachers College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1981. Most recently, he received his Doctorate in Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) at Park Avenue Synagogue in New York for his dissertation: Rabbi Harold Schulweis and the Reinvention of the American Rabbinate.An engaging lecturer and storyteller, Rabbi Feinstein unites the ancient Jewish love of ideas with the warmth of Jewish humor. ★ Support this podcast ★

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Marc GitlerAbout The Event:Join Rabbi Marc for a thought-provoking exploration of one of Judaism’s most foundational questions. We remember the Exodus from Egypt every single day and celebrate it yearly on Pesach, recounting the story of our people’s liberation from bondage. But this raises a profound theological challenge: why did our ancestors have to endure the suffering of enslavement in the first place? In this session, we’ll examine classical Jewish texts and contemporary interpretations to wrestle with questions of divine purpose, human suffering, and the meaning we derive from our people’s most defining narrative.Source Sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11YmCexpwsRdVJuuxt1zLQurL13LKyNJW/view?usp=share_linkAbout The Speaker:Marc Gitler is the Senior Jewish Education for Valley Beit Midrash and serves as the visiting Rabbi of Aish SanDiego. A recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, he was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ★ Support this podcast ★