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At Madlik we light a spark or shed some light on a Jewish Text or Tradition. Created by Geoffrey Stern, an ex-Yeshiva student and along with Rabbi Adam Mintz we host Madlik Disruptive Torah on clubhouse every Thursday and share it as the Madlik podcast on your favorite platform.
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God Forbid!Parsha Vayera - Abraham does not argue with God on moral or ethical grounds, but primarily on a theological basis. He argues that it would not be Godlike (hallila) to act in a way unbecoming of how God is perceived; as an impartial Judge. We explore the origin and history of the expression chas v'hallilah and chas v'shalom as well as the implications of this argument.
Radical Disruption and the Birth of FaithParshat Lech L'cha - We wake up one morning and our world is in chaos. We do the most radical thing that a man can do. We leave our home, our family and our prior beliefs and we leave. Today, we follow a founder of the Abrahamic Faiths as he makes his move and we find inspiration.
Words Without BordersParshat Noah - We continue our exploration of division as a seminal force in the Creation Story of the Hebrew Bible. In this case, the
Splitting the AdamParshat Bereshit - There are those who would have us believe that in Creation, God made unity from chaos and that the Torah’s end game is to find that unity once again. We explore an alternative, counterfactual approach, where God created through division and with a goal of creating a world where divisions are emphasized, managed but definitely not erased.
Geoffrey Stern•90 Views•October 22, 2024•Unity,Creation,Bereishit,Diversity,Kiddush and Havdalah,Havdalah,Parashat Bereshit
God in ExileParshat Nitzavim-Vayeilech - God, so to speak, “joining the Jewish People in Exile”, is a radical Rabbinic concept that in the words of Rabbi Akiva would have been blasphemous had it not been supported by Scripture. We explore the source of “God in Exile” (Shechinta B’Galuta - שְׁכִינְתָּא בְּגָלוּתָא) in Rabbinic texts and ponder its ramifications for modern-day Jewish Thought.
Geoffrey Stern•190 Views•September 23, 2024•Nitzavim-Vayeilech,Shechina,Shechinta B'Galuta,Yitz Greenburg,Elie Wiesel,שְׁכִינְתָּא בְּגָלוּתָא
Lost & FoundParshat Ki Teitzei - The Torah teaches that one must return a lost object and the great sages Abaye and Rava argue over the dynamics of loss and despair! We swim in this iconic Talmudic text to find what we have lost...
Geoffrey Stern•806 Views•September 10, 2024•Despair,Greek,יֵאוּשׁ,Abaye,Anthropology,Rava,Talmud,Sociology
The Sukka will rise again..The holiday of Sukkot begins and we leave the security of our homes and dwell in the temporary booths of farmers. In previous episodes we have focused on what makes this falling dwelling so permanent and eternal, but this year, in the shadow of Oct 7th we focus on the darker side of these exposed dwellings. We also explore the potential of the sukkah and the Jewish People to rise from the ashes like the Phoenix.
Pour Out Your Wrath... or notAn analysis of the "Pour out Your Wrath" incantation to understand the propriety of it's inclusion at the most climactic moment of the Seder, and some suggestions for alternatively authentic replacements.
What's New in the Jewish New YearAn exploration of the major themes of Rosh Hashanah; Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot in the context of Ancient Near Eastern New Year festivities and rites. (2016)
Jew as MetaphorParshat Ki Tavo - Moses warns the Israelites that if they do not live up to God's expectations, they will be vilified as a caricature of evil. The world will use the Jew to personify failure and depravity. We discuss the use of the Jew as metaphor in our texts and literature.
Geoffrey Stern•139 Views•September 18, 2024•Literature,Caricature,Ki Tavo,Allegory,Proverbs,Metaphor
The whole mitzvahParshat Eikev - The Book of Deuteronomy presents the Torah's various rules and regulations as a corpus. It uses a unique expression; כׇּל־הַמִּצְוָ֗ה variously translated as "All the commandment" or "instruction", the "entire mitzvah" . We explore how this impacted later Rabbinic thought and Jewish practice.
May God avenge his bloodParshat Shoftim - הי״ד the Hebrew acronym הַשֵּׁם יִקּוֹם דָּמוֹ hašém yikóm damó, “may Hashem avenge his blood” has been carved after the names of too many victims of bloodshed in the past few months. This week's parsha addresses tribalism, revenge killings and blood feuds which in the Ancient Near East, especially in the Sinai Peninsula, have a too rich history. We review the Biblical texts in light of pre-Islamic customs preserved by the Bedouin and we wonder when will it ever end.
Geoffrey Stern•167 Views•September 4, 2024•Blood Feud,Ger,Fugitive,Bedouin,Tent,Converts,Cities of Refuge,Revenge,Refuge,City of Refuge
What they say about us actually matters...Parshat Vaetchanan - The Torah proclaims that its laws are "wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations". The nations of the world will say "this is a wise and understanding people". We discover the writings and biography of Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner; a radical thinker and early religious Zionist. Based on this verse, he taught that if Torah does not match the most enlightened moral, ethical, cultural and aesthetic standards of the day.... it needs to evolve. We explore.
just warParshat Devarim - The book of Devarim is not only spoken in the first-person voice of Moses but is also a reworking and reinterpretation of earlier events. This is nowhere more apparent then in the retelling of the story of the spies where, in our disruptive reading, the spies and their generation are not blamed for being too meek, but rather.... for being too militaristic.
Geoffrey Stern•222 Views•August 7, 2024•Parashat Devarim,Devarim,Deuteronomy,Wars,Sin of the Spies,Scouts
Culture WarsParshat Matot-Masei - Moses accuses the tribes of Reuben and Gad of perpetuating the defeatist attitude of the generation of the Exodus. The word Moses uses; Tarbut, has come to mean culture and we explore how culture, in contradistinction to Torah, has evolved and continues to impact Jewish thought until today.
Geoffrey Stern•286 Views•July 31, 2024•Heresy,Tarbut,Hellenism,Domesticate,Rabbi Meir, Elisha B. Avuyah, and Bruriah,Culture
Vigilant about VigilantismParshat Pinchas - The story of Pinchas taking the law into his own impulsive hands was problematic to the Rabbis and has been used by zealots until today to justify vigilantism and extrajudicial execution. We discuss.
Geoffrey Stern•221 Views•July 24, 2024•קַנָּאִין פּוֹגְעִין בּוֹ,Impulse,Zealotry,Price Tag,Vigilantism,Pinchas
How good is that!Parshat Balak - A blessing delivered by a foreign prophet is so inspiring that it is used to initiate the morning prayers in Jewish houses of worship of every denomination and until today.How good is that?
Holy WaterParshat Chukat - This week’s parsha is Chukat which is as much about water as it is about Chukim or challenging rules. It starts with the death of Miriam and her well, segues into Moses fatal sin in striking the water rock and concludes with the Red Heifer its purifying water. Today we focus on the ability of sprinkled water or emersion into water to purify in Judaism and later Christianity.
The Spirit of all FleshParshat Korach - Moshe pleads that only the guilty are punished and uses a title for God he uses in only one other place and which is not used again in all of Tanach: "God of the spirits of all flesh". This name for God strikes us as very universalist, even humanistic and we explore.
WanderlustParshat Sh'lach - The so-called Biblical Spies are actually not characterized as undercover agents but rather as tourists or in Hebrew; Turim. Broadcasting live from Italy, we take this opportunity to explore the significant impact that journey has played in defining the Jew.
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Geoffrey Stern
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