My Teacher Podcast

This podcast is being published on April 30, 2023, and is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Harold Kushner, of blessed memory, who died on April 28, 2023 at the age of 88. Rabbi Kushner is best known for his best selling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. He wrote a total of 14 books, many of which were also best sellers. While known world-wide for his writing and lecturing, Rabbi Kushner was a beloved pulpit rabbi and ser...

Special thanks to Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, and his team for their invitation and for granting permission to distribute this podcast on the My Teacher Podcast feed. 

Check out the rich selection of Jewish educational offerings at valleybeitmidrash.org, where you will find recordings of some of the most distinguished teachers in the English speaking world. Find their calendar of upcoming even...

Rabbi Everett Gendler (August 8, 1928 - April 1, 2022) was an American rabbi, known for his involvement in progressive causes, including the civil rights movement. He has also been widely referred to as the founder of the Jewish environmental movement. About ten years ago at the Rabbinical Assembly Convention in Atlanta, he recorded a conversation with Rabbi Ed Bernstein on Jewish environmentalism. At the time Rabbi Bernstein was S...

Rick Recht is one of the top touring musicians in Jewish music playing annually in numerous venues in the US and abroad.  Rick has revolutionized and elevated the genre of Jewish rock music as a powerful and effective tool for developing Jewish pride and identity in youth and adults across the US. Rick is the national celebrity spokesman for the PJ Library and is the Executive Director of Songleader Boot Camp – a national songleade...

On February 25, 1996, a terrorist suicide bomber detonated himself on the No. 18 bus in Jerusalem, killing 26 innocent people, including Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. Their loss devastated everyone who knew them, and the attack that took their lives had geopolitical ripple effects that are evident still today. The personal example of Matt and Sara continues to inspire those who knew them. 

In this special two-part series of My ...

On February 25, 1996, a terrorist suicide bomber detonated himself on the No. 18 bus in Jerusalem, killing 26 innocent people, including Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker. Their loss devastated everyone who knew them, and the attack that took their lives had geopolitical ripple effects that are evident still today. The personal example of Matt and Sara continues to inspire those who knew them. 

In this special two-part series of My ...

Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz is the eighth Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and, with her appointment in 2020, she is the first woman to lead the institution in its 134-year history.

Dr. Schwartz, who earned her PhD at JTS, was instrumental in the addition of Jewish gender studies to the JTS curriculum. As a scholar of American Jewish history, she brought to light the previously overlooked contributions of women to the de...

Rabbi Amy Eilberg is the first woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She serves as a spiritual director, kindness coach, and peace and justice educator.  She recently served as the Coordinator of Jewish Engagement for Faith in Action Bay Area, a multi-faith, multi-racial social justice organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to that she served as the director of the Pardes R...

Rabbi Susan Talve is the founding rabbi of Central Reform Congregation, the only Jewish Congregation located within the city limits of St. Louis. When other congregations were leaving the city for the suburbs, Rabbis Susan joined with a small group to keep a vibrant presence in the city to be on the front line of fighting the racism and poverty plaguing the urban center.

During the conversation, she refers to her relationship with c...

Ruth Messinger is Global Ambassador of American Jewish World Service, having served nearly two decades as its president. Prior to her tenure at AJWS, she had a career in New York City politics.  She served on the New York City Council, was Manhattan Borough President and was the Democratic nominee for Mayor in 1997.

Ruth cites many teachers throughout her extensive career including her mother, Marjorie Wyler, who had her own disting...

A full bio of Rabbi Vernon Kurtz appears here. He was born in Toronto, Canada, received his BA from York University (1971), his MA and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary (1976), and his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary (1981). He also received a Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris Causa) from the Jewish Theological Seminary (2003).

From 1976 to 1988, Rabbi Kurtz served as Assistant...

Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, PhD, has served as the Spiritual Leader of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York since 2008.

Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999, Rabbi Cosgrove earned his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His dissertation, Teyku: The Insoluble Contradictions in the Life and Thought of Louis Jacobs examines the life and legacy of one of the leading Anglo-Jewish theologians of the 20th century an...

Jonathan Wolf, a Jewish educator and activist based in Evanston, IL, reflects on the life and legacy of his father, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, of blessed memory, in an extended My Teacher Podcast Father’s Day edition. 

Additional Resources:
 

The Prophetic Voice of Rabbi AJ Wolf--Civil Rights, Study Guide compiled by Rabbi Ed Bernstein

The Prophetic Voice of Rabbi AJ Wolf--Zionism, Study Guide compiled by Rabbi Ed Bernstein

New York Time...

It is traditional on Shavuot, "the season for the giving of the Torah" to study Torah throughout the night on Shavuot night in a ceremony called "Tikkun Leil Shavuot." This year, due to COVID-19, most communities are not able to gather in synagogues for Shavuot beginning Thursday night, May 28. 

The Rabbinical Assembly, the association of Conservative Rabbis, produced a series of pre-recorded video study sessions. Here's the full pl...

Episode 2: Austin Kaufman

Austin Kaufman is the International President of United Synagogue Youth.

He lives in Irvine, CA. He plans to study in the Nativ College leadership gap year in Israel program in 2020-2021, followed by Harvard College.
 

Since this interview was recorded in April, USY announced cancellation of its summer travel programs for Summer 2020.

Read Austin Kaufman’s full campaign speech: The Three C's of USY

Clips from “...

Emily McDonnell recently graduated Arizona State University with a master's degree in public administration. Emily actively pursues opportunities to merge her Navajo and Jewish identities and enjoys facilitating and participating in discussions related to Judaism and race. She is a 2017 Humanity in Action fellow and co-facilitated an intercultural dialogue between Jews and Native Americans on the topics of historical trauma and col...

Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields has served as Executive Director of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism since 2018. Prior to that, she led congregations in the Chicago area and in Tom’s River, NJ. She is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which sets policy on Jewish legal matters for Conservative Judaism. She graduated the Double-Degree Program between Barnard College and the Jewish T...