JTS The Evolution of Torah

JTS The Evolution of Torah

In Season two of The Evolution of Torah, Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz takes usto four regions of the Medieval world to understand the specific Torah cultures that emerged from each place and their approach to Torah learning. The season covers Muslim Spain and North Africa, France, Germany, and Christian Spain over the course of 500 years, from the closing of the Talmud around the year 800 to the Spanish Inquisition. There is also one episode about Maimonides.

Episodes

Introducing: Exploring Kabbalah

April 11, 2024 • 12 mins
Check out this new series from JTS Podcasts, Exploring Kabbalah. Dr. Eitan Fishbane shares the complext history of Jewish mystical thought from the Torah to Hasidism. 

Subscribe now:
RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/3550593/episodes/feed
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exploring-kabbalah/id1739159484


Hosted by: Dr. Eitan Fishbane
Produced by Ellie Gettinger
Edited by Sarah Brown
Cover art: Lee Willet
Theme music: “Y...
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2.6 Evolution of Torah: Christian Spain

July 18, 2023 • 14 mins
All the legal cultures we discussed in this season come together in Christian Spain in the 14th Century. Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh) is one of the rabbis leading the integration of the legal culture of Muslim Spain, with the interpretative work of France and the rabbinic authority that was standard in Germany. This episode traces the Rosh’s immigration to Spain and highlights the period until the Spanish Inquisition. We end t...
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2.5 Evolution of Torah: Germany

July 11, 2023 • 14 mins
The German Jewish community was at once highly organized and prosperous. At the same time, they were subject to the potentially violent whims of non-Jewish community around them. These parallels of strength and challenge are at the core of this episode about rabbinic culture in the Germanic provinces in the 13th century. We will focus on the specific struggles of two rabbis, the Maharam (Rabbi Meir ben Barukh) of Rothenberg and Rab...
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2.4 Maimonides

June 27, 2023 • 14 mins
For this episode, we focus solely on Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204, Maimonides/Rambam), whose work in diverse disciplines from medicine to philosophy worked to elevate rabbinic legal culture. We examine the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’s companion to the written Torah, which is the oldest in existence and delve into his rigorous work life. Through his letters, we get a sense of Maimonides personal challenges and extensive reach du...
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2.3 France

June 20, 2023 • 13 mins
This episode focuses on Rashi (1040 - 1105, Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac) and his intellectual (and genetic) heirs. We start by exploring the significant differences between French rabbinic culture and that of North Africa and Muslim Spain. As opposed to summarizing the law as presented in the Talmud which was the central aim of scholars like the RIF, Rashi embarked on a broader interpretative process which led his predecessors to the m...
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2.2 Muslim Spain and North Africa

June 13, 2023 • 12 mins
The legal culture of Muslim Spain and North Africa from the ninth to the thirteenth century focused on making the Talmud accessible through practical applications of Gaonic interpretations. This episode follows two scholars: Rabenu Hananel ben Hushiel whose approach is one of the earliest known attempt to provide a systematic commentary on the Talmud and that of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (the RIF) whose work superseded Hananel’s within tw...
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2.1 Journeys in Torah Study

June 6, 2023 • 14 mins
How did geographic diversity and separation impact rabbinic culture? In the season opener, we begin with the story of the four captives, the story that ended season one. This narrative offers an example of how rabbinic learning spread. We introduce the challenges and opportunities that faced Jewish communities which connect our four regions: Muslim Spain and North Africa, France, Germany, and Christian Spain. The season also includ...
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The Evolution of Torah Season 2 Trailer

May 31, 2023 • 50 secs
Get ready for Season 2 of the Evolution of Torah: Establishing Rabbinic Culture
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5. The Talmud after the Talmud

November 19, 2019 • 16 mins
How did the Babylonian Talmud become a fixed, closed book, the most influential one in the Jewish world? In this episode, we discuss the final layers of interpretation and editing that made it into the Talmud. We’ll also see how the influence of the Geonim, the heads of the Babylonian academies, together with immigration, spread the authority of the Babylonian Talmud to even far-flung Jewish communities. Lastly, we reflect on how t...
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4. Midrash: Making meaning

November 19, 2019 • 11 mins
The Rabbis were not only interested in compiling and interpreting the Mishnah. In this episode, we look at some examples of Midrash, rabbinic interpretation of the Bible to derive both legal and narrative insights. We also hear how study of Midrash experienced a renaissance in the hands of modern scholars and ask if genuine Midrash can be found after the rabbinic period.

Credits:
Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
Cover art: Rabbi Tim Ber...
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3. The Talmud(s): Creating Torah through dispute

November 19, 2019 • 9 mins
Interpreting the Mishnah evolved into a creative process where pairs of Rabbis would argue with each other. In this episode, we discuss how these debates about interpretation developed into a primary component of the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud.

Credits:
Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
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2. The Mishnah: the earliest voices

November 19, 2019 • 16 mins
The Mishnah is the foundational rabbinic text. How did it come to be? Who authored it? And what’s in it? In this episode, we look at an example of a mishnah and Rabbi Schwartz also gives an overview of the role of women in and around the Mishnah.

Credits:
Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
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1. Who Were the Rabbis?

November 19, 2019 • 13 mins
What led to the emergence of the group of scholars and teachers we call the Rabbis? What motivated them and what did they value? The Rabbis looked to their forebear, Hillel, as an exemplar of religious leadership, and in this episode, we’ll look at three stories they told about Hillel to see what we can learn about the Rabbis’ self-conception.

Credits:
Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
Theme music: Stock media ...
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