Do You Care Enough About Israel? (And Do Israelis Care Enough About You?) (233)
Release Date: 01/13/2025
Turning Criminals Into Heroes: Rabbi Jeremy Wieder on Rubashkin, Pollard, and Moral Clarity (275)
Orthodox Conundrum
Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with additional bonus content! There’s a recurring pattern in parts of the Orthodox world - one that has always troubled me, but in recent years has become impossible to ignore. We take individuals who have committed serious wrongdoing, sometimes admitted it in court, sometimes even served jail time, and we nevertheless elevate them to the status of heroes - not necessarily despite their criminal...
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A Person is a Subject, not an Object: New Traditional Perspectives on Tzniut, with Bracha Poliakoff and Rabbi Anthony Manning (CLASSIC EPISODE)
Orthodox Conundrum
Enjoy this classic episode from May, 2023. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Tzniut is triggering. That became clear when the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast released episode 145 entitled, “The Challenges of Teaching Tzniut & the Challenges of Being Tzanua, with Shayna Goldberg.” That episode, in which Scott asked Shayna to focus on issues related to tzniut (modesty) and clothing, addressed some of the most pressing concerns, and the conversation generated quite a bit of discussion. Today’s conversation is again about tzniut, this time about tzniut as a whole, and from the...
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When Non-Jews Define Judaism for Jews: Alyza Lewin on Reclaiming Jewish Peoplehood in an Age of Intimidation (274)
Orthodox Conundrum
There is a fundamental mistake that many people still make about Jews: they see Judaism exclusively as a faith, so they assume Jewish needs are basically religious accommodations, kosher food, holiday absences, maybe a space to pray. But my guest today, attorney Alyza Lewin, argues that if that’s your starting point, you completely misunderstand the nature of Judaism, and what Jews are experiencing across the world. Because what we are watching on campuses, on Bondi Beach, and in the international vilification of Israel is the vilification and targeting of Jews as a people, on the basis of...
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Jewish Particularism or Cultural Engagement: A Chanukah Debate, with Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum (273)
Orthodox Conundrum
To what degree should we assimilate non Jewish thought and culture into our intellectual, emotional, and spiritual lives? And to what degree does that question affect the way that we celebrate Chanukah? Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch expressed this tension directly when he wrote the following words: Chanukah represents the clash of two doctrines, two views, two civilizations, capable of molding opinions, training and educating those who until this very day compete for the mastery of the world. Hellenism and Judaism: These are the two forces whose effect upon the nations mark the historical...
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A $10,000 Bottle of Scotch: Alcohol Abuse, Conspicuous Consumption, and Orthodox Life Today, with Rabbi Jonathan Muskat and Rachel Tuchman (272)
Orthodox Conundrum
A tragic drunk driving case in Lakewood has pushed an uncomfortable question to the surface. What happens when "Toameha," kiddush clubs and casual drinking culture quietly normalize alcohol misuse in our homes and shuls, especially for the teenagers who are watching us... and what happens when that same culture is surrounded by designer logos, luxury Shabbat tables and endless talk about hotels and vacations? In this episode, I speak with Rabbi Jonathan Muskat and mental health counselor Rachel Tuchman about the growing Toameha phenomenon, problem drinking that does not always look like...
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Chosen Vs. Unchosen Vs. Rejected: The Idea of a Chosen People in an Antisemitic World, with Rabbanit Yael Leibowitz (271)
Orthodox Conundrum
In the past two years many Jews have felt as if the world they thought they knew simply disappeared. Western democracies, universities, and social justice spaces that once seemed welcoming - or at least somewhat neutral - have turned openly hostile toward Israel and the Jewish people. At the center of much of this hatred is a familiar accusation: that Jews think they are chosen, and accordingly, Jews think they are better. While we wholeheartedly reject the antisemitism implicit in this assertion, we need to honestly confront what the idea of a chosen people means, and what it says about our...
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Painful Questions and Unconditional Love: Orthodox Parents and Their LGBTQ Children, Part Two - with Rabbi Menachem Penner and Rabbi Yakov Horowitz (270)
Orthodox Conundrum
Back in August, I released a conversation with Rabbi Yakov Horowitz about Orthodox parents whose children come out as LGBTQ. The feedback to that episode was intense. Some listeners wrote that they finally felt seen. Others said that they were deeply uncomfortable. Quite a few parents asked what they should actually do when their son or daughter comes out to them, and how they can respond with genuine love while remaining faithful to halacha. Those questions are not theoretical. They are deeply personal, and they are coming from people who keep Shabbat, send their kids to day schools, sit in...
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Hostility, Confusion, and Ideological Pressure: Outreach in a Changing World, with Rabbi Mark Wildes (269)
Orthodox Conundrum
Zohran Mamdani - a politician who openly rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, yet insists that this has nothing to do with antisemitism - is now the mayor-elect of New York City. He points to a small number of Jewish supporters as evidence, while promoting a worldview in which Israel is framed as a genocidal, apartheid project. New York is home to the largest Jewish community in the diaspora. When that city elects a proudly anti-Zionist mayor, it sends a message far beyond one municipality. It raises hard questions: What does it mean for Jewish security, for public discourse...
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Mamdani, Fuentes, Tucker, and Mainstreaming Antisemitism: Jonathan Greenblatt on the Growing Threat from the Left and the Right (268)
Orthodox Conundrum
In recent weeks we have watched something many of us hoped we would not see in the United States: openly anti-Zionist and even openly antisemitic voices moving from the margins into the mainstream. Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York raises the chilling possibility that hostility to Israel is now an electoral asset. At the same time, parts of the American right are flirting with figures like Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier who says Jews do not belong in Western civilization. To make sense of this moment, I spoke with Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti Defamation...
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Charedi, Dati Leumi, Modern Orthodox, Traditional, Secular: Is Jewish Unity Even Possible? A Conversation with Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon (267)
Orthodox Conundrum
Is Jewish unity even possible? In this urgent episode Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon faces the hardest questions raised by the draft crisis and by the widening gaps between Charedi, Dati Leumi, Modern Orthodox, Traditional, and Secular Jews. He explains why unity is not a slogan but a practical necessity and religious obligation with real consequences for security, community, and our shared future. With clarity and empathy he maps a path for principled disagreement, mutual responsibility, and practical steps that families, shuls, and schools can take right now. If you are tired of talking points and want...
info_outlineDo Jews outside of Israel care enough about Israel?
This is a loaded and perhaps unfair question. How could anyone make that determination?
Nevertheless, it’s something I’ve been grappling with for some time, and I decided to pose this question on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook. Many people commented, both on the group and in private communications. And today's episode confronts that question directly through a panel discussion with Israel-engaged individuals in both Israel and the United States.
I believe that while the question was phrased somewhat provocatively, it raises an issue - the potential divide between Jews in and outside of Israel - that must be discussed. And for that reason, I was honored to host Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, Dr. Logan Levkoff, and Shira Katz Shaulov to discuss, openly and frankly, whether Jews outside of Israel are doing all that they should to support Israel - and, by extension, whether Jews in Israel are doing what they should for Jews outside of Israel.
This episode of the Orthodox Conundrum is sponsored by The Eden Project by Rotem Shani, located right across from the Sheinfeld neighborhood in Beit Shemesh. For more information please contact Rina Weinberg by emailing info@edenbeitshemesh.com.
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