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Understanding Anti-Semitism Through History

Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Release Date: 07/10/2025

When Shiloh Comes: Religion at Its Best and Worst show art When Shiloh Comes: Religion at Its Best and Worst

Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore one of the Torah’s most enigmatic verses—Jacob’s blessing of Judah and the phrase “until Shiloh comes.” Claimed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this single line opens a sweeping conversation about the power of religion to shape history—for good and for evil. Drawing on classical commentators, medieval Jewish-Christian encounters, and modern interfaith scholarship, we ask hard questions: What happens when sacred texts become battlegrounds? Can religion be part of the solution to religious...

info_outline Sacred Numbers Without Superstition show art Sacred Numbers Without Superstition

Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

As we close one year and step into another, we’re revisiting a live Madlik Disruptive Torah conversation recorded in December 2022, back when the podcast was broadcast weekly on Clubhouse in front of a live audience. This episode explores the enduring power of numbers in Jewish thought—especially the number 70. From the seventy souls who descend to Egypt, to seventy nations, seventy languages, seventy judges on the Sanhedrin, and the rabbinic idea that Torah itself has shiv’im panim—seventy faces—this conversation asks what numbers can teach us without turning Torah into...

info_outline Hanukkah: The Civil War We Forgot show art Hanukkah: The Civil War We Forgot

Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Was Hanukkah really a war of Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to forget? Was Hanukkah really Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to bury under a story about oil? In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz revisit the Hanukkah story through the sources. From Maccabees I and the politics of Ptolemy vs. Antiochus, to the lone Talmudic mention of the oil miracle (Shabbat 21b), they show how a messy internal power struggle became a clean miracle narrative. Key Takeaways Hanukah began as a Jewish civil war — not just Jews vs....

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Imagine being told you belong to a faith that is fighting to keep you out—and refusing to leave. In this week's Madlik, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz welcome Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox-ordained rabbi, for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation. Key Takeaways Vulnerability transforms the meaning of Torah. Bottom-up change is reshaping Orthodoxy. The tradition has the capacity — and the precedent — to grow. Timestamps [00:00:12] Rabbi Steve Greenberg’s coming-out context and the question of LGBTQ+ Jews as teachers of Torah. [00:03:11] Steve’s...

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Beneath the surface, Israel is fighting for the soul of its religion — and most of us don’t even see the battle lines. In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz are joined by Professor Adam S. Ferziger to explore the quiet revolution reshaping Israeli Judaism. Drawing on his new book, Agents of Change, Ferziger reveals how American Modern Orthodoxy—its values, institutions, and worldview—has profoundly influenced Religious Zionism and the broader Israeli religious landscape. From the tension between nationalism and modernity to the emergence of a...

info_outline He’s Christian. He Fights for Israel. He Speaks Talmudic Aramaic. show art He’s Christian. He Fights for Israel. He Speaks Talmudic Aramaic.

Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

Ready to discover how reviving a lost language can reshape the whole Middle East? Ta Shma (come and hear) Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz are joined by Shadi Khalloul—IDF paratrooper veteran, founder of the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association, and one of the world’s most passionate advocates for reviving the Aramaic language. Together, they explore Parshat Vayetzei and the hidden “Rosetta Stone” moment in Genesis 31, where Jacob and Laban name the same monument in Hebrew and Aramaic. Key Takeaways Aramaic is the Hidden Backbone of Jewish Life Aramaic Once United the Ancient...

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

What if one of the Torah’s greatest heroes was actually its most scandalous trickster? In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Adam Mintz dive into one of the most provocative moments in the Torah: Jacob’s audacious act of deception to secure his father Isaac’s blessing in Parashat Toldot. Rather than smoothing over the ethical wrinkles, we sit with the discomfort, exploring why the Torah insists on portraying our third patriarch as a trickster—and what we’re meant to learn from a hero whose virtues are tangled with flaws. Key Takeaways The Torah Embraces...

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

What happens when women finally enter the conversation that’s been about them all along? In this episode of Madlik: Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz are joined by Prof. Rabbi Wendy Zierler — Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at HUC-JIR, ordained by Yeshivat Maharat, and author of Going Out with Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry. Key Takeaways Expect to rethink assumptions about primary biblical characters—especially the matriarchs—and appreciate the living tradition of midrash as a vehicle for creativity and...

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

A Netflix rom-com jokes that Judaism “encourages me to argue.” Turns out, that’s not a joke—it’s what set Abraham apart. A Netflix rom-com gives us a throwaway line that might be the most Jewish thing ever said on screen. When a young rabbi admits that Judaism loves two opposing opinions, his girlfriend lights up: “A religion that encourages me to argue? Love that.” It’s meant as a joke, but this week’s Torah portion proves her right. Sarah laughs at divine promises, Abraham bargains with God over justice, and on Mount Moriah, even silence feels like protest. Judaism...

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Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism

3,000 years after Abraham heard the call to go forth, a group of 20 somethings booked a one-way ticket to Ben-Gurion. What if the journey of Abraham in the Torah mirrors the modern-day aliyah experience? In this episode we dive into the modern-day "Lech Lecha" story with Noah Efron from The Promised Podcast. From his Young Judea roots to teaching at Bar Ilan University, Noah shares his journey of making aliyah (immigration to Israel) from America in the early 80s, offering a fascinating perspective on what it means to "go forth" in our generation. Key Takeaways The power of community in the...

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What happens when the sacred victim becomes the sovereign nation?

We delve into a provocative exploration of Jewish identity and otherness in this week's episode. Drawing inspiration from the Torah portion Balak and a thought-provoking essay by Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, we challenge long-held beliefs about Judaism's role as the quintessential "other" in society.

Have we been misinterpreting our own history?

Key Takeaways

  1. The concept of Jews as universal "others" may be more modern than we realize
  2. Embracing particularism might be more authentic to Jewish tradition than universal symbolism
  3. Zionism can be seen as a return to Jewish particularity rather than just a political movement

Timestamps

  • [00:00] Introduction to the episode and the theme of “The Jew as Other”
  • [01:45] How the term “other” appears in this week’s Parsha and Moab’s fear
  • [03:50] Biblical context: Egyptians and Haman’s perspective on Jews
  • [06:45] Jewish laws and their role in antisemitic narratives
  • [09:30] Rabbinic interpretations and perceived Jewish separateness
  • [12:15] Rabbinic blame of God for antisemitism through Jewish laws
  • [14:30] Evolution from oppression to loving the stranger in Torah
  • [17:00] Introduction of Hussein Aboubakr Mansour’s argument
  • [20:15] Breakdown of the Jew as metaphor and object of culture
  • [28:00] Zionism’s rejection of “otherness” and affirmation of sovereignty

Links & Learnings

Sign up for free and get more from our weekly newsletter https://madlik.com/

Safaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/661213

Hussein Aboubakr Mansour‘s Substack article

https://open.substack.com/pub/critiqueanddigest/p/the-jew-after-otherness

Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2025/07/09/understanding-anti-semitism-through-history/