The 3000-Year-Old Idea That Shaped Modernity
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
Release Date: 10/21/2025
Brotherly Love in Lisbon
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
For centuries, we’ve used the word "scapegoat" to mean blaming someone else—but what if the Torah meant the exact opposite? What does the scapegoat really mean on Yom Kippur? In Parashat Acharei Mot, two identical goats stand at the center of the ritual—one for God, one sent into the wilderness. Most read this as ancient ritual. Isaac Abarbanel reads it as something far more radical. Key Takeaways The Scapegoat Isn’t About “Them”—It’s About Us Abarbanel reframes the ritual: the two goats are not Israel vs. its enemies, but two possible versions of Israel itself—closeness or...
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When Homes Are Torn Open
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
Look closely at the broken walls of Israel, and you might just see the hidden history, resilience, and ancient secrets waiting to be uncovered in the rubble. The Bible contains an enigmatic set of laws about a house that becomes afflicted—and somehow needs to be cured. But the Rabbis flip the script. What if this “plague” isn’t a punishment… but a gift? What if tearing down a wall reveals something hidden בתוך הקיר—inside the wall? Key Takeaways Our homes are not just structures—they are stories The Torah teaches that a house can carry memory, history, and even moral...
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Where is the Stranger?
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
There is one powerful verse the ancient rabbis purposefully cut from the Passover story—and for good reason. Everybody asks why Moses is missing from the Haggadah. But what if we’re asking the wrong question? In this final episode of the Madlik Haggadah, we explore a deeper and more urgent mystery: Where is the stranger? Key Takeaways The Haggadah Stops Too Soon The Mishnah tells us to read the Exodus story “until the end.” But we don’t. And the ending we skip is the most important part: “You, and the stranger in your midst.” 2. Being Oppressed Doesn’t...
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The Haggadah After October 7
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
What if I told you that the most powerful way to read the Passover Haggadah... is to write your own? In this episode of Madlik, we explore a radical idea born on Israel’s early kibbutzim in the 1920s and 30s: that Judaism isn’t just inherited—it’s authored. We’re joined by Eran Yarkoni and Anton Marks of the Shittim Institute, who are traveling the U.S. with their exhibition Haggadah of Hope. Key Takeaways 1. The Haggadah Isn’t a Book—It’s a Framework The kibbutzim didn’t treat the Haggadah as sacred text to preserve, but as a structure to fill. They understood...
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How the Rabbis got their Power
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
Unlike almost every other major world religion, Judaism has absolutely no Pope—and the beautiful reason why is hidden deep in the Book of Leviticus. Rabbis today are “ordained.” But the original system of rabbinic ordination—semikhah, the laying on of hands—collapsed almost 1,600 years ago. So how did rabbinic authority survive? In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz trace the surprising story of how a simple biblical gesture—placing hands on a sacrifice—became the foundation for Jewish leadership and authority. Key Takeaways Authority in...
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Midrash Through the Looking Glass
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
The Torah is incredibly strict about what goes into its holiest sanctuary, which is why one bizarre detail in Exodus chapter 38 makes absolutely no sense. In the inventory of materials used to build the Mishkan, the Torah accounts for the weight and value of all the gold, silver, copper, wood, and linen material used. It’s very clinical, with no reference to significance or context. There is one striking exception. Exodus 38:8 tells us that the priestly washing basin was made “from the mirrors of the women who gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” Why does the Torah suddenly...
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Upside Down Thinking
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
What if I told you the Talmud’s greatest secret for surviving a crisis isn’t fighting harder—it’s assuming the exact opposite of what you think is true? In this special Purim episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore the Megillah’s phrase וְנַהֲפוֹךְ הוּא (ve-nahafoch hu) — “everything was turned upside down” — and ask what it means after Purim, in a world facing crisis and uncertainty. Key Takeaways Reversal Is a Mindset, Not a Miracle. Crisis Is an Invitation to Rethink the Paradigm. Argue Hard. Stay Together. ...
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The Lost Color of the Jewish People
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
If you want to understand the Jewish story, start with a color. This week we’re rebroadcasting one of my favorite episodes from 2022 — an episode about a single color that somehow contains an entire Jewish narrative: tekhelet, that rare, stubborn, unforgettable blue. We’re revisiting a conversation that feels more timely than ever. As antisemitism re-emerges in public life, people are reaching again for symbols — simple, visible markers that say: I’m here. I’m not hiding. I’m not alone. One of those symbols is the Blue Square Campaign — a small square of blue worn or posted as...
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No Free Gifts
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
We usually think a 'gift with strings attached' is a bad thing, but the Torah actually forbids giving without them. No Free Gifts | Terumah, Purim & The Language of Reciprocity There is no such thing as a free gift. In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore Parshat Terumah through the provocative lens of French sociologist Marcel Mauss and his groundbreaking work The Gift. Key Takeaways Every gift binds. Giving is a language. Reciprocity builds society. Timestamps [00:00] No Such Thing as a Free Gift: Torah Meets Anthropology [00:43] Terumah...
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From Freedom to Slavery
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
The Torah doesn’t celebrate freedom. It teaches dependence. Parashat Mishpatim opens with a shock: the Torah’s great civil code begins with laws of slavery—spoken to a nation freshly freed from slavery. In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz ask why the Torah doesn’t give an “Emancipation Proclamation,” and what freedom even means in a world built on mutual dependence. From Thoreau’s Walden myth to Bob Dylan’s “You’ve got to serve somebody,” and Yeshayahu Leibowitz’s insistence that the Exodus is about serving God, we explore a...
info_outlineThe Bible's most revolutionary concept wasn't monotheism - it was something far more profound.
What if the most revolutionary idea in human history wasn’t freedom, democracy, or even monotheism — but a single verse from Genesis?
This week on Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz are joined by Dr. Tomer Persico, author of In God’s Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea. Together, they explore how the Torah’s concept of tzelem Elohim — the image of God — was originally understood not as a metaphor, but as something startlingly literal: humanity as the actual analog of the divine.
The conversation also traces how Christianity, more than Judaism, adopted and amplified this idea — translating it into the language of conscience, equality, and individual dignity. Does that history diminish the Jewish claim to tzelem Elohim or, paradoxically, confirm its enduring power?
Finally, the discussion turns inward: once God’s mind becomes internalized within the human mind, religion itself becomes a human sense — like music or beauty — embedded in the architecture of our consciousness. Studying religion, then, is not just the study of the divine, but the study of what makes us most profoundly human.
Key Takeaways
- The concept of humans being created in God's image was revolutionary because it applied to everyone, not just rulers or heroes.
- Taking the idea of God's image literally led to profound implications for human rights and dignity.
- The "image of God" concept evolved through Christianity and ultimately influenced secularization and the emancipation of the Jews
Timestamps
- [00:00:27] — Opening narration begins: “What if one of the most radical ideas in human intellectual history…”
- [00:01:42] — Host commentary: Jeffrey connects the “image of God” to the modern idea of dignity and introduces the hope for the hostages.
- [00:02:34] — Guest introduction: Dr. Tomer Persico is welcomed; he explains his research journey and the origins of his book.
- [00:05:19] — Defining the radical idea: Persico explains how “in God’s image” reframed power, privilege, and ethics in Western culture.
- [00:07:45] — Literal God debate: Discussion turns to the ancient Israelite belief that God had a visible, bodily form.
- [00:10:12] — Reframing idolatry: Persico redefines idolatry as failing to see the divine in people, not in statues.
- [00:14:18] — Birth of human rights: Conversation about Genesis 9:6 and how individuality replaced collective punishment.
- [00:18:47] — The Christian turn: How Christianity internalized the “image of God” into conscience and reason—laying foundations for science.
- [00:25:26] — Secular autonomy and modernity: How reverence for human autonomy led to the rise of secularism and liberal rights.
- [00:31:38] — Closing reflection: The innate “hunch” or instinct toward the sacred—“we do God” naturally—and the episode’s farewell prayer for hostages.
Links & Learnings
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Transcript here: https://madlik.substack.com/