The Jewish Future Israel Wants… But Fears to Admit
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
Release Date: 12/04/2025
Left Behind-The Jewish Rapture
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
How a Story of Liberation Was Used to Exclude What if the Exodus wasn’t just a story of freedom… but also a story of exclusion? Key Takeaways Redemption stories are rarely neutral—they are often weapons. The charge of being “left behind” usually says more about the accuser than the accused. A story about leaving becomes an excuse for not moving at all. Timestamps [00:00] Moses' Uncompromising Message to Pharaoh [00:24] The Irony of the 'Left Behind' Story [01:48] Introduction to Madlik and This Week's Topic [02:42] Exploring the Tradition of Those Left Behind [04:00] The Ambiguous...
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Who’s In, Who’s Out — A 3,000-Year-Old Debate
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
The Exodus isn’t just a freedom story — it’s the Torah’s first argument about gatekeeping. Pharaoh asks a simple question: “Who exactly is going?” — mi va-mi ha-holchim. Moses answers with a revolution: Everyone. Key Takeaways Who’s going?” really means “Who counts? Inclusion isn’t modern — it’s Torah. Presence matters more than status. Timestamps [00:00] Pharaoh's Question: Who's Going? [01:26] Introduction to Madlik and This Week's Topic [01:58] The Essence of Hasidism and Inclusion [05:03] Exploring the Exodus Story [07:14] Moses' Radical Answer to Pharaoh...
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Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe - The Answer Within
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Mussar, and the Theology of Human Greatness Moses delivers the greatest promise in Jewish history—freedom, redemption, a future—and the Torah says something heartbreaking: the Israelites don’t listen. Not because they reject God or Moses, but because of “kotzer ruach” (Exodus 6:9)—shortness of spirit. Key Takeaways The Torah’s Greatest Threat Isn’t Sin — It’s Smallness True Greatness Is Internal, Not External Mussar Teaches Us How to Grow, Not Just What to Do Timestamps [00:00] The Devastating Reality of kotzer ruach [00:45] Introduction to Rabbi Shlomo...
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Reading the Torah like a Child
Madlik Podcast – Disruptive Torah Thoughts on Judaism
What Children Hear That Adults Miss We begin the Book of Shemot (Exodus) with a New Year’s-style resolution: read more Torah out loud—to our children, and to our grandchildren. Because the Exodus isn’t just Judaism’s greatest story; it’s Judaism’s most re-read story—told at the Seder, year after year, the longest-running book club in history. We’re joined by scholar and author Ilana Kurshan to discuss her new book Children of the Book, a beautiful exploration of how reading to kids shapes not only them, but us. Together we read Exodus through young eyes: the burning bush as a...
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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...
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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...
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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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Bottom Up Torah: How Queer Jews Are Changing Orthodoxy
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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The Jewish Future Israel Wants… But Fears to Admit
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...
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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...
info_outlineBeneath 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 new Israel-born generation, we uncover the cultural, political, and spiritual crossroads Israel now faces. Beneath the surface, Israel is fighting for the soul of its religion—and American Jews are playing a bigger role than anyone expected.
Key Takeaways
- American Modern Orthodoxy Has Become a Quiet Force in Israeli Judaism
- Israeli Religious Zionism Is Splitting Into Two Distinct Paths
- Israel’s Next Generation of Leaders Will Be Religious — But Neither Haredi or National Religious
Timestamps
- [00:00:00] Jacob returns from exile with wealth, family, and a new identity; exile reframed as productive, not just punishment.
- [00:01:00] Intro to Professor Adam Ferziger and his book Agents of Change about American Jews reshaping Israeli Judaism.
- [00:02:00] Host sets the frame: modern Orthodoxy’s influence on Israeli religious life, education, feminism, and LGBTQ inclusion.
- [00:03:00] Ferziger’s personal story: gap year yeshiva, Aliyah in 1987, building family and rabbinic life in Kfar Saba.
- [00:04:54] Early political snapshot: the failed “Meimad” experiment and how Anglo moderates felt marginal and deviant.
- [00:06:36] Shift in the 2000s: religious-Zionist camp diversifies; modern Orthodox voices gain legitimacy and visibility.
- [00:09:05] Explaining American Modern Orthodoxy: Torah plus general culture, YU, day schools, Rav Soloveitchik’s synthetic model.
- [00:14:10] Rise of “Hardal”: nationalist-Haredi style religiosity, stricter halakha, and a more redemptive, messianic Zionism.
- [00:21:45] The “agents of change”: eight American rabbis/educators whose Israeli students indigenize and radicalize their ideas.
- [00:34:15] Why this matters beyond religion: “Israeli Judaism” and how moderate Orthodox trends may shape Israel’s future leadership.
Links & Learnings
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Transcript here: https://madlik.substack.com/
Adam Ferziger's Book https://nyupress.org/9781479817559/agents-of-change/