The Schrift - Ancient Jewish Wisdom for Modern Times

by Steven Toby Weinberg

Somewhere along the way, many of us were forcefed the idea that philosophy is boring and esoteric. What? Philosophy is, in fact, rebellious and therapeutic! Using humor, personal anecdotes, and much hubris, the Schrift provides fresh and unexpected answers to life's most tricky and fateful questions. The anchor of the Schrift is the weekly reading of the Torah. These passages are analyzed not as religious dogma but as brilli ... 

  ...  Read more
Self-Improvement
Judaism
Philosophy
Listen on ...

Podcast episodes

  • Season 3

  • Interview 17 - Bar Zemach, Principal Horn of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - Yithro

    Interview 17 - Bar Zemach, Principal Horn of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra - Yithro

    S03 E17
    01:24:08

    When Richard Wagner wrote his operas it was--wait for it--actually cool to be German. Indeed, one need only listen to this music for ten seconds to figure this out. Being Jewish back then on the other hand was, well, not so coveted. How times have changed. For today, horn players like Bar Zemach are welcomed to blast the shofar in the best orchestras of Germany.

  • Interview 16 - Erica Weitzman, Associate Professor of German at Northwestern University - Bishalach

    Interview 16 - Erica Weitzman, Associate Professor of German at Northwestern University - Bishalach

    S03 E16
    01:03:38

    "Ironic" is a word we throw around in casual conversation. And yet, when we peer back the curtain, we soon see that irony has explosive cultural and philosophical meaning. And what happens when we get ironic about irony itself? That was a devastating question which even Alanis Morrissette seems not to have foreseen. Schlegel, on the other hand... Nowadays, ironic speech is so commonplace that it irks more than it phases. By contrast, in the entire Torah we get just one ironic remark. Professor Erica Weitzman disentangles irony for us and shares her fascinating theory of comic irony.

  • Interview 15 - Yady Oren, Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Potsdam - Bo

    Interview 15 - Yady Oren, Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Potsdam - Bo

    S03 E15
    01:25:16

    In these all-too-modern of times, we not only have fast food and instant coffee, but we also get to enjoy bite-sized philosophy. Why read Hegel or Kant or Descartes when we can, you know, get their entire philosophy summed up in a YouTube video? If this sounds snobby, it shouldn't, for no one is more guilty of this "hack" than I. Fortunately, Yady Oren, who has actually read Hegel, is here to explain Hegel's real philosophy of history. We also hear his opinion on whether the tenth plague was a genocide and whether the Israelites had the right to jingoistically celebrate when the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea.

  • Interview 14 - Rabbi Dovid Roberts - Va'era

    Interview 14 - Rabbi Dovid Roberts - Va'era

    S03 E14
    52:48

    What, if anything, gets lost when we translate the Torah from Biblical Hebrew into English? Despite popular belief based on the English translation of the Torah, the Pharaoh did not exactly "harden his heart." Rather, he strengthened his heart, made his heart heavy, and even, perhaps, turned his heart into a liver. Rabbi Dovid Roberts is the rabbi and spiritual leader of the Kahal Adass Jisroel Synagogue, located in the heart of Berlin. In this interview, Rabbi Roberts explains why he reads secular books, shares an enthralling theory of Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch on Pharaoh's heart, and divulges the secret to great leadership.

  • Interview 13 - Chaim Noll, German-Israeli Writer - Shemot

    Interview 13 - Chaim Noll, German-Israeli Writer - Shemot

    S03 E13
    55:06

    In his 1940 work Moses and Monotheism, Freud made the provocative claim that Moses might have been an Egyptian! Even today, and even in secular circles, few would dare to voice this theory at the Passover Seder. Yet, Chaim Noll, German-Israeli writer and DDR dissident, explains why Moshe has far more controversy surrounding him than his lineage. In fact, it was Moshe's fondness for THE DESERT which was truly scandalous, at least by ancient standards.