Pulled from the Archives of Unraveling Religion, Judaic Edition, this January 2010 conversation with Rabbi Gedaliah Gurfein of Jerusalem opens to the importance of Judaism's connection to the land of Israel.

Also discussed is the nature of a human being, being is less imporatant than becoming.

Rabbi Gedaliah shares utilizing the time on our planet might be best served by refining ourselves into sacred vessels.

• Higher than Kabbalah is Prophecy
• In ancient Israel there were school of Prophecy
• One cannot generate Prophecy, one can only make themselves a worthy vessel to receive Prophecy
• Night as the faciltaiton of Faith
• Day as the facilitation of Wisdom
• Why don't we perceive G-d clearly? Is existence a Cosmic Game of hide and seek?
• G-d make us Partners in Creation
• Star of David, 'Bringing Heaven down to Earth'
• Six days of Creation, Six Directions (i.e., north, east, south, west, up, down)
• In order to move in Space, one needs Time
• the seventh type of time is Shabbas, returning to oneself, time with no direction
• All specifications of our lives are crafted by G-d to give us the the opportunity for its successful completion
• The physical and spiritual mirror one another
• Judaism's rich tradition and history of meditation
• Respecting differences in the World's Religions
• Reincarnation is not explicit taught in Torah, Talmud touches on it
• Torah is very much about the here and now
• Ba'al Shem Tov, Owner of a Good Name
• Highest thing a human being can work toward and leave behind is to be Ba'al Shem Tov, the Owner of a Good Name

Biography:

Gedaliah has been a teacher of Jewish wisdom for over 45 years. His experiences have included a range from traditional yeshivot to Pueblo Indians, Igbo Tribes, China, Netherlands, Mexico and, of course, Israel. Gedaliah has also been involved in the Israeli High-Tech industry since 1995. His classic work - free to the public - is The People's Talmud.

In this episode, Rabbi Jess explores and delves into the topic of divorce with Rabbi Ezra Weinberg, examining 'why does divorce make some people so uncomfortable?'

• divorce touches on the idea that there is nothing more painful than dashed hopes
• people think of divorce as a synonym for 'a failed marriage'
• Reb Ezra shares reframing divorce as 'marriage coming to completion'
• is there a lack of communal support in our commmunity for divorce?
• why is divorce sometimes so awkward to talk about?
• what are some appropriate responses to divorce when people are experiencing it?
• why are we afraid to address divorce when people are going through it?
• Exploring the marriage contract (i.e., Ketubah) as both a marriage document and a divorce document
• The importance of a Get

Aspects of Rabbi Ezra Weinberg's work with divorce:

• Jews Getting Divorced
• Divorce First Responders

Also explored in this conversation: 'Does the Jewish community sometimes isolate people going through divorce?'

Discussed is the consideration of divorce as a sacred moment in one's life.

What are the rituals in divorce to help with closure?

Reb Ezra shares the core message of his work: 'the central spiritual gesture of divorce is 'release.''

Biography

Reb Ezra Weinberg is a Philadelphia-based rabbi and a practitioner of conflict transformation. He is the founder of Jews Get Divroce. Among his various projects, he officiates weddings and b’nai mitzvah; teaches courses on connecting to Jewish prayer; and helps communities get unstuck around the topic of 'Israel.' He is an adjunct faculty member at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he teaches the class, 'One G-d, Three Paths,' alongside a priest and an imam. Whether he is working as a shaliakh tzibbur, a Jewish educator, a song leader or a Jewish camp professional, his role in the Jewish community and beyond always comes back to his ability to lift spirits, create community and plant seeds of transformation.

Rabbi Jess and Reverend Amanda Barker discuss the relationship of Redemption in Judaism and Christianity.

• What is Redemption?
• What is Redemption in Christianity?
• In Judaism?
• How do they overlap?
• How do they differ?
• Is redemption an active process?
• What does re​demption call us to?
• What actions?
• What obligations?
• How does one become redeemed?
• How is redemption a transformation?
• What does red​emption feel like​?
• ​Why at times do we not feel ​like redemption​ is real (in the face of the world's suffer​ing)?
• ​Is redemption figur​ative or literal​?
• What is the relationship of Jesus to redemption for christianity?
• What is the Eucharist?

Our work is not within the walls of a church or temple, but being in this broken world, because the world has not yet been transformed or redeemed, we become the actors to reset our intention and act on behalf of God to tend to the marginalized and those suffering.

​Redemption does not erase pain or death​.

Jesus' ministry was the primary healing to the marginalized, the example set that we become actors in redemption, our world becomes God work to redeem the world.

The world is upside down, our work becomes to right the inversion of the world through love and care.

Biography

Reverend Amanda Barker is the Curate at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Boulder.

A Curate is a fancy term used in The Episcopal Church, meaning she's an assistant priest and in her first call and congregation.

She grew up in the church and became a priest in 2024 after receiving her Master of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Amanda’s background is in the nonprofit sector, where she worked for two decades with various groups on land conservation and historic preservation action in Colorado.

At the start of her career, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar.

She now lives in Boulder with her husband and two stepchildren.

When she’s not at church, she's cooking, reading, and traveling to new places and to her favorite people, and she has become an avid backyard birdwatcher.