Towards a Progressive neo-Hasidism
Scholar Shaul Magid asks: why should progressive American Jews be interested in Hasidism? What does it offer us that non-Hasidic versions of Judaism do not? How does it respond to the more conventional notions of Jewish life and spirituality in America?
In this three part podcast series with Yeshivat Hadar, Rav James Jacobson-Maisels teaches three major concepts in Hasidic thought and theology: Avodah B'Gashmiyut, Ayin-Deveikut, and Pantheism.
Rena Branson, founder of the Queer Niggun Project, speaks on their work as a community organizer, song-weaver, and teacher of both traditional Hassidic and new liturgical melodies. In this conversation with Riv Ranney Shapiro, Rena reflects on the power of communal song to metabolize trauma and on their experience bringing Jewish spiritual gatherings and music to people incarcerated in NYC jails.
Rabbi Kohenet Jill Hammer teaches about the history of conceptualizing the Shekhinah (Feminine Divine Presence) as the very essence of the world.
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Ariel Evan Mayse presents a Neo-Hasidic theology of halakhah — an understanding of sacred deeds and the divine command that can redress the challenges of modernity and enliven the heart of the contemporary Jewish seeker.
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Xai, How Are You? interviews Judaism Unbound co-host Lex Rofeberg about Neo-Hasidism, and its connections to what he calls Paleo-Hasidism. In addition they discuss its problems/ benefits plus its history and future.​
Rabbi Léah Novick, an elder of the Jewish Renewal movement, shares practices of connecting with ancestors of inspiration, and her work to keep alive the teachings of various women saints. Reb Léah speaks of her journeys with these women, of reclaiming relationship with Shekhinah (Divine Presence) and reflects on the ways her earlier decades of activism inform her journey today.
Ariel Evan Mayse, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Stanford, is interviewed on the major ideas that set early Hasidism apart, and how those ideas inform Hasidism to this day.
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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, the hosts sit down with Eli Rubin – writer and researcher at chabad.org – to think about the stereotypes associated with social justice and vision, and how those seeming boundaries have been transcended.
Shefa Gold is interviewed by Judaism Unbound. They explore the transformative potential of the Song of Songs (a biblical book whose central theme is love), and they immerse in forms of Jewish sacred-chant. Gold brings some of those chants to the podcast in real time, and she also outlines why chant plays a key role in her methodology of transmitting Jewish wisdom.
Hannah Rochel (the Maiden of Ludmir) was the only independent female rebbe in the Hasidic movement. Nash Holos Ukranian Roots Radio briefly shares her story.
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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, hosts sit down with Dr. Ora Wiskind, professor and author, to discuss her life journey, both as a Jew and as an academic, and her attitude towards mysticism.
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Sam Shonkoff makes the case that different individuals and communities refract their psychedelic experiences through their own particular prisms. He presents a case study from within Jewish culture: namely, the Neo-Hasidic movement and illuminates the kaleidoscopic interplay between Hasidic sources and psychedelic substances, shedding light on interpretive possibilities within both.
An interview with Professor David Biale about the book "Hasidism: A New History" and the research effort behind it. This podcast discusses the theology, praxis, family life and communal structures of many Hasidic dynasties, and their relationship with the “outside world.”
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The founders of Gashmius Magazine are interviewed by Judaism Unbound about how "progressive Neo-Hasidism has the potential to uplift and heal the Jewish community and the world."
Noam Lerman reclaims the power and practice of tkhines ~ spontaneous Yiddish prayers ~ sharing ways tkhines have been kept alive in their family and have been a home for women and gender-marginalized Ashkenazi Jews, as well as ways we can engage this practice of prayer from the heart today
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Reb Mimi is interviewed about her experience as a spiritual mentor for American and Israeli Jews, what it’s like to be the public figure “Reb Mimi”, her time with Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and many deep answers to simple questions.
On this podcast, Krista Tippet asks Ariel Burger: what do religious people and traditions have to teach us as we do the work to repair, renew, and remake our societies and our life together?