Rabbi Jim Egolf's Podcast

This week’s Torah portion is a list of qualifications for the priests and about time.  Now in the middle of an election cycle, we seem to focus on the perfection of our choices and the time when things enter the media.  Are there certain things that really damage and taint a leader?  Perhaps there needs to be one and it found its way into our neighborhood as of late.  This devar was delivered at our Kehilah of Lower Merion meeting this past Monday. Download Standard Podcasts

Greetings!  We thought we had lost this recording due to technical glitches, but we found it!  So what does an interfaith family add to a synagogue beyond being a member?  How have attitudes changed over time and whither the Jewish community today on this ever increasingly important issue?  Listen and find out. Download Standard Podcasts

This week I am going to get something off my chest about the political/religious discussion that erupted in the past few weeks. While I don’t agree with Rev. Wright’s comments, I think we have to look at his charge as a minister and at the connection between a politician (and for that matter ALL politicians) and their spiritual leaders. Was Wright right? Hmmm…. Even if you don’t agree with him, he was carrying out his charge to his community. However, this episode br...more

We had a visitor at Beth David this week from Rabbi Lev Baesh. Rabbi Baesh is the rabbi for Interfaithfamily.com, a non-profit organization that helps families find their way into the Jewish world and the interfaith world through information, resources and training Jewish leaders to understand the issues all synagogues and Jewish institutions face in meshing people from different faith backgrounds. This is a wonderful interview about the resources and people who are trying to create paths to a ...more

Ahhh….leprosy, of all the Torah portions that might challenge a darshan (Hebrew for preacher), you have to love this one. I have spoken about this topic every year for over a decade, and this week we need to look at it in a new light. Many of the challenges we face now carry leprosy, or at least a hint of it. NPR: News and Notes Music you hear on this podcast is from Magnatune and features the work of the group Panacea. Download Standard Podcasts

Shalom and welcome! First, this podcast has a live recording of me playing guitar and singing Halleluyah at a Tot Shabbat Service during our most recent Synaplex. It is a less than perfect recording (hey, it’s live) and I was sick at the time, but I hope you enjoy this short piece of opening music. This week there is an archive sermon from a few years ago. When the Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE, the Jewish community was thrown into theological quandary. The Temple was the...more

Shabbat Zachor is one of a handful of Shabbatot where the Torah is set up to reinforce the message of a holiday. This Shabbat is meant to remind us of why Haman is about to lose yet again, (though some think this might be his year ). In looking at the bad guys we remember, we can also learn moral lessons for ourselves, specifically regarding how we deal with enemies. We might even find that God forgives those who we might not. Shabbat Shalom Saul  Amalek  Agag  Purim  Download Standar...more

This week’s Torah portion is about Moses gathering the community to assemble the tabernacle.  As I thought about this image, I also thought about the image of this podcast and the people who have helped me with advice, creative ideas, and insights.  So this week’s program is about the community of you and I think you will be surprised to find that you are all over the map….literally. Magnatune.com Paul Douglas Boyer’s show Download Standard Podcasts

How do we look for a candidate? Who should we choose? While this is not meant to endorse anyone, it is meant to endorse an idea and a vision. In Israel the national anthem is “Hatikvah” literally translated, “the hope.” Perhaps “the hope” is how we need to look for our leaders.  ”And they haven’t” Speech “Yes we can!” Speech  Download Standard Podcasts

How do we look for a candidate? Who should we choose? While this is not meant to endorse anyone, it is meant to endorse an idea and a vision. In Israel the national anthem is “Hatikvah” literally translated, “the hope.” Perhaps “the hope” is how we need to look for our leaders. This is a sermon from a few weeks ago right after a ‘Super’ week. “And they haven’t” Speech “Yes we can!” Speech Music heard on this podc...more