Orthodox Conundrum

Super Bowl Ads Under the Microscope: A Torah Look at America's Biggest Commercial Break, with Rabbi Uri Cohen (281)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! Let me begin with a slightly uncomfortable question. How much of what we believe, value, and even desire has been shaped not by Torah, not by education, but by advertising? Every year during the Super Bowl, companies spend many millions of dollars for a single minute of our attention. We laugh at the commercials, we quote them, many people look forward to them more than the game itself. But commercials are also doing something more; they are not neutral. They are carefully crafted arguments about happiness, success, identity, relationships, and what kind of life we are supposed to want. And that creates a real issue for people who live according to the values associated with a Torah lifestyle - particularly because the power of advertising often lies in its subtext, or the metamessage. These commercials show us a mirror of what society cares about, while at the same time shaping and teaching these values and concerns without our conscious knowledge. It can be frightening to realize that we are being powerfully affected by messages that we may not even notice. Sometimes these messages are beneficial, and often they're somewhat insidious. Either way, they help create the filter through which we see the world - and that's why it's so important to pay attention to them, and work to uncover what they're telling us about the world in which we live. Put differently: if the Torah speaks to every generation and every cultural reality, as Rav Soloveitchik famously said, then we cannot simply switch off our religious consciousness when the entertainment begins. At the same time, this isn't only an endeavor for Orthodox Jews. Anyone who lives in the modern world benefits from learning how to watch culture thoughtfully instead of passively. Rabbi Uri Cohen joins me today to do something unusual. We treat this year's Super Bowl commercials as texts to be interpreted. We'll laugh a little, analyze a lot, and explore what these ads reveal about modern anxieties, technology, materialism, identity, and even anti-Semitism. And honestly, part of what we're doing today is simply enjoying that experience together. This is a fun episode. These ads are clever, creative, and often genuinely entertaining. The goal is not to condemn popular culture. It's to understand it. Because a Torah Jew is meant to live thoughtfully within the world, not outside it, and sometimes even a Super Bowl commercial can become a starting point for serious reflection. So yes, this episode is entertaining. But after hearing Rabbi Cohen's insights, it may also change the way you watch the next commercial break.  To listen to the latest Q&A episode of Intimate Judaism, click here. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to aliza@jewishcoffeehouse.com to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

Beyond Religious and Secular: A New Jewish Spirituality, with Rabbi Kenny Brander (280)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! Since October 7th, something unexpected has been unfolding among young Jews in Israel and, in different ways, across the diaspora. It does not look like the teshuva movements we have seen before. It is not a mass rush toward full mitzvah observance. It is not simply people becoming more religious in the way our communities usually define that word. Instead, we are seeing a deeper, more complicated spiritual shift. Young soldiers with tattoos and piercings are asking rabbis how to recite a blessing after surviving battle. Secular officers are making brachot when fallen soldiers are brought home. Crowds sing "Ani Ma'amin" after Hatikvah, and no one is shocked that faith has entered the public square. Some young people are wearing tzitzit even if they are not shomer Shabbat. Others are joining public Kabbalat Shabbat davening, even if they head to the mall immediately afterwards. What ties all of this together is not nationalism alone, and not ritual alone. It is a felt encounter with God. Rabbi Kenny Brander of Ohr Torah Stone described standing at Har Herzl during funerals and feeling that it had become Har Sinai. He spoke about soldiers in Rafiah, Lebanon, and Syria who experienced what they believed to be divine presence, and how that pushed them toward meaning rather than away from it. At the same time, this awakening is bottom up, not top down. It is being shaped by young people themselves, not imposed by institutions. And that raises big questions. Is this moment temporary, born of trauma, or the beginning of a lasting transformation? Can Judaism endure with deep belief but partial practice? And how should religious communities respond without judging, shaming, or trying to control what is emerging? There is another layer as well. While many less observant Jews are moving closer to God, some observant Jews struggle to speak about God directly. We talk Torah, we talk halacha, we talk values, but God himself can feel strangely muted in our discourse. So are we witnessing a new chapter in Jewish faith, one that blurs old categories of religious and secular? And are we ready to listen to it? To explore all of this, I spoke with Rabbi Brander, who has spent these two years visiting soldiers, students, and communities across Israel. We discussed miracles in war, the power of sacrifice, the meaning of mitzvot as expressions of love, and how we might create new vessels for an ancient tradition. It's an important and essential conversation you won't want to miss. To listen to the latest Q&A episode of Intimate Judaism, click here. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to aliza@jewishcoffeehouse.com to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com

When We Get It Wrong: Orthodox Communities and the Nechemya Weberman Case (279)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! This episode of Orthodox Conundrum addresses an extremely painful and unsettling subject. Last week, we learned that Nechemya Weberman, who was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a minor, has had his prison sentence dramatically reduced. Although Weberman originally received a sentence of more than one hundred years, that sentence has now been cut to eighteen years, making him eligible for release in about two years. For many people, this news was shocking. For others, it felt like a confirmation of something they have feared for a long time. Because this is not only a legal story. It is a communal one. It forces us to ask not only what the court decided, but what happens when justice intersects with communal loyalty, religious authority, and the instinct to protect our own. This conversation is not about whether a crime occurred. That question was answered years ago in a court of law. The deeper question is what happens afterward. How communities respond. Whose voices are believed. And whose pain is ignored or exacerbated - sometimes consciously and openly - so that communal stability can be preserved. To help explore those questions, I am joined by three people who bring deeply informed and very different perspectives. Asher Lowy of Za'akah has followed the Weberman case for more than a decade and understands its history and its communal aftermath in ways few others do. Sarena Townsend is the attorney who represented the victim and worked to oppose the reduction of Weberman's sentence. And Shana Aaronson, the head of Magen in Israel, brings the essential perspective of victim safety, trauma, and what these decisions mean for survivors long after court proceedings end. Together, we discuss how and why the sentence was reduced, what remorse and rehabilitation are supposed to mean, and why in this case those concepts ring hollow for so many. But we also confront something even more uncomfortable. What does it say about a religious community when protection is extended more readily to perpetrators than to victims? And what happens when our drive to preserve our institutions and community structures leads us to abandon our internal moral compass? This is not an easy conversation. But it is one we cannot afford to avoid. To listen to the latest Q&A episode of Intimate Judaism, click here. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to aliza@jewishcoffeehouse.com to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com  

No Rewind Button: Why "It Never Happened Before" Isn't Enough, with Rabbi Yakov Horowitz and Rabbanit Dr. Yardaena Osband (278)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! Last week in Jerusalem, two babies lost their lives. The details are painful. The families are grieving. And out of basic decency, we are not here to dissect the specifics of what happened. But moments like these force a question that is deeply uncomfortable, yet absolutely unavoidable. When tragedy strikes, especially tragedy that may have been preventable, what are we supposed to do next? Too often, our instinct is to move quickly toward comfort. We say things like "it was the will of God," or "these things happen," or "this place had been used safely for years." And sometimes those words help people survive unbearable loss. But they can also become a way of shutting down responsibility. Because in real life, there is no rewind button. You don't get to go back and tighten a safety standard after something goes wrong. You don't get to undo a moment that lasted seconds but changed lives forever. In this episode of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast, I'm joined by Rabbi Yakov Horowitz and Rabbanit Dr. Yardaena Osband for a serious, honest, and at times difficult conversation about safety in the Orthodox world. We talk about why communities often confuse longevity with safety. Why "it never happened before" is not the same thing as "it can't happen." We explore the tension between faith and responsibility, between trust in God and our obligation to protect life using the knowledge and tools available to us. And we discuss what it means to build a culture where safety isn't treated as fear, but as an obligation. This is not a conversation about blame. It's a conversation about responsibility… before the next tragedy forces us to have it again. To listen to the latest Q&A episode of Intimate Judaism, click here. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to aliza@jewishcoffeehouse.com to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com    

Does the Torah Demand Independent Thought? Rabbi Aryeh Klapper on Gedolim, Authority and Halacha (277)

Check out Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/ - and paid subscribers get this and other episodes of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast ad-free and with early access and additional bonus content! One of the most difficult questions in religious life is also one of the most basic: how do we show genuine respect for Torah and its teachers while still taking responsibility for our own moral and halachic decisions? At what point does kavod, or respect, become healthy reverence, and at what point does it quietly turn into something more dangerous, a way of outsourcing thought, conscience, and responsibility? Many of us were raised with a strong emphasis on deference. Trust the rabbis. Follow the gedolim. Do not question authority. And yet at the same time, my guest today, Rabbi Aryeh Klapper, insists that Judaism does not allow a Nuremberg defense - that is, you cannot say I was only following orders. Every individual remains accountable for his or her choices. So how do those ideas live together? Does independent thinking strengthen Torah or threaten it? Is there such a thing as going too far in thinking for yourself? Who decides who actually has authority, and on what basis? And perhaps most provocatively, is the category of "gedolim" we frequently reference a religious reality, or merely a political one? In this conversation, Rabbi Klapper challenges many assumptions that are often taken for granted in Orthodox discourse. He speaks about the dangers of imposed respect, the psychological cost of receiving kavod, the limits of rabbinic authority, and the responsibility that no Jew can ever fully give away, even to the greatest scholar. This discussion was thoughtful, nuanced, and frequently surprising. It is not about tearing down Torah leadership, but about asking what real Torah responsibility actually demands from each of us. This is a conversation about authority, respect, when it's appropriate to surrender our own judgment, and what it truly means to live as a thinking Jew within a halachic system. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Write to aliza@jewishcoffeehouse.com to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com