Reinterpreting Our Judaism - A Conversation on Faith and Identity w/ Yehuda Zirkind
Published 2024-06-10
During their discussion, Brackman and Zirkind delve into the complexities of religious faith, intellectual exploration, and personal spirituality. They touch on the challenges of reconciling traditional beliefs with modern critical approaches to Jewish texts. Zirkind recounts his struggles with faith and religious practices, including his period of not wearing tefillin and how he eventually reintegrated the practice into his daily life.
The conversation also highlights the impact of influential teachers like Rabbi Yoel Kahn and the personal connections that shaped Zirkind's understanding of Judaism. They discuss the importance of intellectual honesty, the evolution of religious practices, and the significance of maintaining a connection to Jewish tradition while allowing for individual interpretation and growth.
Brackman and Zirkind reflect on the trauma of losing the Rebbe and the ensuing theological and emotional challenges. They emphasize the importance of finding personal meaning in Jewish practices and traditions, even amidst doubt and questioning. The episode concludes with a shared appreciation for the depth and richness of Jewish heritage and the ongoing journey of faith and understanding.
All Comments (10)
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Thank you I listened & truly enjoyed the whole podcast I have great respect for rabbi zirkind & the whole zirkind clan ! I understand that a number of things in judiasim are based largely on faith & could b difficult to authenticate on a literally sense. But many many things in judiasim can be authenticated in a very real way, and I would love for reb Yehuda ber to dedicate a podcast soly focused on those concepts & I think we would perhaps see that we could rely on pure faith on some of the other issues.
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I remember him in Yeshiva
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Two Jews, Levi-Strauss (structuralism) and Derrida (post structuralism) ended the Hascala. But they didn't know what they were doing was Rabbinic until Susan Handelman wrote about it. The collapse of the Hascala is a powerful experiece, and this is why we are in the era of the BT's. But we need to go forward and not backward.
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Neoplatonism is not Torah. It's Greek. And this is why you need to understand postmodern Jewish thought. To understand who we really are, and how we are supposed to think.
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Instead of Aristotle, we now use Levi-Strauss and Derrida, who at least are Jewish and not Greek. These Jews crushed the Hascala and metaphysics and opened up a new era where Torah rules supreme. But the key to understanding this is to read The Skaters of Moses by Handelman, and Boyarin's Carnal Israel. You guys a wondering around in the dark as your old world collapsed around your ears.
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If you wat to read something geshmak, try the anthology of of writings of Steven Schwarzschild entitled "The Pursuit of the Ideal"from Menachem Kellner Schwarzschild is the greatest Jewish thinker from the 20th Century.
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We are a very long way from post Medieval Eastern Europe. There is not Night there for us. The Zohar war written by Moshe de Leon. He wrote it after the spherot described by RAMBAM, who got it from Aristotle. But we no longer are concerned with Aristotelian metaphysics and cosmology. Today this is meaningless.
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The weird arcane Mideavil Jewish literature you guys discuss has no place in our contemporary world. Certainly not Tanya or other similar writings. You are just losing yourselves down an endless rabbit hole.
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Your ideas on Jewish postmodern though are completely wrong. Opposite of the truth. If you support the Hascala, then you oppose Jewish postmodenism. Derrida as a Torah intellectual destroyed the Hascalah forever.
