How did the monetary guarantee of the ketubah develop? What light can similar contracts from the Ancient Near East and modern pre-marital financial agreements such as the pre-nup shed on the nature of the ketubah, including the question of whether it is binding? Prof. Michael L. Satlow is Professor of Judaic Studies and Religious Studies at Brown University.  He holds a Ph.D. from JTS, and is an author of numerous works including the book Jewish Marriage in Antiquity, and the chapter “Reconsidering the Rabbinic Ketubah Payment” in The Jewish Family in Antiquity.   Special thanks to ..read more

CW// sexual assault/r*pe What do Talmudic texts about vaginal bleeding and sexual assault tell us about how the rabbis perceived women’s humanity and subjectivity? Is a true gender-egalitarian halakha even possible? This is the second part of an interview. Listen to part one here. Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, Identity, and Epistemology, focused on legal and cultural questions around the definition and verific ..read more

CW// underage sex and sexual assault/r*pe What is the rabbis' definition of virginity, and why is it so complicated? What does it tell us about their view of feminine subjectivity and sexuality? Dr. Rebecca Kamholz holds a PhD in rabbinics from Yale University. Her areas of focus are gender theory and legal texts about women in the Babylonian Talmud. Her dissertation, Virginity in the Babylonian Talmud: Sex, Identity, and Epistemology, focused on legal and cultural questions around the definition and verification of virginity in the Talmud.  Special thanks to our executive producer, Adin ..read more

Last year around this time we were finishing up Tractate Pesachim — take another dip into our Peseach archive with this episode compilation featuring ideas from Kadesh to Nirtzah We thank our guests,  Dr. Susan Weingarten, Dr. Jon Greenberg, Rabbi Dr. Vanessa Ochs, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Dr. Rachel Scheinerman, Dr. Marc Michael Epstein, and Dr. Sara Ronis for lending us their voices, ideas, and insights to enhance each step of our, and now your, seder. In addition to this audio experience, be sure to check out the accompanying source sheet on Sefaria for some additional thoughts and re ..read more

What can levirate marriage teach us about ancient Jewish family structures?  Why start Seder Nashim with death?  Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics, HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director and Rabbinical Program Director in Los Angeles. She is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism, which explores the ancient rabbis’ understanding of family and familial relationships. Rabbi Dr. Weisberg also teaches frequently in informal settings, including adult education programs in congregations, several summers at the URJ Kallah and sessions ..read more

Who really was Elisha ben Avuyah, and why was he a mistake of rabbinic interpretation? How did he become a blank canvas for the Rabbis’ heretical anxieties?  Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, a nonprofit, international, UNESCO-sponsored interfaith organization. A noted scholar of Jewish studies, he has held academic posts at Tel Aviv University and has served as director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, Jerusalem. Rabbi Dr. Goshen-Gottstein is the author or editor of many books including Th ..read more

How did ancient Jews relate to angels? Are “Biblically accurate angels” really Biblically accurate? Dr. Mika Ahuvia is an associate professor of Classical Judaism in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her book On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture investigates conceptions of angels in foundational Jewish texts and ritual sources. Mika also co-edited the volume Placing Ancient Texts: the Rhetorical and Ritual Use of Space and has published book chapters and articles on ancient ritual-magic, gender an ..read more

CW//brief mentions of sexual abuse and abusers  When, why, and how did the rabbis of the Talmud excommunicate people? How did they craft a narrative of powerlessness to invest themselves with more power? Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy is the Director of the Pardes Year Program at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. In 2015, Meesh completed her studies at Beit Midrash Har’el and received ordination from Rabbi Herzl Hefter and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.  She has a PhD in Talmud from New York University, and her dissertation explores the ways in which the rabbis of the Talmud ..read more

How is climate a Divine language? Why should you get to know a tree? Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is a writer, activist, and song-leader in Boston. She serves as the Director of Professional Development at Hebrew College, and as a rabbinic consultant to Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action.  She is a contributing author to Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, and her song “The Tide Is Rising,” which she co-wrote with her husband Yotam Schachter, has spread as an anthem in the climate movement. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a s ..read more

What does an inclusive Megillah reading sound like?  What could the future of layning be?  Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as the Associate Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, NY. A 2017 graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she has taught many people women and girls to leyn and is the voice of the JOFA Megillat Esther and Megillat Rut apps. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Li ..read more