The Voices of Emanu El Podcast

Debate for the Sake of Heaven: Juneteenth and America at 250

What makes a rebellion and what makes a revolution? When does passionate disagreement become a holy argument and when does it collapse into a struggle for power. In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, recorded on Juneteenth with America’s semi‑quincentennial on the horizon, Rabbi Josh Fixler reflects on the dissonance between a nation founded on “self-evident truths” of equality and the brutal reality of slavery that shaped its first century and beyond.
We delve into the story of Korach, the rabbinic category of machlochet l’sheim shamayyim, and the enduring debates of Rabbis Hillel and Shammai, who argued fiercely yet still allowed their children to Rabbi Fixler frames America as an unfinished conversation about liberty, representation, and human dignity. He invites listeners to see debate not as a bug in creation but as a vital feature — and to practice disagreements that add “length of days and years of life” rather than destroy.

The Grasshopper Feeling: Crossing New Thresholds

In this episode of The Vocies of Emanu El, Rabbi Pam Silk weaves together summer camp send-offs and the Torah portion Sh’lach L'cha, where twelve scouts survey the Promised Land and declare, “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes.” Their report is factually accurate, but their fearful interpretation keeps a generation wandering for forty years.
Through the lens of Caleb and Joshua’s ruach acheret, a “different spirit,” we look at the thresholds that define our lives: children heading to camp, endings of relationships, retirement, empty nests, and grief. Rabbi Silk explores how to notice the “maybe not me, maybe not now” voice and instead tell a new, braver story about ourselves and the future that awaits us.

Let It Rise: Learning to Let Go

This week on Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon reflects on Aretha Franklin’s “Call Me,” the Torah portion Beha’alotcha, and the haunting image of a menorah whose flame must eventually rise on its own. Drawing on Rashi’s teaching that Aaron is commanded to kindle the lamp “until the flame rises by itself,” Rabbi Hayon explores what it means to love our children, students, and friends enough to step back and trust the light we’ve helped ignite in them. As kids leave for camp, graduates head into new chapters, and we all face summertime goodbyes, this sermon invites us to see those moments not only as loss, but as the holiest completion of love: when the brightness finally rises in the ones we love, not by might, not by power, but by spirit alone.

Reproductive Freedom is Religious Freedom

Rabbi Josh Fixler recently sat down with Reverend Katey Zeh, CEO of the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice, for a powerful conversation about reproductive justice and why “reproductive freedom is religious freedom." Together they trace the often-erased history of clergy who helped people access safe abortion care before Roe, examine how white Christian Nationalism has shaped today’s laws and myths, and explore how people of faith can confront abortion stigma, reclaim sacred storytelling, and imagine freedom- and justice-focused futures rooted in pluralism and human dignity.

Cooking Israel, Sharing Shabbat: A Conversation with Adeena Sussman

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon is joined by NYT Best Selling cookbook author Adeena Sussman to talk about “easy-breezy Tel Aviv-y” cooking, Shabbat “forever recipes,” and how simple food became her therapy after October 7. Together they explore Israeli food, how to host Shabbat without exhausting yourself, why great hospitality starts with letting guests bring “good conversation” to the table, and the healing, joyful power of sharing meals and Jewish ritual. This conversation was recorded on May 7, 2026 as part of Emanu El's ongoing Endowment Speaker Series. 
Information on Adeena is available at adeenasussan.com. Her newest cookbook, Zariz, is available wherever you buy books. 

Ownerless Like a Wilderness: A Beginner’s Mind in a Noisy World

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler asks a deceptively simple question: What is the difference between a desert and a wilderness? Through the lens of Parashat B'midbar, he reimagines the midbar as a wild, ownerless space where Torah — and truth itself — cannot be claimed by any one person or ideology.
Rabbi Fixler weaves together rabbinic midrash, the Kabbalistic idea of tzimtzum (sacred contraction), Zen “beginner’s mind,” and reflections from Rachel Carson and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. He invites us to empty our overfull cups, step away from a culture of loud certainties, and approach Shavuot — and our lives — with curiosity, humility, and a renewed learner’s mind.
Along the way, we hear how practices like counting the Omer and regular Torah study, including Emanu El’s new Shabbat morning Torah class launching June 13, can help us cultivate wisdom, hold multiple truths, and stay in loving relationship even when we disagree.

Running the Race of Jubilee: Making Room for Everyone to Win

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Pam Silk weaves the spectacle of the Kentucky Derby into the timeless teachings of the double Torah portion B’har B’chukotai. From trainer Sherry DeVoe’s history‑making victory and the story of brothers Jose and Irad Ortiz, to the Torah’s radical vision of Shmita and Jubilee, she explores what it means to believe that no win or loss is ever final and that true holiness lies in creating structures where everyone has a chance to run their best race. Along the way, Rabbi Silk lifts up the commandment of v’hechezakta bo — “strengthen your neighbor” — challenging us to dismantle barriers, expand access, and engage in tikkun olam as a sacred, ongoing communal practice.

The Children Are Watching

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon reflects on Parashat Emor and the doubled command to “speak” and to “say.” What looks like redundancy in the Torah becomes a profound teaching about how wisdom must be shared with adults and passed along to children.
Rabbi Hayon lifts up the idea that almost all of us are Jewish teachers — parents, grandparents, educators, clergy, camp counselors, and caring adults — whenever we choose to show kids why Jewish life matters to us. He weaves in the teaching of Pesach Sheni, the “second Passover,” to remind us that it is never too late to begin living our Judaism in a way our children can see and learn from.
Through stories, Torah, and heartfelt challenge, Rabbi Hayon invites us to notice how our words, priorities, and presence reveal what we value most to the kids who are always watching.

Isfahan and Us: Carrying Jerusalem in Every Generation

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Oren Hayon tells the Jewish story of Isfahan, an ancient community in Iran whose roots stretch back 2,500 years and whose legend begins with exiles carrying soil and water from Jerusalem.
From that evocative image, he invites us to consider the “eternal artifacts” each of us carries — memories, values, and commitments that guide us through a fractured world and help us rebuild after loss.
Rabbi Hayon reflects on how Jewish history lives in the tension between destruction and renewal, and how our choices today shape the future our children will inherit.

Uzza: A Haftarah Mystery

In this episode of The Voices of Emanu El, Rabbi Josh Fixler dives into one of Tanakh’s strangest stories: the death of Uzza as he reaches out to steady the ark of the covenant. Framed like a Benoit Blanc-style mystery, moving from Parashat Sh’mini to the haftarah in Second Samuel, he asks not “whodunnit” but “whydunnit”—and ultimately admitting that some suffering defies explanation.
Rabbi Fixler then turns to David’s ecstatic dancing, Michal’s rebuke, the denied dream of building the Temple, and modern echoes in the aftermath of October 7th. Along the way, he draws on Saul Bellow, Yehuda Amichai, and survivors who insist “od nirkod shuv – we will dance again,” painting a picture of a Judaism that refuses to give up its dancing shoes even in the shadow of tragedy.