Down The Rabbi Hole podcast

#Jewish #Religion #Elli Fischer

24:35

It’s the very first episode of The Big Pitch with Jimmy Carr and our first guest is Phil Wang! And Phil’s subgenre is…This Place is Evil. We’re talking psychological torture, we’re talking gory death scenes, we’re talking Lorraine Kelly?! The Big Pitch with Jimmy Carr is a brand new comedy podcast where each week a different celebrity guest pitches an idea for a film based on one of the SUPER niche sub-genres on Netflix. From ‘Steamy Crime Movies from the 1970s’ to ‘Australian Dysfunctional Family Comedies Starring A Strong Female Lead’, our celebrity guests will pitch their wacky plot, their dream cast, the marketing stunts, and everything in between. By the end of every episode, Jimmy Carr, Comedian by night / “Netflix Executive” by day, will decide whether the pitch is greenlit or condemned to development hell! Listen on all podcast platforms and watch on the Netflix Is A Joke YouTube Channel . The Big Pitch is a co-production by Netflix and BBC Studios Audio. Jimmy Carr is an award-winning stand-up comedian and writer, touring his brand-new show JIMMY CARR: LAUGHS FUNNY throughout the USA from May to November this year, as well as across the UK and Europe, before hitting Australia and New Zealand in early 2026. All info and tickets for the tour are available at JIMMYCARR.COM Production Coordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries Production Manager: Mabel Finnegan-Wright Editor: Stuart Reid Producer: Pete Strauss Executive Producer: Richard Morris Executive Producers for Netflix: Kathryn Huyghue, Erica Brady, and David Markowitz Set Design: Helen Coyston Studios: Tower Bridge Studios Make Up: Samantha Coughlan Cameras: Daniel Spencer Sound: Charlie Emery Branding: Tim Lane Photography: James Hole…

Down The Rabbi Hole

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Deep dives into forgotten corners of Jewish culture and social, material, and intellectual history.

40 епізодів

Down The Rabbi Hole

updated рік тому

Поширити

Головна серій•Feed

Deep dives into forgotten corners of Jewish culture and social, material, and intellectual history.

40 епізодів

#Jewish #Religion #Elli Fischer

Усі епізоди

1
R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn, the Shoel UMeshiv 56:53

10 weeks тому56:53

56:53

Today - 27 Adar, 5785/March 27 2025 - is the 150th yahrzeit of R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn, author of Shu"t Shoel U-Meshiv. In this podcast, we will explore a bit about who he was and the world in which he lived and operated. Here's a link to the map of Shoel U-Meshiv's responsa Link to the teshuvah on the abusive teacher: https://www.sefaria.org/Shoel_uMeshiv_Mahadura_I.1.185.1?lang=bi English bio of R. Yosef Shaul Natansohn, by Haim Gertner, for YIVO: https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article/1496…

1
Picking up the Pieces: On the Oven of Akhnai 58:31

1 year тому58:31

58:31

Some thoughts and ideas on the famous story of the Oven of Akhnai, which appears in tomorrow's Daf (Bava Metzia 59)

1
Some Thoughts on the Purim Story and Senator Lieberman zt"l 38:00

1 year тому38:00

38:00

An idea developed by the Ketav Sofer on Megillat Esther resonates with something that appeared in Daf Yomi a few days ago and with the life and legacy of Senator Joe Lieberman. The idea of the Ketav Sofer appears here: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14083&pgnum=337 The idea that emerges on Bava Metzia 32b is here: Rashi s.v. אי אמרת https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Bava_Metzia/32b.9#e0n6 The link to Rabbi Ethan Tucker's eulogy for Senator Lieberman is here: https://www.youtube.com/live/_NTVjFB_FnU?si=8fu-kCINHVPhlHnc&t=5515…

1
Radbaz vol. 1, no. 40 - Ransoming Captives 57:29

1 year тому57:29

57:29

Radbaz, R. David Ibn Abu Zimra, addresses the question of what constitutes 'overpaying' to ransom a Jewish captive. This episode gets into the economic and political realities of the 16th century in the Mediterranean basin, including the burgeoning slave trade, and the resulting attention to the great mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim, ransoming captives. Here's a link to the responsum: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_1.40.1?lang=bi And here's a link to the first part of my series on Rav Ovadiah Yosef's teshuvah on the Entebbe hostages: https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/contemporary-israel/14972/rabbi-ovadia-yosefs-and-the-halakhot-of-hostages-part-i/…

1
Krakenfruit (the Buddha's Hand Etrog) 49:53

2 years тому49:53

49:53

Two of the greatest rabbis of the Bavli Jewish community in recent centuries address the status of a new type of fruit that arrived from the Far East. Is it a kosher etrog? The question is addressed in two responsa, one by R. Abdullah Somekh and one by his student, R. Yosef Hayyim, both of Baghdad. Link to the responsum: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=32212&st=&pgnum=379…

1
Public and Private Penance (Responsa Maharam Lublin) 45:04

2 years тому45:04

45:04

We generally think of confession and penance as either a private matter between a person and God, or as a matter between the perpetrator and victim of a wrong. But not that long ago there were forms of penance that were very public. What's the idea behind them, and what can they teach us about social healing today? We will be studying and discussing a series of responsa by Maharam Lublin. Here is a link to the responsa: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1937&pgnum=39…

1
Book Journeys, Some Updates, and the Hoshanot Mosh Pit 58:48

2 years тому58:48

58:48

The episode begins with some updates. First, an introduction to the "Book Journey" that I will begin next week. Sign up link: https://18forty.org/bookjourney/ This is an outgrowth of the 18forty podcast episode in which R. David Bashevkin and I discussed the vision and reality of a Jewish polity governed by Halakhah. Here's a link to the episode: https://18forty.org/podcast/elli-fischer-can-israel-follow-jewish-law/ I was also a recent guest on two other podcasts. First, Rav David Silverstein and I discussed the nature of rabbinic authority on Yeshivat Orayta's "Tzarich Iyun" podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/71aX8L9IA2j1QY78dOoGff?si=577b0ae9ed414716 Finally, a few months ago I was hosted by Darcy Walters for an episode of her "Desert Island Torah" podcast. Here's a link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/desert-island-torah/episodes/Ep-81-with-Rav-Elli-Fischer-e23me3f The responsum that we study in this episode was penned by R. Yisrael Isserlein, better known as the Terumat HaDeshen. We spend some time discussing when and where he lived, who his influences were, why his rulings are so influential, and what makes his Sefer Terumat HaDeshen so unique. Then we go on to the teshuvah itself, which addresses an issue that is not-quite-halakhah. The setting is almost surreal: Person A allegedly used the crush of hoshanot in shul as cover to maim Person B while maintaining plausible deniability. This is an important matter of social and communal governance, but halakhic standards of evidence seem to set too high a bar to take any action. How did R. Isserlein resolve the matter? Here's a link to the teshuvah in Sefariah, with my translation: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Terumat_HaDeshen%2C_Part_II.210?lang=bi…

1
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Part III: The Debate 22:09

2 years тому22:09

22:09

On the conversation about Rome between Rashi, R. Yehuda, and R. Yosi

1
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, Part II: The Return to Yavneh 33:50

2 years тому33:50

33:50

In this episode we look at several other passages from the Babylonian Talmud that oddly, anachronistically, and in contrast to sources from Eretz Yisrael, are set in Yavneh. We propose that the Bavli wanted to "bundle" these passages together so that we read them in light of one another. And what does that yield? That the Bavli envisioned the rabbinic leaders of that generation dealing with pressing theological and political issues that arose in the generation after the defeat of Bar Kokhba. We look (again) at the institution of the fourth berakhah of Birkat Hamazon, the successive exiles of the Sanhedrin, and a discussion among the tanna'im about the causes of a terrible disease. This sets the stage for the more famous discussion between Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai concerning attitudes toward Rome.…

1
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and his Generation, Part I: The Debacle and the Challenge 44:04

2 years тому44:04

44:04

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (Rashbi) is one of the most evocative figures in Jewish history. Not only is he one of the greatest tanna'im and a primary disciple of Rabbi Akiva, but he is credited with composing the Zohar during the thirteen years that he lived in a cave, hiding from the Romans. In this series, we will look not only at the famous aggadot about Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai from Shabbat 33b-34a, but at a series of passages from the Gemara that broaden the story into something much bigger. Throughout the series, I will offer occasional historical and methodological points about the composition of the Gemara (specifically the Bavli) and how to learn it. We will make extensive use of parallel passages from elsewhere in Rabbinic literature in order to understand what the Bavli's editors are trying to teach when they reshape the materials they received into the stories before us. This is not a history series. We may occasionally discuss historical events, but the primary focus is to understand the Gemara itself. In this first episode, we discuss the setting of the Rashbi stories: when and where Rashbi lived, who his contemporaries were, who his teachers and students were, and what momentous events transpired in his lifetime.…

1
Chacham Tzvi vs. Chasam Sofer on Marror 36:46

2 years тому36:46

36:46

Some people use lettuce, and some use horseradish. But which is the "real" marror? Both? One or the other? In this episode we look at how two different sages, living a century apart, addressed this issue. It also gives us some insight into the personalities of these two great sages. The texts that we will study can be found here: Chacham Tzvi #120: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Chakham_Tzvi.120.1?lang=he Chasam Soder, Orach Chaim 132: https://www.sefaria.org/Responsa_Chatam_Sofer%2C_Orach_Chayim.132.5?lang=he חג כשר ושמח!…

1
Counting a Golem for a Minyan: Two Responsa from a Father and Son 49:32

2 years тому49:32

49:32

Hakham Zvi #93 and She'elat Yaavetz 2:82 address the question of whether a golem - an artificial human, a manmade man - may be counted for a minyan. This seems like a really strange question, but it actually gets to some of the major philosophical issues of the 18th century. If God is compared to a Divine Clockmaker, does that mean that humans are really sophisticated clocks? Can the process of creating humans be duplicated? What are the basic building blocks of creation? These questions and more underlie a superficially bizarre and arcane halakhic question.…

1
Using Non-Jewish Names - a Close Reading of Rav Asher Weiss's Essay 58:38

2 years тому58:38

58:38

According to a well-known narrative, the Bnei Yisrael did not change their names, language, or dress in Egypt. Elsewhere I have written about the origins and iterations of this and related ideas. See: https://www.academia.edu/28574595/_They_did_not_Change_their_Names_their_Language_or_their_Dress_The_Life_cycle_of_a_Peculiar_Midrashic_Variant. An interesting treatment of this issue is found in a "quasi-responsum" or "pseudo-responsum" of Rav Asher Weiss: Minchas Asher on Shemos, siman 1. Available here: https://minchasasher.com/shiur/shmot-shmot-shiurim/jewish-identity-shelo-shinu-5778/. I think this essay actually helps us understand Rav Asher and his public persona, how he perceives himself as a bridge between different worlds.…

1
Radbaz (1479-1573) on the Status of an Abyssinian Jew 1:04:31

2 years тому1:04:31

1:04:31

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the origins of the people of Israel and who are the "real" descendants of the tribes of Israel. In this episode, we look at a responsum from the 1500s that indirectly addresses questions about how we "know" who is a Jew or Israelite. The question of how we know things is crucial for understanding the history of Halakhah, but also for understanding the world we inhabit and the beliefs if the people who are shaping it. This responsum from 500 years ago therefore has a great deal of contemporary importance, on many levels. Here's a link to the responsum we studied, with my English translation: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_4.1290.1?lang=bi Here's a link to Radbaz's related responsum: https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A9%D7%95%22%D7%AA_%D7%A8%D7%93%D7%91%22%D7%96/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%A7_%D7%96/%D7%94 The letter of Eldad HaDani: http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/history/tkufot/eldad1-2.htm Menasheh ben Israel on American tribes as lost Israelite tribes, early 1600s: https://archive.org/details/menassehbenisrae00manauoft/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater…

1
Chavos Yair 222 on Women Reciting Kaddish 52:13

2 years тому52:13