Talking Tachlis Podcast

This Supreme Court's first term as a six-justice conservative majority has been really something, as least as it comes to religion. Uri and Rivky discuss, how do we feel about the SC becoming such a "pro-religion" court? Is this a good thing for all religious Americans - or just for Christians? Adam Liptak: https://www.nytimes.com/by/adam-liptak

It's America's Independence Day, and we want to know how we should feel about that.  Are we proud to be Americans?  What does it mean to be patriotic?  Do we have a unique perspective on this as Jews?  How might other groups feel differently?  Rivky calls in from Israel for this international July 4th edition of Talking Tachlis. NY Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/opinion/liberal-patriotism-july-fourth.html Frederick Douglass Speech - What To The Save Is July 4th: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/ Grateful Dead - US Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-iGxbALnc Love Actually airport scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0fJSvGJOuI

Last week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, a momentous decision upending nearly 50 years of precedent on abortion. Uri and Rivky aren't legal scholars, or political savants. So instead, this week, they focus on their “unique” contribution, the question of how this relates to our community.

Uri and Rivky are back!! And just in time, too. Last week, the NY Supreme Court ruled that Yeshiva University must recognize the YU Pride Alliance, an LGBTQ student group on campus, as an officially sanctioned Yeshiva University club. Many students, and alumni, are seeing this as a victory. YU is appealing, so we don't know the final decision, but Uri and Rivky ask, who is right here? What could have happened differently? And what meaningful reactions have we seen about this ruling?

Did you watch the Oscars on Sunday night? Trick question, because whether it’s a yes or no, you know about this week’s topic. Uri and Rivky break down the Chris Rock-Will Smith slap heard ’round the world and ask, what the heck happened? [Update: mid-recording, Will Smith issued a public apology to Chris Rock, but Rivky and Uri, the diligent hosts they are, weren't looking at their phones.]

YULA students last week were treated to a Purim spiel mocking Shalhevet, the other LA-based MO school, for its students’ progressive stances on racial justice and gender and sexual equality, displaying signs with slogans like, “Don’t Misgender Me,” “#BlackLivesMatter,” “#StopAsianHate” and “Free the gays.” This week, Uri and Rivky ask, does this mean anything bigger about the state of modern Orthodoxy, and its education? Is this a Jewish thing? A frum thing? A high school boy thing? Is this just representative of the country?

This week Uri follows up with Times of Israel correspondent Lazar Berman, after he spent over a week in the Ukrainian city of Lviv reporting on the war.  They discuss the war's escalation, it's ramifications for the current Iran nuclear talks, the Jews of Ukraine, and Israel's perspective on the war.     Lazar's articles on the war for Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/lazar-berman/ Music: Ukrainian folk song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5MyOZ4VQRk Ukrainian national anthem  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDeQVaoTvJM

This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Lazar Berman, correspondent for Times of Israel, who is currently on the ground covering Ukraine. They discuss what's happening in the country, Israel's delicate tightrope, and what to expect in the coming days.

If you haven't yet seen The Tinder Swindler on Netflix, check out the wild story about Shimon Hayut, an Israeli con man, and the women he bilked for hundreds of thousands. In this episode, Uri and Rivky are joined by repeat guest Dr. Shayna Weiss, professor and expert in Israeli history, society, and media, to talk about Hayut's con, how his Israeli, Charedi, and Mizrahi identities come into play, and "gvir culture."

Two years into Covid, our community is as fractured as ever. Recently, Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish, stepped into the fray, criqituing Yeshiva University for the process and mask/vaccine mandates for entering the Seforim Sale this past week. His tweets went viral, and so did his follow-up Facebook post. And as we talk about this story, we ask, what is happening in our community, and how can we get through it?

Last week, we all watched a meltdown in real time, when actor and TV host Whoopi Goldberg asserted that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. She doubled down that night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, before finally apologizing on social media that night, and then on The View the next day. Uri and Rivky ask, were Whoopi’s comments antisemitic? Can we just blame it on inadequate Holocaust education in America?  What does this whole episode say about “cancel culture”? Whoopi Goldberg on The View - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhITfM4bqO8 Whoopi Goldberg on Late Show with Stephen Colbert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdkhVQZGSSU&t=7s Whoopi Goldberg apology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2PZ50UeDVU Joe Rogan apology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXupo-FHFgc https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61f992de9277230021ae11f7/are-jews-a-race-whoopi-goldberg-holocaust/ https://twitter.com/WhoopiGoldberg/status/1488320164517101574 https://www.timesofisrael.com/whoopi-goldberg-apologizes-

Miriam ​​Anzovin is a millennial content producer for JewishBoston.com with a semi-viral, and hyper-niche TikTok account in which she shares reflections on the daily daf. Anzovin’s videos are very different than most; they’re fun, irreverent, and not quite traditionally educational. So, naturally these videos have created a stir. Uri and Rivky wonder, while some in the Jewish community are obsessed, is Anzovin approaching Torah in a fresh, exciting, new way, or are her videos inappropriate and outside the bounds of reverence for Torah and the Talmud? Is there sexism here? Is there a level of “appropriateness” when we’re involved in Torah? Links: https://twitter.com/SamMgelman/status/1487575760277753862 https://www.jta.org/2022/01/28/opinion/raunchy-sarcastic-tiktok-talmud-commentary-isnt-profane-its-torah https://forward.com/culture/480764/daf-yomi-recaps-on-jewish-tiktok-miriam-anzovin/   https://www.heyalma.com/a-woman-went-viral-on-tiktok-for-talking-about-talmud-then-came-the-critics/ https://www.je

This past shabbat, the rabbi and three worshippers were taken hostage while they prayed at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Three days later, Uri and Rivky talk about what happened, and the reaction across the Jewish community to this terrifying antisemitic incident. Related links: Zac Beauchamp: https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1482540030082129921 Bari Weiss: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/being-jewish-in-an-unraveling-america Rabbi Charlie Cytron Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErorId3xt6o Bend the Arc: https://twitter.com/jewishaction/status/1483147042457272324?cxt=HHwWiICy9ZCYmZUpAAAA Avi Mayer: https://twitter.com/AviMayer/status/1482497819529428998?cxt=HHwWjIC-lbH68ZIpAAAA Manishtana: https://twitter.com/MaNishtana/status/1482925365148463109?cxt=HHwWisC5oeiwtJQpAAAA

This week, along with clips and letters from listeners, Uri and Rivky reflect on last week's doozy of an episode.

This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Amer Zahr, Palestinian Arab American comedian, speaker, writer, academic, and professor of law. They speak about whether Jesus was Palestinian, Palestinian identity, a binational state, and what peace can and should look like. Relevant links: https://twitter.com/AmerZahr? https://www.facebook.com/amer.zahr/videos/10109485183153743/?t=198   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-DNOnmKkUaY5PZL4kwVKfceXPI8G-lIV   Bob Dylan - Neighborhood Bully - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ETdLfXI6r8

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Carson vs Makin, in which parents of Maine students alleged that their First Amendment rights were infringed upon by not allowing their children to attend religious schools using the state funding, when other private schools were allowed. Rivky and Uri discuss the court case, and ask, as religious Jews, what do we think about the separation of church and state, school vouchers in general, and government funding of religion? Links: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/opinion/public-schools-religion.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/us/politics/supreme-court-religious-schools-maine.html https://advocacy.ou.org/content/uploads/WSJ-The-Supreme-Court-Takes-Up-Religious-LibertyAgain.pdf? https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/492/573 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mihT_GNeRN8  

This week, Joshua Malina, Jewish actor best known from The West Wing and Scandal, published an article in The Atlantic entitled Cancel Mel Gibson: Why is Hollywood still hiring this raging anti-Semite? Malina expresses frustration that Mel Gibson’s “Jew-hatred” has not yet gotten Gibson excommunicated from Hollywood. Uri and Rivky discuss Mel Gibson, whether antisemitism is taken less seriously than other bigotry, and whether Gibson be cancelled? Then they end up getting into Chanukah movies (or lack thereof), Seth Rogan and Santa Inc., and basically just talk about media in all its glory.   Links: Joshua Malina article: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/12/mel-gibson-anti-semitism/620873/ Seth Rogan tweet: https://twitter.com/sethrogen/status/1275496311102427136 Seth Rogan tweet #2: https://twitter.com/Sethrogen/status/1466565919023403012 Santa Inc trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEx_CBxNrXY   Mel Gibson Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDfUhlBgfoU   Paul Mccartney - Wond

“Blood is flowing in the streets of the Holy Land,” began an open letter signed by just under 100 rabbinical students, and published in May. Last week, Marc Tracy of the NY Times published an article about the letter, its backlash, and what it all means. In this week's episode, Uri and Rivky ask, is it true? Is American Zionism unraveling?   NYT: Inside the Unraveling of American Zionism - The New York Times (nytimes.com)   Letter https://www.google.com/amp/s/forward.com/scribe/469583/gates-of-tears-rabbinical-and-cantorial-students-stand-for-solidarity-with/%3fgamp Response https://forward.com/scribe/469900/my-rabbinical-students-letter-shows-imbalance-and-a-lack-of-empathyfor/?_gl=1*g4r2ni*_ga*YW1wLTBULWsxN2psSG1HYnpCdzZPaXFvb3NxWGVvVkZ0VlVyQzhTSkZvYVVkOVM4Vzh0THFfUkNvNGV5QnhwRHJIRUo.

Park East, a historic synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is going through a critical upheaval. Over the last month, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the 91-year-old senior rabbi, fired the shul's assistant rabbi, Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt, over an alleged coup. Teams have been formed, and allegations thrown around. This week, Uri and Rivky speak to Ben Sales, JTA reporter, about this story and ask, is this merely salacious gossip about real people and their lives, or does this story actually signify something bigger? Relevant links: https://www.jta.org/2021/10/20/ny/park-east-synagogue-pushes-out-assistant-rabbi-sparking-protest https://www.jta.org/2021/10/27/ny/a-world-famous-rabbi-a-popular-assistant-and-a-succession-crisis-inside-the-rupture-at-park-east-synagogue https://www.jta.org/2021/10/29/ny/park-east-fired-rabbi-says-accusations-of-synagogue-coup-are-completely-unfounded-and-personally-hurtful https://www.jta.org/2021/11/02/ny/fired-park-east-rabbi-holding-rival-services-blocks-from-his-

This week, Uri and Rivky speak with Laura Adkins, Opinion Editor for the Forward and author of the recent piece, “How To Lie With Statistics, Antisemitism Edition." They ask Laura, what do people get wrong about antisemitism? Is antisemitism overblown? What are her fears for the future? https://forward.com/opinion/477551/conflating-anti-zionism-with-antisemitism-erases-violence-orthodox-jews/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/opinion/how-to-protect-new-yorks-jews.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/10/27/antisemitism-left-rising/ https://forward.com/opinion/438006/to-fight-anti-semitism-we-must-expose-its-conspiratorial-irrational-and/