Episodes

Mark is delighted to welcome Dr. Elana Stein Hain to the podcast today. In addition to her role as the Director of Faculty at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, Elana also co-leads the Created Equal research team, and is a widely well-regarded teacher and scholar. She has served for eight years as a clergy member on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at both Lincoln Square Synagogue and the Jewish Center, and has taught at the Wagner School at NYU. The passage she has chosen to discus...

Mark welcomes two special guests from BBYO, one of the Jewish community’s premier platforms for reaching and inspiring Jewish teens, to the podcast today. Kelly Fagel is a 17-year-old High School Senior who serves as the 32nd International Sh'licha, Vice President of Jewish Enrichment and Community Service, with BBYO, and she is also the youngest guest to ever appear on the podcast. With her is BBYO's Chief Executive Officer since 2004, Matt Grossman, who is currently responsible for working wit...

Boyd Matheson, opinion editor at the Deseret News, is Mark’s very special guest on today’s episode. For over 25 years, Boyd has worked as a consultant, executive strategist and performance coach with global companies, and he has also served as Chief of Staff for US Senator Mike Lee, and is the former President of the Sutherland Institute. The passage Boyd has chosen to discuss with Mark today is 1 Samuel 17:48. Boyd begins their conversation by summarizing the passage, and sharing its significan...

Celebrated author and educator, Michal Lemberger, joins Mark for today’s podcast. Michal’s debut collection, After Abel and Other Stories, has garnered numerous awards, and her nonfiction and journalism have appeared in many publications, including Real Simple, Slate, Salon, and Tablet. She has taught the Hebrew Bible as Literature at UCLA and the American Jewish University, a course that Mark would dearly love to take. The passage Michal has chosen to discuss is one that no guest has previously...

One of America’s most prominent thinkers and leaders, Abigail Pogrebin, joins Mark on the podcast today. Abigail has served as President of Central Synagogue, and her book, My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays; One Wondering Jew, was a finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award. She is currently the host of the ‘Parsha in Progress’ podcast, one of Mark’s favorites, which features a regular Torah discussion between herself and Rabbi Dov Linzer , President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The passage she ...

Mark is delighted to welcome Dr. Michael Helfand to the podcast today. Michael is the Vice Dean for Faculty and Research at the Caruso School of Law, Pepperdine University, and an expert on religious law and religious liberty with a particular emphasis on clashes between religion and commerce. He is a frequent author and lecturer, focusing on how U.S. law treats religious law, custom and practice, and he also serves as both an arbitrator and consultant for the Beth Din of America. The passage he...

Rabbi Marc Schneier, Founder of The Hampton Synagogue, one of the most dynamic synagogues in the United States, is Mark’s very special guest this week. Rabbi Schneier is also the founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, whose mission began as rebuilding the historic Black-Jewish alliance in the United States, and, for nearly the past 15 years, has grown to also build Muslim-Jewish relations globally. The passage he has chosen to discuss today is Genesis 21:9-20. Rabbi Schneier begins...

Mark is absolutely delighted to welcome Rabbi Sergio Bergman to the podcast today. Currently the President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, Rabbi Bergman oversees 1,275 synagogues with 1.8 million members in more than 50 countries. He is an Argentinian-born pharmacist, politician, social activist, and community leader who is well known for many accomplishments, including his innovative and inspirational socio-educational and religious projects. The passage he has chosen to discuss tod...

Mark’s delight is palpable as he welcomes Rabbi Rick Jacobs to the podcast today. As President of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Jacobs currently leads the largest and most diverse Jewish movement in North America. He is a longtime and devoted creative change agent who has served as Rabbi of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, where he created the first homeless shelter in a New York City synagogue, before spending 20 years as a visionary spiritual leader at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsda...

Mark is delighted to welcome his good friend and fellow cigar aficionado, Rabbi Steven Weil, to the podcast this week. Currently the National Director and CEO of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), Rabbi Weil previously held the position of Senior Managing Director of the Orthodox Union (OU) for 11 years, and his Torah commentary - some of the most incisive Mark has heard – can still be found on some of their fairly obscure websites. The passage he has chosen to discuss with Mark is Gen...

Jon Steinberg, one of Mark’s favorite cigar smoking companions, is the very special guest on this week’s episode. Currently the president of Altice News and Advertising, Jon is also the founder of Cheddar, the leading Post Cable Networks company. Previously, he had been the Chief Executive Officer of DailyMail.com North America, and the President and Chief Operating Officer at BuzzFeed, and is widely considered one of the world’s great media entrepreneurs. Jon has chosen a rabbinical commentary ...

Mark is delighted to welcome Rabbi Susan Silverman to the podcast today. Rabbi Silverman is the founder of KAMOCHA: A Jewish Response to Refugees, is on the Board of Directors of Women of the Wall, and the International Council of The New Israel Fund. She is also the Founding Director of Second Nurture: Every Child Deserves a Family – And a Community, an organization dedicated to providing a path to adoption for “waiting” children by bringing together multiple adults from within the same communi...

Mark is delighted to welcome Jonathan Goldstein to today’s episode. Jonathan is the Chief Executive and Founder of the private investment firm, ](http://www.cainint.com/)[Cain International, the Chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, the umbrella body of British Jewry’s central organizations and charities, as well as the Chair of the Chief Rabbinate Trust. He has also served as Vice Chair of Jewish Care and Chair of Governors of Kerem School in Hampstead Garden Suburb, as Chair of Partnershi...

Mark is delighted to welcome Apostle Dwayne Hardin to the podcast this week. Apostle Hardin is the founder and lead pastor of The Embassy Church and The Millennium Masters Inc, a global organization designed to effectively co-join the workings of the secular and sacred. He is also a public speaker, author, and musician, as well as a recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to him by President Barack Obama. The passages he has chosen to discuss today are Psalms 11...

Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, is Mark’s very special guest on the podcast this week. Yehuda is a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life. He has also served as faculty member at Brandeis University, where he held the inaugural Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation. The chapter he has chosen to discuss with Mark is Jon...

Mark is delighted to welcome Rabbi Joshua Davidson to the podcast today. A graduate of Princeton, and, like Mark’s wife, a graduate of Hebrew Union College as well, Rabbi Davidson is currently the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, having previously served as senior rabbi of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua, New York. He is involved in numerous social justice issues and organizations, and, in 2009, was honored for his interfaith efforts by the Westc...

Solomon Choi, Founder and CEO of 16 Handles, NYC’s largest frozen dessert franchise, is Mark’s guest on the podcast today. Solomon has worked in Food and Beverage and Foodservice management for more than 15 years as an executive, advisor, and investor, and has served as an Advisory Board member for Rescuing Leftover Cuisine- a non-profit dedicated to eliminating food waste and hunger. If you are in the Tri-State area or Boca Raton, Mark highly recommends visiting your local 16 Handles - you and ...

Master of immersion journalism, A.J. Jacobs, joins Mark on the podcast today. Through his work, A.J. has immersed himself in topics ranging from the Bible to the family, to his most recent topic, gratitude, which he recounts in his book, ‘Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey’. He is also the author of a book about one of Mark’s heroes, Elvis Presley, and all told, he has written four New York Times bestsellers that, in his words, ‘combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help’. The pa...

Mark is both delighted and highly honored to welcome Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Steven A. Schaick, the US Air Force Chief of Chaplains, to the podcast this week. In his role, Chaplain Schaick is the senior pastor for more than 685,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the U.S. and overseas. He leads a Department of the Air Force Chaplain Corps of approximately 2,000 chaplains and religious affairs Airmen from the active duty and Air Reserve components. The passage he has chose...

This week, Mark is delighted to welcome Pastor Jesse Bradley to the podcast. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Jesse went on to become a professional soccer goalkeeper in Zimbabwe, Aberdeen, and Minnesota, before a life threatening illness ended his career. With his Master's Degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, Jesse is now the Pastor at Grace Community Church in Washington State, and, recently, his brilliant sermon series on the Book of Jonah caught Mark’s attention and a...

Mark is delighted to welcome Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl to the podcast today. Rabbi Buchdahl is the first woman to serve as the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City in its 180-year history, and she is also the first Asian American to be ordained as cantor or rabbi in North America. Having been nationally recognized for her innovations in leading worship, which draw large crowds both in the congregation’s historic Main Sanctuary and via live stream and cable broadcast to viewers ...

Joining Mark on the podcast today is Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, Senior Rabbi of Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS), the largest Orthodox Synagogue in the Southeast United States. In addition to his role at BRS, Rabbi Goldberg also serves as Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America, and as a member of both the Board of Trustees of the Beth Din of America and the AIPAC National Council. He has been deeply involved in Israel in a variety of ways over many years, and his popular blog and podcast, alon...

Mark is deeply honored to welcome living legend, Pat Boone, to the podcast today. Pat is obviously one of the most successful singers in history, but he is also an actor, TV host, producer, songwriter, author, motivational speaker, TV pitchman, radio personality, record company head, TV station owner, sports team owner, family man, and humanitarian. As you will hear today, Pat is also very much one of the people most responsible for the current historic friendship between Christians and Jews cen...

Senior Vice President of OpenDor Media (formerly Jerusalem U), Noam Weissman, joins Mark on the podcast today. Noam is also the host of the podcast ‘Unpacking Israeli History’, and prior to his current roles, he was the Principal of Shalhevet High School, where he taught a range of subjects, including Talmud, Tanakh, Jewish philosophy and Israel Education. Today, he has chosen two stories from Genesis, the narrative of Sodom and the binding of Isaac, as well as the connection between them, to di...