Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D.
Co-Host of Evolve
Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D. is the director of Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations. He is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Philosophy and Spirituality at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pa., where he directs the Program in Jewish Spiritual Direction. He served as editor of The Reconstructionist from 1983 to 1989 and co-authored with Rebecca Alpert Exploring Judaism: A Reconstructionist Approach (Reconstructionist Press 2000).
Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D. has hosted 51 Episodes.
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Episode 4: Slavery and Its Atonement: The Jewish Obligation to Confront Slavery’s Legacy
December 24th, 2019 | Season 1 | 42 mins 28 secs
Slavery has been described as America’s original sin. Abolished with the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, slavery still casts a shadow over American life. Today, many Americans are seeking to better understand, and respond to, this tortured history. Can Judaism offer some guidelines for how to do that? Do Jews have to atone for the sin of slavery, even though mass Jewish migration to the United States didn’t happen until decades after the Civil War? Rabbi Toba Spitzer answers yes to both questions. In this episode, the religious leader of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, a Reconstructionist congregation outside Boston, discusses ideas she first explored in a Yom Kippur sermon. Spitzer says that the ancient priests — who may have been among the Hebrew Bible’s editors —had ideas about communal sin that may offer a path toward societal acknowledgement and atonement for the sin of slavery. Rabbi Jacob Staub, Ph.D., who directs the Evolve project, sits in for this interview.
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Episode 1: Reimagining Synagogues and Communities
September 17th, 2019 | Season 1 | 45 mins 45 secs
In this inaugural episode, we speak with Rabbi Rachel Weiss of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill. Weiss describes her community’s effort to remain relevant at a time of great change in Jewish life and North American life more generally. From deep and respectful dialogue on divisive issues, to the transformational use of post-it notes, Rabbi Weiss shares a window into her synagogue community’s ongoing evolution.
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Coming soon...
August 16th, 2019 | Season 1 | 2 mins 54 secs
Welcome to Evolve! Listen to this brief teaser to find out what's coming soon to a podcast player near you.