Sam Wachs
Co-Host of Evolve
Sam Wachs is a member of the communications team at Reconstructing Judaism, where he directs videos and produces and edits the Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations and Hashivenu podcasts. In his spare time, he performs as part of The Pizza Collection, the world’s most prolific pizza-based band.
Sam Wachs has hosted 18 Episodes.
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Episode 22: Hope as an Ethical Imperative
July 22nd, 2021 | Season 1 | 52 mins 48 secs
breitman, evolve, hope, jewish, judaism, spiritual direction, staub, therapy
In Barbara Breitman’s telling, hope isn't "some fluffy thing." It's an essential Jewish practice. Hope enables leaders to imagine a different world and work to bring it out about no matter what obstacles stand in the way. Breitman, a spiritual director, therapist and scholar of religion, cites Moses, Noah and Mordechai as Biblical characters who embody this kind of hope. How can ordinary people emulate these examples?
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Episode 5: Racism in the Jewish Community
January 30th, 2020 | Season 1 | 54 mins 51 secs
Imagine you’re an African American Jew-by-choice and made the monumental decision to go to rabbinical school. A fellow synagogue board member says, “wow, you’re more Jewish than the Jews.” Throughout rabbinical school, the first thing you’re asked when you enter Jewish space is “how can you be Jewish?” or “when did you convert?” And then after starting your first job as a campus rabbi, a parent asks if you’re really ordained. In this episode, Rabbi Sandra Lawson shares her personal experiences like these. She seeks to push white Jews to face their assumptions and confront racism within themselves, racism that may not be malicious in intent but is inherited from the world around. Her hopes are for the Jewish people to live up to our highest ideals.