Keep the Faith with Shammai Engelmayer
143 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago -Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer—author, lecturer, Judaica-related adult-ed teacher, and bi-weekly columnist for The Jewish Standard—discusses contemporary issues through the prism of Jewish law and tradition. If you believe Judaism is out of touch with today's world, this podcast may give you reason to reconsider.
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Episodes
Episode No. 144--Haggadah Issues
April 15, 2024 22:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBThe way to have constructive and meaningful s'darim next week is to study the Haggadah beforehand. That requires some help from more modern versions and haggadah commentaries. This episode explains why. It's being released several days early to give everyone time to buy one of these volumes and to study it. Support the show
Episode No. 142--Keeping Kosher Without the Pain
April 05, 2024 01:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBWhat do I know about Jewish law? I'm a heretic. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that nonsense over the years—including from some members of my own family. So this week I'm going to let someone else say the things about keeping kosher that I've been saying—an Orthodox rabbi, no less. This episode is a newly edited version of one I presented last year. Support the show
Episode No. 141--Purim
March 22, 2024 01:00 - 29 minutes - 20.1 MBPurim begins after Shabbat ends and lasts until sundown on Sunday. You might think you know all there is to know about Purim. If you do, this episode may show how much more there is to know about the book from which Purim sprung--Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther. This episode runs for about a half-hour but I hope you find it both interesting and informative. Support the show
Episode No. 140: Calendar Conundrums
March 08, 2024 04:00 - 22 minutes - 15.7 MBWhat with last Thursday having been Leap Day, with the leap month of Adar II beginning on Saturday evening with Rosh Chodesh, and the Muslim month of Ramadan beginning on Monday, I thought it would be interesting to leap into a discussion of how the secular and Jewish calendars we use today came to be. Did you know, for example, that there was one year that was 445 days long? Do you know why there is a leap day in the secular calendar, a leap month in the Jewish calendar, or why Ramadan and ...
Episode No. 139--Gun violence and what Judaism says we must do about it
February 23, 2024 02:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBAt 10 a.m. this morning, when I recorded this episode, there already had been 2,266 people who died by guns so far this year. That number is now up to 2,294. That averages out to nearly two gun deaths every hour since the new year began. Between January 1st and today, there have been 55 mass shootings and eight mass murders. As of this morning, 37 children under the age of 11 had been killed by guns; it’s up to 38 now. It’s up for teenagers between ages 12 and 17. It was 172 this morning a...
Episode No. 138--Dangerous weather and what Judaism says we must do about it
February 09, 2024 02:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBThe weather these days is a killer--literally. Scores of thousands of people died in 2023 of severe weather-related causes, and deaths are already mounting in the first six weeks of 2024. Judaism has much to say about our role in minimizing the threat climate change is posing on us. Support the show
Episode No. 137--MLK Day and why Jews should celebrate it
January 12, 2024 02:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBOn Monday, we here in the United States and also in Israel will celebrate Martin Luther King Day. That we celebrate this day here is understandable and commendable. After all, he was a great warrior for equality and justice for all people. But why is this day marked in Israel, too? And why will many synagogues and Jewish organizations here hold their own celebrations this weekend and throughout Monday’s observance? Support the show
Episode No. 136--Israel and the rise of Jew-hatred worldwide
December 29, 2023 02:00 - 34 minutes - 23.7 MBWe who do not live in Israel have always maintained that we have no right to interfere in the Jewish state's internal affairs. Given the explosion of Jew-hatred we are seeing around the world, however, it is clear that "Jew" and "Israel" are synonymous in the eyes of the world, so this Diaspora hands-off attitude is a luxury we no longer can afford. We need to do all that we can to move Israeli voters away from the extreme right and its ruinous policies. Support the show
Episode No. 135--War according to Torah law
December 15, 2023 02:00 - 19 minutes - 13.1 MBWe hear a great deal these days about whether Israel is violating international law in the way it’s conducting its war with Hamas in Gaza. The opposite, in fact, is more likely to be true. Given that Israel is the Jewish State, though, a fair question is whether Israel is also violating Jewish law in this war. This episode addresses that question. Support the show
Episode No. 134--The Media and anti-Semitism
November 10, 2023 03:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MBThe media are helping to stoke worldwide anti-Semitism in the way they report the war Israel is fighting with Gaza. Why? Well, consider these two facts: The New York Times rehired an avowed Jew-hating, Hamas-loving avowed fan of Adolf Hitler to cover the war from Gaza. And it was just revealed that journalists the major media rely on for their coverage not only may have had advanced knowledge of the June 7th horror (and so could have warned Israel in time to prevent it) but actually went int...
Episode No. 133--Gun Violence Yet Again
October 26, 2023 22:00 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MBThe deadliest mass shooting of 2023 took place Wednesday night, and 2023 is on track to break the record for mass shootings. Here is another look at the issue and what Jewish law has to say. Support the show
Episode No. 132--The Leaders We Need
October 20, 2023 01:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MBOurleaders here in the U.S., Israel, Canada, and the world are failing us. We who live in the U.S. are paying for it by having a dysfunctional Congress. Judaism offers guidelines for the qualities leaders should have, and it gives us the responsibility to put the right people in leadership positions, Support the show
Episode No. 131--Oy Canada!
October 05, 2023 22:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBWhen will Canada finally own up to its dishonorable history toward the Jews? When will it finally and forcefully own up to its clearly mixed record when it comes to the Holocaust, and when will it finally and forcefully stand up to the anti-Semitism that seems to be growing yet again in Canada, as it’s doing in the United States and elsewhere? These are all subjects of this episode, which was prompted by a disturbing incident that occurred in the Canadian Parliament just three days before Yo...
Episode No. 130: What Yom Kippur is Really About
September 21, 2023 22:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBMost people think the sins for which we seek forgiveness are the "ritual" or "religious" ones: not observing Shabbat or keeping kosher, and so forth. Most people also think that if they pray hard enough, their sins are forgiven by the time Yom Kippur ends. Actually, that forgiveness doesn't happen until the start of the next Yom Kippur--except for the sins between us and God, which are forgiven each year just at the moment Yom Kippur begins. There is a lot of misunderstanding about Yom Kippu...
Episode No. 129: The Roadmap for Repentance Part 3
September 08, 2023 01:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBThis episode is jam-packed with issues we need to consider during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including: Women’s rights; workers’ rights; gun violence and gun control; the plight of the poor and disadvantaged; the influx of migrants coming across our Southern border; how business should be conducted; what our responsibilities are to the environment and ecology; and so much more. Support the show
Episode No. 128: The Roadmap for Repentance Part 2
August 25, 2023 04:00 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBThis is the second episode in a 3-part series designed to help us with the awesome tasks of reflection (already underway) and repentance (it begins three weeks from tonight with the start of the High Holy Days). The topic this week deals with our responsibilities towards the poor and the disadvantaged in our society. Support the show
Episode No. 127: The time to account for ourselves is here
August 11, 2023 01:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBThere’s one week left before the season of reflection and repentance begins with the beginning of the month of Elul. Unless we take the five weeks from today leading up to Rosh Hashanah 5784 to examine who we are and who we should be, how we’ve lived our lives in the past year, and what we need to atone for and correct, the High Holy Days are, to put it bluntly, an exercise in futility and very much a waste of time. Support the show
episode # 126 judicial reform israel
July 28, 2023 00:00 - 14 minutes - 9.75 MBThis week, Israel's parliament, and the behest of a prime minister on trial for serous offenses, spit in the face of Torah law and endangered the state in ways most serious. Support the show
Episode # 124--Supreme Court vs. our democracy
July 14, 2023 02:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBYes, I did praise the Supreme Court my last podcast, but only because I wanted us to have reason to celebrate on July 4th and three High Court rulings gave us reason to cheer. There is, however, more to fear than to cheer coming out of this court, which is eroding our rights in so many areas. Support the show
Episode No. 123--The Supreme Court and the American Way
June 30, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBIt was touch-and-go for a while, but thanks to six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court there’s great reason this coming Tuesday to celebrate the founding of the American Republic 247 years ago on July 4th, 1776. At the same time, there’s also reason to be concerned about the ethics of some of the justices on the High Court. I discuss both in this week's podcast. Support the show
Episode No. 122: What Jewish Business Law can teach us about living life generally
June 16, 2023 00:00 - 27 minutes - 18.6 MBThe title says it all. You may be surprised, though, at some of those laws. Support the show
Episode No. 121--The history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict that the world chooses to ignore.
May 19, 2023 01:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBThe world has a way of ignoring history when it comes to Israel and the Palestinian issue—and the world’s media plays along.. This is a 30-minute episode but it's filled with information all of us should be aware of given the level of reporting on the conflict and the efforts by the Palestinians, the BDS movement, and even some members of Congress to undermine the legitimacy of Israel. Support the show
Episode No. 120--Domestic violence and Jewish law’s attitude towards it
May 05, 2023 01:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MBHere are some gruesome statistics: On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner here in the United States. The National Domestic Violence Hotline, in fact, receives an average of 1,000 calls per day from people being abused, most of whom are women. Three women are killed here every day by a current or former intimate partner. That's nearly 1,100 women killed by a partner each year. In Canada, a woman is killed every six days by her intimate partner. Th...
Episode No. 119--Congressional deadlock and what Judaism has to say about compromise
April 20, 2023 23:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBUnless both sides can compromise on some of their most strongly held positions, the U.S. will, for the first time ever, default on its obligations this summer, to a devastating effect here and around the world. The need to compromise is something Judaism has much to say about, and Congress and the Administration should pay serious heed. Support the show
Episode # 118--Fitting the Exodus into Egyptian History
March 24, 2023 01:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MB"They" say it never happened. It's all made up. Just a work of pure fiction. Nothing in Egyptian history supports it. So why can't we eat a bagel during Passover? Why do we have to go to all the trouble and expense to vicariously relive events that were invented by anonymous biblical authors? Well, in this 40-plus episode, I demonstrate just how wrong they (the scholars who insist on this) are so very wrong. Support the show
Episode No. 117: Toward a saner approach to Passover
March 10, 2023 02:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBA Passover Primer unlike any you have ever seen before but one you will wish you knew about all along. Vodka before dinner and beer during? Whole wheat bread for luncheon sandwiches? Oatmeal for breakfast? In this episode, we interview an Orthodox rabbi who says it is all Kosher for Passover. No need for a Kosher for Passover stamp, either. Just check the ingredient label of any food you cannot do without on Passover. At the bottom, the label must warn about allergens. If it does not say “wh...
Episode No. 116--Why Defunding the Police is the Wrong Answer to Police Violence
February 09, 2023 22:00 - 23 minutes - 16.2 MBI covered some of this in last week’s column in the Jewish Standard, but I have limited space for my columns and there’s so much more to talk about, so even if you read the column, listening to this episode. The word “defund” has only one meaning, regardless of what dictionary we use. To defund something is to take away the money from that something. The slogan “Defund the police” is just another way of saying “let’s get rid of the police altogether.” That slogan, though, is what stands in ...
episode # 114--the problem with judaism and how to fix it
January 13, 2023 01:00 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MBDoes this sound familiar? “The biggest mistake in Judaism that we have today is that it's either black or white. You're either doing everything exactly perfect or you're doing nothing. And that is absolutely not the way the system works and that's not the way it ever was; if you go back in history, it was not this way, if you go back a thousand years and more. In Judaism, everyone has their observance level and everyone's goal in life should be to do better. And it's more important not to st...
Episode No. 113--The future for Israel and its relationship with the Jewish diaspora
December 30, 2022 02:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBThe most extremist right-wing government in Israel's history was sworn in on Thursday amid dire warnings from U.S. Jewish leaders about the potential dangers its proposed agenda will have on the relationship between American Jews and the Jewish state. Our man in Israel, longtime journalist Charles Byblezer, offers his insights in this nearly 30-minute episode. Support the show
Episode No. 112--Chanukah and the birth of the concept of Freedom of Religion
December 16, 2022 02:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MBThe title says it all. There is a valid reason to celebrate Chanukah (without giving it a Christmas coloring), and that is the concept it brought into the world: Freedom of Religion. We're still struggling with that today. We should celebrate the Festival of Lights for what it is. Here's why. Support the show
Episode # 111: Israel's elections and the concerns they raise for Diaspora Jews
November 18, 2022 02:00 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MBI'm joined this week by our man in Israel, Charles Byblezer, for a very insightful discussion about the goings-on in Israel. A week before the U.S. midterms, Israel held its fifth election is less than four years--and the results are causing hand-wringing and hair-pulling among Jewish leaders here in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Diaspora. The government Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is most likely to form will lean to the far right politically and, just as important, religious...
Episode No. 110--Emulating Trump and why that poses a threat to us
November 04, 2022 01:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBI thought I was done with the midterms and the threat they pose to us, but something happened on Saturday in Jacksonville that made me realize there was more I needed to say. Donald Trump is a racist generally and an anti-Semite specifically, and from almost immediately after announcing in mid-2015 that he would seek the GOP nomination, he gave the haters out there the green light to come out of their dark holes once again. And now, Republicans all across the country have taken Trump's playb...
Episode No. 109--What's Really at Stake in Election 2022
October 20, 2022 23:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBThis is NOT a political podcast in the sense of promoting a political agenda. It's about a very serious threat to our democracy in general and to us Jews in particular. To those who say "It can't happen here," the fact is that it has already begun to happen here and the midterms may be our best chance of stopping it before it is too late. Support the show
Episode No. 108--Sukkot and its relevance in 2022
October 07, 2022 18:00 - 16 minutes - 11.7 MBThere is nothing antiquated or embarrassing about Sukkot or its rituals. In fact, in a world beset by repeating environmental disasters caused by global warming, it may well be the most significant Jewish observance with regard to the natural world we live in. Support the show
Episode No. 107—The Roadmap to Repentance in the 21st Century, Part 3
September 09, 2022 01:00 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBThis week's episode completes the series on many of the matters we must be concerned with--and that we must atone for if we failed to act on these concerns in 5782--in approaching the High Holy Days and Yom Kippur especially. Women's rights...workers' rights...issues involving the migrant wave coming across the Southern U.S. border...how business affairs must be conducted...and so much more are covered here. I refer to the episode as "The Roadmap to Repentance on steroids" because it covers...
Episode No. 106—The Roadmap to Repentance in the 21st Century, Part 2
August 26, 2022 01:00 - 27 minutes - 18.8 MBThe Repentance Clock is ticking. The High Holy Days are now just over four weeks away! This is the second of three episodes designed to help us prepare for making the "accounting of our souls" that the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur are all about. This episode focuses on the heavy emphasis the Torah places on our responsibilities towards the poor and the disadvantaged, especially our need to see to it that they have life's basic necessities in adequate supply—and especially wh...
Episode No. 105--The Roadmap to Repentance in the 21st Century, Part 1
August 12, 2022 01:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBThe High Holy Days are just over six weeks away! The next three episodes will help us prepare for making the "accounting of our souls" that is the task of the 10 days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. This is part 1. Part 2 is in two weeks. Support the show
Episode No. 103--Tishah B'Av and why it's gruesome but not a downer day
July 29, 2022 01:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBThe absolutely saddest day on the Jewish calendar is just over a week away, and will be ignored by most Jews. Sad day though it is, it actually has a very uplifting message--and it's that message that makes it a day we should never ignore. Support the show
Episode No. 102: Too many mournful days give Judaism a bad rap
July 14, 2022 00:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBThis Saturday evening, we begin a 21-day period of increasingly mournful restrictions. In all, there are 72 mournful days on the Jewish calendar. That averages out each year to one out of every five days on the secular calendar. Five of these days are fast days (such as the one this coming Sunday). But should these days even be there? And do they really represent the tragedies of the past that are claimed for them? There's a lot of food for thought in this episode. Support the show
Episode No. 101: The Supreme Court’s role in the Christianizing of America
July 01, 2022 01:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBBe forewarned: Three decisions by the Supreme Court in the last 10 days--including knocking down Roe v Wade--signal that the current conservative majority is in lockstep with the extreme evangelical right's efforts to do away with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and turn America into a right-wing Christian nation. They're getting close to accomplishing that and here's what we need to do to stop it in its tracks. Support the show
Episode No. 100-The state of our environment and Judaism’s take on it
June 17, 2022 01:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MBClimate change catastrophes abound. Wildfires, droughts, floods, and warnings about another above-average hurricane season are all attributed to climate change. The climate IS changing, and not for the better. What isn’t changing is what we’re doing about it. (Then again, Marjorie Taylor Greene says all this carbon in the atmosphere is really good for us.) Scientists have been warning us about all this for the last 50 years. Judaism has been warning us about it from the day Moses came down f...
Episode No. 99: What the current Supreme Court can learn from how Torah law is decided and why that’s critical to our democracy
June 10, 2022 01:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBWhen the Supreme Court's approval rating drops from 58 percent a year ago to 40 percent today--the lowest it's ever been---you know there's a problem. That problem is that the court has become politicized to a point where people no longer trust it to safeguard our rights. It goes about making decisions based on a specious philosophy when it should be approaching cases the way Judaism approaches Torah law. Support the show
Episode No, 98--The Second Amendment, what it doesn;t say, and why the right thinks otherwise
June 03, 2022 00:00 - 25 minutes - 17.7 MBWe need to be very afraid of those who promote "protecting" the Second Amendment judging by the scary "armed rebellion" talk coming from elected officials, no less. We also need to understand what the amendment ACTUALLY says and why the right--including the conservative Supreme Court majority--have it all wrong. Even the Supreme Court before 2008 said how wrong the right is. Support the show
Episode No. 97--Remembering the fallen on Memorial Day and what it was they died for
May 27, 2022 01:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBThe values this nation was founded on are the values the Torah teaches us to cherish. It was for these values that nearly 1.3 million people gave their lives from 1776 until today. But are those the values America holds dear today? Or did those nearly 1.3 million martyrs die for nothing? Support the show
Episode No 96--Mothers at Risk
May 12, 2022 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBWhat you’ll hear in this episode may surprise many of you and, hopefully, enrage all of you. There’s a lot of attention being paid right now to the battle over a woman’s right to an abortion, but that is symptomatic of a much larger problem in the U.S.: The lack of respect and concern this country has for mothers which, given the consequences you’ll hear about, is far more outrageous than what women generally have to put up with. It puts the lie to the anti-abortionist claim to believe in th...
Episode No. 95--Revisiting what Jewish law has ro say about abortions
May 05, 2022 23:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MBAs you may recall from previous episodes, what Jewish law has ro say about abortion is not easily explained. But the bottom line is that however one interprets Jewish law, there is no absolute ban and, more to the point, any effort by government to interfere with abortion rights is interfering with our freedom of religion. Support the show
Episode No. 94--What the Torah can teach us about family values
April 29, 2022 01:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBActually, it has a great deal to teach us, both through the stories it tells and the laws it puts forth. We very much need to absorb those lessons into our lives today. Support the show
Episode No. 93--The Exodus really happened, Part 2
April 14, 2022 21:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MBThis is part 2 of Putting the Exodus into the context of history. I'm putting it out a bit earlier than usual and I hope it will make your Passover even more meaningful. Enjoy the chag! Support the show
Episode # 92--The Exodus Happened, Part 1
April 08, 2022 14:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBWhat do you get when you double up on Episode # 46? Episode # 92! I didn't plan it that way, but it's how it worked out. This is a somewhat modified rebroadcast of Episode # 46, which was the first of two pre-Passover episodes explaining how the Exodus fits into Egyptian history, something so many scholars insist otherwise. Seriously, they are way off base! Support the show