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Last year around this time we were finishing up Tractate Pesachim — take another dip into our Peseach archive with this episode compilation featuring ideas from Kadesh to Nirtzah We thank our guests,  Dr. Susan Weingarten, Dr. Jon Greenberg, Rabbi Dr. Vanessa Ochs, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, Dr. Rachel Scheinerman, Dr. Marc Michael Epstein, and Dr. Sara Ronis for lending us their voices, ideas, and insights to enhance each step of our, and now your, seder. In addition to this audio experience, be sure to check out the accompanying source sheet on Sefaria for some additional thoughts and reflections.   Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

What can levirate marriage teach us about ancient Jewish family structures?  Why start Seder Nashim with death?  Dvora Weisberg is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Rabbinics, HUC-JIR Rabbinical School Director and Rabbinical Program Director in Los Angeles. She is the author of Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism, which explores the ancient rabbis’ understanding of family and familial relationships. Rabbi Dr. Weisberg also teaches frequently in informal settings, including adult education programs in congregations, several summers at the URJ Kallah and sessions for the CCAR and its regional conventions. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Who really was Elisha ben Avuyah, and why was he a mistake of rabbinic interpretation? How did he become a blank canvas for the Rabbis’ heretical anxieties?  Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, a nonprofit, international, UNESCO-sponsored interfaith organization. A noted scholar of Jewish studies, he has held academic posts at Tel Aviv University and has served as director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, Jerusalem. Rabbi Dr. Goshen-Gottstein is the author or editor of many books including The Jewish Encounter with Hinduism, Jewish Theology and World Religions, and most recently, Interreligious Heroes: Role Models and Spiritual Exemplars for Interfaith Practice. His book, The Sinner and the Amnesiac: The Rabbinic Invention of Elisha ben Abuya and Eleazar ben Arach was published in 2000 by Stanford University Press.

How did ancient Jews relate to angels? Are “Biblically accurate angels” really Biblically accurate? Dr. Mika Ahuvia is an associate professor of Classical Judaism in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her book On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture investigates conceptions of angels in foundational Jewish texts and ritual sources. Mika also co-edited the volume Placing Ancient Texts: the Rhetorical and Ritual Use of Space and has published book chapters and articles on ancient ritual-magic, gender and rabbinic literature, and late antique archeology. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

CW//brief mentions of sexual abuse and abusers  When, why, and how did the rabbis of the Talmud excommunicate people? How did they craft a narrative of powerlessness to invest themselves with more power? Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy is the Director of the Pardes Year Program at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. In 2015, Meesh completed her studies at Beit Midrash Har’el and received ordination from Rabbi Herzl Hefter and Rabbi Daniel Sperber.  She has a PhD in Talmud from New York University, and her dissertation explores the ways in which the rabbis of the Talmud created a criminal punishment system.  Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode www.sefaria.org/sheets/379348. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

How is climate a Divine language? Why should you get to know a tree? Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is a writer, activist, and song-leader in Boston. She serves as the Director of Professional Development at Hebrew College, and as a rabbinic consultant to Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action.  She is a contributing author to Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, and her song “The Tide Is Rising,” which she co-wrote with her husband Yotam Schachter, has spread as an anthem in the climate movement. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

What does an inclusive Megillah reading sound like?  What could the future of layning be?  Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as the Associate Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, NY. A 2017 graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she has taught many people women and girls to leyn and is the voice of the JOFA Megillat Esther and Megillat Rut apps. Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Why is the Sages’ exposition of the Book of Esther so imaginative? How do we avoid blurring the lines between Midrashic homilies and what’s actually written in the text? Dr. Eliezer Segal is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Classics and Religion at the University of Calgary. He is widely published and some of his recent books include From Sermon to Commentary: Expounding the Bible in Talmudic Babylonia and Sanctified Seasons.  Additionally he is the author of “The Babylonian Esther Midrash: A Critical Commentary.” Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

How did the Sages of the Talmud understand the connection between rain and the Divine? How do talmudic stories impart ethical values?  Dr. Jonathan Wyn Schofer is Associate Professor of Religious Studies, with affiliation in the Schustermann Center for Jewish Studies at The University at Texas at Austin. He has published work on the connections between law, theology, and ethics in canonical Jewish sources of late antiquity, including his first book, The Making of a Sage: A Study in Rabbinic Ethics.  His essay “Theology and Cosmology in Rabbinic Ethics: The Pedagogical Significance of Rainmaking Narratives”  is the groundwork for a chapter on drought in his second book, Confronting Vulnerability: The Body and the Divine in Rabbinic Ethics.  Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Hadran Alach Mesekhet Rosh Hashanah!  Since the modern period and beyond, the communal creative practice of calendar making, which our Tractate has mainly focused on, has mostly left us — but not entirely. Hear from some of the artists and collaborators of The Radical Jewish Calendar Project.  Rabbi Ariana Katz is the layout editor for the Radical Jewish Calendar project. She is also the founding rabbi of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebl.   Ariel DiOrio is a Boston-based artist, educator, designer, and photographer who finds inspiration in projects that use creativity to promote social change. Her work is featured for the month of Shevat.  Ayeola Omolara Kaplan is a visual artist and abolitionist. Her work is featured for the month of Adar II.  Blue Reinhard is a student studying Studio Art at Occidental College. Their work is featured for the month of Tammuz.  Katherine Leung is an artist, activist, and educator. Her work is featured for the month of Av.  Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

What makes the shofar unique among Biblical instruments? How can a commandment to hear teach us to listen? Dr. Jonathan L. Friedmann is a scholar and practitioner of Jewish music. He serves as a pulpit cantor, he composes and arranges music, is a researcher in the area of the history and functions of synagogue song, and teaches at the Academy for Jewish Religion California. He has numerous books on music and religion and was co-editor of “Qol Tamid: The Shofar in Ritual, History, and Culture.” Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Is there mazal for the people of Israel? How did the Sages relate to the stars?  Lorelai Kude has been a practicing, professional astrologer for more than 30 years. She received her Master’s Degree in Jewish Studies from Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union, with a thesis titled: “Yesh Mazal l’Yisrael: Astrology in Jewish Cultural Heritage”, and writes a syndicated Jewish astrology column (“Astrolojew”). Along with maintaining and growing her private astrological consulting practice, Lorelai also teaches classes, publishes a podcast on Jewish astrology, and is the Executive Director of The Aquarian Minyan and “Mother” of the Aquarian Minyan Yeshiva.  Special thanks to our executive producer, Adina Karp View a source sheet for this episode here. Keep up with Interleaved on Facebook and Twitter. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Midnight Tale" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)