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Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from The Kotzk Podcast podcast

Kotzk Podcast 086: Jewish Mystics and Rationalists seeking Islamic Fatwas during the Maimonidean Conflicts

2026/03/22

This article explores how Cairo Geniza documents may demonstrate how two opposing Jewish factions sought Islamic religious edicts (Fatwas) to settle internal theological debates, during the 13th century. (Kotzk Blog 546)

Kotzk podcast 085: Psychedelics: Cutting-edge science or shamanic ritual?

2026/03/15

This article examines the claim of "cutting-edge academic research into psychedelics" as often touted by psychedelic adherents; and suggests we may be witnessing the birth of a new Jewish spiritual movement, already known as "Chassidelics." (Kotzk blog 545)

Kotzk Podcast 084: Acculturating Alcohol and Sanctifying Psychedelics: It’s time to stand up

2026/03/15

This article discusses the increasingly widespread use of alcohol and psychedelics in our communities (Kotzk Blog 544)(http://kotzkblog.com)

Kotzk Podcast 083: Where are the first Chassidic texts?

2026/03/14

The first Chassidic book appeared in 1780, two decades after the Baal Shem Tov’s passing. What, then, was the nature and content of the abundant manuscripts produced in that interim? (Kotzk Blog 543)

Kotzk Podcast 082: Zoharic Kabbalah as mystical resistance to Christianity

2026/02/23

This article examines how Zoharic Kabbalah may be read as a detailed mystical response to Christian polemics and persecutions. (Kotzk blog 542)

Kotzk Podcast 081: Theo-politics of early rabbinic printing and the race for first publication

2026/02/07

This episode examines how the race to publish first, often shaped the scholarly priorities and study material of future generations. (Kotzk Blog 540)

Kotzk Podcast 80: The new Rebbe of Thieves

2026/01/26

This episode looks at the resurgence of interest in Reb Shayele of Kerestir who had emerged the de facto protector of thieves and swindlers. (Kotzk Blog 539)

Kotzk Podcast 079: Rules for writing a Sefer Torah: Rabbinic innovation or reflection of an existing scribal tradition?

2026/01/20

This episode—drawing extensively on the research of ProfessorEmanuel Tov, former Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project[1]—examinesthe rabbinic rules for writing a Sefer Torah. (Kotzk Blog 538)

Kotzk Podcast: 078: ‘Halachic Fiction’ and ex post facto justification in the modern Halachic process

2025/12/30

This podcast explores an interesting idea known as Halachic fiction, that may have become a legal methodology in recent times (Kotzk Blog 536)

Kotzk Podcast 077: Suspending Judaism between depth and accessibility: Maimonides and Yeshaya of Trani

2025/12/22

Was Judaism enriched by the radical thought of Maimonides, or narrowed by the conservative pragmatism of Yeshaya di Trani? (Kotzk Blog 535)

Kotzk Podcast 075: The Seven Laws of Noah: Then and now

2025/12/15

Did the early rabbinic tradition understand the Seven Laws of Noah as a model for a universal religion for non-Jews? (Kotzk Blog 533)

Kotzk Podcast 076: Between Law and Magic: The Mezuzah as a test case in shifting cosmologies

2025/12/15

This episode explores the shifting cosmologies surrounding the mezuzah from Talmudic times to this day. (Kotzk Blog 534)

Kotzk Podcast 074: Dialogues of vision: How we view Maimonides and how he might view us (Part II)

2025/12/02

Part II now turns the focus on its head and examines, theoretically, how Maimonides might view contemporary Judaism as we know it. (kotzk Blog 532)

Kotzk Podcast 073: Dialogues of Vision: How we view Maimonides and how he might view us (Part I)

2025/11/26

This episode examines how Maimonides was viewed by the rabbinic world (Part I), and how, in turn, Judaism as we know it today might (theoretically) be viewed by Maimonides (Part II). This creates a ‘dialogue of vision. (Kotzk Blog 531)

Kotzk Podcast 072: Early textual layering in Zohar and Bahir as clues to their dating

2025/11/17

How early layers of text from the Zohar and Bahir may shed light on the authorship, milieu, geography and dating of these two fundamental mystical works. (Kotzk blog 530)