Advertise on podcast: The Morning Scroll

Could you take a moment to fill out this brief survey to let us know what you think of the show? It would help us out so much! Do not be alarmed by the size of these grapes. Yes, the giants we stole them from are climbing down the beanstalk after us as we speak,  but Moses has a plan! The plan is: we die. Then, years later our kids can fight the giants! Great plan, right? Wait, where are you all going?! Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena.

Could you take a moment to fill out this brief survey to let us know what you think of the show? It would help us out so much! Going up? No? Good, because tzaraat has been going around and theres no more room on this lift. This week's parsha is all about lifting each other up — let's get woo. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Could you take a moment to fill out this brief survey to let us know what you think of the show? It would help us out so much! Speaking of surveys, a brief survey of this week's parsha reveals a rather disturbing law. When women are suspected of adultery, you're supposed to make them drink a potion and publicly humiliate them. Who would do such a thing?! As usual, generations of commentators have been asking the same question. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Could you take a moment to fill out this brief survey to let us know what you think of the show? It would help us out so much! Speaking of surveys, you know who took a survey? The Israelites in this week's parsha. They took a census of everybody in the tribes. Well, not the Levites. Or women. Or children. What's up with that? Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Stop me if you've heard this one before: "halakhah" technically doesn't mean "the law," it's closer to "the path." Because that's what this tradition is! A path that you can always return to no matter how far you veer off course. Except it's more like a huge multi-lane highway, so what happens if you veer across lanes and into the median, causing a high speed pursuit across state lines? Asking for a friend (Aaron the High Priest). Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

This week's parsha has confusingly little to do with beloved television personality Joy Behar, but it does invite us to ask ourselves what constitutes a joyful life. Rabbi Deena thinks it might involve getting to know your neighbors. Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Folks, this is a rough one. It's hard not to read some of this parsha as ableist, so we're not going to pretend otherwise. But we will follow the lead of the 16th century rabbi Kli Yakar by flipping this teaching on its head, updating tradition for our own times. How's your soul looking? Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

This week's parsha is all about holiness, and features some of the most beautiful, wise, and enduring lines in the Torah. It also contains the most infamous line in Leviticus — yes, that one. Special guest Rabbi Steven shares his perspective on how he wrestles with this challenging piece of our tradition.   Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

"If thy goal / is afflicting thy soul /  thou shalt not be picking no leather insole." So goes the ancient saying. At least, it must be ancient — everything in our tradition is ancient, right? Wrong. Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets are available now to Fiddler on the Roof at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, from May 17th - 22nd. Use Mishkan's special offer code ROOF45 for $45 Middle Balcony tickets. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Whose "mighty hand and outstretched arm" delivered us — Moses or God? With no Torah portion to recap over Passover, Rabbi Deena tells the Exodus story and explains why it kinda sorta doesn't gel with the story in the Haggadah but also super does. Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

This week's parsha was lost in translation. How did the Torah's anti-gossip message of looking out for the signs of tzaraat become the cruel Medieval practice of quarantining people with skin diseases like leprosy? It's all Greek to us. Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript

Tazria means "She Who Gives Birth," but this portion should really be titled "The Ick Factor." What is the real story behind the mysterious skin disease "tzaraat"? Mishkan's 16th Italian correspondent Sforno has the scoop. Today's episode is sponsored by Broadway In Chicago. Tickets to The Prom are available now! Use Mishkan's special offer code PARTY49 for $49 tickets, valid for April 19 and 20 (evening only), and April 21, in the Orchestra, Dress Circle and Loge seating area. Produced by Mishkan Chicago.  Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss. See our upcoming Shabbat services and programs here, and follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates. Check out Shabbat Replay on Contact Chai for more from Rabbi Deena. Transcript