Fascinating Audio Content by Rabbi Irwin Kula

In recent months, I have noticed that I have been referencing some of Rabbi Irwin Kula’s ideas to other rabbis. Specifically, audio recordings of Rabbi Kula, whether on podcasts or elsewhere. As such, since it is becoming so frequent, I have decided to collect a handful of these and share them, as I have found them to be very valuable and I hope others find tremendous value in them, as well.

I will note that Rabbi Kula can talk a bit saltily, so I just wanted to put that warning out there. Nevertheless, the richness and freshness of his ideas are very rewarding, even if (or perhaps, because of) being so against the grain that one may typically encounter in regular organized Jewish life.

The first of these talks was his “Texts Without Borders”, which was delivered on November 8, 2011 at the first session of the third cohort of the Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship, which had been recorded by Clal and posted on their website. While I cannot seem to find the recording on their website now, the recording is what I had downloaded from their website and am sharing with you. While I had been in the room for this recording as I was part of this cohort of the fellowship (and you can hear my laugh at certain points), I have returned to listen to this talk on multiple occasions, as it is lively, invigorating, and fresh content, especially for rabbis.

I recently chanced upon a couple of episodes of Judaism Unbound, the first of which is good, while the second one is great:

• Judaism Unbound Episode 53: Death and Rebirth - Irwin Kula Part I (17 February 2017)

• Judaism Unbound Episode 54: Judaism's Job - Irwin Kula Part II (24 February 2017)

And here are two further podcast episodes that feature him:

• Jay’s 4 Questions #60: A Conversation with Irwin Kula (16 January 2019)

• Coburn Ventures #71: Values-based Branding with Irwin Kula (21 October 2021)

I hope you enjoy this audio content and if you have any further audio or video content of Rabbi Kula you would like to recommend, please feel free to share with me🙂

Launching "What's New with Drew?" Series

Since I get asked frequently, "What's new?", I realize I don't share enough about my life and what's going on with me online. Therefore, I have been inspired to share what's been going on for me, both personally, as well as professionally. (Not only will it help others gain a sense of what I am doing, but it also helps me consider what is going on in my life.) While I do not know if this will be a weekly share, or if it will be multiple times a week, I imagine I will be experimenting with this format. While this will be available on this website, I will also be sharing it on my Substack (for instance, this post is also available here).

Personal:

• 2021 was a huge year for my podcasting, not only for my podcast, but also appearing on others’ podcasts

• The new Star Wars show, The Book of Boba Fett came out on Wednesday, which was a nice start to the series (I haven’t yet posted anything about it yet, but I may still do so) - here’s a clever breakdown of the episode

• It was AMAZING to watch the incredible comeback in the Rose Bowl by the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday night, as well as the record-setting performances by CJ Stroud and Jaxon Smith-Njigba🏈 It was a phenomenal performance! I am very excited to see how the Buckeyes will fare in 2022, with an explosive offense and a new defensive coordinator😀

Professional:

Senior Living Facility:

• Morning Minute Musing #153: Attending My First Conference Since The Beginning of The Pandemic (the previous week, I had attended my 5th AJS Conference)

• On Wednesday, I shared highlights from the aforementioned conference with residents over bagels

• I took my 86th COVID-19-test at work

• Like other Fridays, I distributed challah knots/rolls the weekly Shabbat Newsletter at the senior living facility where I serve as the Director of Pastoral Care

• The aforementioned Shabbat Newsletter is available here

• Here is the lineup of entertainment on the internal broadcasting channel I curated for the residents at the senior living facility where I work

• My weekly Torah portion presentation for the residents at the senior living facility where I work

Jewish Drinking:

• I was sad to have to announce that we are postponing the inaugural Booze in the Holy Land trip due to complications related to the pandemic 

• I was glad to share a kosher 12-bottle bar post

• Daily Drinking Halakhot

• #263: Drinking or eating items that are for healing are not permissible to consume on Shabbat

• #264: What is the permissibility of using beverages to extinguish burning clothes on Shabbat?

• #265: What happens if one's wine barrel cracks on Shabbat?

• #266: More on fire-extinguishing on Shabbat

Other Links of Interest:

• Russel Neiss - "NFTs Ain’t the Moshiakh"

• Dr. Rivka Press-Schwartz Twitter essay on sexual abuse in the Orthodox world

• Marc B. Shapiro - "Gelatin, Supposed Retractions, and Abraham Goldstein, Part 1"

• Marc B. Shapiro - "Gelatin, Supposed Retractions, and Abraham Goldstein, Part 2"

• Not a new article, but it’s come up this week in a few conversations: Jill Lepore - “Does Journalism Have a Future?”