We'll Shiva-t We Can Do
You know how edJEWcation is usually a rollicking good time, with crazy stories of all things being Jewish? This episode…maybe a little less of that because on this one, we conclude our “Life of a Jew” series with how every story ends…plotz-ing.
In this episode, we’ll discuss Jewish customs around death and mourning. We’ll learn sitting Shiva, the rituals and beliefs around burials, the Kaddish, and the Jewish perspective on the afterlife (did you know Judaism believes in reincarnation?), and we’ll close with ChayaLeah speaking about her experience visiting the site of the Nova Music Festival in Israel.
Once we’re done with that laugh-riot topic, we’ll go to our Parsha for the week and follow everyone’s favorite nomads, Abram, Sarai, and Lot, as they try to escape a famine in Canaan and go to Egypt (I have a feeling we might revisit Egypt a time or two again in the future, what do you think?). We’ll talk about why Abram lies to Pharaoh about his relationship with Sarai, how they become rich while there, and wrap up with G-d promising the land of Israel to Abram (even though that’s not its name quite yet).
This week’s Parsha discussion: Genesis 12:4 - 13:18
Also, as is my wont, I am a week late on this, but I wanted to link to the books we discussed in our previous episode about Israel and Judaism. We’ve created the official edJEWcation Amazon booklist, which you can find here with all our recommendations.
As we discuss books on the pod, we’ll keep this updated.
We also mentioned some of the seminal texts in early Zionism, specifically:
Of course, there are many others that you can find in, among other places, the Jewish Virtual Library
If you have any comments or questions, leave a message in the comments, or drop us an e-mail at edjewcationpod@gmail.com
Until next time…may your Chametz be delicious.