IKAR Podcasts

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For Those Who Cannot Rise - Rabbi Deborah Silver Aug 03, 2025

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Tisha B'Av is the day we devote to contemplating destruction and ruin. How should we observe it, this year, when we are already carrying so much grief? And how can our tradition, and the story of one London rabbinical student, spur us to action?

Lonely Sits the City - Rabbi Hannah Jensen Jul 27, 2025

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Right now we are in the period of the most concentrated grief in the Jewish calendar leading up to Tisha b'Av next week. This year, in Los Angeles, we are in an extended period of the same. From the fires through the ICE raids beginning last month, we have gotten no reprieve. What insight does our parsha lend us about how to live in this valley of grief and also let our grief be a catalyst for action?

The Best Seat in Hell - Rabbi Morris Panitz Jul 20, 2025

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Buried in a list of names is the mysterious fact that the sons of the mutinous leader Korah did not die. What follows is the bizarre journey of the sons of Korah to a ledge in Hell, where their song calls out to us, even today.

Reflections from a Bomb Shelter - Rabbi Morris Panitz Jul 13, 2025

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Sharing a personal, first-hand account of my time in Israel during the war with Iran.

The Folly of Those Dark Fantasies - Rabbi Sharon Brous Jun 29, 2025

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Trauma, history, fear—all of these lead us down a path that is as futile as it is dangerous. At the end of one terrible war and in the midst of another, we can do better. We must grow in our ability to imagine one other.

Jeremy Ben-Ami (J Street Pres.) and Rabbi Sharon Brous in Conversation Jun 22, 2025

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Sight and Vision - Rabbi Deborah Silver Jun 22, 2025

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The ten spies who enter Canaan create 40 years of delay in the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land. What did they do wrong? And how can we avoid making the same mistake they did as we witness the brutality all around us?

Even Now, We Dream - Rabbi Sharon Brous Jun 15, 2025

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Amid ICE raids and ballistic missiles, here’s what I saw from the stage at a multifaith vigil in downtown Los Angeles, what I heard from my Iranian friend who yearns for home, and why I believe our most audacious dreams must be born in the darkest times

May You Be Blessed and Safe - Rabbi Hannah Jensen Jun 08, 2025

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This Pride Shabbat, we need to reckon with the current landscape for our trans siblings. We need to understand that trans people are being used as a wedge to divide Americans, and as a test case for increasing authoritarianism. What does our parsha teach us about the dangers of callousness, and what brighter, more beautiful future can we imagine?

What I Need You To Hear - Rabbi Morris Panitz Jun 01, 2025

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When trauma is acknowledged, not denied, not justified, not dismissed through comparison, only then can something new and hopeful be imagined.

Read the sermon here.