In the darkest place imaginable, four men discovered that gratitude can keep you alive.

This episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah begins not in ancient text, but underground—inside the testimony of former hostage Eli Sharabi, who describes a ritual he and three others created in captivity: every night, they forced themselves to name one good thing that happened that day. Not because it felt true—but because without gratitude, hope would die.

1. Gratitude isn't a feeling—it's a practice
2. Jethro's greatest gift wasn't law—it was blessing
3. Saying it out loud is how we stay human

[00:00] Introduction: The Power of Gratitude
[02:04] Elie Sarabi's Story of Survival
[03:05] The Ritual of Thanksgiving
[06:24] Jethro's Blessing and Its Significance
[09:45] The Concept of Blessings in Judaism
[13:24] Voice Gift Play: A New Way to Share Stories
[14:27] The Importance of Verbalizing Gratitude
[27:31] Finding the 'Why' in Survival
[30:52] Conclusion: The Secret to Survival

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Transcript here: https://madlik.substack.com/

How a Story of Liberation Was Used to Exclude

What if the Exodus wasn't just a story of freedom… but also a story of exclusion?

1. Redemption stories are rarely neutral—they are often weapons.
2. The charge of being "left behind" usually says more about the accuser than the accused.
3. A story about leaving becomes an excuse for not moving at all.

[00:00] Moses' Uncompromising Message to Pharaoh

[00:24] The Irony of the 'Left Behind' Story

[01:48] Introduction to Madlik and This Week's Topic

[02:42] Exploring the Tradition of Those Left Behind

[04:00] The Ambiguous Word in Exodus 13:18

[05:24] Rashi's Interpretation and the Fifth Child

[11:08] Ezekiel's Rewriting of the Exodus Narrative

[13:25] The Polemic Against Those Who Stayed Behind

[25:05] The Tradition of Jewish Names, Language, and Dress

[29:56] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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The Exodus isn't just a freedom story — it's the Torah's first argument about gatekeeping.

Pharaoh asks a simple question: "Who exactly is going?" — mi va-mi ha-holchim. Moses answers with a revolution: Everyone.

1. Who's going?" really means "Who counts?
2. Inclusion isn't modern — it's Torah.
3. Presence matters more than status.

[00:00] Pharaoh's Question: Who's Going?

[01:26] Introduction to Madlik and This Week's Topic

[01:58] The Essence of Hasidism and Inclusion

[05:03] Exploring the Exodus Story

[07:14] Moses' Radical Answer to Pharaoh

[17:08] Modern Interpretations and Commentary

[20:45] The Inclusive Revolution in Judaism

[27:35] Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

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Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Mussar, and the Theology of Human Greatness

Moses delivers the greatest promise in Jewish history—freedom, redemption, a future—and the Torah says something heartbreaking: the Israelites don't listen. Not because they reject God or Moses, but because of "kotzer ruach" (Exodus 6:9)—shortness of spirit.

1. The Torah's Greatest Threat Isn't Sin — It's Smallness
2. True Greatness Is Internal, Not External
3. Mussar Teaches Us How to Grow, Not Just What to Do

[00:00] The Devastating Reality of kotzer ruach
[00:45] Introduction to Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe
[03:11] The Teachings of Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe
[08:08] The Greatness of the Human Being
[10:25] The Inner Life and Human Potential
[17:15] Modern Reflections and Critiques
[27:40] Conclusion: Embracing Our Greatness

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What Children Hear That Adults Miss

We begin the Book of Shemot (Exodus) with a New Year's-style resolution: read more Torah out loud—to our children, and to our grandchildren. Because the Exodus isn't just Judaism's greatest story; it's Judaism's most re-read story—told at the Seder, year after year, the longest-running book club in history.

We're joined by scholar and author Ilana Kurshan to discuss her new book Children of the Book, a beautiful exploration of how reading to kids shapes not only them, but us. Together we read Exodus through young eyes: the burning bush as a lesson in attention, "seeing" as a form of leadership, pictures as commentary, and Moses himself sounding like a nervous child—"slow of speech."

Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or just someone who loves texts, this episode is about the power of rereading—and the intimacy of reading aloud.

1. The Torah is meant to be reread
2. Reading out loud is how Jewish memory is formed
3. Reading with children changes how we read.

• [00:00] Introduction to Malik Disruptive Torah
• [00:35] Guest Introduction: Scholar Arthur Ilana Khan
• [00:54] The Importance of Reading Aloud
• [01:38] Meet Ilana Khan: Author and Scholar
• [03:43] The Concept of Repetition in Jewish Reading
• [08:54] The Burning Bush: A Story of Attention and Vision
• [10:52] The Role of Close Reading in Jewish Tradition
• [13:52] The Art of Reading in Modern Times
• [24:05] Children's Unique Perspective on Stories
• [31:41] The Power of Reading Aloud to Children
• [34:53] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore one of the Torah's most enigmatic verses—Jacob's blessing of Judah and the phrase "until Shiloh comes." Claimed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this single line opens a sweeping conversation about the power of religion to shape history—for good and for evil. Drawing on classical commentators, medieval Jewish-Christian encounters, and modern interfaith scholarship, we ask hard questions: What happens when sacred texts become battlegrounds? Can religion be part of the solution to religious conflict? And where are the moral red lines that faith must never cross? The episode concludes with a remarkable live contribution from Yochanan, known as the Rosh Kollel of Clubhouse—a former Hasidic Jew with encyclopedic Torah knowledge who left his community, is suing for lack of secular education, and brings both sharp critique and disarming wonder to his rediscovery of the wider world—including celebrating his first-ever birthday. This is a conversation about scripture, identity, responsibility, and hope—offered as a reflective closing to the year, and a thoughtful opening to what comes next.

As we close one year and step into another, we're revisiting a live Madlik Disruptive Torah conversation recorded in December 2022, back when the podcast was broadcast weekly on Clubhouse in front of a live audience. This episode explores the enduring power of numbers in Jewish thought—especially the number 70. From the seventy souls who descend to Egypt, to seventy nations, seventy languages, seventy judges on the Sanhedrin, and the rabbinic idea that Torah itself has shiv'im panim—seventy faces—this conversation asks what numbers can teach us without turning Torah into superstition. Along the way, we discuss: Why seven and its multiples signal cycles, completeness, and transition The difference between structural symbolism and later gematria Umberto Cassuto's insight into numerical patterns in the Creation story Why unanimity among seventy judges invalidates a verdict How translation, disagreement, and plurality are built into Torah itself

Was Hanukkah really a war of Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to forget?

Was Hanukkah really Jews vs. Greeks — or a Jewish civil war we chose to bury under a story about oil?

In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz revisit the Hanukkah story through the sources. From Maccabees I and the politics of Ptolemy vs. Antiochus, to the lone Talmudic mention of the oil miracle (Shabbat 21b), they show how a messy internal power struggle became a clean miracle narrative.

1. Hanukah began as a Jewish civil war — not just Jews vs. Greeks.
2. Each generation rewrites the Maccabees to fit its own battles.
3. The shamash — the helper candle — may be Hanukkah's real hero today.

[00:00] Hanukkah beyond oil and miracles

[03:12] Why the Talmud barely explains Hanukkah

[05:01] The forgotten Jewish civil war

[07:22] Hellenists vs. Maccabees reexamined

[09:48] Power, empires, and internal factions

[12:30] Modern culture wars through Hanukkah

[14:55] Why the rabbis hid the conflict

[17:05] Hillel vs. Shammai as metaphor

[19:10] The shamash in Israeli children's stories

[23:40] Hanukkah as a model for unity

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