Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D.
Host of Hashivenu
The first woman rabbi to head a Jewish congregational union and a Jewish seminary, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., became president of the organization now known as Reconstructing Judaism in 2014. Since then, she has drawn on her training as a rabbi and historian to be the Reconstructionist movement’s leading voice in the public square.
Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D. has hosted 21 Episodes.
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Episode 20: Choosing Life
December 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 3 mins
This special episode was recorded before a live audience at the Reconstructing Judaism convention in November 2018. I interviewed Susan Levine, an extraordinary person and a member of the Board of Governors of Reconstructing Judaism. Trigger Warning: Susan and I discussed resilience in the aftermath of a suicide attempt. Susan is wise and grounded and deeply reflective, both about her attempts to end her life, and about her decision to live with integrity and beauty afterward. We want listeners to be prepared for what's coming.
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Episode 19: Gratitude
November 8th, 2018 | Season 1 | 15 mins 3 secs
In the aftermath of the recent synagogue shooting attack in Pittsburgh, Rabbi Deborah Waxman shares a personal Jewish practice that sustains her in difficult times.
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Episode 18: Fitness
October 16th, 2018 | Season 1 | 24 mins 32 secs
What's the connection between marathon training and prayer? Can CrossFit shed light on building meaningful communities? We speak with Rabbi Jason Bonder about the intersection between fitness and spirituality.
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Episode 17: The High Holiday Season
September 6th, 2018 | Season 1 | 30 mins 16 secs
The holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur drive us to make sense of what's truly important, and sustain us as we strive to recapture those ideals. In this conversation recorded days before Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi David Teutsch and Rabbi Deborah Waxman share the meaning they find in deep themes of the High Holiday season, and reflect on their own evolving relationship with those ideas.
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Episode 16: Multifaith Encounters
July 9th, 2018 | Season 1 | 28 mins 35 secs
Multifaith dialogue has the power not just to build bridges of understanding, but to foster personal spiritual growth and transformation. We speak with Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer and Professor Sa'ed Atshan, a Palestinian Quaker Christian, about their experiences in multifaith work.
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Episode 15: Singing Together
June 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 22 mins 31 secs
Singing together can be a profound and powerful experience. We speak with Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, an ethnomusicologist and a research professor at the music department at Tufts, about the role that music plays both in animating Jewish life and in helping us to cultivate resilience.
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Episode 14: Midrash
May 14th, 2018 | Season 1 | 22 mins 18 secs
In this episode, Rabbi Mira Wasserman and I discuss Midrash, the way ancient rabbis read scripture in new and creative ways, giving old words new life, meaning and relevance.
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Episode 13: Hebrew Poetry
May 7th, 2018 | Season 1 | 29 mins 10 secs
In this episode, I speak with Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz about modern Hebrew poetry, a recent expression of Jewish text. We talk about how modern Hebrew poets take apart traditional language and ideas and create something new from ancient building blocks.
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Episode 12: Embodied Prayer
April 24th, 2018 | Season 1 | 26 mins 26 secs
For Rabbi Jonathan Kligler, prayer is a whole-body experience, helping us reboot our awareness of how good it is to be alive even -- or especially -- in a troubled world. Join us for his deep conversation with Rabbi Deborah Waxman on this episode of Hashivenu.
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Episode 11: Yom HaShoah
April 10th, 2018 | Season 1 | 44 mins 44 secs
In this special extended episode for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), we hear from Rabbi Phillip Lazowski, who survived the Holocaust as a child. He shares experiences that shaped his vision and sense of purpose: amidst horror and loss, episodes of hope and humanity.
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Episode 10. "You Were Strangers in Egypt": Passover and Sanctuary
March 19th, 2018 | Season 1 | 22 mins 30 secs
On Passover, we retell our history as strangers and slaves in Egypt. What obligations flow from this memory? We speak with Rabbi Elliott Tepperman, whose congregation recently decided to serve as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. Join us as we discuss the Jewish values that moved his community to action.
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Episode 9: Purim and #metoo
February 26th, 2018 | Season 1 | 23 mins 12 secs
The Book of Esther contains striking examples of women speaking out against oppression in ways that both empower and imperil them. Are there parallels to the #metoo movement? Join Judith Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the Jewish Women’s Archive, in a wide-ranging discussion with Rabbi Deborah Waxman on resilient responses to trying times.
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Episode 8: Hineni —Being Present
February 13th, 2018 | Season 1 | 22 mins 27 secs
How do we pull ourselves together when we feel scattered or unfocused? In this episode of Hashivenu, Rabbi Myriam Klotz and Rabbi Deborah Waxman invite us into the spiritual practice of "hineni" -- being present and responsive.
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A Special Announcement
January 30th, 2018 | Season 1 | 2 mins 16 secs
This is Rabbi Deborah Waxman. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast, “Hashivenu: Jewish teachings on resilience.” Our next regular episode is on its way in February. But I wanted to take a moment to let you know about our organization’s new name: Reconstructing Judaism.
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Episode 7: Ecology
January 22nd, 2018 | Season 1 | 24 mins
In a wide-ranging conversation about ecology, Tu B'Shvat and shmittah (sabbatical year) Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb and Rabbi Deborah Waxman explore the ways in which Jewish tradition and ecological consciousness provide compelling models for resilience and sustainability.
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Episode 6: Mindfulness
January 7th, 2018 | Season 1 | 25 mins 37 secs
In challenging times, we often search for firm ground to stand on. In this interview with Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Rabbi Deborah Waxman explores mindfulness as a path that can anchor us, nourish our Jewish lives, and sustain us as we strive to fulfill our Jewish values.