your questions, addressed
the rabbi takes your queries via video, because why not
As it turns out, way too many of our usual Rabbis And Other Clergy On Deck have been deeply up in it over the last few weeks – new jobs, dissertations, pulpits with too many unexpected things happening (you don't get to pick when a lot of funerals happen, friends), the list goes on.
So I thought I'd try doing this in a different format instead, see how this felt. Please please let me know what you think! Addressing 2-3 qs per clip. Not gonna say "answering" because most of the time I don't think I have The Answers for you per se, but perhaps this combo of opinions, perspectives, sources and reflections will jog you to the next step:
Reminder: You have to click through to the website to comment. Please do!
I would love to hear your thoughts, and your guests' thoughts on imprecatory prayers. How do we make sense of them in our current climate of increasing xenophobia, racism, transphobia, misogyny, and overall hate?
Hegseth and other Christian nationalists have been calling upon the imprecatory Psalms (aka 55, 59, 69, 79, 109, and 137) in the last couple of weeks (see especially Brooks Pottger, Hegseth's pastor, and Josh Haymes telling people to pray the imprecatory Psalms against James Talarico, who is demonic). I'm familiar with some Christian traditions on these Psalms that read them metaphorically. What are some Jewish/Rabbinic approaches to these Psalms?
The writer Bogi Takács recently brought up on Bluesky that the Hebrew word for "heavens" is *dual* (like English "scissors" or "trousers") and wondered why Why, oh Rabbis? What are the Two Heavens? (No, this doesn't go thematically but figuring out how to unclip it was beyond my technical capacity and it's a nice chaser to talking about cursing people anyway.)