The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed

After seven seasons, The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed comes to a close. In this final episode, I reflect on how the podcast evolved, the community that grew around it, and the journey from discovering that Torah is true to learning what it means to actually live that truth. I also share the ideas behind my forthcoming book, From Binah to Daas: Leaving the Exile of the Mind, and leave listeners with the foundational question that has been at the heart of this journey from the beginning.

What happens when Morgan Freeman, SpongeBob, Stephen Hawking, Jim Carrey, Optimus Prime, Denzel Washington, and Nicolas Cage walk into a sukkah with Torah questions? With a little help from AI, this special Sukkos Q&A brings together an unlikely group of guests to explore some surprisingly deep questions. Why should a Jew study Torah and keep mitzvos? Is kissing the mezuzah actually a mitzvah? Does the Torah teach reincarnation? Why are there 19 blessings in the prayer called Shemoneh Esrei (“Eighteen”)? What should someone who desperately wants to marry make of the Torah’s teachings about marriage? And what are we really accomplishing when we wash our hands before bread or perform mayim acharonim (washing after the meal)? It’s an unusual Sukkos gathering filled with Torah, questions, laughter, and a few guests you probably won't find in anyone else’s sukkah.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

Tishrei opens with an interesting pattern. Esav is associated with the sun, Yishmael with the moon, while Yaakov’s calendar requires both. Why does Jewish time refuse to choose one or the other, and what does that reveal about the work of the new year? This episode explores how Tishrei turns that tension into a framework for what we do with everything the past year has placed in our hands, including the parts we wish had gone differently.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

Why do even people with deep faith, tremendous spiritual awareness, and sincere desire to do the right thing still fall prey to the Yetzer Hara? Rav Dessler identifies a subtle opening that can turn even a moment of uncertainty or distraction into something far more dangerous. In this episode of Strive for Truth, Rabbi Michael Cohen and I explore how that opening develops, why it becomes especially powerful when we are worried about the future, and what this teaches us about the role Torah is meant to play in protecting our choices, our focus, and ultimately the direction of our lives. Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Connect with Rabbi Michael CohenReach out to Rabbi Michael Cohen to learn more about his one-on-one coaching work, where he applies the teachings of Strive for Truth to help individuals untangle inner confusion, clarify priorities, and live more grounded, self-expressed lives. To inquire or connect, email him at mailto:[email protected] or connect through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcohen101/ 

In this episode, Rabbi Michael Cohen and I explore Rav Dessler’s teaching on the opening chapter of Tehillim and discover a radically different way to approach happiness, ambition, struggle, and spiritual growth. You’ll learn how to pursue greater things without feeling deficient in the present, how to recognize opportunity and meaning even when life is difficult, and how to stop allowing external circumstances to determine your inner state. Most importantly, this conversation offers a path toward realizing that a life directed toward Hashem can provide meaning, purpose, and genuine happiness right now.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Connect with Rabbi Michael CohenReach out to Rabbi Michael Cohen to learn more about his one-on-one coaching work, where he applies the teachings of Strive for Truth to help individuals untangle inner confusion, clarify priorities, and live more grounded, self-expressed lives. To inquire or connect, email him at [email protected] or connect through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcohen101/ 

In this episode, I’m trying to give us a clearer map of the reality we actually live in so that Torah, mitzvos, prayer, and Hashem’s involvement in our lives become easier to understand as parts of one integrated system. My goal is to move beyond seeing the physical world as self-contained and begin recognizing how the visible layer of reality fits within a much larger spiritual architecture. By understanding where the human being and Klal Yisrael fit within that structure, we can begin to appreciate why our choices matter far beyond what we can immediately see, and why developing this Binah is necessary if we want Torah to move from abstract belief into something we can increasingly recognize and live. Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

The different symbols and spiritual attributes of a Hebrew month usually offer multiple perspectives on a common theme. Elul is different. Its permutation of Hashem’s Name, letter, mazal, tribe, faculty, and bodily faculty unfold as a sequence, creating a practical step-by-step framework for teshuvah. Together, they show us how to recover the energy that became misdirected in the past year and redirect it toward growth in the year ahead.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

In this episode, we examine how the serpent changed Chava’s perception until the forbidden began to appear beneficial. In doing so, we uncover the system the yetzer hara still uses within us: how it reframes a choice, shifts the question from truth to personal gain, and makes the wrong path appear reasonable or even necessary.We also attempt to reconstruct the human condition before the sin so that we can better understand what was lost and what Torah is guiding us to restore. By tracing both the original order and its corruption, we can learn to recognize the tactic earlier and restore the movement from truth into action and lived reality.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

In this episode, I introduce From Binah to Daas, Stage Two: The Architecture of Creation. The first stage focused on the internal architecture of the human being, how intellect, emotion, imagination, speech, and action can become aligned so that Torah moves from understanding into lived reality. Stage Two turns outward to the architecture of the world in which that transformation takes place, helping us understand how Hashem structured reality, why there is concealment and resistance, and how the systems around us shape our avodah. The goal is to see Torah as one integrated whole, make mitzvos more meaningful, and better understand our role within Creation.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.

In this twelfth episode of The Power of the Hebrew Months, I explore how the month of Av can help us live with experiences that seem impossible to reconcile. Av teaches us how to remain connected to Hashem when compassion feels hidden, how to stop treating painful emotions as proof of spiritual failure, and how to direct powerful traits like anger, ambition, intensity, and fear toward a higher purpose. By learning to hear the unity beneath judgment and mercy, mourning and consolation, and revelation and concealment, we gain a practical framework for staying faithful during uncertainty, recognizing hidden growth, and bringing the divided parts of ourselves into the service of Hashem.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Get the Companion Guide: The Power of the MonthsThis free resource outlines the spiritual focus of each Hebrew month — including its mazal (zodiac sign), tribe, Hebrew letter, body part, and unique avodah. It also includes suggested actions you can take to align yourself with the energy of the time. Click here to download and keep this month-by-month guide as a tool for your own growth and reflection.