Jewish Heroism Project

Join me for a live class at The Torah Cafe. We explore the intersection between the ten days of repentance and October 7th, asking how to take a heroic stance on teshuva.

Sometimes history and the Hebrew calendar coincide in remarkable ways. Join Rav Mike and guest R' Aaron Leibowitz as they discuss the nature of the the spiritual and material challenges faced by the Jewish people today. The conversation touches on the limits of agency, the nature of responsibility and the question of how we hold the pain of past and present in order to make for a better future.

American Jewry stands at a crossroads, facing great risks and real opportunities. Success in such a moment requires clarity of vision, confidence in identity and readiness for action - all elements of a heroic stance. This first class of Rav Mike's recent US tour is an exploration of what Jewish heroism is, how it can be cultivated in our lives and communities, and what a heroic path forward might look like for American Jews today.

There are many models of Jewish hero, and the healer is among the most important. In a time when Israeli Jews are struggling to be victorious warriors, here is a call for American Jewry to pick up the task of healing. Because if victory means nothing more than smashing your enemies, we are still left with a broken world in the end

Malchut is good made manifest. This class introduces malchut, the seventh and final step in the Torah’s heroic journey. Malchut is the ability to bring the pieces into right relationship - in the personal dimension as identity, between people as leadership and facing creation as Divine consciousness. On the heroic journey it is a manifestation of the goodness we are seeking, whole even when it is not yet the complete expression of creation’s good. We begin by understanding the three dimensions in which the heroic journey takes place, and how malchut can be a manifestation of good in all of them. Along the way we learn that malchut expresses the iterative quality of the heroic journey, how the hero is constantly “coming of age.” Malchut manifests good in a manner which is both the end of a process, and the beginning of a new path toward the good. The second half of the class focuses on the power of the heroic moment, how the hero’s actions can manifest good in multiple dimensions with potentially legendary results. In this context Queen Esther is considered as an archetype of malchut, and her story offered as an example of the power of the heroic moment.

Here is a pre-Pesach conversation with R' Yehuda HaKohen of the Vision Movement where we explore the narrative arc of the Passover story and the nature of freedom. Along the way we touch on the State of Israel's struggle to be free of foreign influence, and how every Jew can become more of who they truly are.

Yosher is integrity, the ability to hold the line. This class introduces yosher as the sixth path of Jewish heroism. The quality of integrity guides us in forming a right relationship with self, other and world – all the facets of truth uncovered on the path of emet. The class begins by touching on how integrity is a quality of heart, and then goes on to an exploration of the root definitions of yosher as it appears in the Torah and the broader Jewish tradition. The second half unpacks the story of Joseph as the archetype of integrity. It traces the arc of his development from a young man who couldn’t hold all the gifts he had been given, to one who becomes the viceroy of Egypt and a model of righteousness. His heroic journey teaches us that “life is the pits,” a phrase whose meaning shifts depending on whether you choose the posture of victim, villain or hero in your own life journey.

It's not every day that you turn fifty. here are some birthday thoughts from Rav Mike - and a blessing to all who tune in!

Here is a discussion with R' Aaron Leibowitz about some of the emotional and spiritual challenges posed by the uncertainty of our national situation, and what Purim might teach us about finding a way forward.

Emet is where the light of the Infinite enters our story. It is the engagement of truth without and within which requires a struggle with the shadow and the unknown. This class introduces emet, the struggle to embrace truth, as the fifth path of Jewish heroism. It begins with an exploration of the Torah's approach to truth as a holistic process with a many-faceted expression. Then it touches on the idea of the path of truth, contrasting the organic approach to the philosophical. Next we engage Yaakov as the archetype of truth, learning how his struggles with his own inner shadow and his twin brother defined his way in the world and made him an embodiment of emet from whom we all can learn. Listen to the end for a surprise addition about the Baal Shem Tov which asks what it means that the stories of the chassidim were all true!