HeyJaredThe Shema Podcast for the Perplexed
Focused on practical spiritual growth, this podcast explores Jewish wisdom through real-life experience and thoughtful conversations, helping listeners build clarity, resilience, and deeper meaning in their lives.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 11
- Latest publication
- Sep 30, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 12, 2026
Latest episodes
Farewell: The Question at the Beginning and the End (opens the original)
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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.
From the Archives: You Never Know Who Will Show Up in the Sukkah (opens the original)
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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 (“Ei
Tishrei: Returning our Harvest (opens the original)
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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—j
Episode 17: The Yetzer Hara Firewall (opens the original)
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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 me
Episode 16: The Pursuit of Happiness (opens the original)
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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 towa
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