PODCAST: Children of the Book

PODCAST: Children of the Book

Author: Tradition Online October 5, 2025 Duration: 54:46
For many mothers, especially literary-minded ones, raising young children may feel like an intellectual regression. In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast, Ilana Kurshan and Sarah Rindner Blum discuss how the time spent reading books with our children can also yield profound intellectual and spiritual insights, not to mention deeper and more enjoyable relationships. Kurshan’s new book, Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together (St. Martin’s Press), explores the ways in which reading books and learning Torah in the context of family life can be uplifting and transformative. In their conversation, Ilana and Sarah compare repeatedly reading the same children’s books to prayer, and the rejection of screens in favor of books to the Biblical transition from idolatry to monotheism. They also delve into the unique challenges of raising enthusiastic English language readers in Israel. Sarah Rindner Blum, a teacher and writer living in Israel, reviewed Children of the Book in TRADITION’s recent Summer 2025 issue. Ilana Kurshan’s first memoir, If All the Seas Were Ink, won the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature. Watch a video recording of this conversation.     The post PODCAST: Children of the Book appeared first on Tradition Online.

The Tradition Podcast extends the deep, considered conversation of its long-standing journal into an audio format. Each episode draws from the rich well of Orthodox Jewish thought, but frames these ideas for a contemporary listener grappling with modern questions. You'll hear discussions that sit at the intersection of ancient texts and present-day life, where timeless philosophy meets current ethical dilemmas, historical context informs cultural shifts, and spiritual inquiry finds practical expression. This isn't about delivering simple answers, but rather exploring the nuanced arguments and diverse perspectives that have defined a living tradition for centuries. The podcast naturally delves into the same rigorous topics as the journal-Jewish law, theology, societal trends, and moral philosophy-but with the accessible, engaging flow of a spoken dialogue. It’s for anyone curious about how a vibrant intellectual and religious tradition navigates the complexities of the human experience, offering thoughtful reflection that resonates far beyond the page. Tune in for a series that honors the depth of its source material while creating a new space for auditory learning and reflection.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Tradition Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Understanding a Jewish Philosophy of Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:48
This episode of the Tradition Podcast opens with the voice of Rabbi Joseph B. Solovetichik, recorded in 1958, the very year our Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought was founded. The Rav was speaking as part of a series of…
New/Old American-Jewish Realities [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:57
For much of the modern era, Jewish life rested, quietly but decisively, on an implicit promise. Power would be constrained by law. The State would bind itself to rules not solely invented for its own advantage. The weak…
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E3): Three Approaches to Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:50:46
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 3: Delivered December 4, 1958 Modern philosophy knows of three approaches to the question, what is Man: the Biblical, the Classical Greek, and the modern scientifi…
JPM Lecture 1: Introduction to the Jewish Philosophy of Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:56
A Jewish Philosophy of Man: A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 1: Delivered November 6, 1958 Judaism, and religion in general, is a cognitive venture, seeking to intellectually grasp the world, and…
Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:25
Eli Rubin’s Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity (Stanford University Press) presents a groundbreaking study of Chabad Hasidism. Through close readings of primary texts, historical analysis, and engagement with modern p…
Mrs. Cooperman’s Shabbat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:24
This week we’ll celebrate Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, Hanukka—and all readers of TRADITION know what that means: Its Mrs. Cooperman’s Shabbat and a chance to check in with our distinguished editor emeritus, Rabbi Emanuel Feldm…
Rabbi Sacks on the Joys and Dangers of Leadership [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:56
TRADITION is pleased to share this recording of a talk by Dr. Erica Brown delivered through Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership, commemorating the recent 5th yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan…