Modern Torah
Nathan J Vaughan
Recent Episodes
This is a bit of a break from the regular Modern Torah feed, but I want to share a new, limited-series podcast with you that I've just released. It's called 72 Miles til Kentucky, and it's a storytelling podcast all about Jewish life in my home state. Here's the quick blurb. You can check out the full podcast here.
72 Miles features the stories of three separate interfaith Jewish families–two real, one not, and one mine. Together, they trace 150 years of Kentucky history, with experiences that resonate today—about being Jewish in America, about being Jewish and southern at the same time. About being Jewish, being interfaith, and the blending of the two.
So strap in, and take a ride with me, up and down I65, or back and forth on the L&N railroad. In the end the when and the who don’t make as much difference and you might think. But the where sure does. My name is Nathan Jordan Vaughan. It’s 72 Miles til Kentucky. Let’s get moving.
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, TuneIn, iHeart
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.
You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com
New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.
Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart
Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.
This week, I was reading about the final stages of the plan to remove the Confederate Veterans Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial, if you’ve never seen it, is atrocious. It’s the tallest structure in the cemetery, for starters, and it’s covered with racist, apologist imagery that glorifies the Southern cause. The monument is scheduled to be removed this month, and relocated to a Virginia state park at the site of the Battle of New Market, in the Shenandoah Valley. But the pedestal will stay, to avoid disturbing the graves surrounding the monument, because four people are buried at its base, including the artist—Moses Jacob Ezekiel.
Music by Lofi Girl:
- Stories from another world – "Dying Language" by Nadav Cohen
- Stories from another world – "Eternal Garden" by Nadav Cohen x Emma Jaffe
- Stories from another world – "Rainy Day" by Nadav Cohen
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.
You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com
New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.
Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart
Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.
Sometimes, when I'm feeling bored in shul I flip to the back of the book, and read Pirkei Avot. There's a particular passage, in the fifth chapter, that I often find myself turning to, especially in weeks that I'm feeling old. Like this week. Because this year, and this week's Torah portion Miketz, marks 25 years since my Bar Mitzvah on December 19, 1998.
Music by Chillhop Records:
- Aves - Cruisin' https://chll.to/60c1dd59
- Blue Wednesday - Slow Burn https://chll.to/fdcaa474
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.
You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com
New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.
Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart
Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.
I went to graduate school at Brandeis University, and if I hadn't, I would've gone to law school at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, in Louisville, KY, where the first Jewish justice to sit on the Supreme Court was born, and raised. But what if I told you that story was almost wildly different. That the first Jewish nominee to sit on the bench was almost put forward almost 60 years before Brandeis was nominated, but he turned down the nomination. And thank goodness, otherwise the first Jewish justice would have resigned, to join the Confederacy.
Music by Lofi Girl:
- "Used to love autumn" – Softy – Before it Snows
- "Snow in October" – Softy – Before it Snows
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.
You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com
New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.
Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart
Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.
Obadiah, Ovadiah. Obadi-ah. However you pronounce it, you might not remember it, but Obadiah is the name of the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, and the Haftorah portion the rabbis chose to pair with this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach.
Music Courtesy of Chillhop Records:
- Leavv, Maduk - Company https://chll.to/db033300
- Ian Ewing, Maduk - Stay Like This https://chll.to/2d387f49
- Masked Man - Joop https://chll.to/f6126588
- Poldoore, Maduk - Transformations https://chll.to/1b193db7
I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.
You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com
New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.
Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart
Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.