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All Else is Commentary

All Else is Commentary

By: Elliott Karstadt
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About this listen

 All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas, hosted by Rabbi Elliott Karstadt. Elliott is part of the rabbinic team at Alyth Synagogue in London. In this podcast, he is joined by other rabbis, writers and academics to delve into texts as diverse as the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, to contemporary Jewish novels. All Else is Commentary takes deep dives into Jewish texts, considering how they responded to the times in which they were written, as well as what they might say to us today about what it means to live in the world. This is the ideal podcast for anyone who wants to explore Jewish texts and Jewish ideas from a curious, progressive and critical perspective.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elliott Karstadt Art Literary History & Criticism Spirituality World
Episodes
  • Through a Jewish Lens Extra: Wicked - with Rabbi Hannah Kingston

    Through a Jewish Lens Extra: Wicked - with Rabbi Hannah Kingston
    Dec 29 2025

    All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas.


    We promised an episode looking at Wicked through a Jewish lens - but we didn't have the chance to do it in time for Chanukah. But here it is today! Elliott is joined by Rabbi Hannah Kingston to talk about all the Jewish themes they identified in the musical and the film.


    As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook page, and we're also on Bluesky, so please head over there to give us a follow as well.


    If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.


    Please visit our website: https://www.alyth.org.uk/learn-us/adult-learning/all-else-is-commentary/


    We are incredibly grateful to be supported by the Shoresh Charitable Trust.


    All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees by Rabbi Lionel Blue - with Rabbi Daniel Lichman and Gavin Schaffer

    To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees by Rabbi Lionel Blue - with Rabbi Daniel Lichman and Gavin Schaffer
    Dec 25 2025

    All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas.


    In this special Thursday episode, Elliott speaks to Rabbi Daniel Lichman and Professor Gavin Schaffer as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the first book written by Rabbi Lionel Blue: To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees.


    You can find out more about the book (and buy it) here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heaven-Scribes-Pharisees-Suburbia-Jewish/dp/0232512892


    On Monday, we return to the 'Through a Jewish Lens' series for a special one-off episode on Wicked, for which Elliott is joined again by Rabbi Hannah Kingston.


    As always, if you have any comments or questions, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook page, and we're also on Bluesky, so please head over there to give us a follow as well.


    If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary.


    Please visit our website: https://www.alyth.org.uk/learn-us/adult-learning/all-else-is-commentary/


    All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.


    We are incredibly grateful to be supported by the Shoresh Charitable Trust.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Progressive Sermons of the Last 50 Years: #metoo - with Rabbi Hannah Kingston

    Progressive Sermons of the Last 50 Years: #metoo - with Rabbi Hannah Kingston
    Dec 22 2025

    All Else is Commentary is a podcast of Jewish ideas.


    Following Chanukah, we return to our regular weekly episodes coming out on Mondays. This week we return to our ocassional series of Progressive Sermons from the last 50 years. Elliott speaks to Rabbi Hannah Kingston (Alyth) about a sermon she gave in 2018 inspired by the #metoo movement.

    To read along with Rabbi Hannah's sermon, click here: https://www.alyth.org.uk/sermons-writings/publication/sermon-chayyei-sara-metoo-speaking-out-against-the-silence/


    Before our next Monday episode, a special Thursday episode, in which Elliott speaks to a rabbi and a historian to mark the 50th anniversary of the first book published by Rabbi Lionel Blue: To Heaven with Scribes and Pharisees.


    If you have any comments or questions, or if there is a sermon that you remember that you would love us to talk about, please be in touch with us at allelseis@alyth.org.uk – we would love to hear from you. You can also join the conversation on Facebook or on Bluesky, so please head over there to give us a follow.


    If there are people in your life who you think would be interested, please tell them about All Else Is Commentary. Please visit our website: https://www.alyth.org.uk/learn-us/adult-learning/all-else-is-commentary/


    All Else Is Commentary is brought to you by Alyth.


    We are incredibly grateful to be supported by the Shoresh Charitable Trust.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
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