Orange sky with birds, new podcast episode about religion and spirituality with Rabbi Rami Shapiro Ph.D., Amy-Jill Levine Ph.D. & Marc Zvi Brettler Ph.D.

Religiously Curious and Spiritually Independent

Original Air Date Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Walk into a Christian church that preaches from the Old Testament and then walk into a synagogue that teaches from the Hebrew Bible, the scripture should be similar, right? Well, not exactly. Even though both books are known to depict the same stories, many factors go into how we interpret them. Certain works may be highlighted in one religion or omitted by another.

To explore the intricacies of religion and spirituality, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with three authors and religious scholars about the purpose of religion, religious texts, and spirituality.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro is a highly decorated, yet unorthodox Rabbi who has studied many religions including Buddhism, Hinduism, and is a Mason in the Scottish Rite. He joins Lisa to discuss the fine points of his book, Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth, and to share spiritual practices that can be used to elevate us all.

Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler discuss, the role of women in the bible, the different versions of the Bible, and the innumerable and diverse interpretations of individual religious texts based on research gained while writing, The Bible With and WIthout Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently.

Tune in:

Lisa Cypers Kamen · Religiously Curious and Spiritually Independent

Meet Our Guests:

Religiously Curious and Spiritually Independent with Rabbi Rami Shapiro Ph.D., Amy-Jill Levine Ph.D. & Marc Zvi Brettler Ph.D.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Ph.D., has a reputation for being perhaps the most unorthodox rabbi you’ve ever met! Growing up, his mother thought he might be the Messiah, while his father was convinced he was a luftmensch (airhead). He earned rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College in order to preach his ideas in synagogues, and a Ph.D. in contemporary Judaism from Union Graduate School in order to teach his ideas in universities.

Along the way, he’s taken Bodhisattva vows in Zen Buddhism, become a 33° Mason in the Scottish Rite, been initiated into the Ramakrishna Order of Vedanta Hinduism, joined the Theosophical Society, published three dozen books, and his poems included in prayer books and hymnals around the English-speaking world.

Book: Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth

Rabbi Rami Shapiro — Spiritually Independent:

Religion, at its best, was designed to highlight the interconnectedness of people. {2:54}
Religious imperialists create meaning out of the words used to describe God so it fits into their agenda and creates conflict. {4:55}
Rabbi Rami describes what happens when a faith-based collective begins striving for political power. {9:28}
Rabbi Rami defines spirituality, explores divinity, and stresses the importance of critical thinking when it comes to religion. {13:46}
The Golden Rule is the way we ought to walk in the world. There is a reason we don’t. {19:07}
Participating in spiritual practices can lift us up and out of the ‘us versus them’ mentality. {22:44}

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Amy-Jill Levine PhD is a University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt (Divinity and A&S); she is also an Affiliated Professor, Woolf Institute: Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge.

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Marc Zvi Brettler, guest of Religiously Curious and Spiritually Independent with Rabbi Rami Shapiro Ph.D. & Amy-Jill Levine

Marc Zvi Brettler is the Bernice and Morton Lerner Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. He is actively involved in many aspects of Jewish communal life.

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Amy-Jill Levine & Marc Zvi Brettler — Religiously Curious:

In their book, The Bible With and WIthout Jesus, AJ and Marc explain the text of the Bible in its original context and how different religions interpret it. {26:17}
The Bible holds fundamentally different positions about the same subjects. {27:27}
What the Bible says and what we think it says can be fundamentally different. {30:08}
AJ and Marc describe the difference between wrestling with the word of God versus having blind faith. {34:24}
Religions choose to omit or highlight certain texts from their respective Bibles. {39:37}
How the role of women is portrayed in the Bible, including how Eve is depicted. {44:33}

Shareables:

“Any faith that ends up with or striving for political power is now in trouble of losing its soul.” @rabbiram on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “The first thing religions try to do when they're in power, is to control their women.” @rabbirami on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “The Bible, as a whole, never has a single position on anything.” — Marc Zvi Brettler on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “If you want to be connected with Israel, that suggests wrestling with God.” — Amy-Jill Levine on @HHTalkRadio Share on X

Grab More Joy Below:

Are We Happy Yet? Eight Keys to Unlocking a Joyful Life — A boot camp manual for greater emotional fitness. Happiness waits for no one and sometimes we all need support. What is getting in the way of your happiness right now?

H–Factor: Where is Your Heart? — Lisa’s documentary film explores the journey of human happiness. Emotions are contagious and happiness is a universally desired state. We tend to forget we all have the freedom to be happy or the liberty to be miserable each day.