This podcast is a Pardes-Bible Raps co-production. Written and performed by Bible Raps.
Rabbi Ethan notes that the existence of evil is the trickiest question for the monotheist. Rabbi AdAm completes Rapper Matt’s apologetic portrait of the snake (“When your people write their scrolls, I’ll be your nemesis/ Without me though, there would be only Genesis.”) by calling the Snake the מַכֶּה בְּפַטִּישׁ, the final masterstroke of creation. But does finding cosmic justification for evil somehow degrade our compulsion to recognize and fight it? Rabba Yaffa Epstein is very wary of “it’s all good it’s all God.” All the while, the “wild world” cackles at our so-called wisdom.
“Rappers & Rabbis” is hosted by Rapper Matt Bar, Rabba Yaffa Epstein, Rabbi AdAm Mayer and Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky. Join us every two weeks for a lively hip hop havruta-style Torah conversation with a rotating cast of Pardes alumni and holy MCs. Each episode is framed by a question with metaphysical ramifications, such as “Why did God create the snake?” Or “Can Rabba Yaffa Epstein rap?” See https://elmad.pardes.org/topic/rappers-and-rabbis/ to listen to more episodes in the series.
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Bible Raps is a non-profit born from Matt Bar’s desire to engage his Hebrew School classes on a deeper and more contemporary level. Since its inception, Bible Raps has reached tens of thousands of young Jews with Torah-rich performances in schools, Hillels, conferences and camps across the US and abroad. Their teaching materials are being used in countless classrooms and teachers are currently being trained to be certified “Bible Raps educators.”
