IKAR Podcasts

In this week's Torah reading we meet a character who is mentioned just once and then vanishes from the story. Who is he, and what does he teach us? And what does all of that have to do with being 13?

A conversation featuring Elly Oltersdorf of Achvat Amim, sharing a firsthand perspective on Jewish solidarity work in the West Bank amid escalating settler violence. Joined by Joe Goldman of New Israel Fund, this conversation will explore what solidarity, moral witness, and shared responsibility can look like in this moment. Co-sponsored by Achvat Amim, New Israel Fund, and Standing Together LA.

Source sheet: https://ikar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Midrash-Class-1.pdf In the gaps, the ambiguities, the contradictions, and the mysteries of Torah, Midrash is born. Like a flower emerging from the crack in the sidewalk, a new image captures our attention, transforming the entire landscape. In this three-part series, we’ll investigate the project of Midrash– where these new stories come from and how they shape our understanding of both the Torah and its interpreters.

Source sheet: https://ikar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Midrash-Class-1.pdf In the gaps, the ambiguities, the contradictions, and the mysteries of Torah, Midrash is born. Like a flower emerging from the crack in the sidewalk, a new image captures our attention, transforming the entire landscape. In this three-part series, we’ll investigate the project of Midrash– where these new stories come from and how they shape our understanding of both the Torah and its interpreters.

Source sheet: https://ikar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Shavuot-Day-1-Source-Sheet-5786.pdf We spend so much time preparing to speak, but what does Shavuot and revelation teach us about how we can prepare to listen?

In the gaps, the ambiguities, the contradictions, and the mysteries of Torah, Midrash is born. Like a flower emerging from the crack in the sidewalk, a new image captures our attention, transforming the entire landscape. In this three-part series, we’ll investigate the project of Midrash– where these new stories come from and how they shape our understanding of both the Torah and its interpreters.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Weekly Parsha study from May 6, 2026, co-sponsored by Hadar and IKAR.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 laid the foundation for the mass removal and subsequent incarceration of over 125,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans. The federal government built ten concentration camps throughout the interior of the country where they incarcerated the majority of the Japanese Americans removed from the West Coast. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the closure of the camps. Join IKARite Brian Rosenbaum, Kristen Hayashi (Curator and Director of Collections at the Japanese American National Museum), and J.A.N.M. community members, whose family members were incarcerated, for a discussion about this shameful moment in US history, the echoes of which reverberate today.

Source sheet: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u9DAtF5hBMeh46i6JUiXeLmT4TRpaqR4 This is a recording of the final class of the For the Love of Learning series with Rabbi Sharon Brous and Morris Panitz.

On Monday May 4, join Hadar West and Rising Song's R. Deborah Sacks Mintz for a festive Hilula - uplifting gathering of song and story. https://hadar.org/learn/classes-events/hadar-west-lag-baomer-rising-song This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly parsha study class, co-sponsored by Hadar and IKAR.

A lone figure escorts the scapegoat into the desert, carrying not just the sins of a people, but the unbearable weight of human truth. What unfolds is a raw confrontation with guilt, memory, and the fragile hope that love can outlast both. An ancient ritual becomes a deeply personal journey toward compassion, repair, and return.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's class The Weekly Parashah from 4.15.2026, co-sponsored by IKAR and Hadar.