What Is God Really Afraid Of? The Tower of Babel with Shuli Taubes | Illuminating Torah 2 of 3

What Is God Really Afraid Of? The Tower of Babel with Shuli Taubes | Illuminating Torah 2 of 3

From Jewish Insights with Justin Pines by Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS)

May 13, 2026 · 60 min · Episode 109

About this episode

In this episode, Justin Pines and Shuli Taubes explore the Tower of Babel and its implications for understanding God's concerns and the divine-human relationship.

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is one of the Torah's most familiar yet mysterious stories. In this episode of Jewish Insights, host Justin Pines is joined by Ms. Shuli Taubes — educator, scholar, and chair of the Jewish Thought department at SAR High School — who takes us back to Migdal Bavel and uncovers something in the text that most of us have never noticed. What is G-d actually worried about? And what does the answer reveal about the nature of the divine-human relationship? This is Torah learning that will surprise you. This episode is part of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines' special three-part Shavuot series Illuminating Torah, featuring Rabba Yaffa Epstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsIcob5UqrM&t=310s, Ms. Shuli Taubes, and Ms. Raizi Chechik, made possible in part by Micah Philanthropies, Ann and Jeremy Pava, Trustees. About Shuli Taubes: Shuli Taubes chairs the Jewish Thought department at SAR High School, where she also serves as the Director of Educational Programming and teaches Tanakh and Comparative Religion. She is the author of This Too is Torah, a book and curriculum on Jewish sexual ethics published through Machon Siach, the research arm of SAR…

People in this episode

Host: Justin Pines

Guest: Shuli Taubes

Topics covered

  • Tower of Babel
  • divine-human relationship
  • Torah learning
  • Shavuot
  • Jewish Thought

Keywords

  • Tower of Babel
  • God
  • Torah
  • Shavuot
  • Jewish education
  • divine relationship
  • Shuli Taubes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SAR High School, Micah Philanthropies, Ann and Jeremy Pava, Machon Siach

Books & works: This Too is Torah

Places: Harvard Divinity School, Barnard College

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