Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism
On Being with Krista Tippett

Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism

B2Upper-intermediateMarch 26, 20261 hr 17 min
  • Interview
  • Religion

From Krista: I'm on record bemoaning across the years that “love” is the most watered-down word in the English language. I know that invoking love feels very soft for our hard realms of politics and war. Yet it is an enduring truth that love is the only force as powerful in a human body as fear. And we inhabit a world that calls us to grow up our capacity to love — and to redeem our relationships to neighbors, strangers, and enemies — as never before, both in the present and for the sake of the world beyond this age of vi...

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I do know that invoking love feels very soft for our hard realms of politics and power.

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I am on record bemoaning across the years that love is the most watered-down word in the English language. I do know that invoking love feels very soft for our hard realms of politics and power. Yet it is an enduring truth that love is the only force as powerful in a human body as fear. And we inhabit a world that calls us to grow up our capacity to love and be loved, and

0:32

to redeem our relationships to neighbors, strangers, and enemies as never before. My guest this hour, Shai Held, has written an epic theological work called Judaism is About Love. But as he interrogates Judaism's complicated history with love, he makes an offering that

0:54

is of relevance to us all. I'm Christa Tippett, and this is On Being. Shai Held is a philosopher, biblical scholar, and rabbi. He is the president and dean of the Hadar Institute, which describes itself as a center

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