Big Questions of Jewish Belief podcast

10 episodes

(9) Do human rights clash with God? Making a difference with Adam Wagner KC
22/02/2026 | 47 mins.
Rabbi Zarum sits down with leading human rights barrister Adam Wagner KC to explore the foundations of morality, law, and Jewish identity. Adam has dedicated his career to defending human rights and is an active and dedicated member of the Jewish community, yet personally wrestles with belief, skepticism, and the role of God in his life.
They discuss his Orthodox upbringing in Manchester, his journey back into Jewish learning as an adult, and why community, tradition, and responsibility still matter profoundly to him—even without certainty of faith. We also explore the fascinating relationship between Jewish law and modern human rights: are universal rights grounded in God, human reason, or something else entirely?
This conversation raises one of the biggest questions of all: do we need God to be good—or is our shared humanity enough?
As always, Rabbi Zarum's aim is not to persuade, but to understand how thoughtful people make sense of belief, doubt, and what it means to live a meaningful Jewish life today.
This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you, or email [email protected] with comments or questions.
(8) What do unbelievers believe in? Practicing & arguing with Naomi Alderman
15/02/2026 | 42 mins.
This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish
learning journeys & find something that suits you, or email [email protected] with
comments or questions.
Naomi Alderman is an English novelist, game writer, and television executive producer. She is
best known for her speculative science fiction novel The Power, which won the Women's Prize
for Fiction in 2017 and has been adapted into a television series for Amazon Studios. Her first
novel, Disobedience, explores faith, identity, and forbidden love within a strict Orthodox Jewish
community. It was published in ten languages and has recently been adapted into a
feature-length film.
Naomi and I enjoy discussing our relationships with a God Who we can argue with, as well as
the pitfalls of arguing with people as a way of taking them seriously. We question whether it's possible to be religious without actually thinking about God very much, as well as the God-like aspect of being the 'Creator' of novels and the insight this can give authors into the love God has for us, in spite of having to put us through hard things.
It was a fascinating, fun conversation which I hope you'll enjoy.
(7) Can we speak to the dead? Unusual relationships with Anthony Julius
08/02/2026 | 41 mins.
This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk/connect to learn about our Jewish
learning journeys & find something that suits you, or email [email protected] with
comments or questions.
Anthony Julius is a highly-regarded litigation lawyer. Best-known for being Diana, Princess of
Wales' divorce lawyer and for his successful defence of Penguin Books and historian Deborah
Lipstadt in the libel case brought by David Irving, Anthony continues to be a consultant and
senior solicitor-advocate at the London law firm Mishcon de Reya. He is chairman of the London
Consortium, and vice-president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and has
published a number of books including the recent Abraham: The First Jew.
We discuss atypical relationships - those we have with people no longer alive, or those we never met, and compare them to the relationships we can have with God. We speak about prayer as intergenerational conversation, as a communal shared activity, and as a spiritual, personal experience, and we consider the balance of time spent praying and studying in a relationship with God.
You can order Abraham: The First Jew here.
(6) Can I be angry with God?
17/09/2025 | 1h 10 mins.
This podcast is powered by LSJS. Visit lsjs.ac.uk to learn about our Jewish learning journeys & find something that suits you.
In this special episode Big Questions of Jewish Belief, I collaborated with Rabbi Scott Kahn of the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast to produce a conversation that's great for both of our podcasts at this time. Scott quizzes me on whether we can, and should, be angry with God. Can we argue with Him, and is there any point, if He's 'all knowing'?
Recorded in the leadup to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and at a very difficult time for the State of Israel and the Jewish people, we crack open the issue of how to relate to a God with whom we may feel many reasons to be upset, annoyed or angry.
You can listen to the Orthodox Conundrum Podcast here or read the Orthodox Conundrum Substack here.
(05) Does Prayer Work?
30/09/2024 | 35 mins.
Visit lsjs.ac.uk to continue learning with Rabbi Zarum and other LSJS educators.
Does God actually change reality in response to prayer - and if so, why does prayer so frequently seem to fail? What does it mean for God to answer our prayers? In what ways does prayer help us? Why is it meaningful to pray for others? These are questions which people of faith have confronted for millenia, and continue to struggle with today. Join Rafi and his good friend Adrian Weller as they dive deeply into this essential and powerful issue.
For further study, Rafi's book Questioning Belief is now available on Amazon.

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About Big Questions of Jewish Belief

This is Big Questions of Jewish Belief, the podcast where we face up to the challenges of religious faith. We all have questions about our faith. Questions about the truth of the Torah, the morality of its laws and what it teaches about having a relationship with God. So each week during this miniseries I'll be inviting rigorous thinkers to challenge me with their questions on Belief. My name is Raphael Zarum - I'm the Dean of LSJS - the London School of Jewish Studies, where I hold the Rabbi Sacks Chair in Modern Jewish Thought, established by the Zandan family. I'm a rabbi and I have degrees in Physics, Mathematics and Education, and I'm fascinated by the relationship between general and Jewish thought and ideas. I explore these ideas further in a book called 'Questioning Belief' which is available on Amazon worldwide (UK link: lsjs.ac.uk/amazonbelief). I don't believe in quick responses that don't stand up to scrutiny. I think we should take questions seriously as they reflect a real desire to understand our practices and beliefs in a deeper way. So you won't get clever quips and cheap certainties from this podcast, what you'll get is an honest and open discussion about challenging questions based on traditional sources and modern interpretations.

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