What Is Judaism? - Rabbi David Wolpe

If Alex interviewed an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, this conversation would look very different.

You are such an amazingly witty class act. Thank you Alex, but seriously "wow"-ed by your composure and cleverly measured transitions. It's such a rare and underrated skill you have with words and sincere curiosity. I'm truly so impressed by this conversation.

If you don’t take the Bible at face value, you have to come up with a criteria to determine what is accurate and what was inaccurate to god’s will. You claiming “well god wouldn’t have done that” needs to be backed up. And you can’t do that by just pointing out the good parts.

This is one of my favourite conversations I've ever seen, Alex. Thanks so much

Alex, you must be commended for your ability to get the very best out of your guests. I would highlight your humility, your ability to have an agenda but not let it dominate, and to subjugate it when necessary for the conversation, and the ability to apologise when you feel you may have pushed too far. Also the fact you show a genuine interest in what your guests have to say. It may seem simple - you genuinely respect and wish to learn from whomever you're talking to despite whatever differences of opinion you might have - though the fact that this is so rare belies that it's not in fact as simple as it seems. There are many subtle layers to the conversational skills you are employing, that allow you evoke fruitful discourse out of such a range of interlocutors. Bravo

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition

It feels like Alex is talking to everyone who debated Hitchens but doing it more precisely lol😅

With all this cherry picking of "God's word", I'm convinced everyone's just creating their own religions at this point.

If every religious person were Rabbi Wolpe, religion would be far better. Glad you're speaking with him.

"Eyes and tuna fish and hotel rooms" is a crazy way to summarize the world as we know it. I love it

I’m a secular Jew and I watch Alex’ content a lot. Thank you Alex for making such incredible content, I have learned so much from your channel and want to show how grateful I am.

As an agnostic, it's funny, but I gotta say this is the first interview I've watched from Alex with a theist where at points I thought the guest was more on top of it as a speaker than Alex.

One thing to note many if not most Israelis would not consider Rabbi David Wolpe as a religious jew. The difference between conservative Judaism and orthodox Judaism is quite wide unlike what the Rabbi wants to claim. Today orthodox Judaism has a complete monopoly over Judaism in Israel. Marrieges and conversions are not recognised by the state unless they are done by orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Jews for the most part believe the old testament is a direct word of God and do not have such pluralistic outlook of the world.

Alex seems to be starting a new new atheist movement, and this time it employs the discipline required to actually understand religion rather than to merely "destroy" it. So-called "Hitchslaps" are actually easy to deliver, and even Hitchens admitted that he would sacrifice his argument in order to get a laugh. It is easy to look at any given religious claim and say "prove it". What's difficult is to look at religion as say "what is that? Why do you believe that? Where does that come from?" and to be respectful of someone who thinks about the meaning of life in a profoundly different way. Yes, there was always something off putting about the way that Hitchens approached religion. His default was attack mode. It was like he was stuck in religion and couldn't get out and so he lashed out, and his popularity was due to the fact that others like him felt the same way. I know I did. I was stuck in the Mormon Church when I first saw him. He was all dressed up, speaking on a podium, just like the Mormon leaders. However, he was lambasting Jesus. That juxtaposition of looking the same as Mormon leaders, and yet calling out religious bullshit was refreshing to say the least. He helped me get out of the Mormon church, and so I see him as a force for good over all. However, now that I'm much more mature, I have absolutely no tolerance for the type of atheist that he was (or Dawkins or Harris), nor for the type of atheist I was when I discovered him. Anger towards those who don't think like you will never change their minds. The paradox of persuasion is that if you want to persuade someone of your point of view, the best way is to cultivate understanding, and even love, of their point of view. Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris had no interest in cultivating such wisdom. Alex clearly does.

It’s uncanny how much the Rabbi looks and sounds like Martin Scorsese.

An amazing way to start my morning :) thank you for all you do, Alex.

A rabbi once told me to think of Judaism not as a religion, or ethnicity, but as a collection of tribes.

The Rabbi says he is not a literalist. Fine. But then, he believes some parts of the bible are "sometimes" inspired (29:45), but not all. How will he discern, what is inspired and what is not? Were the ~613 laws inspired? Or merely what people understood that God might want from them, and then uninspired written down, with mistakes included? Their God, who focuses on obedience to the law etc. a lot, lets it happen, that scriptures were recorded uninspired and maybe misleading the people? So does the Jewish God has the will and the power to display himself in clear words? Or how are the believers required and able to follow the "sometimes" inspired laws?? When they can't be sure, which ones were inspired??... I think this is a bit chaotic....

I'm an atheist Jew, and I've been following Alex since 2017. Alex was one of the main people who helped me become an atheist (and vegan). I've watched a lot of Alex's discussions with religious people, but they usually come from a Christian perspective, which is a foreign perspective to someone from a Jewish background like myself. That's why I'm really happy that Alex also confronts other religious arguments than he's used to, and I hope we'll see more videos like this in the future!

The World Health Organization only recommends circumcision in regions where there is a high risk of contracting HIV, based on studies done in Africa. This policy is controversial and saying the WHO recommends it misses a lot of context and is disingenuous.