When Shiloh Comes: Religion at Its Best and Worst

In this episode of Madlik Disruptive Torah, Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore one of the Torah's most enigmatic verses—Jacob's blessing of Judah and the phrase "until Shiloh comes." Claimed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this single line opens a sweeping conversation about the power of religion to shape history—for good and for evil. Drawing on classical commentators, medieval Jewish-Christian encounters, and modern interfaith scholarship, we ask hard questions: What happens when sacred texts become battlegrounds? Can religion be part of the solution to religious conflict? And where are the moral red lines that faith must never cross? The episode concludes with a remarkable live contribution from Yochanan, known as the Rosh Kollel of Clubhouse—a former Hasidic Jew with encyclopedic Torah knowledge who left his community, is suing for lack of secular education, and brings both sharp critique and disarming wonder to his rediscovery of the wider world—including celebrating his first-ever birthday. This is a conversation about scripture, identity, responsibility, and hope—offered as a reflective closing to the year, and a thoughtful opening to what comes next.

You can listen to When Shiloh Comes: Religion at Its Best and Worst online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

When Shiloh Comes: Religion at Its Best and Worst is an episode from Madlik Podcast – Torah Thoughts on Judaism From a Post-Orthodox Jew by Geoffrey Stern.

This episode is 44:20 long.

This episode was published on Dec 31, 2025.

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