Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism

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 violence we've come to inhabit. Rabbi Shai Held has written an epic theological work called Judaism is About Love . And, as he interrogates Judaism's complicated history with love, he makes an offering that is of relevance to us all. — Find an excellent transcript of this show, edited by humans, on our show page. Sign yourself and others up for The Pause to be on our mailing list for all things On Being and to receive Krista's monthly Saturday newsletter, including a heads up on new episodes, special offerings, recommendations, and event invitations. 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 of life, learning, and practice supporting a Judaism that is both traditional and egalitarian. His recent book is Judaism is About Love , and he also hosts a podcast called Answers WithHeld . Learn more at hadar.org Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can listen to Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Shai Held — On Love, and Judaism is an episode from On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios.

This episode is 01:17:21 long.

This episode was published on Mar 26, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from On Being with Krista Tippett when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.