Space Midrash

Podcast probing the intersection of the Space Age and Jewish Civilization.

/spās/ Space – the awe-filled cosmos that is begging us to come and know it, and be greater through it.
/ˈmidˌräSH/ Midrash – a Jewish process of providing contemporary commentary through storytelling.

Space Midrash is a project to produce media and events
connecting Jewish People and Communities to Space.

The Podcast covers much space

about the show antisemitism astronauts astronomy celestial objects civilization Community Event culture current events death Eclipse educational programming famous jewish people futurism Great American Eclipse history holocaust identity Ilan Ramon Intergenerational interstellar interview Jared Isaacman Jeffrey Hoffman judaica media ecology mourning narrative collapse overview effect philosophy religion retrospective rock and roll sci-fi space disaster space ideas space program space shuttle space tourism spacex spirituality star trek summer camp torah William Shatner

Space Midrash
Space Midrash
Shmooze with Avi Loeb: from Extraterrestrial to Interstellar
/

9: Anti-Semitism in Outer Space

AntiSemitism has already occurred with the space age. Is it a joke or are there real consequences?

13: Two Torahs on Columbia

the Space Shuttle Columbia was the first to carry passengers. Across 22 years, it spent more than 300 days in Orbit. Among it’s payloads were two different Torahs. One at the beginning of it’s saga and the other, tragically at the end. This episode chronicles the Torahs brought aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia by Jeffrey Hoffman in 1996 and Ilan Ramon in 2003.

10: Our Seder in Outer Space

Passover and The Space Age go together. Before this podcast, Jacob began considering the impact of the Overview Effect on Jewish communities Worldwide. The Overview Effect being the cognition or experience of viewing the earth from space or in space. He wrote his original thoughts in an essay on Times of Israel blogs in 2021. […]

20: Anniversary & Top Moments

Looking back at 1 year of episodes, Jacob recounts 5 highlights of producing the show including his favorite episode.

5: Jewish Moments in Space Tourism, 2021

Discussion on the Jewish people and objects who made meaningful space headlines in 2021.

17: Jewish Civilization and the Overview Effect

In this episode Jacob reviews Frank White’s philosophy from his book “The Overview Effect,” and how this phenomena/effect can be positively embraced by a forward-thinking Jewish Civilization. Transcript: You are listening to space midrash. I am your host, Jacob Sager. I believe in an artful, ethical and inclusive humanity thriving amongst the cosmos. We are […]

11: Seeding a Jewish Space Program

In the beginning there were two space programs: The United States and the Soviet Union. Now that private companies and highschoolers can participate, Jacob considers how and why a Jewish Space Program can take shape.

14: Jewish Objects Brought to Space

Many Jewish objects have crossed the Karmen line into space – religious, cultural, and personally meaningful items. This episode is a quick overview of those items.

7: Why ‘drash on Space?

Episode 7 turns inward: Jacob’s daughter asked him to make an episode explaining what Space Midrash means. He describes the intersection of Jewish Civilization and the Space Age as well as defines the title: Space Midrash.

Ep. 1: What does the Space Age mean for the Jews?

Space Midrash is a podcast that explores the intersection of Jewish civilization and the space age. Our goal is to promote understanding and cooperation between these two areas.

Jacob Sager is the host of the Space Midrash podcast.

– How space is becoming increasingly important in our world
– The increase in the number of disputes related to space
– The recent overturning of laws in Israel that excluded converts to Judaism
– The proliferation of live stream channels that offer different perspectives on rocket launches
– How the space age may impact the Jewish people
– How Jewish people can take advantage of opportunities in the new space age

18: Narrative Collapse in the Space Age

In this episode, Jacob defines a narrative collapse, explores how the space age will bring more narrative collapse, and how he believes Jewish civilization can embrace narrative collapse, once again. Transcript You are listening to space midrash. I am your host, Jacob Sager. I believe in an artful, ethical, and inclusive humanity thriving amongst the […]

Shmooze with Avi Loeb: from Extraterrestrial to Interstellar

This episode’s guest is Professor Avi Loeb, Astronomy chair at Harvard. He has done more than 2000 interviews since publishing his book, Extraterrestrial, about his conclusion that the interstellar object called ua’muamua was of alien origin. To add to the pile, our interview was fresh and deeply Jewish. Dr. Loeb may be known worldwide now […]

The Great American Eclipse

The Great American Eclipse will take place on April 8, 2024 in the afternoon. In this episode Jacob Offers his vision of organizing Jewish organizations together to see the Eclipse on April 8, 2024. Transcript Jacob Sager 00:00:01 You are listening to space midrash. The space age has arrived, and our culture, our civilization, is […]

19: Jewish Space Tourism

In this episode, Jacob defines the three types of Jewish tourism, outlines the current and expected modes of Space tourism, and finally mashes them together to explain how Jewish Space Tourism will start out. Transcript You are listening to space midrash. I am your host, Jacob Sager. I believe in an artful, ethical and inclusive […]

Shmooze with Rachel Raz: Jewish Education in the Space Age

Rachel Raz is the executive producer of the Space Torah documentary about Dr.Jeffrey Hoffman, an astronaut who brought a dreidel and a Torah with him to space.

Shmooze with Paul Levinson: Exploring the Universe through Scholarship, Sci-Fi, and Songwriting

🚀 Welcome to Space Midrash! Today’s episode is all about my interview with the legendary sci-fi author, Paul Levinson. 😍 In this interview, we covered everything from religion to space travel, and of course, his latest project, an alternate history of The Beatles. 🎶 One of the most interesting moments was when Paul talked about […]

12: The New Jewish Astronauts

Before the inaugural Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic flights, there had been 16 Jewish astronauts, all professional. Since last year, 3 more Jews have ventured into space. These new Jewish Astronauts embody the intersection of Jewish and Space Age values. This Episode briefly recaps the missions of Jared Issacman (SpaceX), William Shatner (Blue Origin), and […]

Shmooze with Frank White: an Overview of the Overview Effect

Interview with Frank White, author of the Overview Effect.

16: Interstellar Jewish Geography

Jewish people who have lived are immortalized not just by streets and libraries on earth but on objects and landscapes in space that may or may not ever experience human occupation. If you’ve played Jewish geography with friends or feel a joyful affinity when learning that a historic figure such as scientist is Jewish then […]

8: Havdalah – human senses in time and space

Havdalah begins with counting stars and ends with extinguishing a candle into wine. Space Midrash will explore how this weekly ritual enriches the human perception of time, on earth or anywhere in the cosmos…

Podcast available world wide

SPACE MIDRASH ON APPLE PODCASTS
SPACE MIDRASH ON GOOGLE PODCASTS
SPACE MIDRASH ON SPOTIFY PODCASTS
Tune in your mailboxJoin the Space Midrash Newsletter

There’s more to space than Jewish lasers and there’s more to Space Midrash than the podcast. You can subscribe to our newsletter below to get regular updates on our little corner of the universe.

The Space Age has arrived and we are unprepared.

and the stories we have told will no longer hold up under scrutiny, leading to a generational narrative collapse.

However, it doesn’t have to be scary. By embracing the current moment we can tell the story that will inspire us to create our future.

Listen to Space Midrash to explore the intersection of Jewish Civilization in the Space Age.

We can have an artful & ethical humanity thriving among the cosmos – but only if we tell the story of us becoming those people.