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 bigquestions@lsjs.ac.uk with comments or questions.

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 bigquestions@lsjs.ac.uk 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.

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 bigquestions@lsjs.ac.uk 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.