What does it actually mean to have a relationship with God, especially when we're not even sure what we believe?

In the season three premiere of Big Questions of Jewish Belief, the tables are turned as Sara Kalmus interviews regular host Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum about his own understanding of God, faith, prayer, and the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Zarum challenges the familiar picture of God as a distant Being who rewards, punishes, and intervenes from "out there." Instead, he proposes a radically different way of thinking about God: through relationship, consciousness, and our connection with the people and world around us. That perspective transforms the way he understands some of the most powerful ideas of the High Holy Days, from Unetaneh Tokef and divine judgment to teshuva, prayer, the shofar, and even the simple act of breathing.

What happens when we stop treating Rosh Hashanah as a test of whether we've been good or bad, and instead see it as an opportunity to wake up to who we are, who we could become, and where we are heading?

A thoughtful, challenging, and deeply personal conversation that may change the way you approach God, prayer, and the High Holy Days this year.

This week on Big Questions of Jewish Belief, Rabbi Raphael Zarum is joined by Stephen Frosh, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck and author of How to Be Real, for a searching conversation about prayer, psychoanalysis, and the limits of certainty.

Stephen explores what it means for the intellectual chatter to fall silent — and whether that silence opens a space for faith.

Is religion an illusion? A creative act? A dangerous certainty? Or a humble recognition of our limits?

A rich, nuanced discussion about faith, doubt, memory, and the fragile space between imagination and transcendence.

How to Be Real can be purchased from Amazon UK or from Amazon in the US.

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.

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