Episodes
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We Jews, who have been perennial outcasts, ought to read the Torahâs account of the leper with particular care.âLeper,â we should note from the outset, is not really an accurate rendering of the Hebrew, ×׌×רע (metzora). The biblical affliction of tzaâarat is clearly different from what we today call âleprosy,â most obviously so because it can only be fully cured by spiritual means. Yet the King James translation is helpful in its way, not only because it reminds us of similar symptoms, but also because it gives us a familiar historical point of comparison.
Toward the end of last weekâs parashah, Tazria, the Torah begins to catalog all manner of skin afflictions and finally comes upon tzaraâatâwhat weâll call leprosy for the time being. Then, in Parashat Metzora, we move to the process for curing the leper.
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Ever wondered why we have to drink four cups of wine at our Seders? This class explores the history and the symbolism of this idea and how it transforms from something more functional to the framing around the entirety of Seder night. Fittingly, there are at least four different ways to think about these cups! Recorded on 4/10/24. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/Tabick4Cups2024.pdf
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Episodes manquant?
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From the very beginning, the Torah imbues certain numbers with great significance. The first chapter of Genesis carefully divides Creation into seven days. Seven then becomes the most significant number in nearly all Jewish time ritualsânot just Shabbat, but Pesah, Shavuot, Sukkot, as well as the seventh month, the seventh year, the seven cycles of seven yearsâall of which are then imprinted with the themes of that first seven: creation, rest, and rejuvenation.
An awareness of the Torahâs ânumbers of distinctionâ and their significance can help us decode the complex structure of the birth ritual that opens Parashat Tazria, and the mysterious set of numbers it contains:
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There's a catchy song that tells us what we're supposed to do during the Seder and when (Kaddeish Urhatz). But when you dig a little deeper, the song is a little simplistic for the actual Seder structure. How can the giant Maggid section be covered by a single word? And why is Hallel actually split into two? Rav Elie discusses the overall structure of the Seder.
Recorded in March 2022 and available as part of a video series on the Haggadah (https://hadar.org/torah-tefillah/resources/seder-really-so-ordered) and our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4xWZqaeIg). -
Throughout our history, one of the central institutions of a Jewish community has been the mikveh. Immersion in this ritual bath was required in Temple times in order to purify oneself after coming into contact with various types of tumah (ritual impurity). Since then, the practical need for a mikveh has been relegated primarily to the laws of sex and conversion. Yet the mikveh has taken on a greater significance in Jewish life than its specific halakhic applications would suggest.
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In this panel discussion given at the February Learning Seminar 2024, Hadarâs rashei yeshiva, R. Ethan Tucker and R. Aviva Richman, reflect on their approach to Jewish law and how our quest for God can be lived through the details of our halakhic lives.
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For the most part, Parashat Tzav repeats much of what we learned last week in Parashat Vayikra. Again, the Torah details the choreography of the sacrificial systemâonly this time from the perspective of the priest. All of the offerings from last week show up again. But there is at least one thing that is unique to Tzav: a shalshelet.
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To what extent is Jewish law âfakeâ or ârealâ? Is halakhah a game where you can say whatever you want, or does a ruling, once issued, create a new reality? What are the underlying principles of kashrut and Jewish food laws? Recorded live at Hadar's Manger Winter Learning Seminar in January 2024.
Source sheet available here: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/RosenbergInsensibleFoodLaws2024.pdf -
The laws of Leviticus appear to be entirely separate from the narrative and themes of the Torah so far. Exodus, by contrast, picks up directly from the narrative of Genesis, andâas we have seenâeven the case laws in Exodus sometimes make subtle references to earlier stories. But when we enter Leviticus, we feel ourselves to be in another kind of book entirely. There is no narrative at all in here the first parashah. Instead, the book opens by listing the various types of korbanot (sacrificial offerings), and the precise details involved in their ritual preparation. Speaking directly to the priest, absorbed in the procedural realm of the mishkan (tabernacle), it is as if this middle book of the Torah is detached from the world that has come before it.
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As someone who longs to feel Godâs presence in my life in a clear and direct manner, I have always been struck by the fact that God is noticeably absent from Megillat Esther. In a story that is about the near demise and heroic salvation of the Jewish people, it is not Godâs hand that is featured in this story as the saving force, but rather the human hands of Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai.
What is Megillat Esther teaching us about living in a world in which, as in our own, Godâs presence is unseen? -
There is something hidden in the mishkan. A story of creation.
Nehama Leibowitz, the great 20th century compiler of Torah commentary, calls our attention to a group of modern scholars who sensitized us to the use of repetition as a rhetorical device in the description of the building of the mishkan. She cites a list of the greats: Buber, Rosenzweig, Benno Jacob, Cassuto, Meir Weiss, and others, who all highlight the way key phrases in our text echo an earlier story in the Torahâthe earliest, in fact. -
From one perspective, pregnancy is a miracle. But from another, pregnancy is a nightmare. In her essay that won the Ateret Zvi Prize in Hiddushei Torah, Rabbanit Leah Sarna argues that the Jewish tradition makes space for both of these stories about pregnancy. This presentation and conversation with Rabbi Tali Adler is from February 2024.
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Is there meaning in a measurement? Two great masters of midrashically-styled Torah commentaryâboth writing in 14th century Spainâwill offer two very different interpretations of a particular form of measurement that appears frequently in this weekâs Torah reading: the half.
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Shabbat is described in the Talmud as a "good gift." But arenât all gifts supposedly good? What makes Shabbat a gift that is uniquely positive in contrast to other gifts which do not receive this stamp of goodness? The Ohev Yisrael explores.
Transcript and source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WeissTisch5-5.pdf
âMitteler Rebbe,â "Ach L'elokim," and âHu Elokeinuâ from RAZA Kapelya (2023) by Chana Raskin. Produced by Joey Weisenberg and Chana Raskin for Hadarâs Rising Song Records -
The person recovering from the biblical disease tzara'at has to bring, in addition to their offering, a piece of cedar wood and a piece of hyssop. The Ohev Yisrael tells us that these items are symbolic for the two character traits we need in order to do true teshuvah: pride and humility.
Transcript and source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WeissTisch5-4.pdf.
âMitteler Rebbe,â "Ach L'elokim," and âKeyli Ataâ from RAZA Kapelya (2023) by Chana Raskin. Produced by Joey Weisenberg and Chana Raskin for Hadarâs Rising Song Records. -
Parashat Ki Tissa makes repeated reference to Godâs âfaceâ when describing Mosheâs communication with God. But what exactly did Moshe see when he looked into the face of God? A comparison to Mosheâs own use of parallel imagery later in the Torah gives us a fuller sense of the visual experience of revelation.
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According to the Ohev Yisrael, the Israelites preferred to live under physical oppression in Egypt than to live in a state of spiritual indebtedness to God. How could this be? What is this teaching us about spiritual labor?
Transcript and source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WeissTisch5-3.pdf.
âMitteler Rebbe,â "Ach L'elokim," and âKi Anu Amechaâ from RAZA Kapelya (2023) by Chana Raskin. Produced by Joey Weisenberg and Chana Raskin for Hadarâs Rising Song Records. -
When kids ask big questions, how do you respond? Whether you are parent, educator, or just a curious person, you've probably asked yourself the same questions.
This podcast doesnât have all the answers, but it can give you language and frameworks to engage meaningfully with these questions.
Every week, Rabbi Shai Held invites an expert guest to explore a big question: Who is God? Why did God create the world? Why do bad things happen? No pressure. -
The Talmud recognizes two very different forms of teshuvah (repentance): "teshuvah out of love" and "teshuvah out of fear." Both of these forms of teshuvah are sincere and ârealâ forms of teshuvah, though they come from very different places. The Ohev Yisrael helps us see that teshuvah out of love is a quest for excellence and true improvement, and that this is the model of what we should aspire to.
Transcript and source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WeissTisch5-2.pdf
âMitteler Rebbe,â "Ach L'elokim," and âKi Anu Amechaâ from RAZA Kapelya (2023) by Chana Raskin. Produced by Joey Weisenberg and Chana Raskin for Hadarâs Rising Song Records.
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One of the most dazzling of all the ornate garments worn by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was the tzitz (׌×׼), a tiara that that encircled the turban on his head, forming a sort of crown. In the front, resting on his forehead, was a plate of gold sealed with a boldly proclaimed message: âHoly to the Eternal!â But the intricate design of the tzitz was encoded with other, hidden messages that complicated its meaning.
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