Bringing you recent lectures, classes, and programs from the Hadar Institute, Ta Shma is where you get to listen in on the beit midrash. Come and listen on the go, at home, or wherever you are. Hosted by Rabbi Avi Killip of the Hadar Institute.
…
continue reading
When kids ask big questions, how do you respond? This podcast, hosted by Rabbi Shai Held, doesn’t have all the answers, but it can give you the language and frameworks to engage meaningfully with these questions.
…
continue reading
The news from Israel can feel overwhelming – but Torah gives us language for understanding current events with complexity and compassion. From Hadar’s Beit Midrash in Jerusalem, Rabbi Avital Hochstein joins Rabbi Avi Killip to unpack some of the most pressing spiritual and moral questions in Israel today.
…
continue reading
Every week, Ravi and Mara set aside quality time for learning the weekly parashah together. They call it “Torah Time” -- and you’re invited to learn along with them!
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avital Hochstein: Do Moshe's Hands Make War?
32:40
32:40
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:40
Since October 7, the word "Amalek" has often been invoked in regard to the Israel-Hames War. Is that an appropriate analogy? By looking at ancient responses to biblical verses about Amalek, including those that express discomfort, we can learn these verses anew, revisit the foundational ideas that underlie the verses, and shed light on present real…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Pinhas: How to Read a Census
11:10
11:10
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
11:10
For my mother’s 75th birthday, we surprised her by taking her to visit her mother’s childhood home. I knew my grandmother had grown up in Los Angeles, but I didn’t know exactly where, and there were no living relatives whom I could ask. So I did what anyone seeking information does these days: I Googled my grandmother’s name, hoping something would…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on the 17th of Tammuz: In the Depths of Sorrow
8:02
8:02
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
8:02
Tomorrow, we arrive at the second of the four annual fasts commemorating the destruction of the Temple. According to the Mishnah (Ta’anit 4:6), 17 Tammuz marks the end of the offering of the tamid, the daily sacrifice, as well as the breaching of the city walls. Until this point, despite the siege, the routine of Temple life had continued with the …
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Balak: The View From Above
13:34
13:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
13:34
Balak, King of Moab, has been made uneasy by Israel’s recent string of victories over enemy nations, and has begun to worry that he will be the next to fall before them. He decides to seek the advantage with a preemptive strike, hoping to weaken the Israelite forces before they have a chance to advance against him. His first plan of attack, however…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Ethan Tucker: The Multivocality of Halakhah
1:10:58
1:10:58
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:10:58
Halakhic works are often a dizzying compendium of multiple perspectives on a given issue, often making it difficult to determine how to behave in a given situation. In this lecture, R. Ethan Tucker argues this is a feature rather than a bug. Critical values that are meant to guide our lives are rarely fully manifest in any given time, place, or sit…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Hukkat: Language Falling on Language
10:09
10:09
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
10:09
There is probably no more playful instance of wordplay in all the Torah than the nehash nehoshet, the copper snake described in Parashat Hukkat. With its string of repeated consonants, it sounds like it could be another of Dr Seuss’ whimsical creations, living in the same strange zoo with “the Cat in the Hat,” “Yertle the Turtle,” and “the Fox in S…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Dena Weiss: Serving God From Yuck to Yum
46:30
46:30
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
46:30
Rav Dena explores a Hassidic teaching from the Me'or Einayim which discusses a dimension of physicality that we rarely pay attention to: given that taste is not necessary to sustain us, why is food delicious? More perplexingly, why does some food taste good to some, but not to others? What is the relationship between what is physically nutritious a…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Korah: Hevel’s Revenge
9:56
9:56
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
9:56
From the very beginning of Parashat Korah, the Torah places unusually strong emphasis on his lineage. He is introduced not just with the standard patronym, but with three generations of ancestors, tracing him back to the tribal founder, Levi. A midrash in Bemidbar Rabbah picks up on this extended chain of forebears and suggests that it is there to …
…
continue reading
The genre of midrash has a reputation for taking creative license. In midrash, we come across the wildest stories our Rabbis ever told, and it sometimes feels like they can say anything. Yet the midrashic method was guided by precise rules of interpretation as well as general norms of discourse. But who keeps track of the rules and who monitors the…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Shelah: Uncovering the Spies
12:26
12:26
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
12:26
The big story in Parashat Shelah is the story of the spies. The people are nearing the Land of Canaan, and Moshe sends ahead men, one from each tribe, to cross the border, check things out, and then bring back a report. So they head out for 40 days, return safely—and, at first, all seems well. They confirm that the land, as promised, “flows with mi…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Dena Weiss: The Torah is in the Details
1:00:24
1:00:24
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:24
Traditionally, the fabric of Jewish observance is composed of 613 mitzvot and many many more granular instructions. To some of us, these small details are a core piece of what it means for us to serve God, while for others of us these details seem like both an abstraction and a distraction. Does God really care about ounces and inches?! Recorded as…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat BeHa’alotkha: Prophecy—A Family Business
9:34
9:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
9:34
Moshe’s unique status as the greatest prophet of Israel is challenged twice in this week’s parashah—but in neither case does Moshe himself seem to care.By Hadar Institute
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Shai Held: Love, Compassion, and the Future of Jewish Life
57:26
57:26
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
57:26
What is Judaism ultimately about? What vision of the good life does it offer us, and why might that vision be especially crucial during these dark times? This discussion of Rabbi Shai Held's new book, Judaism is About Love, was held at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York City on March 26, 2024, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, facilitated by Sandee Braw…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Naso: Out of the Camp
15:05
15:05
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
15:05
Parashat Naso is thematically structured in the form of two “exterior” chapters and two “interior” chapters. A careful study of this design can provide insight into the larger significance of “מחנה ישראל - the Camp of Israel.”By Hadar Institute
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Shavuot: Forgetting the Torah
7:14
7:14
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
7:14
While I love learning Torah, I have a very poor memory for it. More often than not, when I re-encounter a piece of Torah that I have surely learned before, it’s as if it’s for the first time. Given on the one hand, my love for Torah and a genuine desire to learn Talmud and Midrash, Hasidut and Musar, and on the other, the inevitability that I will …
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Bemidbar: Naked as the Desert
12:00
12:00
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
12:00
The five books of the Torah—like the 54 parshiyyot—are by tradition each named after their first significant word or phrase. In the case of the fourth book, the name is taken from half of a semikhut (construct) phrase: “בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי - in the Sinai Desert” (bemidbar Sinai). The custom has developed to use just the first of the two words: bemid…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Pride Month 2024: Take This With You
5:52
5:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
5:52
I am blessed to have three kids, aged 9, 6, and 2—this means a lot of first days of daycare and school. These first days are always exciting for us and for them. We know that they will make new friends, have new experiences, grow and learn in unimaginable ways. Yet they are also days filled with trepidation; they set off for new and unknown experie…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat BeHukkotai : The Purloined Letter
10:58
10:58
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
10:58
One of Rashi’s comments in this week’s parashah highlights the rabbinic tradition of interpreting a feature of Hebrew script known as “אותיות חסירות ויתרות” (otiot haseirot v’yeteirot), “missing and extra letters.” The Hebrew alphabet has no vowel letters, and in most Hebrew writing, the vowel notations (nekudot) are not included; we know how to pr…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Lag Ba'Omer: From Wave to Wave to Wave
9:10
9:10
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
9:10
When my dad died in my early 20s, I remember being wowed by the ways in which grief came in waves. One minute, I was crying and couldn’t imagine ever moving through my sadness and several hours later, I was surprised to find myself laughing—actually able to laugh—within the first days of my dad’s death. With confidence, I realized, this was the way…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat BeHar: The Fragrance of Freedom
9:40
9:40
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
9:40
One of the hallmark Rabbinic interpretive techniques is the identification of parallel wording in two different sections of the Torah. In legal interpretation, this is the foundation for the second of R. Yishmael’s “13 principles by which the Torah is interpreted”: the gezeirah shavah, or “the rule of equivalence.” This principle, first quoted in t…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Pesah Sheini: Demanding a Seat at the Table
11:28
11:28
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
11:28
I am lucky to live a life with no food sensitivities. I can eat what I want and I’m happy to be an “easy guest,” quick to assure hosts that I have no special food needs. However, several years ago, in an attempt to identify the cause of my migraines, I found myself a person suddenly with many food sensitivities I was told to avoid. I went from bein…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Emor: Recounting the Omer
14:16
14:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
14:16
Every year, by good calendrical fortune, we read in Parashat Emor the commandment of Sefirat ha-Omer, the “Counting of the Omer,” during the period in which we actually count the Omer. This moment of sync between reading and ritual presents us with an opportunity to recognize our contemporary practice as continuous from the words of the Torah. Yet …
…
continue reading
In this special season finale, R. Shai Held welcomes his two oldest children to model a genuine conversation about God, experiences, belief, and doubt. Lev and Maya share some of the biggest questions on their minds as well as offer sage advice to grown-ups about how to have meaningful and impactful conversations with kids.…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Yom HaZikaron/Yom Ha'Atzma’ut: At a Distance
9:29
9:29
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
9:29
I have always found it difficult to find an observance of Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzma’ut that feels meaningful and authentic as a Jew living in the Diaspora. In Israel, the observance of these holidays is effortless and all-encompassing: you simply have to be present and you are in it, flowing from the intensity of Yom HaZikaron to the joy of Yo…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. David Kasher on Parashat Kedoshim: Codes in Conversation
13:38
13:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
13:38
The style and content of Parashat Kedoshim remind us immediately of an earlier reading: Parashat Mishpatim—back in the Book of Exodus, just after the revelation. Both parashiyyot are composed almost entirely of dense legal code: one law after another, for chapter after chapter. And both open with a framing statement naming a value category that cha…
…
continue reading
![Artwork](/static/images/128pixel.png)
1
R. Avi Strausberg on Yom HaShoah: Power and Powerlessness
10:38
10:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
10:38
For many of us, the past six months have been an education in powerlessness. From where I sit in America, I felt powerless hearing about the brutality and depravity of October 7. I felt powerless sitting comfortably in my home while day after day people were held hostage in underground darkness, uncared for and unseen. I felt powerless as the death…
…
continue reading