Pardes From Jerusalem

This week we begin a new book of the Torah, one which seems somehow different from the others. Devarim is also known a ‘Mishne Torah,’ meaning a repetition or retelling of what has come before. In this podcast, we explore… Read the rest The post 5780 — Devarim: What is in a name? first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Devarim: What is in a name? at Elmad Online Learning.

Parshiot Matot-Masei includes a long list of place names that trace the wanderings of the Children of Israel through the Sinai wilderness on their way to the Land of Israel. Is this simply a geographical-historical recording of the physical journey… Read the rest The post 5780 — Matot-Masei: The Long Walk to Freedom first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Matot-Masei: The Long Walk to Freedom at Elmad Online Learning.

What does it mean to “keep the peace” in society? Is it about enforcing the law and order of society in order to ensure against anarchy or is it about balancing between conflicting perspectives and needs of various members and… Read the rest The post 5780 — Pinchas: From Pinchas to the Police: What Does it Mean to Truly “Keep the Peace?” first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Pinchas: From Pinchas to the Police: What Does it Mean to Truly “Keep the Peace?” at Elmad Online Learning.

The end of parsha Balak presents three attempts to end a plague. The divergent approaches of Moses and Pinchas reflect different priorities, each essential for our consideration in modern times. Download the Source Sheet  Please let us know your comments … Read the rest The post 5780 — Balak: How to Stop a Plague. And at what cost? first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Balak: How to Stop a Plague. And at what cost? at Elmad Online Learning.

There is no Talmud on Tractate Parah, the Mishnah tractate which deals with the red heifer ceremony. What did the Babylonian rabbis learn from this temple ritual in the course of other discussions? In this podcast, Rav Rahel Berkovits examines… Read the rest The post 5780 — Chukat: Action vs. Intent: Human Domain vs. The Godly Realm first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Chukat: Action vs. Intent: Human Domain vs. The Godly Realm at Elmad Online Learning.

In parshat Korach, the leadership of Moshe and Aharon is seriously challenged by the rebellion of Korach. Although Korach and his followers are defeated, the discontent of the Israelites lingers until the sign of the blossoming staff. In this podcast,… Read the rest The post 5780 — Korach: The Blossoming Staff of Aharon first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Korach: The Blossoming Staff of Aharon at Elmad Online Learning.

The mitzvah of tzitzit commands the Jewish people not to lust after our hearts and eyes and to be holy. Through a Rabbinic story concerning a man, whose tzitzit smack some sense into him as he is about to bed… Read the rest The post 5780 — Shelach: Tzitzit–A Model for a Rabbinic Sexual Ethic first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Shelach: Tzitzit–A Model for a Rabbinic Sexual Ethic at Elmad Online Learning.

What is humility? Why is it important? What is its power? Based on a teaching from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his article, “Humility,” in Covenant and Conversation, Parshat BeHa’Alotecha, 5768/2008, where he compares Moshe Rabeinu’s responses to two different events.… Read the rest The post 5780 — BeHa’alotecha: Cultivating the Jewish spiritual practice of humility first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — BeHa’alotecha: Cultivating the Jewish spiritual practice of humility at Elmad Online Learning.

What part do human beings play in the revelation of Torah in the world? How do the Rabbis see their role as interpreters of Biblical text? The Torah says to count the omer from the day after the Shabbat yet… Read the rest The post 5780 — Shavuot: From Sefirat HaOmer to Revelation: How the Rabbis Read Biblical Texts first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Shavuot: From Sefirat HaOmer to Revelation: How the Rabbis Read Biblical Texts at Elmad Online Learning.

In this podcast we will read the Biblical text and compare it with the rabbinic text in the tractate Sotah in order to highlight some significant differences between the rabbinic interpretation and Torah portion. An interesting feminine voice found in… Read the rest The post 5780 — Parshat Naso: Uncovering the Sotah first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Parshat Naso: Uncovering the Sotah at Elmad Online Learning.

The midbar is both the name of the parsha as well as the setting for most of the narratives of the book of Numbers. While the word is often translated as “desert”, we will discover that it means something else… Read the rest The post 5780 — Parshat Bamidbar: The Theme of Passage first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Parshat Bamidbar: The Theme of Passage at Elmad Online Learning.

Unemployed, and with a bleak economic forecast, many people we know have experienced a blow to their self-esteem, and a dampening of their ability to imagine how they will regain their financial and emotional footing. What does this Torah portion… Read the rest The post 5780 — Parshat Behar Bechukotai – Living with Compassion in a Competitive Society first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Parshat Behar Bechukotai – Living with Compassion in a Competitive Society at Elmad Online Learning.

This podcast challenges traditionalists who believe “eye for an eye” always meant monetary compensation and liberals who believe that compensation is a rabbinic innovation. It does this using clues from the bible itself. Download the Source Sheet  Please let us … Read the rest The post 5780 — Emor: A Blind, Toothless World first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Emor: A Blind, Toothless World at Elmad Online Learning.

Jews have been praying for the governments of the countries they lived in since the time of the Babylonian exile. Yet the founding of a Jewish and democratic state presents a radically different relationship between the State and its citizens,… Read the rest The post 5780 — Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut: The Beginning of the Flowering of our Redemption: Praying for the State of Israel first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut: The Beginning of the Flowering of our Redemption: Praying for the State of Israel at Elmad Online Learning.

Parshiot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim speak of a land intolerant of sin. But can a land, soils and stones, be holy? In this podcast, Rabbi Alex Israel reflects on the nature of the land of Israel’s holiness, and reflects on the holiday… Read the rest The post 5780 — Acharei Mot, Kedoshim, Israel Independence Day: Homeland or Holy Land? first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Acharei Mot, Kedoshim, Israel Independence Day: Homeland or Holy Land? at Elmad Online Learning.

The strange skin ailment called Tzara’at, described at length in our double parsha, sounds arcane and irrelevant to our modern ears. Long ago, the ancient rabbis considered the matter, and rescued tzara’at from oblivion by making the matter not only… Read the rest The post 5780 — Tazria-Metzora: Making the Case for Tzara’at first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading 5780 — Tazria-Metzora: Making the Case for Tzara’at at Elmad Online Learning.