ParshaNut Podcast
100 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 31 ratingsTorah for your ears.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
THE BULLS OF THE FESTIVAL - Parshat Pinchas (Season 2., Ep. 35)
July 14, 2017 14:34 - 9 minutes - 19.6 MBWhat can a debate about Hanukkah teach us about Sukkot - and what can they both teach us about religious life?
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP - Parshat Balak (Season 2, Ep. 34)
July 07, 2017 00:22 - 11 minutes - 23.4 MBThis week King Balak seeks to curse the Children of Israel, and fails. Then he does it again. And again. Why does he keep trying? A new, holistic read of the parsha may help shed some light on his strange behavior.
DAY OF THE DEAD - Parshat Shelach
June 16, 2017 02:16 - 8 minutes - 17.6 MBThere were so many, out there in the desert. How did they all die?
WHEN OPPOSITES ATTACK - Parshat BeHa'alotcha (Season 2, Ep. 32)
June 08, 2017 23:43 - 6 minutes - 12.6 MBTwo new prophets appear in the camp! And they have an important message for us...
ONE FINE DAY - Parshat Naso (Season 2, Ep. 31)
June 02, 2017 19:28 - 11 minutes - 22.1 MBThe day I fell in love with parshanut.
FLAGS OF LOVE AND WAR - Parshat Bamidbar (Season 2, Ep. 30)
May 25, 2017 22:53 - 9 minutes - 18.3 MB"What's the big deal with burning a flag?"
THE SECRET OF THE WORLD - Parshat Behar-Bechukotai (Season 2, Ep. 29)
May 19, 2017 13:41 - 9 minutes - 19 MBThe Book of Leviticus seems to end with a whimper, not a bang. But the Ibn Ezra has a secret for us...
SOLOMON'S SPLENDOR - Parshat Emor (Season 2, Ep. 28)
May 13, 2017 21:24 - 6 minutes - 13.2 MBWhy is a priest with a physical defect disqualified from serving? It seems terribly unfair... The great Hassidic master, Rabbi Shlomo HaCohen Rabinowicz off Radomsk, offers us a brilliant reinterpretation.
THE MEANING OF 'LIFE' - Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim (Season 2, Ep. 27)
May 05, 2017 15:35 - 6 minutes - 13.7 MBWhat is the meaning of life?
A JEWISH CAUSALITY DILEMMA - Parshat Tazria-Metzora (Season 2, Ep. 26)
April 28, 2017 12:22 - 6 minutes - 14.1 MBWhich came first: the chicken, or the egg? Leviticus has some answers.
THE PATH OF HOLINESS - Parshat Shemini (Season 2, Ep. 25)
April 21, 2017 09:22 - 10 minutes - 22.5 MBWhat is Holiness? We follow a path through the Book of Leviticus to discover a uniquely Jewish answer to the question.
NOT BY MATZAH ALONE - Parshat Tzav (Season 2, Ep.24)
April 07, 2017 14:23 - 8 minutes - 16.4 MBJust in time for Passover, we find some matzah in the parsha.
THE CALLING - Parshat Vayikra (Season 2, Ep. 23)
March 30, 2017 17:44 - 5 minutes - 12.3 MBWhat did Moses hear when God called out to him?
AN INVISIBLE PALACE - Parshat Vayakhel-Pikudei
March 24, 2017 02:08 - 8 minutes - 18.9 MBThe secret of the Tabernacle - revealed!
BREAKING THE LAW - Parshat Ki Tisa (Season 2, Ep. 21)
March 17, 2017 00:10 - 10 minutes - 21 MBPerhaps the breaking of the tablets was meant to teach "...a profound spiritual lesson: that religion itself can become an object of idolatry."
THE PRIESTS OF PURIM - Parshat Tetzaveh (Season 2, EP. 20)
March 10, 2017 02:31 - 7 minutes - 16.4 MBAs a holiday approaches, we inevitably search for connections between it and the Torah portion that precedes it. But what could Parshat Tezaveh, the detailed list of the priestly garments, have to do with Purim?
BABES IN THE WOOD - Parshat Terumah (Season 2, Ep. 19)
March 03, 2017 04:39 - 9 minutes - 19 MBExplore the mystery of the Cherubs!
WITCH HUNTING - Parshat Mishpatim (Season 2. Ep. 18)
February 24, 2017 14:38 - 8 minutes - 17.6 MBIn the midst of a long list of standard civil and criminal laws, we suddenly come upon a command to kill witches! What is this eerie law doing here. And is the Torah really so worried about the evil powers of witchcraft?
NOT OF MEN - Parshat Yitro (Season 2, Ep. 17)
February 17, 2017 09:53 - 8 minutes - 17.5 MBWhy is the greatest moment of divine revelation filled with - of all things - Law?
PAYING ATTENTION - Parshat Beshalach (Season 2, Ep. 16)
February 09, 2017 19:20 - 9 minutes - 19.1 MBSee if you can guess the answer before the podcast is over.
A STRANGER NATION - Parshat Bo (Season 2, Ep. 15)
February 02, 2017 17:30 - 10 minutes - 20.5 MBHow does a nation descended from immigrants treat its own foreigners? The Torah provides us with some guidance - both explicitly, and between the lines.
WHAT A PHARAOH WANTS - Parshat Va'eira (Season 2, Ep. 14)
January 26, 2017 12:22 - 6 minutes - 12.8 MBLet My people go! The battle cry of the Exodus. But wait a minute? Why do we have to ask Pharaoh at all? An answer by the 17th-century rabbi, the Kli Yakar, suggests that the freedom we are seeking may be far greater than we thought.
A NEW KING - Parshat Shemot (Season 2, Ep. 13)
January 19, 2017 16:39 - 10 minutes - 19.6 MBWhat do we do when a wicked king arises? This week's parsha presents us with that question, and the rabbis have some answers.
THE SCEPTER & THE STAFF - Parsaht Vayechi (Season 2, Ep. 12)
January 12, 2017 16:47 - 9 minutes - 16.9 MB"Should our leaders be wise?" A verse from this week's parsha provides a complicated answer.
THE WOMAN BETWEEN THE WALLS - Parshat Vayigash (Season 2, Ep. 11)
January 05, 2017 17:19 - 11 minutes - 23.6 MBThe torah tells us that 70 of Jacob's descendants travelled together on the way down to Egypt. But if we count the names on the list, we only get 69. Who was that last traveller? The woman between the walls.
A HOUSE OF FORGETTING - Parshat Mikeitz (Season 2, Ep. 10)
December 30, 2016 02:49 - 6 minutes - 10.6 MBParshat Mikeitz, the story of Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt, is almost always read during Chanukah. But is there any real connection between the two stories?
CHAPTER 38 - Parshat Vayeishev (Season 2, Ep. 9)
December 23, 2016 16:41 - 19 minutes - 36 MBThis week, we take a longer journey than usual, in order to explain the surprising placement of Chapter 38 of Genesis. It is the story of Judah and Tamar, which, while quite well-known, seems to have little to do with the larger narrative of Joseph in which it is embedded. With some help from Rashi, we attempt to put Chapter 38 into its much larger context, and discover in it a far greater importance than first read would indicate.
UNDER THE WEEPING WILLOW - Parshat Vayishlach (Season 2, Ep. 8)
December 15, 2016 20:14 - 8 minutes - 15.6 MBOn the road home, Jacob suddenly bursts into tears. We are told that it is because Deborah, his mother's nursemaid has died. But, as always, there is more to the story than that.
JACOB GETS STONED - Parshat Vayeitzei (Season 2, Ep. 7)
December 08, 2016 21:42 - 14 minutes - 27.7 MBThis week, Jacob innovates a new religious ritual: the stone monument. They seem to be received favorably, at first. But later in the Torah, God suddenly appears to disapprove. What went wrong?
THE KILLER IN ME - Parshat Toldot (Season 2, Ep. 6)
December 01, 2016 13:47 - 11 minutes - 21.6 MBEsau - The Red One. He emerged from the womb, bearing the traits of a killer. But what made him so bad? Did he choose his fate or was he just born that way?
THE CAVE OF DOUBLING - Parshat Chayei Sarah (Season 2, Ep. 5)
November 25, 2016 12:05 - 8 minutes - 16.3 MBThis week Abraham buys a cave in which to bury Sarah his wife. But over time, this cave will come to hold many of the greatest figures in the book of Genesis... including one final surprise guest.
PORTRAIT OF A PAIR - Parshat Vayeira (Season 2, Ep. 4)
November 18, 2016 19:02 - 9 minutes - 18 MBAbraham and Sarah, the perfect pair. But even they had their difficulties... How they worked past their most troubling times may provide us insight into how we work through our own.
THEN AND THEN - Parshat Lech-Lecha (Season 2, Ep. 3)
November 10, 2016 23:44 - 11 minutes - 21.1 MBHere is a verse, said Spinoza, that shakes the very foundations of Jewish theology: Abram passed through the land up to the place of Shechem, at Alon Moreh - and the Canaanites were then in the land. hen in the land. (Gen. 12:6) Wait…was that it? Abraham’s travel itinerary - what’s the the big deal?
LIFE AFTER THE FLOOD - Parshat Noach (Season 2, Ep. 2)
November 03, 2016 20:23 - 11 minutes - 21.3 MBPoor Noah gets such a bad rap. And he saved all the animals! So nice of him! So why do the rabbis mock him every chance they get? Their answers lie either before the flood, or after it.
THE WANDERER - Parshat Bereshit (Season 2, Ep. 1)
October 27, 2016 09:22 - 9 minutes - 15.7 MBWe begin the cycle of the Torah again, with the Book of Genesis. And just four chapters in, we come across our first murder. Cain kills his brother Abel, but isn't killed by God in return. So what does happen to him? The commentators, as always, have answers.
THE HIDDEN FACE - Parshat Vayeilech
October 06, 2016 20:13 - 7 minutes - 7.22 MBElie Wiesel was the great modern articulator of the concept of God's hiddenness from the world, or 'Hester Panim.' But there is a tradition of questioning this hiddenness that stretches all the way back to this week's parsha, and takes surprising twists and turns throughout the centuries of commentary.
Episode 49: CHOP WOOD, DRAW WATER - Parshat Nitzavim
September 29, 2016 18:31 - 9 minutes - 8.62 MBMoses is addressing the people for the last time. And as he calls out the different who are there before him, he makes special mention of two workers: the wood-chopper and the water-drawer. This is odd. What is so special about these two people? Well, Rashi has one answer. But we have another.
Episode 48: THE HOLY TONGUES - Parshat Ki Tavo
September 22, 2016 19:32 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBWhat was the first language? And if there was one, where did all the other languages come from? As our commentators explore these questions, they reflect on the implications language and translation have for sacred scripture.
Episode 47: OF KINGS AND CRIMINALS - Parshat Ki Teitze
September 16, 2016 19:55 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBAs we look into the case of The Hanging Man, we take a tour through the depths of one comment of Rashi's, and witness his brilliance on full display.
Episode 46: BUBER'S TREE - Parshat Shoftim
September 08, 2016 17:24 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBA strange verse in Parshat Shoftim has all the commentators speculating on the nature of trees. But it is 20th-century philosopher Martin Buber, not directly commenting on the verse, who may have the best interpretation.
THE TEMPTER - Parshat Re'eh
September 01, 2016 10:54 - 6 minutes - 6.31 MBThe case of The Tempter in Deuteronomy speaks of the dangers of being lured into idolatry by your loved ones - friends and family members. We are warned against giving in to their influence. But the commentaries of Rashi and the Rashbam point to other tempting forces in our lives - ones which may be harder to resist.
Episode 44: ABEL'S REVENGE - Parshat Eikev
August 25, 2016 17:00 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBFrom the Documentary Hypothesis to Lurianic Kabbalah - something for everyone in this week's ParshaNut, as we scour through the stories of Korach's rebellion to find secret connections to an earlier uprising.
Episode 43: THE MISSING YEARS - Parshat Devarim
August 11, 2016 17:45 - 8 minutes - 7.37 MBHow did it take forty years to walk from Egypt to Israel? The distance itself suggests that it could have been done in a month. Well, it turns out they were in one place for a nearly half the time, a place called 'Kadesh.' So how did they get stuck there, and why?
Episode 42: FACING THE ENEMY- Parshat Matot-Masei
August 04, 2016 15:12 - 7 minutes - 6.4 MBIt's time to kill the Midianites. And Pinchas ben Elazar, the priest, will lead the charge. Why is he chosen? The reasons seem obvious at first. But there is more to the story...
Episode 41: CRY FOR THE MOON - Parshat Pinchas
July 28, 2016 17:08 - 6 minutes - 5.67 MBGod sins. We forgive. Who would dare say such a thing?! Why, the rabbis of the Talmud, of course.
Episode 40: RELATIVELY SPEAKING - Parshat Balak
July 21, 2016 22:55 - 7 minutes - 6.59 MBFrom Moses to Einstein, this week we take a tour of Jewish thought throughout the ages, and try to pick up on themes that we have been grappling with throughout time.
Episode 39: SNAKES ON A PLAIN - Parshat Chukat
July 14, 2016 18:35 - 7 minutes - 7.28 MBThis week,the Torah goes Dr. Seuss on us. The language that the Torah uses to describe Moses crafting a copper snake seems almost deliberately playful. What is the meaning of this unusual poetic device, and who stuck it in there?
Episode 38: THE GOD OF TOLERANCE - Parshat Korach
July 08, 2016 00:50 - 5 minutes - 4.97 MBThis week, Moses uses a new name for God, "The God of the Spirit of All Flesh." It is a name used only one other time in the Torah. We'll take a look at both contexts, and see what they have in common, and what they tell us about the kind of God Moses wants to believe in.
Episode 37: UNCOVERING THE SPIES - Parshat Shelach
June 30, 2016 15:09 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBThis week, we return to a classic story from the Torah, the "Sin of the Spies," only to discover there are no spies there at all.
Episode 36: THE BIBLE CODE - Parshat BeHa'alotcha
June 23, 2016 17:08 - 8 minutes - 8.01 MBForgive the poor sound quality this week, folks! The Parsha Nut is traveling, and away from his regular recording studio. But since we're revealing the secrets of the universe this week, I guess it's fitting that they be a little hard to hear.