Torah Talk

Vayera 5782

October 19, 2021 17:00 - 24.1 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 17th, 2021 Gen. 18:22 The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. The Bible says Abraham remained standing before the Lord — but the Masorah (the rabbinic tradition that accompanies the Bible) says it was originally the other way around. […]

Lech Lecha 5782

October 12, 2021 17:00 - 24.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 10th, 2021 Gen. 15:12 As the sun was about to set [וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ לָב֔וֹא], a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark dread descended upon him … 17 When the sun set [וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה] and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming […]

Noach 5782

October 05, 2021 17:00 - 21.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 3rd, 2021 Gen. 7:11 tells us poetically: All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open. How did Prov. 3:20 and Isa. 24:18 know this poem? Ed Greenstein explains. This week’s handout: 02 Noach 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via […]

Bereshit 5782

September 28, 2021 17:00 - 23.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 26th, 2021 The first two chapters of Genesis tell the story of the creation of the world twice. How do those two stories work together in the Bible as we have it now? (Hint: H is responsible!) This week’s handout: 01 Bereshit 5782 Learn more about the Holiness […]

V’zot ha-Bracha 5781-82

September 21, 2021 17:00 - 24.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 19th, 2021 Deut. 33:21 For there is the portion of the revered chieftain [מְחֹקֵ֖ק סָפ֑וּן], Where the heads of the people come [וַיֵּתֵא֙ רָ֣אשֵׁי עָ֔ם]. What is the meaning of these mysterious lines from the blessing of Gad? Did the end of line 1 and the […]

Ha’azinu 5781-82

September 14, 2021 17:00 - 24.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 12th, 2021 Deut. 32:1 Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter! But … why? Scholar Mark Leuchter asks: Why is the Song of Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy? This week’s handout: 53 Ha’azinu 5781-82 Learn Biblical […]

Vayelech 5781-82

September 07, 2021 17:00 - 22.9 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 5th, 2021 Deut. 31:1 Moses went and spoke these things to all Israel. 2 He said to them: I am now one hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer be active. Moreover, the Lord has said to me, “You shall not go across […]

Nitzavim 5781

August 31, 2021 17:00 - 22.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 29th, 2021 Deut. 29:9 You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials [רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם], all the men of Israel. Who are the “tribal heads” and how can “your heads and your tribes” mean that — or […]

Ki Tavo 5781

August 24, 2021 17:00 - 21.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 22nd, 2021 Deut. 28:36 The Lord will drive you, and the king you have set over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers, where you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone. 37 You shall be a consternation, a proverb, and […]

Ki Tetze 5781

August 17, 2021 17:00 - 20.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 15th, 2021 Deut. 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and leaves no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married to a stranger, outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall unite with her: he shall take her as his wife […]

Shoftim 5781

August 10, 2021 17:00 - 22.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 8th, 2021 Deut. 18:9 When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. 10 Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter to the fire, or who […]

Re’eh 5781

August 03, 2021 17:00 - 26.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 1st, 2021 Deut. 12:4 Do not worship the Lord your God in like manner, 5 but look only to the site that the Lord your God will choose [מָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨רהַ] amidst all your tribes as His habitation, to establish His name there. Where the site that the Lord […]

Ekev 5781

July 27, 2021 17:00 - 23.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 25th, 2021 Deut. 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and […]

Va-etchanan 5781

July 20, 2021 17:00 - 22.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 18th, 2021 Deut. 5:23/26 For what mortal ever heard the voice of the living God [אֱלֹהִ֨ים חַיִּ֜ים] speak out of the fire, as we did, and lived? What does the living God mean? Why is living plural? And exactly which verse are we talking about anyway? All that and more […]

Devarim 5781

July 13, 2021 17:00 - 24.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 11th, 2021 Deut. 1:41 You all girded yourselves with war gear and recklessly started [‏וַתָּהִ֖ינוּ לַעֲלֹ֥ת] for the hill country. What on God’s green earth does va-tahinu mean? And why does Numbers describe what the Israelites did with an almost as unusual a verb, va-ta’apilu? This week’s handout: 44 Devarim 5781 […]

Mattot-Masei 5781

July 06, 2021 17:00 - 22.2 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 4th, 2021 Num. 34:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Instruct the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you [אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּפֹּ֤ל לָכֶם֙] as your portion, the land of Canaan […]

Pinchas 5781

June 29, 2021 17:00 - 22.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 27th, 2021 Num. 16:32 tells us that the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up all Korah’s people. But this week, in Num. 26:11, we learn: “The sons of Korah, however, did not die.” You may not have a dog in this fight, but according to Itamar […]

Balak 5781

June 22, 2021 17:00 - 22.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 20th, 2021 Num. 22:39 Balaam went with Balak and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep [בָּקָ֣ר וָצֹ֑אן], and had them served to Balaam and the dignitaries with him. Why does Balak sacrifice “oxen and sheep” rather than “sheep and oxen”? Not as pointless […]

Hukkat 5781

June 15, 2021 17:00 - 22.9 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 13th, 2021 Num. 20:13 Those are the Waters of Meribah—meaning that the Israelites quarrelled with the Lord—through which He affirmed His sanctity [וַיִּקָּדֵ֖שׁ בָּֽם]. This week’s handout: 39 Hukkat 5781 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links or to contact me • Scan this to […]

Korah 5781

June 08, 2021 17:00 - 23.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 6th, 2021 Num. 16:13 Is it not enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, that you would also lord it over us? What do you mean, from a land flowing with milk and honey? […]

Shelach Lecha 5781

June 01, 2021 17:00 - 23.4 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 30th, 2021 Num. 15:39 That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Lord and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. But Ecclesiastes begs to differ. This week’s handout: 37 Shelach […]

Beha’alotcha 5781

May 25, 2021 17:00 - 21.4 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 23rd, 2021 Num. 11:1 The people took to, like, complaining [וַיְהִי הָעָם כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים] bitterly before the Lord. As if! What does this verb really mean, and why were they “like” doing it? This week’s handout: 36 Beha’alotcha 5781 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links […]

Naso 5781

May 18, 2021 17:00 - 23 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 16th, 2021 In Numbers 5, God tells Moses, 6 When a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow man, thus breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess the wrong that he has done. He shall make restitution in the principal […]

Bemidbar 5781

May 11, 2021 17:00 - 23.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 9th, 2021 • Does Numbers connect to Leviticus … or to Exodus? This week’s handout: 34 Bemidbar 5781 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links or to contact me • Scan this to donate via Venmo:

Behar-Behukkotai 5781

May 04, 2021 17:00 - 22.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of May 2nd, 2021 Lev. 25:23 But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim [לִצְמִתֻ֔ת], for the land is Mine. It’s a bis legomenon!!! But what does it really mean, where did it come from, and how did it get into the Holiness Code? This week’s handout: […]

Emor 5781

April 27, 2021 17:00 - 23.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 25th, 2021 Lev. 23:10 When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest.11 He shall elevate the sheaf before the Lord for acceptance in your behalf; the priest shall elevate […]

Aharei Mot-Kedoshim 5781

April 20, 2021 17:00 - 22.4 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 18th, 2021 Lev. 19:4 Do not turn to idols [אַל־תִּפְנוּ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים] or make molten gods for yourselves: I the Lord am your God. But what exactly is an אֱלִיל? Click here for Mark Hamilton’s article “What Are Elilim?” Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links or to […]

Tazria-Metzora 5781

April 13, 2021 17:00 - 23.1 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 11th, 2021 Lev. 12:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be unclean seven days; she shall be unclean as at the time of her menstrual infirmity.— 3 On the eighth day the flesh […]

Shemini 5781

April 06, 2021 17:00 - 21.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of April 4th, 2021 Lev. 11:9 These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales—these you may eat. Okay, but … what are their names? Why doesn’t the Bible have any names for […]

Tzav 5781

March 23, 2021 17:00 - 24.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of March 21st, 2021 Lev. 7:34 For I have taken the breast of elevation offering and the thigh of gift offering from the Israelites, from their sacrifices of well-being, and given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due from the Israelites for all […]

Vayikra 5781

March 16, 2021 17:00 - 22.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of March 14th, 2021 Lev. 1:1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. But in Exod. 40:34-35 that tent in the middle of the camp is also called the Tabernacle. And in Exod. 33:7, the Tabernacle has not yet been set […]

Vayakhel-Pekudei 5781

March 09, 2021 17:00 - 23.5 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of March 7th, 2021 Ex. 35:25 And all the skilled women [חכמת-לב] spun with their own hands, and brought what they had spun [מטוה], in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen. “What they had spun” is a single word in Hebrew — a word that sounds an […]

Ki Tisa 5781

March 02, 2021 17:00 - 21.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of February 28th, 2021 Ex. 34:28 And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water; and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments [עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים]. Wait, what? Didn’t we […]

Tetzaveh 5781

February 23, 2021 17:00 - 22.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of February 21, 2021 Ex. 28:35 [Aaron must wear a robe hemmed with bells …] so that the sound of it is heard [ונשמע קולו] when he comes into the sanctuary before the LORD and when he goes out—that he may not die. Who hears this sound? Why must it “be […]

Terumah 5781

February 16, 2021 17:00 - 21.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of February 14, 2021 Ex. 26:31 You shall make a curtain [פָרֹ֗כֶת] of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen; it shall have a design of cherubim worked into it. It seems obvious that פרכת must mean curtain, but as Abraham ibn Ezra tells us, this […]

Mishpatim 5781

February 09, 2021 17:00 - 22.1 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of February 7, 2021 Ex. 21:29 If, however, that ox has been in the habit of goring, and its owner, though warned, has failed to guard it [וְלֹ֣א יִשְׁמְרֶ֔נּוּ], and it kills a man or a woman—the ox shall be stoned and its owner, too, shall be put […]

Yitro 5781

February 02, 2021 17:00 - 22.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of January 31st 2021 Ex. 18:5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought Moses’ sons and wife to him in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. But how could Moses be there when the Israelites don’t reach the mountain of God until Exod 19:2? This week’s […]

Beshalach 5781

January 26, 2021 17:00 - 20.7 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of January 24th 2021 Ex. 14:1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi‑hahiroth [פִּ֣י הַחִירֹ֔ת], between Migdol [מִגְדֹּ֖ל] and the sea, before Baal-zephon [בַּ֣עַל צְפֹ֔ן]; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. What are these mostly Semitic place names doing in […]

Bo 5781

January 19, 2021 17:00 - 21.1 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of January 17th 2021 Exod. 10:21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched.” 22 Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended […]

Va’era 5781

January 12, 2021 17:00 - 23.8 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of January 10th, 2021 Ex. 6:2-3 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them [לֹ֥א נוֹדַ֖עְתִּי לָהֶֽם] by My name YHWH.” What does Jewish tradition recognize […]

Shemot 5781

January 05, 2021 17:00 - 24.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of January 3rd, 2021 Exod 1:15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. What do these names mean — and why are they mentioned at all, when even the king’s name is not? This week’s handout: […]

Vayehi 5781

December 29, 2020 17:00 - 22.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 27th, 2020 Gen. 49:3 “Reuben, you are my first-born …” But was he really? Reuben is so insignificant in biblical history that scholars invent an important pre-history for him. Andrew Tobolowsky says there may be a different answer to this puzzle. This week’s handout: 12 Vayehi […]

Vayigash 5781

December 22, 2020 17:00 - 25.2 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 20th, 2020 Gen. 45:10 “You will dwell in the region of Goshen, where you will be near me—you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that is yours.” Where is Goshen? What does this name mean? Is there more than one […]

Miketz 5781

December 15, 2020 17:00 - 22.3 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 13th, 2020 Gen. 44:9 Whichever of your servants it is found with shall die; the rest of us, moreover, shall become slaves to my lord.” 10 He replied, “Although what you are proposing is right [גַּם־עַתָּ֥ה כְדִבְרֵיכֶ֖ם כֶּן־ה֑וּא], only the one with whom it is found shall be my […]

Vayeshev 5781

December 08, 2020 17:00 - 23.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 6th, 2020 Gen. 37:21 But when Reuben heard it, he tried to save him from them. He said [וַיֹּ֕אמֶר], “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben went on [וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֣ם ׀ רְאוּבֵן֮], “Shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the wilderness, but do not touch him […]

Vayishlach 5781

December 01, 2020 17:00 - 23.2 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 29th, 2020 Gen. 32:20 Jacob set up an altar there and called it El-elohe-yisrael. What does this name mean … and why would you name an altar? This week’s handout: 08 Vayishlach 5781 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Once again, you can click here to listen to Ben Sommer’s […]

Vayetze 5781

November 24, 2020 17:00 - 23 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 22nd, 2020 Gen. 28:18 Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He named that site Bethel; but previously the name […]

Toledot 5781

November 17, 2020 17:00 - 21.8 MB

Gen. 25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished [עָיֵֽף]. 30And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. Why does the Torah say that Esau is עיף (which usually means “fatigued”) […]

Hayyei Sarah 5781

November 10, 2020 17:00 - 22.6 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 8th, 2020 Gen. 24:19 When she had let him drink his fill, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they finish drinking.” Believe it or not, when these camels finish drinking, they will point us to another book in the Bible that’s closely […]

Vayera 5781

November 03, 2020 17:00 - 22.1 MB

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 1st, 2020 Gen. 22:14 And Abraham named that site Adonai-yireh [יִרְאֶה], whence the present saying, “On the mount of the Lord there is vision [יֵרָאֶֽה].” The Hebrew words seem to be winking at us to say that this is Mount Moriah — and don’t forget […]

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