Parshat Beshalach - Amalek and Theology

This shiur is also based on the writings of Rav Tzadok HaCohen.

May this shiur be a Refuah Shleima for Shiri bat Gila.

Rav Tzadok says that remembering what Amalek did to us is really about remembering the sin that we committed which led to Amalek coming. But the Torah does not specify what the sin was.

By way of contrast, the Torah tells us

Remember, do not forget, how you angered G-d, your G-d, in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebellious against G-d.

. This is explicit and according to Rav Tzadok is a warning never to trust ourselves against the yetzer hara. No matter how close we are to G-d or how great His revelation to us, we must always continue to wage war against the evil inclination.

According to Rav Tzadok the sin which brought Amalek was a mistake in theology. The Zohar says that the people weren't questioning whether G-d was with them (they were surrounded by the Clouds of Glory) but whether it was YHVH or Ayin - which aspect of G-d was leading them. They asked questions that were beyond them, and this gave Amalek the chance to attack.

The reason the Torah does not explicitly state their sin is because it is not a sin of action, but of trying to understand things that they were not allowed to ask. The sin is one that cannot be stated explicitly.


I look forward to your comments.

Here is the audio shiur (and the pdf sheets to download if you want).

Parshat Beshalach - Amalek and Theology

(Right click and then 'download as')

Parshat Beshalach - Amalek and Theology

Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. I would love to continue giving a shiur to this group on a weekly basis, but to do that I would need some kind of sponsorship. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a shiur (either l'ilui nishmat someone, or just for no reason) please contact me.

Sources of Talmudic Sayings

I was just browsing randomly (I know - there is no such thing as random, but the beauty of the internet is that you can begin looking for an explanation of a gemara in Nida and end up in a California library), and discovered this book Echoes of Wisdom:



It is a collection of sayings from the Talmud, with their Latin parallels. It is by Godfrey Taubenhaus, who I now nothing about. This is only part 1 (aleph) and his intention was to go through the entire aleph bet, but I don't think he managed to get any further than this.

He is also one of the translators of the Rodkinson translation of the Talmud.

Not sure whether this is brilliant or misguided, kosher or heretical.

What do you think?

Rosh Chodesh - the Power of Renewal

This shiur is also based on the writings of Rav Tzadok HaCohen.

The shiur is sponsored in memory of Irena bat Ilia Brezner. May her soul be bound in the bonds of Eternal Life.

This week is a new beginning for my Tuesday night women's shiur - we have moved to a new home in Armon HaNetziv. Contact me for details if you would like to come.

This parsha is also a new beginning - it contains the first mitzvah that was given to the Jewish people - kiddush hachodesh (sanctifying the new month).
This shiur was also given on Rosh Chodesh (new month) of Shevat, which (according to Beit Shammai) is the New Year for trees.

So lots of beginnings, and a shiur on the power of renewal and the importance of stumbling and falling in order to begin again and to grow.


I look forward to your comments.

Here is the audio shiur (and the pdf sheets to download if you want).

Parshat Bo - Renewal

(Right click and then 'download as')

Parshat Bo - Renewal

Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. I would love to continue giving a shiur to this group on a weekly basis, but to do that I would need some kind of sponsorship. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a shiur (either l'ilui nishmat someone, or just for no reason) please contact me.

VaEra - Derech Eretz

This week (and hopefully in coming weeks) I'm using Rav Tzadok HaCohen as the basis for the shiur.

The parsha begins with G-d telling Moshe that He only appeared to the Avot as E-l Shaddai, but He will appear to Moshe as YHVH.

The problem is that G-d appeared many times to the Avot with the name YHVH. Furthermore, He only appeared twice with the name E-l Shaddai (and never to Yitzchak).

Rav Tzadok explains that it refers to the fundamentally different relationship with G-d that the Avot had - based on Derech Eretz, compared to Moshe Rabbeinu's - based on Torah.

He discusses the meanings of the names, and the way in which the Avot kept the Torah. He explains the meaning of the concept "derech eretz kadma la-Torah" (derech eretz preceded the Torah). Derech eretz is a concept that non-Jews accept as much as Jews, and in some cases Jews can/should learn from non-Jews.

I end with a quote from Rav Kook (who was influenced by the writings of Rav Tzadok) about derech eretz (of the Zionists who built the land and State of Israel) and recognition of its importance for those who learn Torah.

If only more people in Ramat Beit Shemesh and other places would realise the importance of derech eretz and making a positive contribution to the world!

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I look forward to your comments.

Here is the audio shiur (and the pdf sheets to download if you want).

Parshat VaEra- Derech Eretz preceded the Torah

(Right click and then 'download as')

Parshat VaEra- Derech Eretz preceded the Torah

Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. I would love to continue giving a shiur to this group on a weekly basis, but to do that I would need some kind of sponsorship. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a shiur (either l'ilui nishmat someone, or just for no reason) please contact me.

Project on Aging

I have been working for TAG-Institute for the past couple of months.

Tag is an organisation dedicated to promoting the broadest possible contribution of Jews and Judaism to the improvement of the world. It does this in two ways - the dissemination of knowledge of Jewish social values through Tag Institute for Jewish Social Values, and humanitarian activities through Tag International Development.

The basic goal of what I have been doing is to present Jewish ideas to the non-Jewish world, to allow the 'Jewish' voice of Social Science to be heard. With over 2000 years of written history, Judaism has a contribution to make to the wider world.

So, here is a document that I prepared on the 'Jewish View on Aging'. There is much more that could be said, but my main focus was where Judaism can make a contribution to the wider world in the field of Aging Enrichment.

If anyone has time or interest to read this document I would appreciate any thoughts, ideas or feedback (positive or negative). This is essentially the first draft and any comments will be incorporated in future versions of this document.

Here is the document on Jewish Aging. Right click to download.

Ninth of Tevet

Today is the 9th of Tevet. Rabbi Dr. Shnayer Leiman has given one of the best shiurim I have ever heard on reason for the fast on this day (which nobody fasts on).

You can hear the shiur (or download it) on the Yeshiva University website:
http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/715371/Dr_Shnayer_Leiman/Jewish_Perspectives_on_Early_Christianity_-_Nittel,_the_Ninth_of_Teves_and_Pope_Simon_Peter

The shiur begins with a cryptic Rashi in Avoda Zara which says that the Romans have no langugage or books of their own. He then looks at the Shulchan Aruch who says that 9th Tevet is a Fast Day, but we do not know the reason why. He cites attempted answers from Sefer Hakabballah, Rema (in Mechir Yayin), Taz and Magen Avraham, Ye'arot Devash and Sefer Ha-Ibbur (which claims that 25th December in the year of Jesus' birth fell on 9th Tevet). Then he gives what seems to be the most likely answer - that it is the Yarzheit of Saint Peter, who was really a Tanna named Shimon Kefas (Kasponi), uncle of Jesus. and he shows that the original text of rashi also made reference to this literature of the 'Jewish version of the Jesus story'.

I have never met Rabbi Leiman, and (unfortunately) have no connection to him, but I highly recommend this and all fo his shiurim.

In the shiur, he is reading from a source sheet. However, I was not able to find the source sheet on that website. So I created it myself (and the sources that he quotes are wild and wonderful).

So, if you want to hear his shiur, and read a source sheet, you can download this source sheet, and click on his link.