New Series of Shiurim

Beginning next week I will be giving a new series of shiurim on WebYeshiva entitled "Who Wrote the Commentaries on the Talmud." The shiurim are broadcast live at 10:00pm (Israel time) on Wednesdays, and all shiurim are recorded and available for download by the day after the shiur. Previous series of shiurim that I have given on WebYeshiva are available via this link. Participants must register to join these classes, but all classes are free. So go ahead and sign up!

Here are the topics and personalities I will attempt to cover over the next 7 weeks. Anyone who has any interesting sources, or insights is welcome to contact me and share them. For me, these shiurim are learning as much as teaching, and I very much look forward to learning and teaching these classes.


Jan 16: History of Talmud
• We will look at the history of the Talmud, who were its authors, when was it first written down (and why) and the history of the various printings of the Talmud, and the geography of a page of Talmud.

Jan 23: What’s on the Page?
• We will look at the small commentaries and notes on the page of the Talmud - what they do, who wrote them, and why they are there. These include Torah Or, Ein Mishpat Ner Mitzvah and Masoret ha-Shas, Gilyon HaShas of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, and Hagahot HaBach

Jan 30: Rabbeinu Gershom
• Rabbeinu Gershom is the founder of Ashkenazi Torah scholarship. Better known for his "decrees" than his Talmudic commentary, he was hugely influential on everyone who came after him. We will look at his life, his works, and his long-lasting influence on Ashkanazi (and world) Jewry.

Feb 6: Tosefot/Rabbeinu Tam/R”I
• The school of Tosefot, founded by Rashi's grandsons and great-grandsons, has shaped all future Talmud study. We will look at the personalities who shaped Tosefot, primarily Rabbeinu Tam and R"I (Rabbeinu Yitzchak). And we will try to examine the task that Tosefot set themselves in their Talmudic commentary.

Feb 13: Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel (Rosh)
• Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel (the Rosh) was the bridge between Ashkenazi and Sefardi halachic practice and custom. His halachic commentary on the Talmud is one of the three 'pillars' on which all later halacha is built. His life story is also the story of antisemtism and persecution. We will also look at the famous forgery “Besamim Rosh”, falsely attributed to the Rosh.

Feb 20: Mordechai ben Hillel
• The commentary of Rabbi Mordechai ben Hillel (known simply as 'Mordechai') is printed at the back of the Talmud. He was one of the most influential Ashkenazi halachicists, whose influence reached as far as Italy. He died a martyrs death at the age of 48 in the Rintfleisch Massacres. We will also look at the Mordechai’s teacher, Rabbi Meir (Maharam) of Rotenberg, who was kidnapped and eventually died in prison refusing to allow the Jewish community to ransom him.

Feb 27: Rabbi Shmuel Eidels (Maharsha)
• The commentary of Rabbi Shmuel Eidels (Maharsha) is printed at the back of the Talmud. (Virtually) uniquely he writes on both the halachic and the aggadic (non-halachic) portions of the Talmud. His life story casts light on 16th century Polish Jewry. We will look at both his life and his commentary.

Parshat Chayei Sarah - Superstition

Here is a shiur I gave this week to a group in Katamon. It is similar, but different, to the shiur I gave last night on WebYeshiva

I begin with Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and look at Eliezer's quest to find a wife for Yitzchak. He asks G-d for a sign to help him find a suitable woman. Is it permissible for Jews to rely on signs and omens? Do we view them as help from G-d, involving Him in our lives, or are they considered forbidden Emorite (idolatrous?) practices?

We look at four different approaches in the Rishonim, grouped geographically. Each has a different answer to that question:
Ashkenaz (Rashi/Tosefot)
Cataolonia (Rabbeinu Nissim)
Spain/Egypt (Rambam)
Provence (Raavad, Radak, Baal HaMaor and Meiri)

And the answer I didn't give in the shiur - what should we do today - here is the Shulchan Aruch:

Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 179:4

בית תינוק ואשה אף על פי שאין ניחוש יש סימן. הגה: ... יש אומרים דאדם מותר לעשות לו סינן בדבר שיבא לעתיד כמו שעשה אליעזר עבד אברהם או יהונתן ויש אוסרין וההולך בתום ובוטח בה' חסד יסובבנו.
A house, a child or a wife, even though they are not divination, can be a sign. [Rema:… Some say that a person is permitted to make for himself a sign for something that will happen in the future, like Eliezer and Yonatan did. Others forbid this. Someone who walks whole-heartedly and trusts in G-d will be surrounded with kindness.

Nedarim 32a
אמר רבי יצחק כל המתמים עצמו הקב"ה מתמים עמו שנאמר (שמואל ב כב) עם חסיד תתחסד עם גבר תמים תתמם ... אמר רבי כל המנחש לו נחש... משום מדה כנגד מדה תני אהבה בריה דרבי זירא כל אדם שאינו מנחש מכניסין אותו במחיצה שאפי' מלאכי השרת אין יכולין ליכנס בתוכה.
Rabbi Yitzchak said: Anyone who acts whole-heartedly G-d acts with him whole-heartedly, as the verse says, “With a kind person He will act kindly; with a whole-hearted person He will act whole-heartedly” (II Shmuel 22:26). Rebbi said: Anyone who divines, is subject to divination… he gets what he deserves. Ahava son of Rebbi Zeira taught: Anyone who does not use divination is brought within a curtain that even the angels are not permitted to enter.

I look forward to your comments.

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

Parshat Chayei Sarah - Superstition

(Right click and then 'download as')

Parshat Chayei Sarah - Superstition - source sheet

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.

Vayera - What is Faith?

I gave a shiur tonight(I know it is not Tuesday, but we can pretend, though the shiur may have to be renamed the 'Sunday night shiur' quite soon - thanks Yonit for hosting).

The shiur is on Vayera and the definition of faith. Do we arrive at faith/belief through rational investigation, or by accepting unquestioningly? It seems that both approaches are considered 'Jewish'. How do I know which is right for me? And why has it changed in recent times?

In passing I also discuss Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins (why can't all atheists also be comedians - Tim Minchin and Terry Pratchett get extra credit for not taking themselves too seriously), and kiruv techniques to prove G-d.

I look forward to your comments.

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

Parshat Vayera - What is Faith?

(Right click and then 'download as')

Parshat Vayera - Faith - source sheet

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.

New Shiur

I have been asked by WebYeshiva to give a weekly parsha shiur. I am quite excited at the opportunity.

Course Description
This is a class on the weekly Torah portion, looking at traditional commentaries (primarily medieval philosophers). We will look at how the Rishonim understood the concepts and philosophy of the weekly Torah portion and find the relevance of the Torah and Rishonim to 21st century life.

Perhaps I'll see some of you there?

The Nature of G-d

I gave a shiur last night. this shiur is l'ilyi nishmat Menya bas Hertzel.

I discuss two approaches in the Rishonim about how a person should come to understand G-d. Kuzari, Rav Sadiah Gaon, Rambam and others hold that the only way to understand G-d is to use rational thought to investigate His nature. Anyone who speaks about G-d,simply based on what he heard from others or based on the words of Tanach and Chazal, without thinking about the nature of G-d is "still outside the palace".

One case where this is expressed is in Rambam's third principle - that G-d has no physical form. If a person believes the simple words of Tanach or Chazal, without using philosophy to clarify, could come to believe that G-d has a body. Such a belief is heretical according to Rambam.

On the other hand, we find Raavad and Ohr Zaruah who argue that this is not a heretical belief. Furthermore, they both claim that there were many greater than Rambam who held this belief, including (according to Ohr Zaruah) some of Chazal. They explain the reason for this mistaken belief is following the simple reading of Tanach and Aggadata.

I then look at Rav Moshe Taku's book 'Kesav Tamim' where he argues that to deny G-d any physicality is heretical. If G-d is unable to appear in physical form, He is not omnipotent. Furthermore, he claims that Rav Saadiah was the first person to use philosophy to reinterpret the words of Tanach and Chazal and this is not the traditional Jewish view. How can we possibly use our limited logic to understand anything about G-d who is beyond logic?

Rashi also seems to say that G-d can appear in physical form if He wants to. This seems to me the correct reading of Rashi in Sanhedrin, and is explicit by Tosefos Rid in a comment he makes about Rashi.

I think the underlying issue is the omnipotence paradox. Can G-d create a rock which is so big that he cannot lift it?

There have been many answers to this type of question over the past 2000 years. But to simplify - some say that G-d is also bound by the laws of logic. Yet this does not limit His omnipotence. Others say that G-d can do absolutely anything, and the fact that it apears to us to be illogical is not a reason to lmiit G-d's omnipotence.

Rambam, Rav Saadiah etc take the first view. Rav Moshe Taku and Rashi take the second.

Today all Jews know that G-d has no body, and it is heretical to think that He does. Why did the Rambam's view become so pervasive that we cannot even contemplate the alternative? I quote from Rav Profiat Duran, who shows that belief in a physcial G-d is one of the essential differences between Judaism and Christianity. Jews don't believe that G-d could appear in physical form!


Here is the shiur



Or if you prefer to download it here is the link:
Nature of G-d (right click and 'save as')

and here are the source sheets to go with it
Download Source Sheets

If you are interested in sponsoring a shiur please contact me by e-mail.

Torah from Sinai?

Now that I am no longer associated with any institution I can give shiurim on topics that interest me.

This is a shiur on Rambam's 8th principle and the concept of Torah from Sinai. Is the Torah that we have in our Shuls/chumashim identical with the one that Moshe Rabbeinu gave the Children of Israel 3300 years ago? (answer = 'no')

Is Torah from Sinai a valid concept even if the Torah is not the same as the one we got from Sinai (answer = 'yes')

Did Rambam really mean that the Torah we have today is the same as the one Moshe gave us? (According to the Ashkenazi 'Ani Maamin' and Abarbanel - 'yes' according to Rambam and everyone else 'no')

And should we try to correct out Sifrei Torah to match the Talmud/Rishonim/Aleppo Codex? (machlokes, but probably 'no')

The shiur is quite long (1:30). But I think it is also very interesting. And if you disagree I would be happy to hear from you. (As Rabbi Yochanan said to his Talmidim after the death of Reish Lakish when Rabbi Elazer was agreeing with everything he said).

Here is the shiur



Or if you prefer to download it here is the link:
Torah from Sinai (right click and 'save as')

and here are the source sheets to go with it
Download Source Sheets

A few apologies:
I forgot the date of the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex.

And I was recording the shiur on my phone, so a couple of times my phone rang, and you get a few seconds of Eurythmics along with the shiur.

Audio Shiur - Semicha and Mashiach

Here is a shiur I gave yesterday to Midreshet Rachel (for Lag BaOmer) about the concept of Semicha (which is one of the reasons given for the celebrations of Lag BaOmer)



and here are the source sheets to go with it (in Hebrew only I'm afraid)
Download Source Sheets

I recorded it with a new app on my new Motorola Defy, so you will have to decide for yourselves about the quality. It was also given in the Har Nof forest, so there are all sorts of background noises (included one of my kids needing the toilet half way through).

The shiur discusses the historical background of Semicha, when it was given and to whom, the end of Semicha in the time of Theodosius (and the failed rebuilding of the Beit HaMidkash in the time of Julian). I also speak about Rav David HaReuveini, Rav Shlomo Molcho, Don Yosef Nassi, and the dreams of Mashiach following the expulsion from Spain. There is a discussion of the attempt to reinstate semicha, based on Rambam's system, by Rav Yaakov Bei Rav in Tzfas. And finally a brief mention of the current Sanhedrin, and their semicha which was given to Rav Moshe Halberstam zt"l.

I'm giving a shiur on Tuesday

I know that I haven't blogged in a really long time. There are many reasons, but not for now.

But here is an important announcement. I will be giving a shiur this coming Tuesday evening in Nachlaot on the laws of Purim and the Four Parshiyos. It is for women only (sorry boys), but provided you have two X chromosomes you are welcome to come. I look forward to seeing you there.

Here is the poster, with the details. (You can contact me directly if you want more details, or just to say 'hi').

Do we exist?

Any discussion of how the world and the people in it relate and connect to G-d HAS to begin with an understanding of the two main views of how to understand the Arizal's concept of tzimtzum (contraction). Unfortunately, very rarely does anyone talk about this topic at all. It is too kabbalistic, so the Rabbis giving shiurim leave it for the likes of Madonna to learn about.

It is impossible to understand the difference between Chasidim and Misnagdim without knowing this concept (and learning the Nefesh HaChaim is not enough, because he presents a third, hybrid opinion). One also has a better understanding of what is going on in the religious world today, the Slifkin argument, the kollel lifestyle and almost everything else once you understand whether the world is real or not.

In my opinion it is impossible to understand G-d or our relationship with Him without an understanding of this basic arguement. It is also impossible to understand the world and our role in it.

From Hamlet to Descartes to Uncle Moshe, this shiur traces the history of our understanding of G-d's involvement in the world. Beginning with Rambam and the Kalam, via the Etz Chaim, and ending with a rare book of the Gaon (Asarah Clalim) and the Tanya, with some Rav Tzadok thrown in for good measure. This shiur is aimed at beginners, though I think many advanced learners would benefit greatly from listening to it.

Listen, read, enjoy, and please share your feedback with me.

Tzimtzum, Existence and Machlokes