Pardes From Jerusalem

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Continue reading 5780 — Tazria-Metzora: Making the Case for Tzara’at at Elmad Online Learning.

This podcast is a response to current conditions throughout the world and to this week’s Biblical list of proscribed animals. In this podcast, Rabbi Elisha Ancselovits tours Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) to discover one of the critical reasons for Biblical… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Shemini: Mutual Care, Food Proscriptions, and Permitted Locust at Elmad Online Learning.

We may never have experienced this before, but our ancestors paved the way. They teach us 4 important lessons, 1. fear is real, 2. make your home a sanctuary, 3. invoke and celebrate divine protection through faith, 4. Make sure… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Pesach: Celebrating and Trusting in Divine Protection at Elmad Online Learning.

Sometimes it can seem that the book of Leviticus is speaking to a world which is no more. In this podcast, Rabbi Mike Feuer explores how the ‘torot,’ the practical instructions on sacrifice which lie at the heart of Tzav,… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Tzav: The Torah of drawing close at Elmad Online Learning.

What do we do when angels of discomfort land on our planet? What are they calling us to do and how can we respond in a way that empowers us to create a new ‘normal’ for our lives? Revealed and… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Vayikra: Angels of Discomfort at Elmad Online Learning.

This year, Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekudei is also Shabbat HaChodesh. In this podcast, Yiscah Smith discusses inner renewal, revival, and redemption from the place of disappointment, darkness and despair: the spiritual meaning of the Jewish tradition adopting a lunar-based calendar. Download the … Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Shabbat HaChodesh: Cultivating the spiritual practice of hitchadshut–renewal at Elmad Online Learning.

In this podcast, Nechama Goldman Barash links the stories of Eden and the Golden Calf, and looks at how the process of reconciliation begins in the aftermath of such a rupture. Interestingly, the same material–gold will be used to build… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Ki Tisa: Denuded of Beauty in the Aftermath of Sin at Elmad Online Learning.

On the surface, Purim and Pesach have a number of things in common: 1) we drink four cups of wine on Pesach; we drink ad d’lo yada on Purim. 2) We have a festive meal on Pesach; we have a… Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Purim: Purim and Pesach: So Close and Yet So Far Away at Elmad Online Learning.

In the special haftarah for Shabbat Zachor, Saul loses his kingship over a failure to thoroughly destroy the tribe of Amalek. Did Saul just err by leaving the king alive, or was there something more sinister happening here? Source: 1 … Read the rest Continue reading 5780 — Shabbat Zachor: What did Saul Get Wrong? at Elmad Online Learning.