This shiur was generously sponsored in memory of R' Moshe Chaim ben Yitzchak David.


Highlights:
Themistius' Law: Reality doesn't follow opinion; rather, correct opinions follow from reality
The universe comports with how humans think
The centrality of humans to the universe is based on the fact that humans can understand the universe
On Kabbalah and philosophy
According to Maimonides, explanatory power reflects truth, but there are also things that are inexplicable; according to Aristotle, everything is explicable 
Human beings are explicators
Maimonides opposes predicating the existence of God on creation ex nihilo because creation ex nihilo is inexplicable
If we could explain everything, we wouldn't have awe of God
God is the ultimate explanation, and the human that knows Him is the ultimate human being
The Will of God is inexplicable
The awe that miracles induce is based on us considering ourselves explicators and considering explanation valid; why animals don't have awe of Heaven
Maimonides' strange description of the Chanukkah miracle
Man's sphere lends itself to explanation, and the heavens don't lend themselves to explanation

This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation.



S6, E6 Shemona Perakim; Man as Explicator and the Limits of Explanatory Power

Lecture series in Jewish Philosophy. 
What was the purpose of Creation? What is man's place in the world? What are prophecy and prayer about? What is the significance of Shabbos and the Promised Land?
Explore these fundamental questions of Judaism from their sources, and become familiar with the systems developed by the great Torah thinkers: R' Saadiah Gaon, R' Yehuda HaLevi, R' Bachya ibn Paquda, Rambam and the school of the Mekubalim. 

Opportunities for sponsorship of podcasts are available. Rabbi Burton can be reached at: oros.yaakov@gmail.com

Religion & Spirituality

Other

Spirituality

Christianity

Buddhism

Hinduism

Judaism

Islam

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.
Written essays are published bi-weekly here:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shnayor.substack.com/s/from-exodus-to-exile-to-redemption
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please subscribe!
This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation. To support this and other ongoing projects of the foundation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the Substack newsletter or making a donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com.



S5, E23 Exodus, Exile and Redemption, Sec. 2, Chapter 17: Walking the Path: A Guide to Spiritual Perfection

0:00 Q: Is the Messiah something we generate or something that happens to us?
4:00 What the Messiah will do and how he will do it
7:15 Why do we study Torah these days if we don't truly have the Torah in exile?
8:30 What is the Torah about?
11:00 Why the Torah doesn't work outside of Eretz Yisrael
13:15 The most burning question is: "What is the Torah about?," i.e. "What is da'as Hashem?"
18:00 How can the Torah assert that man is in the image of God if people kill each other?
20:00 Are there fundamentally unbridgeable differences between human beings?
22:45 The Torah doesn't reveal truths as much as it gives a vision of what can be
24:45 Torah as a radical document suggesting what can be
26:45 In order to understand the Torah, we have to view it within a historical lens as well
28:45 We can't tell people they don't have Torah
31:45 Not everyone could be Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi who lived in the past and the future
36:00 Why there developed a concept of the Redemption as something that will happen to us miraculously 
40:30 In the past, there was no way to talk about Redemption without using miraculous terminology 
43:00 Why people believe in being passive; the great danger of hastening the End before its time45:15 Whether the world is ready for something depends on whether we are ready for it
47:00 Those who have no understanding of Redemption should indeed do nothing about it
50:30 Summary
This lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation



Will We Redeem Ourselves or Will We Be Redeemed?

4:50 Getting angry is akin to idolatry 
6:00 Why is Judaism's vision so challenging to achieve?
7:00 God's unity is approached through 3 pathways, represented by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
11:00 The problem of evil is the reason that humans can't weave all of being around one good principle
13:10 Isaac represents the problem of evil
15:40 Why would God tell Abraham to slaughter Isaac?
19:30 How can we organize our psyche around one principle given that there is both good and evil?
22:15 The great men who attempted to bring the Messiah - Yehudah and Hezekiah, sons of Rabbi Chiya
26:00 Redemption depends on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being in harmony
27:45 The book of Malachi and its vision; the role of Elijah the Prophet in effecting a rapprochement among the forefathers
32:00 How to effect that rapprochement and solve the problem of evil
33:15 The problem of evil is based on taking our subjective existence as a source of value
36:00 Thinking of yourself as cause instead of effect
40:00 Sacrificial worship is nihilistic, until Malachi reinterpreted it
47:00 Sh'ma and Hashem as our father
51:15 How we can achieve the Jewish vision


This lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation



How to Make the Torah Come True, pt. 2: Finding Unity Between Good and Evil


"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.
Written essays are published bi-weekly here:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shnayor.substack.com/s/from-exodus-to-exile-to-redemption
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please subscribe!
This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation. To support this and other ongoing projects of the foundation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the Substack newsletter or making a donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com.

S5, E22 Exodus, Exile and Redemption, Sec. 2, Chapter 16: Man’s Crooked Heart and its Remedy

1:00 Sh'ma is a constant guide to our lives
3:45 The meaning of the Sh'ma according to Rashi
4:30 The meaning of there being many gods
6:30 Metaphysics is not interesting to Tanach
8:15 Whether there are many gods or only one depends on people's behavior
10:00 When you say Sh'ma, you should envision redemption and plan for it
12:00 How humanity will attain the Messianic Era and what we should do about it
14:00 Unity and love
16:45 Reaching "Hashem is one" without defining Hashem
20:00 Humanity converging on one value means they are serving Hashem; all the Torah cares about is not serving "other gods"
22:45 Not every monotheist serves Hashem; "as if" being an idolater is extremely important
27:00 The Messianic Era is not totalitarian 
28:30 Human progress and reaching unity of Hashem
31:45 Everyone has a god; the god that you "as if" worship is more important for some purposes than the god that you actually worship
34:30 The unity of action achieved by a person who worships one God must apply to any potential future experiences as well, which is why you have to envision giving up your life when saying Sh'ma
38:00 The Jewish problem and the 70 ministering angels
42:00 Creation ex nihilo and disregard for the universe
45:20 Why Jews must be unlike other nations; how to effect unifications
48:30 How to manipulate history and why we need to program AI to effect Redemption
This lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation





S6, E6 Shemona Perakim; Man as Explicator and the Limits of Explanatory Power

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