Or Hachaim, Rav Soloveitchik: Anticipating Shabbos

Simcha (joy) around the year

Rav Soloveitchik: 2 models of leadership: Purim - bottom up; Chanukkah - top down

This week we discuss:

The uniforms of the kohanim - why?  The external influences the internal

Why the Golden Mizbeach (Alter) instructions were delayed until all of the other instructions were given - seeing the forest from the trees.  

This week we discuss:

Quantifying how much space in the Torah is devoted to the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and why - goldharschool.com

The Mishkan needs to be built for G-d's name - the literal approach and the idea that we can only flourish in the right environment

Rav Soloveitchik: Where did Moshe hear G-d's voice from, and why it matters

Rav Pam: The reasoning behind the ordering of the items donated by the people - easy come, easy go

Topics discussed:

Why is the slave punished for his desire to stay longer? R. Shaul Yisraeli

Why isn't the slave's ear pierced when he first gets into trouble? The Maharil Diskin

The need to temporarlily return a collateral reflects an expansive view of the Torah's mandate.  R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg

Love the convert since you were strangers in Egypt is said immediately after they left Egypt;

Sensitivity when there's an open wound - you were strangers, not you were slaves.  R. Kenneth Hain from R. Sholom Carmy

We are reciepients of Divine gifts - sometimes He takes them back.  Rav Soloveitchik

Orphans and Widows.  R. Moshe Feinstein

This week we discuss:

Why so many judges were needed - how to relate to other peoples money including stories about R. Yisrael Salanter

The lesson we learn from Yisro's alias "Yeser" - the value of proactive problem solving

Rav Solovetichik: The duality of the Torah transmission - the role of father and the role of the mother

Don't miss the last piece, starting at 7:28 :)

This week we discuss:

Gerrer Rebbe's daughter Fayge; Rav Soloveitchik: G-d is with Moshe when he approaches Pharaoh

Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky: The life-long deepening of emunah (conviction)

The Dubno Maggid: Moshe's abrupt exit - why now?

How long did the plague of Locusts actually last?

Nachmanidies (Ramban) and Rabbeinu Chananel: The enduring power of prayer of a righteous person

Rav Soloveitchik: Moshe and the Bnei Yisroel didn't know when they would be leaving or how many plagues there would be 

Rav Hirsch: they asked for gifts to keep

Rav Hirsch: the moment the Egyptians recognized the unusual morality of the Bnei Yisroel

Why there are suddenly so many mitzvos (Sefer Hachinuch counts 20) in this parsha

Details of the Pesach lamb

Summary of end of parasha

This week we discuss:

Message of the connection between the Four Cups and the four terms of redemptionMoshe Aharon, Aharon Moshe - defining success & individuality vs. confomrity in Jewish life

Rav Solovetichik: Binary star system - the pattern of dual Jewish leadership

Torah 101: Did Pharoh's magicians really know magic - is magic real?

Torah 101: How did Pharoh get punished for his stubborness if the Almighty hardened his heart?  Two approaches 

One frog or many?  Indirect approaches are often more effective agents of change in ourselves and others

Rav Solovetichik: G-d never gives up on us, even when we appear to be unredeemable 

The structure of and patterns in the 10 Plagues

In this episode we cover these topics:

Introduction to the Book of Shemos:

Titles of the book

Overview of Shemos

This week's parsha:

A large, growing, Jewish population

The paradoxically direct relationship between population affliction and population growth

The incremental development of the Egyptian enslavement and persecution of the Jews

Rav Soloveitchik: Women lead the Jewish people at a crucial point in their history

The qualities that made Moshe the ultimate Jewish leader

Curious parallels in the lives of the Patriarchs, Matriarchs, and Moshe and Tzipora

Rav Soloveitchik: The two messages of the Burning Bush and that no Jew ever be excluded (Hat tip to Aaron Rosen for pointing this out to me many years ago)

Asking permission from your father-in-law

Summary of the end of the parsha