Daily Chumash

Daily Chumash

By Mrs. Tsyrl TurenReligion & SpiritualityArtsBooksJudaism
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Daily Chumash episodes

  • Chumash for Tuesday Chukas Balak
    The Jews arrive at Mount Hor, where Aaron then passes away and is mourned. The Amalekites, disguised as Canaanites, attack the Jews. The Jews pray to G‑d and are victorious. When the Jews complain about the manna, G‑d dispatches serpents into the Israelite encampment, and many Jews die. Following G‑d's instructions, Moses fashions a copper serpent and places it atop a pole. The bitten Jews would look at this snake and be healed. The Jews journey on, making their way toward the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Encrypted in this section is a great miracle that occurred when the Jews passed through the Arnon Valley. Tall cliffs rose from both sides of this narrow valley, and in the clefts of these cliffs the Emorites, armed with arrows and rocks, were waiting to ambush the Jews. Miraculously, the mountains moved towards each other, crushing the Emorite guerrilla forces. This section ends with a song of praise for the well which sustained the Jews throughout their desert stay — and whose now-bloodied waters made the Jews aware of the great miracle which G‑d wrought on their behalf.
    37 min
  • Chumash for Monday Chukas-Balak
    G‑d tells Moses and Aaron to take a staff and gather the people in front of a certain rock. They should speak to the rock, and it would give forth water. Moses strikes the rock and it gives forth water. In the course of this episode he commits a grave error, the conventional explanation being that he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. This caused G‑d to punish Moses and Aaron, barring them from leading the Jews into Israel. Moses sends messengers to the King of Edom requesting permission to pass through his land (which is south of Canaan) on the way to the Promised Land. Edom refuses the Jews passage. The Jews are therefore forced to circumvent the land of Edom, and approach Canaan from the east.
    18 min
  • Sunday Chukas-Balak

    The most severe of all ritual impurities is tum'at met, the impurity contracted through contact with a human corpse. This section details the purification process for an individual or object which has contracted this form of impurity. A red heifer is slaughtered and is burned together with a few added ingredients. Water from a stream is added to the ashes. On the third and seventh day after contracting tum'at met, this mixture is sprinkled upon the individual or object. After immersion in a mikvah (ritual pool) the person or object is freed of this impurity. The impure individual may not enter the Tabernacle or Temple until the purification process is completed. Miriam dies in the fortieth year of the Israelites' sojourn in the desert. With Miriam's death, the waters which flowed from the miraculous "Well of Miriam" dried up. The people complain bitterly about the lack of water.

    55 min
  • Friday Behar and Bechukotai
    This section discusses various endowments pledged to the Temple coffers. A person can pledge the worth of an individual, in which case the Torah prescribes how much the person must pay — depending on the gender and age of the individual who is being "assessed." An animal which is pledged to the Temple must be offered on the altar if it is fit for sacrifice — otherwise it must be "redeemed" for its value. If the owner chooses to redeem it, he must add one fifth of its value to the redemption price. The same rule applies to a house which is pledged to the Temple.
    14 min
  • Thursday Behar and Bechukotai
    And more blessings: An overabundance of crops and G‑d's presence will be revealed in our midst. This section then describes the severe, terrifying punishments which will be the Jews' lot if they reject G‑d's mitzvot. The punishments include disease, famine, enemy occupation of the land, exile, and desolation of the land. The non-observance of the Sabbatical year is singled out as the reason for the desolation of the land. The aliyah concludes with G‑d's promise never to utterly forsake us even when we are exiled in the lands of our enemies.
    17 min
  • Chumash for Tuesday Behar Bechukotai
    The laws mentioned above apply to fields and homes in un-walled cities. Homes in walled cities, on the other hand, may only be redeemed up to one year after the sale; otherwise they become the permanent property of the buyer. Another exception to these rules is the property allotted to the Levites, which are always redeemable. We are commanded to assist our brethren by coming to their aid before they become financially ruined and dependent on the help of others. We are also forbidden from charging interest on a loan to a fellow Jew.
    22 min
  • Chumash for Monday Behar Bechukotai

    This section addresses an obvious concern: "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow our gather our grain?!" G‑d reassures us that He will bless the sixth year's harvest, and it will produce enough to provide for three years! The Torah then gives the rationale for the prohibition against selling land for perpetuity (instead, land can only be "leased" until the Jubilee year) — "Because the Land belongs to Me; you are strangers and residents with Me." The seller of land, or his relative on his behalf, has the option of "redeeming" the land from the purchaser — provided that two years have passed from the date of purchase.

    21 min
  • CHUMASH FOR SUNDAY BEHAR BECHUKOTAI
    G‑d commands Moses regarding the Sh'mitah (Sabbatical) and Jubilee years. Every seventh year is a Sabbatical year, when it is forbidden to work the land (in the Land of Israel). After seven sets of seven years a Jubilee year is proclaimed. During Jubilee years all the laws of the Sabbatical year apply, and, in addition to the Sabbatical laws, all slaves are set free and all lands revert to their original owners. We are commanded to conduct business ethically. Since all land reverts to their original owners during the Jubilee year, the amount of years remaining until the next Jubilee year must be taken into account whenever a real-estate sale is conducted, and the price should be set accordingly. The end of this aliyah enjoins us not to verbally harass or intentionally mislead our fellows.
    16 min
  • Tanya for Friday of Acharei Mos- Kedoshim
    We are commanded to love converts. We are also enjoined to be truthful in business dealing by maintaining honest weights and measures. The Torah prescribes capital punishment for one who worships Molech; a form of idolatry which required human sacrifices. The Torah also describes the punishment which will befall the nation if they neglect to punish Molech worshippers.
    11 min
  • Chumash for Thursday Acharei Mos- Kedoshim
    More mitzvot: Not to pervert justice, gossip, be indifferent to a fellow's predicament, hate a fellow Jew, bear grudges, or take revenge. To reprimand a sinner, and to love every Jew. The following statutes are also given here: not to sow a field with two kinds of seed, wear a garment made of a mixture of wool and linen (shatnez), or crossbreed animals. The section also includes with the laws of one who commits adultery with a half-free maidservant. We are introduced to the laws of "orlah," the prohibition against eating the fruit of a new sapling for the first three years, and the obligation to sanctify the fruit of the fourth year. We are enjoined not to engage in witchcraft or prostitution, or tattoo our bodies. Men are instructed not to destroy the hair at the edges of their scalp or the corners of their beards. We are commanded to observe the Shabbat; respect G‑d's sanctuary, Torah scholars and the elderly.
    15 min

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Daily Chumash recording with Mrs. Tsyrl Turen.