Yitro | How Did We Get to the 6th of Sivan? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

How did Shavuot become Chag Matan Toratenu?

Our annual celebration of Matan Torah, on חג השבועות, has long been a conundrum. The festival is noted several times in each of the four chumashim that contain legal codes; it is called יום הביכורים, חג הקציר and חג השבועות - but at no point is it associated with a commemoration or anniversary of מתן תורה. How did the date - ו' סיון - become identified as the day of the Revelation at Sinai? Surprisingly, the answer may lie in a careful reading of the story of the מן and discerning the relationship between the מן, the שבת and מתן תורה. After presenting this novel approach to explaining the rabbinic assumption of ו' בסיון as זמן מתן תורתינו, we share a passage from the Book of Jubilees (part of the library of the Apocrypha) which seems to point to a connection between "the feast of weeks" and the covenant at Sinai.

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Asseret HaDibrot: False Testimony | Coveting, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Fifth of 5 shiuirim on what is arguably the single most important "unit" on mitzvot and values anywhere in the Torah!

Individually they are all fascinating and important - and as a unit you can really appreciate them.

Asseret HaDibrot: Adultery | Kidnappping, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Fourth of 5 shiuirim on what is arguably the single most important "unit" on mitzvot and values anywhere in the Torah!

Individually they are all fascinating and important - and as a unit you can really appreciate them.

Asseret HaDibrot: Honoring Parents | Murder, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Third of 5 shiuirim on what is arguably the single most important "unit" on mitzvot and values anywhere in the Torah!

Individually they are all fascinating and important - and as a unit you can really appreciate them.

Asseret HaDibrot: Taking Hashem's Name in Vain | Shabbos, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Second of 5 shiuirim on what is arguably the single most important "unit" on mitzvot and values anywhere in the Torah!

Individually they are all fascinating and important - and as a unit you can really appreciate them.

Asseret HaDibrot: Belief in Hashem | Idolatry, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

First of 5 shiuirim on what is arguably the single most important "unit" on mitzvot and values anywhere in the Torah!

Individually they are all fascinating and important - and as a unit you can really appreciate them.

Ramban On The Torah | 30 | Beshalach, by Rav Eli Weber

Why did God send us the long way if we were going to fight with Amalek anyway? What made Pharaoh chase us in the sea?

Tu Bishvat | Choni, the Carob and the Dream, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

How are the Choni legends - the long slumber, the carob tree and the rain-circle - related to each other? 

In honor of Tu biSh'vat, we explored the story of Honi HaMa'gil (or Hame'agel) and the various Aggadot associated with him, in the scholion of Megilat Ta'anit, the Mishna, Bavli and Yerushalmi - and in Josephus' Antiquities. In our survey we noted that these narratives had a number of conflicting details. We discussed how to address differing narratives about what seems to be the same event and proposed several strategies for resolving these discrepancies. The shiur was given at GPATS (Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies) at Stern College for Women.

Bo | The Four Parashot of Tefillin, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

KeNegged arba'a tefillin dibra Torah. What is unique about each of the four Parashot of Tefillin?

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Ramban On The Torah | 29 | Bo, by Rav Eli Weber

What really happened in Makkat Choshekh? What is the mitzva of "החודש הזה לכם ראש חודשים"?