KMTT - the Torah Podcast

The Value of Peace and the Virtue of Being a "People Person" (Avot 1:12), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Sharing Torah of Rav Asher Weiss

How does peace enable all other berakhot? And how is Ahron HaKohen the ideal role model for educators and parents?

Behaalotekha | Ner Tamid, by Moreinu veRabbeinu Harav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l

Divrei berakha to the talmidot of Beit Midrash leNashim Migdal Oz, June 2008

Take with you the the sense, the identification, with the Torah that you learned as something that is permanent, deeply engrained in your own being, not something that is marginal, peripheral, here and there, but fundamental, basic.

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Part 3), by Rav Moshe Taragin

In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot:

Religious Coercion and the Case of Brit Milah; A Chassideshe Story Applied to the Issue of Secular Yeshivot; Calling Jews Post-Zionists; Removing Hashem from the Conversation; Three Core "Modern" Middot

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Parts 1-2), by Rav Moshe Taragin

In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot:

Should You Love Torah More Than Jews? Do People in Israel Suffer for Sins of Jews Abroad? Israel as the Anchor of Jewish Identity Jewish Identity Without Torah Observance Commitment to Jewish History Three Major Events of Modern Jewish History Should Israel Calibrate Policy Based on Attitudes of Overseas Jews?

Land and Legacy: Redemption in Megillat Ruth, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

The notion of "Geula" is prominent throughout Megillat Ruth, reaching a crescendo in the final Rav Yitzchak Etshalom chapter. The redemption is not just about land, but about a person's memory - as exemplified by the curious structural relationship between the 7 uses of "שם" before chapter 4 and the corresponding 7 mentions in chapter 4.

Simcha - An Essential Component of Torah Study (Avot 6:6), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

Why is it so important that we find joy in our Torah study?

Learning Pirkei Avot with the commentary of Rav Asher Weiss

Bamidbar | The Reasoning Behind The Exchange of the Levi'im for the Firstborn, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Perhaps the most curious item in the entire census (which covers the first 5 chapters of Bamidbar, properly speaking) is the command to exchange the Levi'im for the Bekhorot (firstborn males) and the subsequent directive to redeem the surplus Bekhorot, which became the paradigm for "Pidyon haBen." Why the first born were to be "de-sanctified" at all is never explained in the text, nor why the Levi'im are their "replacements". We examine the "popular" approach which first appears in a relatively late Midrash - that the Bekhorot all (?) sinned in the episode of the Golden Calf and that the Levi'im, contradistinctively, were the religious heroes of that dark moment and note several textual challenges to each of those assumptions. After a brief discussion, a novel suggestion is made that explains both sides of the question - the "redemption" of the Bekhorot as well as the initiation of the Levi'im into the sanctified world of the Mishkan. This shiur was given in memory of שושנה תמר בת הרב אשר אהרן ומרים ז״ל

Source sheet >>

Ramban on the Torah | 45 | Bamidbar, by Rav Eli Weber

Why are we not allowed to count Am Israel? Why is Levi the smallest tribe?

Yom Yerushalayim 2024 | Hodu LaShem Ki Tov, by Rav Moshe Taragin

From the miracles of 1967 to the darkness of 2024, it is important to recognize Hashem's presence in this world

The Conquest of Yerushalayim: The Blind and the Lame, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, we examine the curious presentation in II Shmuel 5 of David's "conquest" of Yerushalayim, with the puzzling mention of the "blind and the lame". Surveying the pre-monarchic history of Yerushalayim in Tanakh reveals numerous anomalies; the earliest reference to "Shalem" helps us unravel these mysteries and address the odd phrases in this story. This shiur was given in memory of Nechama Rivlin ז"ל, the wife of our President Reuven Rivlin, a scion of a notable family that has helped rebuild Yerushalayim in the modern era. יהי זכרה ברוך

Source sheet >>