KMTT - the Torah Podcast

Aging and the Aging Parent (3): Kibbud Av vaEim Dilemmas (2), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

An halakhic shiur given on Nov 12, 2023 at Kehillat HaEla (Ramat Beit Shemesh). Taking care of a parent and what halakhot are entailed in that role reversal situation. Part 2. What are the child's financial responsibilities. Are there things a child may not physically do for their aging parents.

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Aging and the Aging Parent (2): Kibbud Av vaEim Dilemmas (1), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

An halakhic shiur given on Oct 26, 2023 at Kehillat HaEla (Ramat Beit Shemesh). Taking care of a parent and what halakhot are entailed in that role reversal situation. Part 1. To what extent are we allowed to delegate those responsibilities?

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Aging and the Aging Parent (1): The Challenges and Blessings of Old Age, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb

An hashkafic shiur given on Oct 26, 2023 at Kehillat HaEla (Ramat Beit Shemesh). People get older. It beats the alternative.

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Toldot | The Riddle of Esav's Wives, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

In Parashat Toldot, we are told about Esav's first two wives - Yehudit and Basemat, both Hittites. We learn that his parents are embittered by these wives - but not why. At the end of the story, after Yaakov flees, Esav, realizing that his father doesn't approve of his wives, takes a third wife, a daughter of Yishmael. Two oddities provoke our curiosity here - why didn't Yitzchak and Rivka like Esav's wives - and how would adding a third wife to his already troubling marriages make his parents feel any better? The problems become exacerbated when we see the genealogical listing of Esav (Bereishit 36) which identifies three wives - with different, or switched names. We explore the issue of polygamy, both in Bereishit and from the later perspective of the end of the prophetic era (Malakhi) and, after sharing several approaches taken by the Rishonim to solve the puzzle of their names, suggest, based on Ramban's explanation, an approach that solves both the mystery of the changed names as well as the source of Rivka and Yitzchak's bitter feelings towards Esav's first wives. This shiur was given in memory of ליבא ביילע בת משה ז"ל

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Ramban On The Torah | 20 | Toldot, by Rav Eli Weber

Was Yitzchak rich or poor? Did the ancestors keep all the Torah? And did Yitzchak really want to give the blessing to Esav?

Ramban On The Torah | 19 | Chayei Sara, by Rav Eli Weber

Chayei Sara | The Abrahamic Dialogues, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

What are we to make of the last words we hear from Avraham - his oath administered to his slave?

After sharing several methodologic observations about the way that we ought to read Tanakh narratives, we explore every dialogue in which Avraham took part - whether with Hashem, with family members, with kings, with the landed gentry of his adopted hometown - or even his slave. We note a curious pattern emerge and a development in Avraham's character in stature which realizes its climax in his final dialogue - with his loyal slave. This shiur was given in memory of Mrs. Lois Bergman z"l, Rav Etshalom's mother-in-law, who passed away this week. יהא זכרה ברוך

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On Kiddush Hashem | Are people killed defending, or in attacks against Jews, considered Kedoshim, by Rabbi Michael Taubes '77, Rosh Yeshiva at The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys in New York, and also the spiritual leader of Congregation Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, New Jersey, delivering regular Shiurim and lectures both there and at the Beis Medrash of Bergen County, housed in Teaneck's Congregation Bnai Yeshurun.

This shiur was given on Motzaei Shabbat Vayera, Nov 4, 2023, at Congregation Zichron Mordechai.

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Pidyon Shevuyim: the Great Mitzva to Free Hostages, by Rabbi Michael Taubes '77, Rosh Yeshiva at The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys in New York, and also the spiritual leader of Congregation Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, New Jersey, delivering regular Shiurim and lectures both there and at the Beis Medrash of Bergen County, housed in Teaneck's Congregation Bnai Yeshurun.

This shiur was given on Motzaei Shabbat Lekh Lekha, October 28th, 2023, at Congregation Zichron Mordechai.

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Vayera | Who Were Those Three "Men"? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Who were the three visitors to Avraham?

Parashat Vayera opens with a familiar scene - Avraham's hospitality lavishly presented to three strangers, whom the text refers to as אנשים - "men". Yet, these three seem to know things that mortals shouldn't know and, at several points during the conversations which ensue, God's own voice is heard and He is entreated. Rashi has long provided the conventional understanding of this narrative, wherein the "men" are angels, acting like humans but endowed with special knowledge. Although Rashi is near the beginning of the exegetical chain here, there are numerous alternative ways to read the Parasha among the Rishonim. We study Rashbam's approach which apparently takes Rashi a step or two further - and then Rambam's understanding which almost completely reverses both Rashi and Rashbam. We conclude with a survey of the commentary of R. Yosef Bekhor Shor of Orleans, student of Rabbenu Tam. who stakes out a unique approach and alludes to the polemical motivation behind his ground-breaking commentary.

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