Modern Torah

When Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams in this week's Torah portion, Miketz, he offers an almost apocalyptic vision of the future. After being appoint by Pharaoh to lead Egypt through the seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine, he benefits from the authority Pharaoh wielded as a diving king. In the last weeks of 2019, there were early warning signs that COVID-19 had the potential to spread like wildfire. And I have to imagine that if Joseph had been alive a year ago, warning of a coming global pandemic from COVID-19, instead of starvation from a global famine, he would have been received very differently. Instead of convincing one person of the coming threat, Joseph would be faced with the challenge of convincing everyone around him that, as scary as it might be, the dark vision he paints of the future is likely to come true. 

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This week's Torah portion, Vayeshev, features the story of Joseph, whose ability to correctly interpret the dreams of those around helps him gain tremendous power, with a few spectacular falls from grace along the way. Joseph's story spans more than one parsha, and this week, the Torah cuts the story short on an emotional cliffhanger, with Joseph left alone and forgotten in a dark cell.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This week's Torah portion contains violence, and if you're someone who's triggered by scenes of sexual violence, you might want to skip this week.

This week, the Torah prominently features the rape of Jacob’s daughter Dina, and the reaction of her siblings—Jacob’s sons—to that act of violence. Having returned to Canaan with his new family, and made peace with his older brother Esau, Jacob purchases a parcel of land, near the city of Shechem, from the local community, and settles down with his wives, children, and herds of sheep...

Modern Torah is published weekly, anywhere you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform to be notified of new episodes, and visit www.moderntorah.com for written formats and much more. Thanks for listening!

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This week, our Torah portion focuses on Jacob as he departs on a long journey to gather wealth, find a wife, and build a new life for himself, his family, and his descendants. He migrates to his uncle's household, where he spends years working for Laban, even as his uncle employs trickery, leveraging Jacob's love for Laban's daughter Rachel, to secure additional years of labor from a prized employee.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This year, of course, has reminded me of the importance of family, especially as we approach a season that, at least in the United States, people associate with family. Whether it's the family you were born into, the family you chose, or even the family that chose you, family is an inescapable reality in life. Still, family can be incredibly complicated, as the Torah reminds in this week's portion—Toldot. This week's portion begins with a joyous event, the birth of two sons—Esau and Jacob. But by the end of the parsha, that same family is broken and scattered, mourning the death of their patriarch Isaac while nursing long held wounds in isolation from each other.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

There's probably never been a better week in the history of the Jewish people than this one for Vayera, this week's Torah portion, to pop up in our regular reading cycle. Because something, all you can do when you look at the world, is laugh.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This week is a little different. For the first time Modern Torah isn't just my Torah. This week, my wife makes her Modern Torah debut, speaking to a subject that, I think you'll agree, we're all better off hearing about from her, rather than me.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

In the opening lines of this week's Torah portion Noah, the namesake and relative hero of this parsha, is referred to as a righteous man who walked with G-d. Yet Noah's actions, or inactions, call his righteousness into question. The rabbis of the Talmud debate this, and compare the righteousness of Noah with a different figure, one who doesn't appear in this week's portion, Abraham.

 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

This week, we start the Torah over again, from the beginning, with Bereshit. And that means, we get to revisit the original dispute of the Torah—not between Cain and Abel, but between the Aleph and the Bet, the letters that is.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.

At the end of Sukkot, Jews around the world make a small change to our routine of daily prayers. Beginning on Shmini Atzeret, we add a request for rain to the second blessing of the Amidah—the core of our prayer service that we recite three times each day. This prayer, though, doesn't just ask G-d for rain, but for rain in its proper season.

 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I’m not a rabbi, so every week, I look at our Torah portion and try to put it in conversation with the world around me. Judaism is rich in tradition, and each of us deserves the chance to find our own meaning in the text. Whether you’re studying Torah daily, or taking a moment to prepare for Shabbat, I hope you’ll make these ten minutes of Torah part of your week.

You can learn more about me, and my work, on my website – www.nathanjvaughan.com

New episodes weekly, anywhere you get Jewish podcasts.

Subscribe on: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | iHeart

Go deeper with my sources on Sefaria.