Shiurim on Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Hashem comes to the Ohel Moed to chastise Miriam & Aharon for slandering Moses (Yeridah #8 or #9) / Aaron suffers through Miriam's tzarat (leprosy) / Moshe prays for Miriam to be healed / Spitting in the eye of the Metzora / Different 7-day Halachot (Metzora, Zav, Zavah, Aveilut) / Ending off with the word Tahor / Rav Zeira/Ze'ira: A Niddah (menstruating woman) needs seven clean days to become pure / The Copper Snake heals those who spoke Lashon HaRa / Rofeh Cholei Amo Yisrael (summary of the Brachos of the Amidah in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer) / Missing Parts of Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer: Avraham is beaten up for teaching up monotheism, Atlantic Ocean cannot be measured, not writing the Oral Torah so that it won't be translated, King Solomon and the two-headed half demon, stipulating at the time of creation that seas will split, the Throne of Glory carries the Chayos, the Eitz Chaim is in the middle of Gan Eden, Michael is the Sar HaOlam, a segulah for fertily by eating a rabbit's stomach) / Making a Siyum on Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer

Was Ziporah a Cushite? / In what way did Miriam & Aharon slander Moses? / The Jews are called Cushites because of their good deeds / Jeremiah is saved by Eved-Melech the Cushite (= Baruch ben Neriah) / Zedekiah is called a Cushite King / Was Tzidkiyahu a righteou king or not? / Mahari Kara: Jeremiah is saved by a slave of the Cushite King / A Jewish Kushi tells King David that Absalom was killed / The Righteous & Loyal Cushi / People with super-human Adam-like qualities (Shimshon = Strong, Shaul = Height, Asahel = Speed, Yoshiyahu = Good nose, Zedekiah = Eyes, Avshalom = Hair, Asa = Feet, Uzziyahu = Forehead, Zerubavel = Voice) / Avshalom sees the entrance to Gehinnom beneath himself / King David prays to take Avshalom out of Hell

Sexual restraint & verbal restrain during the month of Shvat and Shovavim / Yosef is the paragon of the Tzaddik (Yesod) / One who slanders forfeits his portion in the World to Come / A real picture of the Chafetz Chaim / A "curse" as a lower-level prohibition / Speaking Lashon HaRa is destructive / The Jews complain about Hashem & the manna only to be punished by fire / The Jews prefer a plague to a fire / The Divine Fire of Punishment rests underground & consumes Nadav & Avihu, plus Korach's congregation / The Chronology of the Mitonnenim (Complainers) Story / The Divine fire also helps those who die achieve atonement

#6 Joshua stops the sun at Gibeon to delay the onset of Shabbos & neutralize witchcraft / Why didn't Yehoshua want to fight in Givon on Shabbos like he did in Yericho? / Other times the sun stood still (the first Shabbos during creation of the world, when Moshe fought Sichon) / A solar eclipse at Gibeon / When did the story at Gibeon happen (in October or in Tammuz)? / #7 Chizkiyahu overcomes his deathly illness through prayer / Isaiah gives Hezekiah a sign by moving the sun / Hezekiah shows off to the Babylonian king Merodach Baladan by opening the Ark in the Temple / Was the Ark of the Covenent captured by the Babylonians or hidden elsewhere? / Rabbi Eliyahu of Izmir: Lessons from the 7 Wonders of the World & explaining which miracles make the cut

#1 Abraham is saved from a fiery furnace / #2 Sarah gives birth at the advanced age of 90 / What was the great miracle behind Sarah's pregnancy? / Sarah nurses everybody's babies / #3 Yitzchak looks like Avraham, Avraham asks God to make himself look visibly old / #4 Jacob prays for people to get sick before they die / Blessing a person who sneezes (Chaim, Gesundheit, Asuta) / #5 The Red Sea turns into Dryland at the Exodus

Will the Third Beis HaMikdash come down from Heaven already built or will man need to build it? / A special gate in the Temple only opens on Shabbat & Rosh Chodesh / Kiddush on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh / A special gate for Hashem that is supposed to remain closed / Only the righteous will be renewed / Ezekiel sees a river flowing from the future Temple in Jerusalem / Sweeting the Salt Water Seas

Renewing & reconsecrating the Jewish People like the moon / The Davidic Dynasty waxes for 15 generations & then wanes for 15 generations / Unfurling the Heavens like a scroll & like clothes / 7 Cycles of 7,000 Years until the Great Jubilee / The Celestial Bodies will wear out in the future / God renews all of creation every day / The sun bathes in the fires of the Dinor River / The sun will be 49 times stronger / The Korban Mussaf on Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh allude to the future, God's uniqueness & the election of the Jewish People / Bringing a Korban Chatas (Sin-offering) atones for God making the moon smaller / Appeasing those whom we wronged / The Greeks opposed Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, & Bris Milah because these elements symbolize the Jews' special relationship with Hashem (Zos Chanukah)

Mordechai the quintessential Jew / Expounding Mordechai's names (Ben Yair, Ben Shimi, Ben Kish, Ish Yemini, Malachi, Bilshan) / Mordechai = Merodach = Marduk / Mordechai discovers plot against Achashverosh / Yosef's buried treasure / The Chaldean Language (Akkadian?) / Haman rises to power and plans his Final Solution / Haman Draws Lots (Month, Day, Week) / Mordechai & Esther plan for Hashem's salvation / Not relying on the miracle of Shemen HaMishchah (oil of annointing) / Why is fasting better than eating matzo?

Haman's son Shimshai the Scribe / Achashverosh wants to reward Mordechai / Hatred in the Heart / Giving a king's honor to Mordechai / Haman grooms Mordechai & serves as his foot stool / Esther's party with Haman & Achashverosh / Charvonah = Eliyahu HaNavi / How many sons did Haman have? / Mordechai becomes a mini-king / What was on the coin minted by Mordechai?

Calculating how long Nebuchadnezzar reigned (40, 43, or 45 years) / Calculating 70 years of the Babylonian Exile / Babylonians -> Medians -> Persians -> Greeks / What about Cambyses and the hidden years? / Achashverosh's opulent party / Vashti is killed on Yom Kippur / When was the 180-day party (Summer or Winter)? / Vashti refuses to join the party naked / Memuchan = Daniel or Haman