Simply Deep

Why did the shepherds keep a rock on the well, why did Yaakov tell them to get back to work, and how and why did he remove the rock which the shepherds couldn’t?

Rachel named Yosef based upon the fact that his birth marked the end of her disgrace. Rashi gives two explanations: 1) Now it’s clear that Yaakov won’t divorce and she won’t end up with Eisav; 2) If things went wrong in the house, she now had Yosef to blame. This episode deals with these strange explanations.

Rashi cites many midrashim which paint Eisav as a much bigger rasha than implied by the plain pshat of the pesukim. This episode presents two approaches to dealing with this discrepancy and others like it.

This episode discusses Rashi and Radak’s explanations for how Yaakov was able to lie to Yitzchak and claim that he was Eisav.

Rashi (25:1) teaches that Ketura was Hagar. This episode questions why the Torah doesn’t tell us this openly and connects it with modern day antisemitism.

If the title sounds strange to you, have a listen…

In Breishis 18:21, Hashem describes the factors that He used to determine if Sedom should be destroyed. This episode analyzes this passuk with Rashi’s explanations.

What’s in a name? This episode discusses the significance of the name changes of Avraham, Sarah, Yaakov, and Yehoshua. Furthermore, it discusses what the name changes teach us about these different personalities.

Rashi (Breishis 19:26) says that Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because of her sin of depriving guests of salt. This episode analyzes the sense of this fantastic punishment.