Simply Deep

The Mishna in Yomah 85b tells us how fortunate we are: Before Whom do we purify ourselves and Who purifies us? Our Father in Heaven. This episode discusses the uniqueness of Teshuva during the days leading up to Yom HaKippurim.

The Gemara in Brachos 12b discusses whether saying Hamelech Hakadosh during eseres yemei teshuva is me’akeiv.

We start with trying to understand the Rambam in Teshuva 2:2 about a testimony of/before Hashem that a baal Teshuva won’t return to his sin. To do so, we analyze the Rambam’s proof text - Hoshea 14, the Haftora for Shabbos Shuva.

The Gemara in Eiruvin 13a describes Rabbi Akiva rejecting a student’s proposal while simultaneously praising it. We analyze this and discover nuances involved in teaching.

In Devarim 26:12-15, the Torah tells us about the “confession” a person makes after finishing the cycle of maasros. We analyze the significance of this mitzvah.

Why do we blow shofar in Elul? The Tur brings down three reasons.

The gemara in RH 16b says we blow shofar twice on Rosh Hashana to confuse the Satan. This episode analyzes Tosafos’s interpretation of this gemara.

The gemara in RH 16b says we blow shofar twice on Rosh Hashana to confuse the Satan. This episode analyzes Rashi's interpretation of this gemara.

This episode discusses the Rashi (Devarim 19:17) that says people standing before judges should view it as if they’re standing before Hashem.

The Gemara in Eiruvin 13b describes how the three year argument between Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel culminated in a bas kol saying, “These and these are the words of the living God, and the Halacha is like Beis Hillel.” The Gemara goes on to explain that the psak is like Beis Hillel because of various good middos they had. We analyze these middos and discuss why they’re relevant for halachik psak. We also discuss the meaning of the bas kol.