Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally

On this week’s parsha, Vayera, the Torah teaches us that if we want to help people, we have to do more than merely offer them food, drink, and other basic necessities. True charity, we learn, involves giving people the education they need to have faith and strive to uplift themselves and others. What can we learn from Abraham about being kind to strangers? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On this week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, the Torah gives us a master class on journeys, not just towards destinations unknown but also, and more importantly, into our own souls, our own destinies, and our own best selves. But what must we do when we’re seized by doubt and uncertainty? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On this week’s parsha, Noach, the Torah reminds us that we can’t really expect to make it through the flood of life unless we have an ark of our own, a safe and sturdy vessel to carry us when things get too choppy. What’s the best sort of ark we can find now that the challenges that plague us are a bit more modern than a good, old fashioned flood? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week, our parsha-less streak reaches its home stretch, as we celebrate the holiday of Simchat Torah. It's a loaded one this year, as this otherwise joyous holiday marks the one year anniversary of the October 7 massacre. What do the families of those murdered on that dark day think we should do now that we're heartbroken yet are commanded to sing and dance and be merry? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Dreyfus: A Very Modern Affair is an October 7th story, but one that begins not in 2023, but in October of 1894 with the arrest of French military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who also happened to be a Jew. The implications of his framing, arrest, incarceration and the fallout of his eventual exoneration reverberate today. Over this five-episode series, we examine how these events unfolded, and how they connect to the antisemitism that exists today.

Visit https://www.tabletmag.com/dreyfuspodcast or search for Tablet Studios on your podcast app for the rest of the series.

This week, we continue with our parsha-less streak, celebrating the High Holidays And this week, it’s time for Sukkot, the festival that commands us to take all of our meals for one week in a rickety outdoor hut. But could it be that this rickety hut is actually more stable than our homes? And is Sukkot the natural antidote to a life made so much more complicated and stressful by digital technology? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week, there’s no parsha. Because this Friday evening we mark the beginning Yom Kippur, the only Jewish festival that we celebrate even when it falls on Shabbat. Most of us consider it a solemn, somber day of awe, but is it also, maybe, joyous? And what does it have to teach us about not letting our good ideas and good intentions just fade away without action? Tune in to find out. 

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week, we continue to read the Torah, but are focused on celebrating Rosh Hashanah. What is the holiday’s central mitzvah, and why is it, surprisingly, not about doing anything but merely about stopping, paying attention, and taking stock? Tune in to find out.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On this week’s parashot, a double-header of Nitzavim and Vayelech, the Torah gives us a practical guide to life, a reminder that we can tackle even the most daunting of tasks and that nothing we’re commanded to do is too great for our earthly powers. What does a famous story about a small child visiting a zoo have to teach us about our true potential? Tune in to find out.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On this week's parsha, Parshat Ki Tavo, we discuss how to act when we enter the land of Israel. With all sorts of terrible things that can happen, what should we focus on? How should we act? As Sivan explains, one verse directs us: "Because you did not serve God with happiness and gladness of heart when you had an abundence of everything." We should pay attention to what we have. Thank God for what we are given. Appreciate the privilege in our lives. But how can we be happy after such a challenging year? How can we create happy Jewish futures? And what does this have to do with the famous Israeli singer Ishay Ribo? Tune in to find out.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs.

Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.