Ta Shma

Ethan Tucker. בדיעבד and לכתחילה as Central Ideas in Jewish Law and Life. Is Torah about life or is life about Torah? Are the details of Jewish law pristine instructions and guidelines that beckon the world to mimic their platonic form? Or is Jewish practice meant to somehow sanctify and legitimate the messy world as it is, bending to fit and accommodate the realities of any given moment? Rabbinic literature teems with laws that distinguish between ideal practice and coping strategies for addressing unexpected situations. The terminology used to highlight these different states are לכתחילה/le-khathilah and בדיעבד/be-diavad.

Elie Kaunfer. The Ethics of Paying Poverty Wages. What is the origin and purpose of the minimum wage? What do Jewish sources have to say about this? Recorded at the summer Yom Iyyun, 2016.

Dena Weiss, Jason Rubenstein. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

Ethan Tucker. Confronting the Limits and Challenges of Gender Egalitarianism. Can a society actually survive and excel without some of its members (adjuncts) playing a supporting role for others (principals)? For most of human history, these roles of adjunct and principal have been played by women and men respectively. But a world where we are moving to increased gender egalitarianism raises some challenges: when there is a principal and an adjunct, roles and responsibilities are clearly divided. When everyone is equal, how do we make sure that we maximize the ability for equals to fulfill their obligations in a manageable way?

Shai Held. The Social-Theological Vision of Sefer Devarim. The book of Deuteronomy imagines an Israelite society in which poverty and its causes are completely eradicated. How does it do so? What is its social vision and its theological implications? Recorded at the summer Yom Iyyun, 2016.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

Ethan Tucker. Does a Gentile corpse have the same power of impurity as a Jewish one? In part 1, we saw that there emerges a position of R. Shimon b. Yohai in the Talmud Bavli that they don't. Here, we see the medieval responses to this evidence and some concluding thoughts on halakhah as a guide, rather than an obstacle.

Tefillah Toolkit #4. Joey Weisenberg teaches his own tunes for Nishmat, Ilu Finu, and Shokhein Ad, and talks about how they fit in with the rest of the shabbat morning service.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

Ethan Tucker. Are Jewish and Gentile corpses the same? Do they defile in the same ways and with the same intensity? Are kohanim, who are commanded to avoid contact with corpses, equally warned to stay away from both? To distinguish between Jewish and Gentile corpses is ultimately to make deeper comments on the distinctions between Jewish and Gentile humanity.