1:00 Sh'ma is a constant guide to our lives

3:45 The meaning of the Sh'ma according to Rashi

4:30 The meaning of there being many gods

6:30 Metaphysics is not interesting to Tanach

8:15 Whether there are many gods or only one depends on people's behavior

10:00 When you say Sh'ma, you should envision redemption and plan for it

12:00 How humanity will attain the Messianic Era and what we should do about it

14:00 Unity and love

16:45 Reaching "Hashem is one" without defining Hashem

20:00 Humanity converging on one value means they are serving Hashem; all the Torah cares about is not serving "other gods"

22:45 Not every monotheist serves Hashem; "as if" being an idolater is extremely important

28:30 Human progress and reaching unity of Hashem

31:45 Everyone has a god; the god that you "as if" worship is more important for some purposes than the god that you actually worship

34:30 The unity of action achieved by a person who worships one God must apply to any potential future experiences as well, which is why you have to envision giving up your life when saying Sh'ma

38:00 The Jewish problem and the 70 ministering angels

42:00 Creation ex nihilo and disregard for the universe

45:20 Why Jews must be unlike other nations; how to effect unifications

48:30 How to manipulate history and why we need to program AI to effect Redemption

This lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.

The lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation

1:15 "הא לחמא עניא": our conversation centers around the meal; the 4 questions are all about food5:00 "עבדים היינו": the answer to the son's question; the son's question is that the events of the past are not current events, so why is the night of Pesach treated as a unique time10:00 The significance of the fact that it is the son who asks the question: the next generation doesn't understand why the past is relevant to it13:30 "ואילו לא הוציא הקב"ה את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משעובדים היינו לפרעה": there are moments in life that have historic, cosmic import17:00 "ברוך המקום": the Torah talks about the sons in 4 places, corresponding to 4 kinds of children19:00 "אילו היה שם לא היה נגאל": the wicked son doesn't accept that there are significant, historic moments in life, and without realizing that, he wouldn't have seized the opportunity of redemption and would have stayed behind in Egypt21:30 והמבין יבין!22:40 "מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה": a new narrative, according to which the servitude in Egypt is part of the solution, not part of the problem26:00 The recurring historic theme of Jewish suffering and redemption and its providential purpose; a second answer to the son's question about history30:00 והמבין יבין!33:10 The natural causes of Jewish suffering and persecution35:30 "צא ולמד": the recurring theme already happened with the forefathers; a segue into "ארמי אובד אבי"38:15 "רבן גמליאל היה אומר": a third answer to the son's question about history: it happened to us as well, in every generation40:15 The whole Haggadah revolves around the question about how the past bears on the present43:00 "חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים": meaning and how it's done44:30 "ואותנו הוציא משם": Aristotle on natural slaves; how freedom really depends on knowing Hashem; the most honest people would be slaves if they lacked knowledge of Hashem

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.

This shiur was generously sponsored by Mr. Ari Schwartz. This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation.

7:00 Divine bodies

11:00 Overview of the Guide 2:25

17:00 Maimonides' seven questions on the Torah

23:30 The middle question suggests that mitzvahs have no reason, contrary to Maimonides' opinion

29:00 That God has an unfathomable intent is the foundation of the Torah; Torah is irreducible to reason

34:00 If Aristotle's model of reality were to be proven, the Torah would be eventually abandoned, because if Torah is reducible to reason, it would be dispensable

45:30 The reasonableness of idolatry

49:15 Why is idolatry reasonable if it's based on the eternity of the universe?

51:00 The project of the Torah to uproot idolatry is the project of promoting the doctrine of Creation ex Nihilo and God's unfathomable intent in general

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.

8:15 How Abraham reached knowledge of God through contemplating the heavens

19:30 Was Abraham an Aristotelian philosopher?

25:00 Prophecy revealed the truth that Creation ex Nihilo is the proper belief, not that Creation ex Nihilo is a scientific, cosmological fact

44:45 Since we believe that Abraham and Moshe had divine revelation, their personal philosophical speculations don't concern us

48:30 Maimonides' story about how Abraham discovered God is a deliberate anachronism

52:30 The project of the Guide of the Perplexed and how the perplexity shifts dramatically when it comes to Creation

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history.

This shiur was generously sponsored by Mr. Ari Schwartz. This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation.

8:00 Avraham and Moshe as authorities and leaders who we follow and from whom we accept the doctrine of Creation ex Nihilo

18:00 Jews are the community of followers of Avraham, their forefather, and Moshe, their prophet

21:45 What a person should do when facing an issue that isn't conclusively proven

30:30 Why authorities determine the appropriate beliefs and how belief is a kind of practice

36:00 The belief in Creation ex Nihilo is a matter of law, not only a matter of scientific truth

45:00 Was Maimonides himself developing original legislation regarding Creation ex Nihilo?

51:00 Why rhetorical arguments in favor of Creation ex Nihilo are appropriate

55:00 Maimonides' original legislation of dogma

57:15 Revelatory prophecy as the source for the belief in Creation ex Nihilo