The Parasha with Rabbi Dweck

Before Moshe Rabbenu dies, he leaves us a poem, not a set of instructions. He calls the very heavens and earth to witness it, bringing us back to the same shamayim and arets that stood at creation. That choice matters: poetry, unlike prose, holds a myriad of meanings at once, and that openness is exactly what a person needs walking into Yom Kippur. We read Ha'azinu this year not before Sukkot, as is usual, but right before Yom Kippur, and the poem's layered possibility turns out to be the very structure of teshuvah.Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.For more, check out rabbijosephdweck.com.Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidweckTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbidweckYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RabbiJosephDweck

The bulk of this parasha deals with a harsh foretelling of what will be the experience of the people of Israel if they live unfaithfully to the covenant and God's commandments.

It is an eerie and uncomfortable harbinger of a story that unfolds with persecution and pain that we sadly know only too well as Jewish history. In this episode we ponder that reality and also consider the unique and before unmentioned aspect of living the covenant with happiness and a goodness of heart.

Near the end of Debarim and approaching the High Holidays, Moshe’s final teachings move from Israel’s judicial structure to Parashat Ki Tetse, which contains 74 mitsvot shaping every facet of civil life—property, labor, charity, business ethics, relationships, agriculture, and honest weights and measures—framed not as mere morality but as covenantal obligations demanded by God...Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Moshe, in Parashat Shoftim, lays out the framework for Israel’s national governance—leaders, judges, enforcement, and criminal law—then warns that upon entering the land Israel must not adopt the abhorrent practices of the prior nations, including child sacrifice and all forms of divination, sorcery, spell-casting, and consulting the dead...For more, check out rabbijosephdweck.com.Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidweckTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbidweckYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RabbiJosephDweck

Moshe Rabbenu opens Re’eh by setting before Am Yisrael Har Gerizim and Har Evab as symbols of two paths—berakhah and kelalah—as they cross the Jordan to inherit and dwell in the land God gives them. He teaches that remaining on the derech of covenant requires guarding and doing all hukim and mishpatim as a unified system, and he immediately frames this as eradicating abodah zarah from the land, emphasizing there is no middle ground...This is generously sponsored by David Tawil for the good health and berachot for the Tawil family and Le’iluy Nishmat Jeremy Smouha - Yirmiyahu de Yehezkel Smouha HaLevi.Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.

In Parashat Ekeb, Moshe prepares Bnei Yisrael to enter the land, urging them not to fear their enemies and promising blessing and success if they keep the mitsvot, highlighting Birkat Hamazon as a safeguard against forgetting God. This is generously sponsored by David Tawil for the good health and berachot for the Tawil family and Le’iluy Nishmat Jeremy Smouha - Yirmiyahu de Yehezkel Smouha HaLevi.Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.For more, check out rabbijosephdweck.com.Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidweckTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbidweckYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RabbiJosephDweck00:00 Mitsvot Beyond Details02:01 Hukim and Mishpatim03:21 A System of Living04:43 Guard and Do05:39 Wisdom Before Nations11:34 Don’t Isolate Mitsvot12:43 Body Analogy15:15 Studying the Whole Torah18:26 Rejecting One Mitsvah20:18 Cherry Picking vs Covenant24:17 Survival Through Faithfulness26:04 Tsitsit and Closing

Parashat Va’tchanan restates the Ten Commandments and frames all mitzvot—chukim and mishpatim—not as isolated rules but as a holistic system for national life in covenant with God, ideally in Eretz Yisrael.This is generously sponsored by David Tawil for the good health and berachot for the Tawil family and Le’iluy Nishmat Jeremy Smouha - Yirmiyahu de Yehezkel Smouha HaLevi.Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.

As Moshe Rabbeinu nears the end of his life, he spends 36 days delivering final words in Sefer Debarim to prepare Bnei Yisrael to enter the land as a free, sovereign people in covenant with God, reading Parashat Devarim before Tisha B’Av to confront what went wrong. This is generously sponsored by David Tawil for the good health and berachot for the Tawil family and Le’iluy Nishmat Jeremy Smouha - Yirmiyahu de Yehezkel Smouha HaLevi.Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.For more, check out rabbijosephdweck.com.Instagram: https://instagram.com/rabbidweckTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbidweckYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RabbiJosephDweck

Speaking from Deal, New Jersey, Rabbi Dweck reflects on Parashot Matot–Mas'ei as the close of Sefer Bemidbar and uses the daughters of Tzelofchad story to explore the Torah’s nuanced approach to tribal identity.

Rabbi Dweck has held rabbinic leadership roles in the US and the UK. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of TheHabura.com and the Rabbi Levy Chair of Jewish Wisdom at the London School of Jewish Studies.For more, check out rabbijosephdweck.com.This is generously sponsored by David Tawil for the good health and berachot for the Tawil family and Le’iluy Nishmat Jeremy Smouha - Yirmiyahu de Yehezkel Smouha HaLevi.