TINW Torah Study

The stories in the Torah may seem to be stories about families, but they are actually political and polemical stories. They are used as arguments against what other people are doing in their worship. When we hear disparaging stories of people who worship differently than we do, we should carefully consider whether there might be an ulterior motive. This week, with thanks to Dr. Erin Darby of the University of Tennessee, we take a close look at differences between practices of the people from the northern kingdom of Israel vs. those of people from the southern kingdom of Judah—and how those differences are recorded in our Bible.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. (Genesis 28: 12) 
This week our guest-leader, Rabbi Janet Roberts led us in an exploration of angels in the Hebrew Bible.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

This week we looked at the story of David & Bathsheba. Some people may remember Bathsheba as an innocent woman, lusted after by David. But today we story we read about her role in gas-lighting David while on his deathbed. She proves herself to be a  powerful woman who knows how to play at palace intrigue. Our ancient texts are rich and full of surprising stories for us to ponder and debate—warts and all!

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

Bible scholar James Kugel (born: 1945) says of the biblical tales: ". . . if they were written down in the Bible, it was not so as to record what has occurred in some distant past, but 'for our instruction, so that . . . we might learn some vital lesson for our lives." This is an understanding of the biblical tales which Paul, founder of Christianity, understood, as did the Jewish medieval sage Rashi—and as does Rabbi Jaech today. 

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

All of humanity suffers, but hope can help keep humans strong. Many biblical stories tell us that perhaps there is a purpose for suffering, and that our suffering may be a path to something better. 

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

Does it make a difference if we think of God as a bearded man on a throne, or as a nurturing woman? This week our guest Torah Study leader, Rabbi Janet Roberts, showed us passages where the gender of God is ambiguous or—using a term in use today—genderfluid. 

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

The stories we tell reflect an understanding of the world we live in, and the way we tell the story reflects something about ourselves and our audience. We might imagine writing the story of our own life, and the aspects we might highlight, at the age of 20 vs. 40 vs. 60 vs. 80. The same is true of the writers of the Bible.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

Enjoy life while we have it,
and don’t deny yourself pleasure.
Know that some pleasures will have consequences,
but life is to be enjoyed and lived fully!

     (a lesson of Ecclesiastes 11:8; paraphrased by Rabbi Jaech)

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

Professor David Sperling guest-led our session today and showed us how the text of the Bible changed with the times: From polytheism to monotheism. From strength in military might to strength in studying Torah and following God's laws.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.

The book of Jonah—which is the haftarah reading for Yom Kippur—is one of the books found in The Prophets, but it stands apart from the other prophetic writings: The book of Jonah is written as a narrative story, and not as a harangue. Also unusual is the fact that Jonah is given a mission to save gentiles from the wrath of God, not Jews. This week we review the book of Jonah and the lessons we can learn from it.

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.