This is Torah Talk for the week of October 25th, 2020 Gen. 12:5         Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had made [וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ] in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. The medieval commentators explain […]

Gen. 11:4         And they said, “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world.” Amazingly, this tower has a name — and you can click below to see a picture of its remains. How […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 11th, 2020 In Gen 2:6 we learn that an אֵד rises up to water the ground. But … what is an eid, and when did this happen?   This week’s handout:  Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Donate via Venmo:

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 4th, 2020 At the end of Deuteronomy, we simultaneously go back to begin Genesis again and continue on by beginning to read Joshua.  The link between them?  It is the bones of Joseph. This week’s handout: 54 V’zot ha-Bracha 5780-81 Donate!            […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 20th, 2020 Deut 32:1 tells the heavens to “give ear” [האזינו] and the earth to “listen” [תשמע] — using the fancy poetic word first and the prosaic word second.  We’ll explore why, with help from Edward L. Greenstein, JeffreyTigay, H. L. Ginsberg, Moshe Seidel, and the […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 6th, 2020 Deut 29:10 mentions (male) woodchoppers and water-drawers as if they were non-Israelites — but elsewhere drawing water is a (local) women’s job, not one for foreign slaves.  What’s going on here … and what did the author of Ruth think about it all? This […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 30th, 2020 Deut 28:68 threatens the Israelites that they may be sent back to Egypt in ships.   So what? This week’s handout: 50 Ki Tavo 5780 Donate!                    Learn Biblical Hebrew!

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 23rd, 2020 Deut 25:19 (like Exod 17:14) talks about erasing זכר עמלק — but is that זֶכֶר or זֵכֶר, five dots or six?  And does the number of dots change the meaning of this word? This week’s handout: 49 Ki Tetze 5780 Donate!        […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 16th, 2020 Deut 17:15 says that you must pick as king “one of your own people [מקרב אחיך]” — a provision that’s matched in the U. S. constitution. But why? This week’s handout: 48 Shoftim 5780 Donate!                    Learn […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 9th, 2020 Deut 15:21 says that if your firstborn animal has a defect — “lameness or blindness” — you must not sacrifice it to the Lord. Is this phrase the key to understanding how David got hold of Jerusalem? This week’s handout: 47 Re’eh 5780 Donate!    […]