Torah Talk

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 7th, 2022 Deut. 4:41   Then Moses set aside three cities across [בעבר] the Jordan 42 to which a manslayer could escape.   Modern and medievals agree: these words are an appendix – but why is it here?   This week’s handout: 45 Va-etchanan 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 31st, 2022 Deut. 1:17    You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low and high alike. Fear no man, for judgment is God’s [כִּ֥י הַמִּשְׁפָּ֖ט לֵאלֹהִ֣ים ה֑וּא]. The words are simple, in English and in Hebrew – “judgment is God’s” – until you stop […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 24th, 2022 Num. 33:5   The Israelites set out [וַיִּסְע֥וּ] from Rameses and encamped [וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ] at Succoth. Sounds very straightforward, but saying that the Israelites “set out” and “camped” is telling us something about them that’s not obvious from the text. This week’s handout: 42-43 Mattot-Masei 5782 […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 17th, 2022 Num. 26:9  The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen in the assembly, who agitated against Moses and Aaron as part of Korah’s band when they agitated against the Lord. 10 Whereupon the earth opened its […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 10th, 2022 Num. 23:7  He took up his theme [וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ], and said: Is a mashal really a “theme”? What does it mean to “take up” a mashal? And why does this phrase pervade the story of Balaam? This week’s handout: 40 Balak 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of July 3rd, 2022 In Num. 20:17 the Israelites say they “will follow the king’s highway  [דֶּ֧רֶךְ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ נֵלֵ֗ךְ],” and in v. 19 that they “will keep to the beaten track [בַּֽמְסִלָּ֣ה נַעֲלֶה֒].” Are these two roads or one? What kind of road is a mesillah? And what does this tell us about Jacob’s […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 26th, 2022 Num. 16:30 But if the LORD brings about something unheard-of [וְאִם־בְּרִיאָ֞ה יִבְרָ֣א יְ׳הוָ֗ה], so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, you shall know that these men have spurned […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 19th, 2022 Num. 14:10  As the whole community threatened to pelt them with stones, the Presence of the Lord appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. This week, two (seemingly) simple questions:  Who is “them” that the community is threatening to stone, and why does […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 12th, 2022 Num. 11:25    Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to him; He drew upon the spirit that was on him and put it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit rested upon them, they spoke in ecstasy, but did […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of June 5th, 2022 Num. 7:89    When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice addressing [מִדַּבֵּ֣ר] him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim; thus He spoke […]