Torah Talk

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 26th, 2021 Exodus 6:4 I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners [‏אֶ֥רֶץ מְגֻרֵיהֶ֖ם אֲשֶׁר־גָּ֥רוּ בָֽהּ]. In Hebrew, you can “live” using lots of different verbs.  Translations often obscure the difference between settling […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 19th, 2021 Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 12th, 2021 Gen. 50:1 Joseph flung himself upon his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 It required forty days, for such is the full period […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of December 5th, 2021 Gen. 47:1  Then Joseph came … 2 And selecting a few of his brothers [וּמִקְצֵ֣ה אֶחָ֔יו לָקַ֖ח חֲמִשָּׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֑ים], he presented them to Pharaoh. “A few” is literally five (it’s an Egyptian thing).  But why does he select them from the end of his brothers?  (That’s what קצה literally means.) […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 28th, 2021 Gen. 43:29      Looking about, he saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and asked, “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he went on, “May God be gracious to you, my boy.” 30 With that, Joseph hurried out, […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 21st, 2021 Gen. 37:2  This, then, is the line [אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת] of Jacob. What does תֹּלְד֣וֹת mean, and why does Rashi’s grandson wait until this verse to explain his methods? This week’s handout: 09 Vayeshev 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for more links or to contact me.

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 14th, 2021 Gen. 35:18  But as Rachel breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her baby Ben-oni [בֶּן־אוֹנִ֑י]; but his father called him Benjamin [בִנְיָמִֽין]. What do these names mean, and what does Benjamin’s name imply? This week’s handout: 08 Vayishlach 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! Click here for […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of November 7th, 2021 Gen. 31:14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, saying, “Have we still a share in the inheritance [הַע֥וֹד לָ֛נוּ חֵ֥לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֖ה] of our father’s house?” What are Rachel and Leah complaining about, and where else does that phrase direct our attention? This week’s handout: 07 Vayetze […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 31st, 2021 Gen. 26:1   There was a famine in the land—aside from the previous famine [מִלְּבַד֙ הָרָעָ֣ב הָרִאשׁ֔וֹן] that had occurred in the days of Abraham—and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Why must the story of Isaac tell us that this was […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 24th, 2021 Genesis 24 tells the story of Abraham’s servant going back to the old country to get a wife for his master’s son.  But in v. 65, the son gets a remarkable promotion.  Why? This week’s handout: 05 Hayyei Sarah 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via Paypal! […]