Torah Talk

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 17th, 2021 Gen. 18:22   The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. The Bible says Abraham remained standing before the Lord — but the Masorah (the rabbinic tradition that accompanies the Bible) says it was originally the other way around. […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 10th, 2021 Gen. 15:12 As the sun was about to set [וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ לָב֔וֹא], a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great dark dread descended upon him … 17 When the sun set [וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה] and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of October 3rd, 2021 Gen. 7:11 tells us poetically: All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open. How did Prov. 3:20 and Isa. 24:18 know this poem?  Ed Greenstein explains. This week’s handout: 02 Noach 5782 Learn Biblical Hebrew! Donate via […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 26th, 2021 The first two chapters of Genesis tell the story of the creation of the world twice.  How do those two stories work together in the Bible as we have it now?  (Hint: H is responsible!) This week’s handout: 01 Bereshit 5782 Learn more about the Holiness […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 19th, 2021 Deut. 33:21  For there is the portion of the revered chieftain [מְחֹקֵ֖ק סָפ֑וּן], Where the heads of the people come [וַיֵּתֵא֙ רָ֣אשֵׁי עָ֔ם]. What is the meaning of these mysterious lines from the blessing of Gad? Did the end of line 1 and the […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 12th, 2021 Deut. 32:1    Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter! But … why?  Scholar Mark Leuchter asks: Why is the Song of Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy? This week’s handout: 53 Ha’azinu 5781-82 Learn Biblical […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of September 5th, 2021 Deut. 31:1    Moses went and spoke these things to all Israel. 2  He said to them: I am now one hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer be active. Moreover, the Lord has said to me, “You shall not go across […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 29th, 2021 Deut. 29:9 You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials [רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם], all the men of Israel. Who are the “tribal heads” and how can “your heads and your tribes” mean that — or […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 22nd, 2021 Deut. 28:36    The Lord will drive you, and the king you have set over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers, where you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone. 37 You shall be a consternation, a proverb, and […]

This is Torah Talk for the week of August 15th, 2021 Deut. 25:5   When brothers dwell together and one of them dies and leaves no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married to a stranger, outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall unite with her: he shall take her as his wife […]