Two Jews, Three Opinions

The Torah tells us the twins were already struggling in the womb - Yaakov pulled toward Torah, Esav toward idolatry. But the Talmud teaches that every child learns the entire Torah before birth. So what happened to Esav? Was he born bad? And if our tendencies are inborn, do we really have free choice?

A class on Parshas Toldos with Rabbi Aron Moss of Nefesh, Bondi Beach, based on Rashi, Rambam and the Rebbe's Likkutei Sichos, volume 20, Toldos sicha 2.

You pay $50 for a painting at a garage sale. A friend later tells you it's worth at least $20,000. The seller was clearing out his late father's things and had no idea. Did you just get lucky, or do you owe him something?

And what if you suspected its value before you paid? Where does a bargain end and a steal begin?

Trusting in G-d means believing it will be good. But what is that trust actually based on? A class on a 1952 maamar of the Rebbe, on the difference between love, understanding and commitment.

Why does the Torah describe Avraham as both "old" and "come into his days"? Surely one means the other. Yet this double description appears twice, thirty-seven years apart, and is used again for King David at just seventy years old.

So what does "coming into his days" really mean, why did the Torah need to tell us twice, and what does it teach about how to live every single day?

A class on Parshat Chayei Sarah with Rabbi Aron Moss of Nefesh, Bondi Beach, based on a talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Zohar.

A stranger's half-million-dollar boat is drifting towards the rocks. You save it - damaging your own boat and paying an emergency crew out of your own pocket. When you ask to be repaid, he answers: "Thanks, but I never asked you." Does he owe you anything?

The Talmud wrestled with exactly this: a man pours out his own wine to save a stranger's honey; a fugitive promises a ferryman a fortune to cross the river; two donkeys are swept away and only one can be saved. The rulings are surprising, and behind them sits a deep idea about what it really means to do someone a favour.

A class on Talmud Bava Metzia with Rabbi Aron Moss of Nefesh, Bondi Beach.

Count how many times Eliezer's camels are mentioned in Chayei Sarah.

Abraham fed strangers in the desert, then asked them to thank G-d. If they refused, he handed them a huge bill. Was that kindness, or a shakedown? The Talmud and Midrash tell a surprising story that raises an uncomfortable question: can you ever force someone to do the right thing?

A class on Parshat Vayera with Rabbi Aron Moss.

If I really believe I'll win the lottery, will I?

Can you open a shop right next door to your competitor? In the free market, of course you can. But what does Jewish law say?

The Talmud (Bava Batra 21b) records Rav Huna's ruling: if your neighbour opens a mill next to your mill, you can stop him, because "you're cutting off my livelihood." But is that the final word? Through fish traps, free lollies for kids, and rival bathhouses, the Sages pull that ruling apart.

A class on Bava Batra 21b with Rabbi Aron Moss of Nefesh, Bondi Beach.

Abraham discovered G-d at the age of three, smashed his father's idols and risked his life rather than worship false gods. Yet the Torah barely mentions any of these extraordinary achievements.

Instead, Abraham's story begins with two simple words: Lech Lecha, “Go for yourself.”

Why does the Torah overlook Abraham's spiritual greatness? And what does this reveal about the fundamental difference between the Jewish relationship with G-d and that of the rest of humanity?

A fascinating teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe reveals what truly makes a Jew Jewish, and why our connection with G-d goes deeper than faith, understanding or even religious observance.

Based on Likkutei Sichos, Volume 25, Lech Lecha, Sicha 1.