In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Vayakel-Pikudei.

This week, Amichai explores Exodus, Chapter 38, Verse 8, and all that can be said, is that you will never read the portion the same way again.

There is nothing else to say, just listen.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Ki Tisa.

Amichai focuses on Exodus, Chapter 32, Verse 6, and specifically, as his wont to do, on the translation of the word “Litsachek”. How would you translate this word? How did Amichai?

Listen to learn.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Tetzaveh.

This portion deals with the garments of the high-priest, and Amichai explors Chapter 28, but focuses on the Urim and Tumim, words which are not translated well at all?

What do these two “mystical” words mean? Listen in to learn more.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Terumah.

While this portion (and the one’s to follow) focus on the building of the Mishkan (tabernace), a very male-centric activity, Amichai is intrigued by Exodus Chapter 26, Verse 3, and the feminine motif within.

Listen in to learn more.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Mishpatim.

More specifically, “Lauviticus” explores Exodus, Chapter 23, Verse 12 and the word Nafesh. Nafesh has many possible translations, but Amichai explores the connection between this word and it’s root word Nefesh. How do these two words connect?

Listen in to how Amichai explores grapples with this question.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Yitro.

In this portion, Yitro, for whom the parsha is named comes with his daughter and Moshe’s sons to see Moshe. In relationship, he becomes the first “Jew by Choice.”

Amichai explores Exodus, chapter 19, verse 5 and specifically the word Segulah. The word is translated as everything from treasure, to valued, to chosen… 

Listen in to how Amichai explores this theme.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the torah portion Beshalach.

In this portion, the Israelites have left Egypt, and the American Standard translation if Chapter 13, Verse 18 says “But God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.”

The word “armed” in Hebrew is the word Chamushim and while some translations will use the word “armed” or “equipped for battle”, or “with weapons” others have translated it, by connecting it to the word Chamesh or “Five”. 

How is the word five used in this important verse? Listen to find out!

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore the many faces of the word “Avodah”.

This weeks torah portion Bo uses this word in Exodus, Chapter Twelve, Verse Sixteen, when it talks about how future generations will commemorate the Exodus from Egypt.

But, why does this word have so many meanings? Work or Love, Worship or Bondage? Labor or Ceremony?

And Amichai ends up looking at the eerie role that this word has played in more modern history of the Jewish people.

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore Exodus, Chapter Six, Verse Twelve, and the portion of Va’era. 

This parsha, deals with the choosing of Moses by God to be the spokesperson, and Moses’s ambivalence is this role. Moses says that he has “Aral Sifatayim”. But what do those words mean?

A literal traslation is that he has “uncircumcised” lips. These are words that surely need some unpacking. Do the words mean tongue-tied? or with a lisp, or was there something deeper, were his lips “sealed” or truly “uncircumcised”?

In this episode of Verse Per Verse, Amichai explore Exodus, Chapter One, Verse 19, and the portion of Shemot. 

This parsha, is the first in the book of Shemot (Exodus) and deals with the birth of Moses. Verse Nineteen focuses on a comment by the Jewish midwives, in which they indicate that the Jewish women, unlike their Egyptian counterparts seem to give birth before they arrive.

The translations in question is that of Chayot which is translated in a wide range of ways, from simply “Vigorous” to a much more inflammatory “Animals.”

*A reminder that this podcast was originally produced in 2007. In this episode, Amichai references the new film “Children of Men” which is no longer a new film.