Rabbi Joseph Dana hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:50 AM at West Deal Shul.

This class covers a Gemara in Berachot 25a on when a person may recite Kriyat Shema near unclean matter and bad odors. It opens with the dispute between Rav Huna and Rav Chisda over saying Shema with soiled skin or a hand extended into a bathroom, and their proofs from "Kol haneshama tehalel Yah" and "Kol atzmotai tomarna." The class then works through how far to distance from a bad smell that has a source, the baraita supporting Rav Chisda, and Rava's counter-baraita limiting the prohibition to hides tanning in manure. It closes with a smell that has no source, the sleeping mats in Rav's beit midrash, and tzo'ah passing by, where Abaye permits continuing Shema while Rava forbids it under "vehayah machaneikha kadosh."

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(0:00) Shema while unclean: two opinions

(5:15) Distancing from a bad smell

(14:11) Rava's baraita: the tannery

(18:14) A smell with no source

(23:03) Passing tzo'ah: Abaye vs Rava

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Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul.

Rabbi Ike Hanon continues Pesahim 51b with one of the rare contradictions the Gemara raises and leaves unresolved: why Rabbah bar bar Chana, who ate a disputed fat in Bavel on the strength of having seen Rabbi Yochanan eat it, would not permit his own children to do the same. The class then learns the baraita behind Rabbi Shimon's story, where Rabbi Shimon permits self-grown cabbage (sefichei kruv) during Shemita while the chachamim forbid it as a safeguard, and works through Rashi's two explanations of what makes cabbage different. Both sides are shown to follow Rabbi Akiva's reading of the pasuk, narrowing the machloket to whether we decree against cabbage lest someone eat other sefichim. The class closes back at the Mishnah: when a traveler from a place that refrains from melacha on Erev Pesach visits a place where people work, Abaye and Rava explain how the stringency of his hometown can stand without causing a fight.

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(0:00) The Contradiction the Gemara Leaves Unresolved

(1:50) Sefichim: Rabbi Shimon's Leniency on Cabbage

(5:51) Both Sides Follow Rabbi Akiva; the Gezeirah Debate

(8:25) Travelers and Local Custom: Abaye and Rava

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Rabbi Albert Setton hosts classes every morning at 9:00 AM at West Deal Shul.

Day five of the Selichot series moves to the series of pesukim that follow Ben Adam Mah Lekha Nirdam, verses of teshuvah drawn from Daniel and across Tanakh. Rabbi Setton explains why Selichot weaves ready-made verses among the man-made piyyutim, and how each pasuk opens with the closing words of the one before it. The class then turns to Rabbi David ben Pikuydah's poem Lema'ancha Elohai, where Daniel's plea becomes a bold claim: Hashem should end the exile for His own name's sake, because Israel's fate among the nations reflects on Him. It closes with the poem's portraits of the suffering of the galut and the quiet loyalty of a people that keeps showing up to pray.

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(0:00) The pesukim after Ben Adam
(1:20) Why we pray in Tanakh's own words
(2:05) The poem Lema'ancha Elohai
(3:00) Do it for Your name's sake
(4:10) The suffering of the galut
(5:10) Still loyal, still showing up

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Rabbi Albert Setton hosts classes every morning at 9:00 AM at West Deal Shul.

Day four of the Selichot series opens the piyyut Ben Adam Mah Lekha Nirdam, the poem at the very start of Selichot. Rabbi Setton shows how the early poets of Spain, including Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, wrote moving introductions to the practice of rising before dawn to pray, giving worshippers the motivation to come out in the darkness. The class draws on Yonah asleep in the storm-tossed boat and the Rambam's reading of the shofar as a wake-up call, urging us to awaken not only for Selichot but in our lives. It closes with the call to take responsibility for our sins before Hashem, who already knows them, and to trust in His mercy as a father's mercy for his children.

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(0:00) The poem Ben Adam Mah Lekha Nirdam
(1:05) "How could you be sleeping now?"
(2:10) Running to prayer and from sin
(3:45) The shofar's wake-up call
(4:35) Taking responsibility for our sins
(6:15) A father's mercy

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Rabbi Albert Setton hosts classes every morning at 9:00 AM at West Deal Shul.

Rabbi Albert Setton continues the Selichot series by placing Selichot in the Rambam's discussion of judgment between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. He explains how each mitzvah can affect not only an individual but the whole world, giving Selichot a wider communal purpose. The class then shows why Ashrei and Kaddish Titkabal frame Selichot as a true tefillah rather than only confession. It closes by explaining how the alef-bet structure of many prayers expresses a request that aims to include everything.

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(0:00) Judgment and Responsibility

(1:52) Ashrei Introduces Tefillah

(3:10) Kaddish Titkabal

(4:10) The Alef-Bet Structure

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Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul.

Rabbi Ike Hanon continues Pesahim 51a-51b with Rabbah bar bar Chana eating a permitted fat in Bavel despite the local custom to avoid it. The Gemara reviews why travelers respect local practice and distinguishes between someone moving permanently and someone who plans to return home, a principle with practical implications for keeping one or two festival days. Rabbi Hanon then examines when a student may rely on a great rabbi's lenient practice and the humility shown by Rabbah bar bar Chana toward his own authority. The class closes with a Ki Tavo teaching that connects Amalek's attack, ingratitude, Bikkurim, and the duty to remain grateful even when life becomes difficult.

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(0:00) Customs of Israel and Bavel
(2:22) Why Local Customs Bind
(4:38) Three Reasons Not to Deviate
(6:00) Israel's Rabbinic Authority
(8:26) The Wisdom of Eretz Yisrael
(10:28) Planning to Return Home
(12:42) One or Two Festival Days
(15:07) Relying on a Great Rabbi
(17:57) Ki Tavo and Gratitude
(19:14) Hard Times and Good Times

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Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat.

Mr. Sammy Saka studies Pirke Abot 3:2, where Rabbi Chanina Segan HaKohanim teaches that one should pray for the welfare of the government because without its authority people would swallow one another alive. He explains Rabbi Chanina's role as deputy Kohen Gadol and connects the mishnah to the value of peace, communal prayers for civil leaders, and the seventy sacrifices offered for the nations on Sukkot. The class stresses the need for law and order while distinguishing prayer for government from placing ultimate trust in political leaders. Through examples from American public life, local Jewish civic involvement, and Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau's meetings with world leaders, Mr. Saka argues that gratitude, public service, prayer, and trust in Hashem can help build peace.

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(0:00) Pirke Abot 3:2

(1:14) The Deputy Kohen Gadol

(3:17) Peace and All Creation

(4:11) Praying for the Government

(5:35) Sukkot and the Nations

(7:26) Why Law and Order Matter

(10:31) The Heavenly Kingdom

(11:13) Pray, But Trust in Hashem

(12:03) A Lesson From Chris Christie

(13:19) Jewish Civic Leadership

(14:52) Peace and Public Safety

(15:34) Rabbi Lau's Example

(17:31) Gratitude and Responsibility

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Rabbi Moshe Tobal hosts classes every day at 6:30 AM at West Deal Shul.

Rabbi Moshe Tobal explores the closing commandment of Perasha Ki Tezeh to remember Amalek, asking why Amalek attacked after Israel weakened its commitment to Torah and why the attackers targeted brit milah. Drawing on the Vilna Gaon's reading of Mishlei, he contrasts making this world a permanent home with treating it as a temporary passage toward Olam Haba. The class presents the Jewish task as turning physical life into holiness, with brit milah serving as a covenant that sanctifies the body. Rabbi Tobal explains Amalek as the force that rejects spirituality in this world and closes with Rav Elchonon Wasserman's teaching that today Amalek is opposed through sustained Torah study, spiritual effort, and longing for the complete redemption.

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(0:00) Ki Tezeh and Amalek

(1:17) Why Amalek Targeted the Brit

(2:03) A Tent or a Permanent Home

(3:48) Turning Mud Into Gold

(5:14) A Jew's Spiritual Aspiration

(6:15) Weakening Torah Invites Amalek

(7:28) Brit Milah Sanctifies the Body

(9:42) Amalek's War on Spirituality

(10:25) Amalek in Our Time

(11:32) Erasing Amalek Through Torah

(12:37) Longing for the Geulah

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Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul.

The class continues on Pesahim 51a with the rule against acting leniently in a place where the local community has adopted a stricter custom. Through cases involving a bathhouse in Kabul, loose shoes on Shabbat in Bered, and gentile-owned benches in Akko, the Gemara asks when visitors must defer to local practice and why communities without ready access to rabbis require added care. Rabbi Hanon then traces the reasoning behind the bathhouse restrictions and the duties of respect owed to parents and teachers. The class closes with Rabba bar bar Chana's move from Israel to Bavel, differing kashrut practices, and a discussion of whether travelers carry their home customs with them, including the second festival day in the diaspora.

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(0:00) Customs and Leniency

(1:42) The Bathhouse in Kabul

(4:00) Respecting a Local Practice

(5:38) Loose Shoes on Shabbat

(7:27) Benches and Business in Akko

(9:55) Communities Without Rabbis

(12:00) Reasons Behind the Customs

(14:00) Bathing, Family and Respect

(16:00) From Israel to Bavel

(18:13) Customs of the Diaspora

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Rabbi Albert Setton hosts classes every morning at 9:00 AM at West Deal Shul.

Rabbi Albert Setton continues the Selichot series by explaining why Ashkenazim begin at least four days before Rosh Hashanah, allowing ten days of Selichot around the days when they are not recited. He compares this custom with the Sephardic practice throughout Elul and traces the core of Selichot to the Geonim before later communities developed their own piyutim and prayers. The class highlights the central themes of accepting Hashem's kingship, confession, mercy, exile, and redemption, emphasizing that Selichot asks for the welfare of all Am Yisrael rather than only personal needs. It closes with the power of simple, memorable tunes that let the entire congregation join together in prayer.

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(0:00) Why Ashkenazim Begin Earlier

(1:04) Ten Days of Selichot

(1:34) The Rambam and Elul

(2:08) How Selichot Developed

(3:03) Piyutim Across Communities

(3:45) Exile and Redemption

(4:58) Praying for All Am Yisrael

(5:25) The Power of Simple Tunes

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Visit: westdealshul.org

Sponsorships: [email protected]