Bava Metzia Perek 6: Taromet, Review - Dec 20, 2019 - Quick review of the definition and application of מחוסר אמנה and תרעומת - cases in which one breaks a verbal agreement, or negotiates deceptively, leading to costs of various kinds.

Bava Metzia Perek 6: Poel vs Eved, Review - Dec 20, 2019 - Review: Quick run-through of how the Torah conceives of the employee-employer relationship, three approaches to why an employee may quit at midday (based on the relationship between employee status and eved status), and discussion of when one may become an eved.

The Unique Hallel of Chanukah - Dec 19, 2019 - The most complete version of a shiur available in a couple of other forms on-line. Why does Rambam record the laws of Hallel in the laws of Chanukah? (1) Hallel as the central mitzvah of Chanukah, and (2) The Hallel of Chanukah representing a response to a miracle, not a ritual associated with a korban.

Shemuel #47 - 14:28-35 - Yehonatan's Rebuke, a Nation's Meat - Dec 19, 2019 - Yehonatan rejects his father's oath - and is vindicated when the nation's hasty eating after the fast leads to sin!

Shoftim 6:33-7:8 - Second Miracle, Second Act - Dec 17, 2019 - Gidon rallies troops, and then demands a second miracle - twice! What's the purpose? And then Gd has Gidon pare down his forces in an unusual way...

Medical Ethics: Communal Spending for Medical Needs - Dec 17, 2019 - First thoughts on: The basis for a community's duty to provide healthcare; balancing healthcare and other needs; spending for preventive medicine and allocating funds for future needs; the role of a clinician

Yeshayah, Week 40: Perek 25 - War and Salvation or Philosophical Truth Revealed? - Dec 17, 2019 - Two approaches to the twenty-fifth chapter of Yeshayah: A song to G-d for defeating our foes and protecting the vulnerable, or a song to G-d upon the revelation of Truth with the resurrection of the dead at techiyat hameitim. And with a feast in the middle, and possibly the end of death!

Introduction to Rav Soloveitchik's "Confrontation" Essay - Dec 12, 2019 - A quick survey of excerpts from Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik's 1964 essay, Confrontation, with an eye toward understanding the two types of Confrontation as reflected in Creation and applicable today, and how they are visible in Yaakov's encounter with Esav.

Shemuel #46 - 14:17-27 - Shaul stops and swears; Yehonatan snacks - Dec 12, 2019 - Shaul decides not to ask advice from the urim v'tumim, but instead to go to war. Shaul swears lest the nation eat anything, but Yehonatan, apparently unaware, eats dvash in the field. Why is Shaul not looking for Yehonatan? Why do we need to know what Yehonatan ate?

Life After Death, Week 6: Awareness in the Afterlife; Resurrection of the Dead - Dec 11, 2019 - Are people aware of events in this world, and interested in them, after their death? What does Judaism believe regarding Techiyat haMeitim - the ultimate resurrection of the dead? Geared toward a group including people without strong background in Torah text study.