Bava Metzia Perek 6: Taromet, Part 2 - Sep 20, 2019 - Violating a verbal agreement may trigger תרעומת (taromet-complaint). How does this relate to מחוסר אמנה? And what does תרעומת look like? Part 2 of 3 regarding תרעומת.

Shemuel #39 - 12:9-25: Shemuel's Disordered History and Disastrous Miracle - Sep 19, 2019 - Why did Shemuel list selected foes and shoftim out of chronological order? And what was the message of Shemuel's catastrophic harvest rain? And what do we learn from Shemuel's statement that he will pray for the people, and "not sin"?

More than a Fish Story 2: The Yonah/G-d Debate - Sep 18, 2019 - Why did Nineveh repent in the way they did, torturing their animals, in Chapter 3? What is Hashem's response to Yonah in Chapter 4? Geared toward a group including people who lack strong background in Torah text study.

Kapparot: Swinging a chicken for a good year? - Sep 17, 2019 - Three explanations of the benefits of kapparos - inspiration to repent, paying a debt, and deflecting a decree. And five reasons to oppose the practice - absurdity, paganism, unintentional consecration, neveilah and paining animals. Geared toward a group including people without strong background in Torah text study.

Shoftim 3:31-4:3 - Shamgar, Canaan and Devorah - Sep 17, 2019 - A quick look at how Shamgar might fit into the timeline of Ehud and Devorah. Meet the Canaanim! And a partial introduction to Devorah.

Yeshayah, Week 31: Review of Chapters 1-20 - Sep 17, 2019 - A post-summer, brief review of introductory items about Yeshayah and his book, and highlights of the first 20 chapters.

Blood and Live Organ Donation - Sep 15, 2019 - Basic review of sources regarding saving others and protecting one's own life, brief discussion of modern psak where there is low-level risk in a live organ donation or blood donation, consultation of family members and prioritization of organ recipients.

Bava Metzia Perek 6: Taromet, Part 1 - Sep 13, 2019 - Violating a verbal agreement may trigger תרעומת (taromet-complaint). What sort of harm warrants this? Part 1 of 2 or 3 regarding תרעומת.

Shiluach haKan - Rationalism and Mysticism - Sep 12, 2019 - Is this mitzvah about mercy, or something else? How does the reason/lesson influence our practice of this mitzvah, and mitzvot in general?

Shemuel #38 - 12:5-15: Shemuel's Review of Jewish History - Sep 12, 2019 - Understanding the message and structure of Shemuel's recap of our historical cycle of suffering, calling out to Hashem and being saved by a leader. To be continued.