Haggadah Night at Shaarei Shomayim 5779 - Apr 8, 2019 - Divrei Torah by members of the YU Torah miTzion Beit Midrash Zichron Dov of Toronto on the sections of Karpas, Ha Lachma Anya, Arami Oved Avi, and Uvmorah Gadol.

The Brit and the Yoledet - Apr 5, 2019 - Three questions from the start of Parshat Tazria: (1) Why does brit milah wait for Day 8, and should we still wait for Day 8 in our times? (2) Why does a woman bring a korban chatat after giving birth? (3) Why are the periods of purity and impurity different for men and women?

Shemuel #27 - 9:1-2 - Why Shaul? - Apr 4, 2019 - What are the traits that make Shaul suitable to become our first king? And in particular - why are his positive traits presented so ambiguously, such that they could be materialistic or spiritual?

Haggadah Night at BAYT 5779 - Apr 2, 2019 - Divrei Torah by members of the YU Torah miTzion Beit Midrash Zichron Dov of Toronto on the sections of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, the Four Sons, "v'et amaleinu", and the plague of Arov.

Yeshayah, Week 22: 14:3-27 - Babylon in Ruins - Apr 2, 2019 - The second half of Yeshayah's vision for Babylon: Those who had been lofty and had aspired to heights (tree, radiant star, elevated cloud) will be laid low. Babylon will have no heir, both as punishment and to prevent future tyranny.

The Other Villains of Passover, Part 1 of 2 - Apr 1, 2019 - The destructive "Us vs. Them" outlook that began with Lavan's swap of Rachel and Leah, continued with the decision to sell Yosef, and manifests further throughout Tanach. Continues next week with Datan and Aviram, and how our Egypt experience led both to unification of the nation and to preservation of tribalism. Geared toward an audience including people without strong background in Torah text study.

The Mystery of the Burnt Korban - Mar 29, 2019 - Walking through the text of the gemara and Abarbanel, explaining why Aharon and his sons burned (at least one of) the goat chata'ot of the first of Nisan. No novelties here.

Shemuel #26a - 8:19-22 - We want a king anyway - Mar 28, 2019 - A mystical look at the problem with the nation's request for a king, and different approaches to explain why they persisted despite Shemuel's warning.

Shemuel #26b - Introduction to Chapter 9: Aren't Kings from Yehudah? - Mar 28, 2019 - Ramban/Ralbag vs. Abarbanel on how to square Yaakov's statement that the sceptre shall never leave Yehudah, and Dovid's statements that Hashem chose Yehudah to lead forever, with the selection of Shaul and the statement in Shemuel I 13:13 that Shaul's line could have reigned "ad olam" had he not erred.

Mysticism and Mitzvot: The Royal Shabbat - Mar 27, 2019 - Introduction to the kabbalistic concept of Malchut, which receives blessing and distributes it. How does Malchut play into our understanding of Shabbat as royalty? And how does all of this affect our understanding the three "meals of faith" of Shabbat, as well as Kiddush and Havdalah? Geared toward an audience including people without strong background in Torah text study.