Brachos 6a - Jan 9, 2020 -

Vayechi: Becoming a Shining Son - Jan 8, 2020 - When Yaakov blesses Efraim and Menasheh (in that order) he says that the Jewish people will bless their own children through Efraim and Menasheh. On the one hand, we all know this from Friday night, but the Targum Yonatan actually says it refers to a bris milah. We discussed how that’s implied at a bris at what it represents. In the end, we came to understand the uniqueness of Efraim and Menasheh, growing up in Egypt and nonetheless maintaining an independent compass in avodas Hashem. We explained how this also applies to the Friday night brachos we give to our children and why we don’t use the Avos as a model for boys as we use the Imahos as a model for girls.

Mishlei & Modern Psychology 4:6-12 - Jan 8, 2020 - In this week’s class we looked at how Shlomo HaMelech presents the benefits of cherishing the Torah. We learn about the different levels of knowledge and understanding, and discussed modern studies on memory and it’s echoing of a Gemara in Shabbos. We continued to discuss the power of a story and how Shlomo Hamelechs advice was specifically to grow in character through the non-halachic narratives of the Torah, according to the Ralbag.

Brachos 5b - Jan 8, 2020 -

Brachos 5a+ - Jan 8, 2020 -

Brachos 4b - Jan 7, 2020 -

Brachos 4a+ - Jan 7, 2020 -

Brachos 3b - Jan 6, 2020 -

Brachos 3a+ - Jan 6, 2020 -

Brachos 2a-b - Jan 5, 2020 -