Life Imitates Torah

Parashat Masei opens with a long and detailed recounting of all of the Israelites' journeys throughout the wilderness. This list takes up 49 verses, which prompts us to ask the basic question of why God felt that this should be included in the Torah. In this week's episode we contrast Rashi's opinion with the Seforno's, and what they can teach us about the beauty of relationships.

Parashat Pinchas contains the beginning of the story of B'not Tzlofchad, and then the conclusion is at the end of Parashat Masei. In each of these places the 5 daughters' names are mentioned, but they appear in a different order. In this week's episode we discuss a gemara in Bava Batra that explains why they appear in different order, and consider the implications for how we classify others with kindness and compassion.

The story of Balak and Bilaam is oddly out of place in the Torah; it doesn't concern the Israelites, nor does it affect them. This forces us to ask the question of - why is this story in the Torah? What does it come to teach us? In this week's episode we consider one possible answer to this question. 

Parashat Chukat contains the brief story of Israel's encounter with Edom as they marched through the wilderness. In this week's episode we discuss this interaction and its significance in the story of Yaakov and Esav. 

Parashat Korach tells the incredible story of a man who led an uprising against Moshe and Aharon's authority. In this week's episode we take a careful look at what the complaints were, and what the story can teach us about toxic leadership.  This week's sound effects are brought to you by Cocoa the dog, and my two kids.  If you would like to follow along with Rabbi Leibtag's analysis of the story you can do so here https://tanach.org/bamidbar/korach/korachs1.htm

Parashat Behaalotcha is wonderfully rich with short incidents that happened to Moshe and the nation in the midbar. One of them is the story of Eldad and Medad, which strikes us as a tense exchange between Moshe and Yehoshua. In this week's episode we discuss the story of Eldad and Medad in context, and consider the interpretation of the Kli Yakar, who sees it in a much different light.

Parashat Nasso is named for the opening command to count the members of the family of Gershon, Levi's oldest son. The commentators ask why Gershon is counted second, when he is the first born. In this week's episode we study their responses, and explore how this process serves as a corrective for the sibling rivalry that abounds in Breishit. 

Parashat BaMidbar is largely devoted to getting the nation organized on what is supposed to be the eve of their entering the land of Israel. Part of this process involves dividing up the camp by tribe, each with a corresponding banner (or flag). In this week's episode we examine three explanations for what these banners looked like, and what these three explanations can teach us about how we bring our personal histories with us into new experiences.

Parashat Bechukotai is one of two parshiyot in the Torah that contains the tochecha, or God's warning to the people about the numerous ways that God will afflict them if they do not heed God's commandments when they enter the land of Israel. One of the key words in this section is קרי, a word that appears nowhere else in the Torah. In this week's episode we examine multiple interpretations of this mysterious word and what it can tell us about how societies fall apart.

The 5th pasuk of our parsha tells us that a sacrifice can only be offered to God if there is a רצון, or a will. This opens a big question - is it according to God's will, or our own? In this week episode we consider three different opinions, and what this can teach us about the true meaning of holiness.