Questions of the Week

Prosthetics, Energy Healing and Psychedelics in Halacha

Each week I try to share some interesting or uncommon questions across a range of topics on various whatsapp groups, reddit threads, Facebook groups and the like. If you have answers to any of these questions please feel free to leave a comment or reply to me on x.com/isaacson

Rabbi Abraham Joshua HeschelThe Sabbath: Its Meaning for the Modern ManPart One: A Palace in TimeAudiobook

Rabbi Abraham Joshua HeschelThe Sabbath: Its Meaning for the Modern ManPrologue: The Architecture of TimeAudiobook

Episode 51: The Finale of Sefer ShmuelIn this episode we discuss why David retains the kingship and why Shaul didn’t. We uncover the depths of the concept of repentance and the necessity of suffering as a way to deconstruct the sinner. Finally we compare David's character arc to that of Eli and find that while David was both a king and a judge at one point, after his sin with Batsheva and Uriah his faculty of judgement became corrupted. It was not until his son was able to judge between the two prostitutes that David's critical errors in judgement could be reversed. All this and more. Thanks for joining us. Please don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. If you would like copies of the shiur notes please message me.

The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapters 22 & 23Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapters twenty two and twenty three Episode 49: David's Swan SongsPreviously on the book of Shmuel part Bet, we began the coda of the book with two perplexing stories. The first was David’s acquiescing to the killing of nearly the entire remaining family of Shaul by the Give’onim in order to end a 3 year famine. The second was David’s near death experience with one Ishbi B’nob, where he is saved by Avishai. That encounter spelled the end of David’s military career and it seems it precipitated the Batsheva incident. These chapters contain a poem which concludes with a victory song. There is some clear artistry in that songs begin and end the book, with the song of Chana being mirrored here. Chapter 22 is identical or nearly identical to Psalms 18 which was written when David was saved from Shaul and perhaps other enemies. The next chapter contains another song and the exploits of David's mighty heroes. Many of the names of the warriors are interpreted midrashically. Thanks for listening. Please help us spread Torah by subscribing, rating and reviewing this show.

The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 21Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter twenty one Episode 48: PolydactylyPreviously on the book of Shmuel part Bet: We saw the secret life of Amasa who we proposed was in fact the inside man propelling the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri. We noted That Yoav seemed to be hunting Amasa and explained the poor handling of Amasa’s corpse as part of the fallout of the ongoing war. I know we mentioned the gemara about the halachic question as to whether or not Sheva should have been handed over to Yoav, but we didn’t quite touch on the fact that even if they were allowed to hand Sheva over, who says they could kill him? Meaning even if he was a mored b’malchut, doesn’t he get his day in court in front of David? The only answer I can come up with is that this is a proof that anyone can kill a mored b’malchut at the kings behest. In this chapter we begin the coda of sefer shmuel by pivoting back in time. David is dealing with a famine that is one again tied to Gibe’on, a place and a people which has outsized impact on our book as a whole. Perhaps now we can see why Shimi ben Gera was so livid at David, David had essentially wiped out nearly the entire remaining family of Shaul, even after he had made an oath to preserve them! Thanks for joining us. Please help us spread Torah by subscribing, rating and reviewing this show.

The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 20Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter twentyEpisode 47: The Secret Life of AmasaPreviously we saw the return of the king, where David meets again with many of the cast of characters he encountered when he had to flee before Avshalom. We spoke about his misjudgement with Mephiboshet and Tzibah and at the end we saw that David’s efforts to reunite the nation, by appointing Amasa as the head of his army, were insufficient to prevent the beginnings of internal strife. The tribes are once again acting tribal, with bickering over who gets to be closer to the king being an example of the simmering unrest that will erupt into another rebellion in this chapter.Thanks for joining us. Please help us spread Torah by subscribing, rating and reviewing this show.

The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 19Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter nineteenEpisode 46: The Return of the KingPreviously on the book of Shmuel part bet - We saw what was referred to in Shir HaShirim 7:6 as מֶלֶךְ אָסוּר בָּרְהָטִים the king held captive in the hairlocks. David’s army, and the battle location was too much for Avshalom’s troops. Yoav callously put an end to Avshalom and then in the beginning of chapter 19 we saw a broken king mourning the death of yet another child. The rest of the chapter will remind you, if you are a Tolkein fan, and if you are not we need to speak to remedy that, of the Gray Heavens, or in Joseph Campbell language, the concluding return of the Hero’s journey, where he meets upon his return the same cast of characters he met on his way out.But first we take a brief excursus to note the many thematic and textual parallels between Saul's son Jonathan, and David's son Absalom. Thanks for joining us. Please help us spread Torah by rating and reviewing this show.

The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 18Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter eighteenEpisode 45: One Tin SoldierPreviously on the book of Shmuel part bet - David was able to successfully flee Jerusalem thanks in no small part to the spy network he put in place and the chicanery of Chushai. Achitofel, seeing the writing on the wall, kills himself as Avshalom pursues David in the transjordan region. In this chapter the battle will be met in earnest, and a tragedy, perhaps avoidable, will ensue. The first half of our story is the battle, the second is the aftermath. None of it is good. We continue to live in a world post the sin with Batsheva and as David continues to receive his comeuppance the question that continues to dangle over our heads is, why exactly is he still king. Thanks for joining us. Please help us spread Torah by rating and reviewing this show.