KMTT - the Torah Podcast

Ramban On The Torah | 26 | Vayechi, by Rav Eli Weber

Vayigash | "Seventy Souls" - Reconsidering the Count, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Q. Who is #70 in the count? Q: Where are all the girls? Q: How did the LXX get to LXXV? Parashat Vayigash includes the detailed list of Bnei Yisrael who descended to Egypt, detailed by son, clan and then a total. This list raises three questions - one internal, one intrinsic and one external. The number "70" does not fit the itemized count, which reaches 69 (or, arguably, 68). The lopsided amount of males (67/69) in the list is a statistical improbability which is also challenged by the text. In addition, the LXX (Septuagint) lists five additional descendants of Yaakov and presents a total of 75 (as it does at the beginning of Shemot). We explore all three of these anomalies, beginning with traditional exegetical answers and then proposing an explanation for all three omissions and/or additions. This shiur was given in memory of Rebbetzin Miriam Wise z"l, מרים בת יצחק ורבקה, whose yahrzeit is on ט' בטבת. She was a true inspiration of a student and devotee of Tanakh. יהי זכרה ברוך. Source sheet >>

Ramban On The Torah | 25 | Vayigash, by Rav Eli Weber

Miketz | Haftara: Mishpat Shlomo - Solomon's Famous Judgment, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom How did Shlomo figure out which was the "real" mother? The rarest Haftara chanted is read when Parashat Miketz is not on Chanuka - as is the case this year for the first time in two decades. The Haftara read in this unusual year is the story of Shlomo's brilliant solution to the dispute between two "zonot" over a single baby. We explore the text of the story carefully to discern what Shlomo heard - and understood - that led him to his great bluff and which exposed the treachery of the "faux-mere". Source sheet >>

Chanuka | On the Desecration of the Temple by the Greeks, by Rav Moshe Taragin Shiur given to Bnei Chul alumni during a special Chanuka Day of Learning, Wed Dec 13, 2023, the sixth day of Chanuka. Source sheet >>

Ramban On The Torah | 23 | Vayeshev, by Rav Eli Weber The Ramban thinks that "stealing" the Berakhot doesn't guarantee anything. One has to accept the bad (Avdut Mitzrayim) to get the good (Eretz Yisrael). And that's what Esav refused but Yaakov agreed to do. That and more in this week's Ramban al HaParsha.

Chanuka | Ner Chanuka and the Enumeration of the 613 Mitzvot, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom How did the Geonim justify including the Mitzva of Ner Chanuka in their enumeration of the 613 Mitzvot? Following the famous homily of R. Samlai (BT Makkot 23b) that Moshe received and conveyed 613 Mitzvot, interest was only sparked in the post-Talmudic era as to the makeup of that list. The earliest proposals, including that of R. Shimon Kaeira (Halakhot Gedolot), included a number of Mitzvot that we commonly view as Rabbinic in provenance, notably (for purposes of our shiur), lighting Ner Chanuka. The inclusion of these Mitzvot in a number of lists from the Geonic era motivated Rambam to define, in no uncertain terms, his approach that only Mitzvot that are explicit in the Torah ought to be reckoned on this list. We explore several formulations that include Ner Chanuka (and, inter alii, Mikra Megilla) and, with the help of several lesser known passages authored by R. Saadia Gaon, come to a new understanding of the source and significance of Ner Chanuka (and Mikra Megilla) within the larger rubric of the Mitzvot. Source sheet >>

Chanuka | Lighting up the Night, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Shiur given at Kehillat Haela, Ramat Beit Shemesh on November 29, 2023

War and Religion #7: Is Revenge a Mitzva? by Rav Moshe Taragin What form of revenge is valid?

War and Religion #6: Thoughts about Freeing Hostages, by Rav Moshe Taragin