KMTT - the Torah Podcast

Bo | "What Is This Service...To You?" Reevaluating the "Wicked Son's" Question, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The famous interaction between a son and his father (Shemot 12:25-26) is interpreted in the Midrash Halakhah (and, subsequently, in the Hagadah) as a hostile one, with the son's "question" viewed as a confrontational remark - even though the Rishonim who comment on the passage in context read it sympathetically, ignoring the supposed adversarial implication of the word לכם. We propose a broader look at the entire passage, from 12:1-27, suggesting a different parsing of the son's question and an interrogative reading of the key word לכם. Source sheet >>

Gender Differences in Halakha Part 2, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb, given to the weekly women's group in Kehilat Ha'Ela

Contemporary Educational Challenges, a panel discussion with Harav Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rav Eli Weber and Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg, held at the Melave Malka Nov 20, 2021, at Congregation Bnei Yeshurun, Teaneck, NJ. Joined by Rav Moshe Taragin. What has changed since these mechankhim began their careers? What is the greatest issue affecting chinuch today? What should be our policy on cellphone use? How do we educate about wokeness and new movements and theories?

Gender Differences in Halakha Part 1, by Rav Dovid Gottlieb, given to the weekly women's group in Kehilat Ha'Ela

Parshat Vaera with Rav Dovid Gottlieb #1 - Classical Commentators - Did Hashem Really Take Away Pharaoh's Free Will? #2 - Contemporary Commentators - There's No "Retirement" from Religious Growth #3 - Midrash - Promise Made and Promise Kept - The Different Names of Hashem #4 - Sparks of Chassidus - Freedom from Slavery and a Slave Mentality - A Profound Insight from the Sefas Emes #5 - Halacha from the Parsha - The 4 Cups of Wine @ The Pesach Seder #6 - Sparks of Mussar - Mishkal HaChassidus and Seeing the "Bigger Picture" and Impact of Our Actions

Vaera | Brotherhood at Last, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The opening section of Parashat Vaera includes several seemingly tangential and/or redundant passages, including a re-assignment of Aharon as Moshe's "prophet" as well as the odd genealogical table of the Levites. By looking carefully at the step-by-step inauguration of Aharon into a leadership role, we identify the new information in each passage and the contextual relevance as well as necessity for the "tangents" - and then, looking back at Sefer Bereishit, propose an explanation of why it took brothers working hand in hand, side by side, to effect the redemption from slavery and delivery from Egypt. Source sheet >>

Parshat Shemot with Rav Dovid Gottlieb #1 - Classical Commentators - Moshe: What's in a Name? #2 - Contemporary Commentators - The Message Behind the Mystery: Why Must Moshe Stop and Remove His Shoes? #3 - Midrash - The Surprising Connection Between Gratitude and Faith #4 - Sparks of Musar - The Source of Moshe's Selection: The Powerful Insight of the Alter of Kelm #5 - Halacha from the Parsha - Risking Your Life for the Jewish People #6 - Sparks of Chassidus - Life's a Journey: A Inspirational Message from R. Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev

Shemot | The Roots of Subjugation, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The opening chapter of Shemot details the oppression, mandated infanticide and overall enslavement of Bnei Yisrael under the thumb of Egyptian rule. After a brief introduction in which we discuss the nature and causality and its inherent multi-layered reality, we observe several linguistic nuances in this opening chapter which seem to point to a connection between these horrors and the narratives of Yoseph as a brother as well as Yoseph as an Egyptian viceroy. The literary structure of the passage (1:15-22) is then presented, as an argument towards seeing an overt as well as covert cause behind the servitude and related decrees. Source sheet >>

Vayechi | Menasheh and Ephraim: More Than Just a Hand-Switch, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom. The description of Yaakov's deathbed blessing of Yosef/Ephraim-Menasheh is riddled with difficulties. Why does Yaakov mention God's blessing at Beit-El? Why does he bring up Rachel's sudden death and burial on the road? Why doesn't Yaakov recognize his grandsons - whom he had just "upgraded" to "sons" by name? Above all - what's behind that change of status, and the hand-switch that prefers Ephraim? We explore all of these in a special shiur given in memory of Rav Etshalom's mother, MIriam bat Yitzhak veRivkah z"l, whose yahrzeit is on 9 Tevet. יהי זכרה ברוך Shiur given at SCY HIGH in San Diego on Wednesday Dec 16. Source sheet >>

Parshat Vayechi with Rav Dovid Gottlieb #1 - Classical Commentators - Why Was Rachel Not Buried in Me'arat Ha-Machpela? #2 - Contemporary Commentators - The True Meaning of Achdus: A Remarkable Teaching from Rav Lichtenstein #3 - Midrash - Why Did Yaakov Not Want to Be Buried in Egypt? #4 - Sparks of Musar - The Greatest Blessing: Understanding Who Our Children REALLY Are #5 - Halacha from the Parsha - Can Women Recite Kaddish