The Tanakh Podcast

Here David is on the run, hiding in a cave, and calling to God. we speak about the despair of isolation and loneliness, and the transformation - religious and social - the shift of mindset that such a situation might engender.

David expresses his concerns and worries that he might succumb to the methods and morals of his adversaries. Today we speak about the virtue of self-doubt.

This chapter resonates strongly with contemporary events. It is a wonderful example of how Psalms written millennia ago can resonate afresh in other times.

God knows everything about me. That can be such a crushing burden that at times a person wishes to run away from God. What insights and understandings help a person to find his way back?

Chapter 138 is filled with gratitude. We stop to think today about the power of appreciation

Jews never forgot Jerusalem, though they wandered the globe for 2000 years. What was the formula for their survival? This chapter gives us some key tools for the Jewish art of making Jerusalem our home no matter where we lived.

This is a Hallel, a chant, an opportunity to sing and shout to God. We will draw connections to the themes of the upcoming holiday, Sukkot: 1. The universal and the particulatr 2. Appreciation for the blessing of our daily bread.

This is a chapter of Hallel. What is the subject of God's praise?

"Bless God all you servants of God who stand at night in the house of God" There is no Temple service at night! Who are these servants who praise God at night in the Temple?

"How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together." We explain the dramatic story behind this Psalm, a story of sibling rivalry and reconciliation in five acts.