The Gemara (Arachin 10a-10b) lists Chanukah as one of the occasions (8 of the days) on which Hallel is recited. Though the holiday is not distinguished in the way some others are – not by being called a “mo’ed” in the Torah (as it is a Rabbinic holiday) nor by an overall prohibition against doing “work”…
A pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday TorahTutors Tidbit: Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. A TorahTutors student learning the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), with the help of commentaries, followed the prophetess’s descriptions of who did and didn’t help in the battle against Sisera. Deborah commends the tribes who sent soldiers and reproaches those who didn’t, emphasizes how…
The Mishna in Bava Metzia lists several types of finds that one would be allowed to keep, including scattered fruits or scattered money, small bundles of wheat, loaves made by a professional baker, and others (2:1). These are contrasted with parallel items listed in the next mishna (2:2), which one must publicize and return –…
A TorahTutors student exploring the relationship between Yaakov and Rachel was intrigued to discover a range of ideas about the relevance of beauty in this and other biblical relationships. On one hand, the Midrash Tanchuma (Vayetze 6) states, “There is no one more beautiful than Rachel, and because of her beauty, Yaakov sought to marry…
It’s Tuesday and time for another #TuesdayTorahTutorsTidbit: Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. An adult TorahTutors student exploring various characterizations in Tanach learned that Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch has this to say about this week’s parsha: “That Isaac’s sympathies were more inclined towards Esau, Rebecca’s to Jacob can moreover easily be explained by the attraction…