Why didn’t God simply command Avraham to “Go to the land that I will show you”? Why preface with so many details – “from your land,” “from your birthplace,” and “from your father’s house”? The Kli Yakar suggests the command was phrased this way “because it might have been difficult for Avraham to accept everything…
One way to help students stay actively engaged with text is to provide specific tasks that help draw focus to the details. And online learning offers a lot of tools for that! For example, after a preliminary conversation about lists and headings (e.g. “These are the things to buy at the store: Milk, eggs,…
Today’s TorahTutors Tidbit relates to this week’s Torah portion, where we learn about the beginnings of the world and of human history, and about development beyond those beginnings. When one TorahTutors student began her partial study of the Book of Bereishit, it was with a specific eye towards gaining a sense of the world’s…
It is traditional to read Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) on the Shabbos of Chol Hamoed Sukkot – or this year, since there is no Shabbos Chol Hamoed, on Shemini Atzeret. The book of Kohelet is so difficult to understand that the Talmud (Shabbos 30b) says the Sages considered excluding it from the biblical canon because of…
A TorahTutors student was going on an extended family vacation and in lieu of a session, her parents requested material she could learn independently while away, to review with her tutor upon their return. (Note: This one is a throwback tidbit, pre-pandemic and travel concerns.) They were learning Parshat Re’eh at the time, and the…
What is the proper frame of mind with which to approach the Days of Awe, from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur? Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are both holidays that fit the Talmudic criteria to recite Hallel (Arakhin 10b); however, the joyous prayer is deemed inappropriate for the time of judgement. Rabbi Abahu relates, “The…
It’s the last Tuesday in the Jewish month of Elul; time for a TorahTutors Teruah* Tidbit! (*teruah = shofar sound that starts with a “t”) A young student and her tutor began reviewing laws and customs of Rosh Hashanah by discussing the symbolic foods they each eat on Rosh Hashana, such as apple and honey…
Recently, a new adult student joined TorahTutors with the goal of exploring the weekly parsha in more depth. He prefaced his first learning session last week by sending his new tutor two questions he was struggling with after reading that week’s parsha (Ki Tavo) on his own. His questions, paraphrased, were: (Deut. 26:10) “A land…
A young TorahTutors student was interested in connecting more deeply with Jewish prayer, and asked her tutor if they could explore the meaning of Shema. After clearing the topic with the girl’s parents, the tutor guided her to read through each of the three Torah passages recited as part of Kriyat Shema and to find…
The Talmud (Bava Batra 91a) records a view that Ivtzan, a lesser-known leader from the Book of Judges (12:8), is actually Boaz, of Book of Ruth fame. One TorahTutors session included discussion of how different commentaries relate to this tradition on different levels. Ralbag, for instance, suggests simply that the tradition is rooted in the…