A TorahTutors session included study of a midrash (Sifra Kedoshim 9:12) that addresses the (or a) fundamental nature and perhaps even purpose of religious commandments, as well as more individual questions of what makes for true piety: “Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: How do we know a person should not say ‘I do not want…
Details
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”…
Details
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…
Details
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 –…
Details
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…
Details
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…
Details
In this review that posted yesterday, Sarah Rudolph, Director of TorahTutors, commemorates the third anniversary of the Pittsburgh shooting with thoughts on a powerful collection of essays by local writers. This is not really a book about the victims, though most of the writers share at least something about at least some of them. It…
Details
A young TorahTutors student met his new tutor and got right to work on the Hebrew alphabet and sounds of the letters. His tutor designed interactive ways to build letter recognition and even wrote an original story about how Aleph, sad without a discernable sound of its own, met Patach and learned to say “aahhh.”…
Details
Sarah Rudolph, Director of TorahTutors, had a great time talking to parents at the 2021 Jewish Homeschool Summit, about “Bringing Jewish Education Out of the Classroom.” It’s what we do best at TorahTutors, whether you’re homeschooling or just want to give your children (or yourself) a strong, individualized experience in Jewish learning.
Details
A small group of TorahTutors students concluded their study of Mishna Berachot with a series of rules in mishna 9:5, including the concept of invoking God’s Name when greeting others. Though this practice could be said to disrespect the Divine, the mishna finds precedents in Boaz’s greeting to the harvesters he passed (“God is with…
Details