Finders Keepers?? A TorahTutors tutor introduced the study of hashavat aveidah, returning lost objects, with (1) a saying: “Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck!”, and (2) a question: But are you allowed to pick up that penny? Maybe what you should do for “good luck” is return…
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“Rabbi Chanina said: A person does not injure his finger below unless it was decreed on him from on high” (Talmud Chullin 7b). A pair of teenage TorahTutors students enjoyed in-depth discussion with their tutor about this statement. What is Rabbi Chanina trying to tell us about the nature of divine providence? How does that…
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Did you know the 21st day of the Hebrew month of Tevet, birthday of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, is marked as a celebration of the Hebrew language? (We didn’t; thank you to Deracheha.org for alerting us with a Facebook post!) Did you also know that TorahTutors has excellent tutors available to teach Hebrew language, as well as…
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A TorahTutors student and her tutor noticed Yaakov’s harsh words to Levi in last week’s parsha, including criticism for Levi’s anger, and wondered why this tribe is singled out to serve Hashem in the Mishkan/Beit Hamikdash. They spoke about the difference between anger and passion, and how anger can become passion when channeled in…
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A small group of pre-teen TorahTutors students studying the book of Yehoshua noticed a lot of references to Moshe throughout the book. For instance, chapters 20-21 describe the designation of cities of refuge and Levite cities in fulfillment of the original command to Moshe. At the conclusion of chapter 21, the Navi also emphasizes that…
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Rabbi Chaim Brovender founded WebYeshiva under the direction of Rabbi Jeffrey Saks 13 years ago, with TorahTutors following as an affiliate site soon after, so it might not be “new.” But as this new article in the Jerusalem Post magazine notes, there is something unique about it, as well as newly intensified relevance: There are hundreds of places…
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One of our students is a social worker who spends lunch breaks with her tutor to sharpen her Gemara skills. They learned in a mishnah on Pesachim 99b: “They should not give a poor person fewer than four cups of wine, even if he takes from the public fund.” The student asked, at whom is…
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During one recent TorahTutors session, discussion about public perception brought up a particular detail of the laws of Chanukah. The Gemara (Shabbat 23a) suggests that someone who lives in a courtyard [or house] with entrances (or windows) facing two different directions must light Chanukah candle[s] in both. Why? “Because of suspicion” – because if one…
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Did you ever see a six foot man eating chicken? Is the question about a 6-foot man who eats chicken, or is there perhaps a giant chicken out there eating humans? Exploring this and other examples of syntactic ambiguities helped a TorahTutors student understand two different ways to read Bereishit 37:18, “And they…
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In the seventh chapter of his introduction to Pirkei Avot, Rambam explains that a person’s negative character traits can create obstacles to prophetic perception of God, and describes some of the essential qualities of a prophet: wisdom, strength of character, satisfaction with one’s lot, etc. However, “It is not of the conditions of the prophet…
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