With Tisha B’Av just behind us, we may be thinking about the idea of “baseless hatred,” which the Gemara (Yoma 9b) gives as the reason the second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed. We may quite appropriately be thinking about ways to eradicate such discord from our people, and repair the sin that led to our exile.…
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“When I was studying in Israel after high school, my roommate and I had some interesting late-night conversations. One of our favorite recurring themes was a debate that, as we discovered, showed up long before our gap year – for instance, in the following Talmudic passage: Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were reclining in the…
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https://www.webyeshiva.org/parshat-devarim-2022/
For this week’s Tuesday TorahTutors tidbit, we ask:How did a TorahTutors student studying technical Talmudic topics happen upon a verse from the poignant section of Yeshayahu that will be read as the haftarah this Shabbos? The Gemara in Gittin 34a discusses various cases in which a husband writes a gett (bill of divorce) for his…
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We just learned that tomorrow is International Day of Friendship, and naturally, we immediately thought about how that connects – deeply! – to TorahTutors. In 2011, the UN proclaimed what the Rabbis knew thousands of years ago: the importance of making connections with others. Many commentators on Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers) understand the…
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Time for another Tuesday TorahTutors tidbit! Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. A TorahTutors student recently received an introduction to Talmudic logic and discourse when studying Tractate Brachot. Mishna 3:3 states: “Women, slaves, and minors are exempt from the recitation of Shema and from tefillin, and are obligated in prayer, mezuzah, and birkat hamazon.” After…
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Time for a Tuesday TorahTutors tidbit! Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. This week’s Torah portion includes the story of how two tribes (later joined by half of another tribe) asked to settle on the east side of the Jordan River, where there was good pasture for their abundant flocks, rather than crossing into the…
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Time for another Tuesday TorahTutors tidbit! Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. Some TorahTutors students are more focused on Hebrew language, while others study Jewish texts or ideas in whichever language works for them – and some do both. For instance, one student learning about how Hebrew letters are used as numbers didn’t just practice…
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Time for another #TuesdayTorahTutorsTidbit! Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions. This week’s Torah portion offers a great example of the fact that no one is perfect – as Rambam discusses (and a TT student learned) at length, including analysis of what it is that Moshe does wrong in Parshat Chukat. In the fourth chapter of…
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A TorahTutors student recently completed Pirkei Avot just in time for her bat mitzvah, after studying it with her online tutor for a year and a half. The beautiful dvar Torah she shared for the occasion, sent in as a #TuesdayTorahTutorsTidbit by her beloved tutor, discussed how meaningful and relevant the teachings of Pirkei Avot…
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