One of the most valuable things we do as educators is empower our students to learn on their own. Recently, a TorahTutors tutor introduced her pre-teen student to a website with a Hebrew-English dictionary and tools for learning Hebrew. Even though their twice-weekly sessions together are focused more on content than language, the tutor reports…
A small group of TorahTutors students finished off the last mishna in Brachot, including its interpretations of several clauses repeated multiple times in daily prayers (and found in this week’s Torah portion, Devarim 6:5). This mishna raises a number of questions, from the textual to the theological. Some of the questions these students addressed with…
As the mourning practices of the Three Weeks build towards the intensity of the coming fast of Tisha B’Av, it is a good time to think about what we lost with the destruction of the Temple(s). One TorahTutors student explored what the Sefer Hachinuch has to say – at least, on one level – about…
An adult TorahTutors student wanted to develop skills in translating and understanding biblical commentaries. She and her tutor have learned a wide selection of texts, with an eye towards language and understanding different approaches to interpretation. One example that resonated with the student was the phrase al d’var in Bereishit 12:17: “And God plagued Pharaoh with…
One of the most tragic tales in Tanach is found in Shoftim 11: the story of Yiftach, his daughter, and his badly worded vow to sacrifice “the first to exit his house” when he arrived home after a victorious battle. Though many commentaries see indications that his daughter – who came running to greet and…
With our emphasis on individualized instruction, students come to TorahTutors from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide variety of goals. For instance, some are looking to build specific text skills, while others do better with a broader, content-based approach. Recently, a student with limited Jewish studies background asked her tutor to spend…
Bamidbar 19:2 (at the beginning of this week’s parsha) states, “This is the law (chok) of the Torah that Hashem commanded, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and they shall take to you a red cow, perfect, with no blemish on it, upon which a yoke has not gone.” Many of us tend to…
This week’s parsha opens with the enigmatic phrase “???? ???” – “and Korach took” (Bamidbar 16:1). Commentators and midrashic texts offer a number of approaches to understanding whether Korach was taker and/or taken, and if taken, who or what “took” him. Despite the challenging wording of the verse, a TorahTutors student learned how it could…
It was taught in a baraita: We don’t have the people of Beit She’an, nor the people of Beit Haifa, nor the people of Tivonin, lead services – because they pronounce alef as ayin and ayin as alef [and thereby distort the meaning of the prayers]. (B. Talmud 24b; translation based on the Steinsaltz version…
After last week’s Shavuot hiatus, check out this Tuesday TorahTutors (Teen) Tidbit: A teenaged TorahTutors student was asked to share thoughts on Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 67:12. She wrote (slightly edited): This Midrash frames Yaakov in contrast with Shimshon. Basically, Yaakov listened to his father when he said not to marry foreign women, while…