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“I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you big crocodile lying in the streams of the Nile!”
The hubris, and therefore demise, of Egypt connects this week’s parashah and haftarah Vaera. We look at the background of Egypt and the historical setting of this prophecy against Pharaoh Hophra in Ezekiel 29.
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We present midrashic, historic, archaeological and cultural aspects to several points in this week’s Torah Portion Shemot (names).
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“‘I passed by and saw you there, wallowing in your own blood; and as you lay in your blood I said to you, “Live!””
There are three traditional readings for haftarah Shemot. We will examine the Yemenite traditional reading from Ezekiel 16.
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“The Spirit of God fell on Sha’ul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger…”
Chapter 11 of 1Samuel gives us the positive side of having a king. Why was the first king of Israel still plowing his own field? And where did the people of Jabesh-Gilead come from when they were nearly wiped out in the book of Judges? Does this story depict atonement for the Levite and his concubine in Judges 19? Join us for Part 9 in our Samuel Series.
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In this week’s Torah Portion, Vayechi (he lived) Yoel focuses on the blessings to Ephrayim, Yehudah, and Yoseph, presenting the literary, historical and cultural factors in understanding them.
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“The time came near for David to die; so he commissioned Shlomo his son as follows: “I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore, be strong; show yourself a man.”
We look at the historic and textual background of the book of Kings and the end of the reign of King David as he proclaims his will to his son Shlomo in this week’s haftarah Vayechi.
On a regular basis I get asked the question “Where does the star of David come from?”.
Due to the fact that many people want to use this star as a symbol of being Jewish, or affiliating themselves with Judaism, it is important to know some of the history.
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Yoel explains the legal and emotional appeal of Yehudah, as well as evidence of semites in Egypt and more in this week’s Torah Portion, Vayigash (he approached).
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“Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah…”
If I’m not descendant of Israel, then what am I? We answer this question and review the object lesson given to the prophet Yechezqel in this week’s haftarah Vayigash.
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“Then Sh’mu’el took a flask of oil he had prepared and poured it on Sha’ul’s head.”
We begin with talks about whether the prophets used astrology, and whether women should wear tzitzit, then we dive into 1 Samuel 10 where Shaul is anointed as leader and prophesies. Why was he anointed from a clay vessel rather than a horn of oil?
The class is done in a virtual class room with multiple participants. We meet on Sundays at 11:45am US eastern, or 6:45pm Israel time. You do not need to know Hebrew for this class, and you also receive a recording of the classes every month. For the link and how to join, click the More Info Button to email us.
