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“…she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there.”
Haftarah Shelach give us the story of Rahab and the two spies to Jericho. Yoel and Jono Vandor examine chapters 1-5 in this first episode from our Light Of The Prophets series.
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“‘Not by might, and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ says YHWH-Tzva’ot.”
Zechariah is shown Joshua the High Priest and his adversary, and a visual message for Zerubbabel in this week’s haftarah Beha’alotkha.
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“”For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb.”
The Nazirite vow, angels, the issue of cross-breeding and more are discussed in this episode from our Light Of The Prophets series.
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“I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in grace and in compassion; I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will know YHWH.”
As a supplement to the previous recording, we more closely examine the text and message of Hoshea chapter 2, discussing the meaning of love in Deuteronomy vs. Hoshea, and the relationship of YHWH and Israel.
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“Rebuke your mother, rebuke her; for she isn’t my wife, and I’m not her husband.”
In Haftarah Bamidbar, the prophet Hoshea uses imagery of divorce, shaming and execution to convey YHWH’s message to Israel. Yoel and Jeff Gilbert discuss these images, and the redemption, in this episode (3) of our Hoshea series with Talking Torah.
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“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceeding weak–who can know it?”
Haftarah Bechuqotai presents song, prophecy, and wisdom writings all in one place. Also, we begin with an explanation of why torah readings and holiday observances are different in the diaspora than in the Land.
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“I signed on the purchase contract, sealed it, called witnesses and weighed out the money for him on a balance scale.”
Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) brings witnesses when he buys property in Israel while they are being besieged by Babylon. We examine testimonies and witnesses in the bible as our prelude to Haftarah Behar.
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How do we understand who God is? We discuss the perceptions of God by Maimonides and examine the three passages in Genesis that speak of God in the plural in this excerpt from a private lesson with one of my students.
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‘However, the cohanim, who are L’vi’im and descendants of Tzadok, who took care of my sanctuary when the people of Isra’el went astray from me — they are the ones who will approach me and serve me”
Haftarah Emor gives us the priest and prophet Yechezqel (Ezekiel) who lays out the requirements (some of which differ from Torah) for the kohanim in the rebuilt temple.
The point of this article is not when we bring the Omer, but rather can we use Joshua 5 to argue for a date. However, the discussion of when we start counting is unavoidable. I will also note before we start that there are different opinions between scholars on how to treat this subject, and the point here is to give another point of view without offending anyone or creating animosity.
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.
