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In our 12th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel and Jeff discuss the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmuds.  What makes them unique and why? 

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In our 11th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel and Jeff discuss a number of questions that have been piling up during our Oral Torah discussions.  We also spend some time discussing the pressures that Yoel, in particular, has been facing concerning our project.  We hope that you benefit from this and all of our discussions.

The title of this article, Who are you, Belial?, is more of a sarcastic question.  The reason I say sarcastic is because my understanding is that most ideas regarding titles such as Belial have an historical background and have nothing to do with theological/mythological principles.  Shamai Glander suggested in his book on Genesis that the torah and the tanakh are anti-mythological and usually retell the stories known to other nations, such as the flood and creation narratives, by eliminating the mythological element and providing a more monotheistic principle without the demons and the monsters.  

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In our 10th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel opens up the explanation of what the Talmud is within the practices of Judaism, beginning with ancient perceptions of Judaism in Greek and Roman culture and walking us through the sages and rabbis whose words are recorded there.

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Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then Yehovah shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” – Genesis 28:20-22 

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In this 9th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel explains the Mishna.  This is just the first part of the Mishna discussion and has a lot of detail that will need to be carefully listened to in order to understand.  What was its purpose and how are we to use it.

Several months ago I had the delight of writing a paper on the usage of Hebrew among Christians.  The paper itself was a summary of a detailed study we did on the Christian will to be exposed to the tanakh and other Jewish sources in their original language.  My thanks go out to Dr. Adi Portuguez for instructing me in the subject.  The following is a translation of the paper, with some additional sections.

In this week’s Parashah, we read about the Tzitizt (fringe) and the Tekhelet (blue cord) which are to be made on the skirt of our garments.  There are several important words which must be discussed in order for us to understand this commandment correctly.

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In this 8th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel and Jeff Gilbert’s discussion spends a lot of time on the Ezrah/Nehemia period and the formation of the Halacha that became the fertile ground from which Rabbinic Judaism was formed.

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In this 7th episode of the Oral Torah Series, Yoel and Jeff Gilbert focus the discussion on the 8th principle of faith as presented by Maimonides and his position on the voracity of the Torah of God given through Moshe.