Parsha Pick-Me-Up

<p>Take a few minutes to study the parsha with Rabbi Sprung on Thursdays from Bereshit to V'Zot Habracha. Find the Parsha Pick-Me-Up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.</p>

Bemidbar: The Levites Overtake the Firstborns but Failure Does Not

Notice, the verse tells Moses to Take the Levites because the firstborn are holy. That doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t it say take the Levites because the Levites are holy or it should saythe firstborn are holy, so take them? Surely, it does not make sense to take the tribe of Levi for God because the firstborns were saved in Egypt!Sources: Num. 3: 12, Bemidbar Rabbah 3:5

06-06
03:44

Bonus Episode: Yom Yerushalayim with Rabbi Jordan Silvestri

Join me for a special episode focused on Yom Yerushalayim with Rabbi Jordan Silvestri, Head of School at the Robert M. Beren Academy. Rabbi Silvestri and I discuss Rabbi Doron Perez's essay, 'Six Days in June on “Eagles Wings”. This special episode was sponsored by Elise and Marc Passy to mark the yartzeit of Elise's father, Jerard Cohen, Yosef ben Yehuda, of blessed memory.

06-05
18:08

Bechukotai: "If"

What does the im, supposedly "if" really mean? The Sages tell us it means something much more meaningful than just "if." This word opens our Torah portion and contains within it so much more. Take three minutes to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more. Source: Avoda 5a.

05-31
02:36

Behar: A Time and Place for God

God chose the 7th day of the week and the 7th year of the Shmitah cycle to be special for Him but the special nature of these Sabbaths is dependent upon us. Take three minutes to listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

05-23
03:08

Emor: Cursed is that One, Fortunate the Other

Our Torah portion begins with our deepest hope and greatest fear: getting credit for our children or receiving opprobrium.

05-16
03:30

Kedoshim: The Emperor's New Clothes

Our verse functions as a sort of warning: don’t turn to false gods, since, in the end, you may come to think that they are real.

05-09
03:26

Acharei Mot: Defense or Prosecution

Notably, this is not the usual uniform of the High Priest, clothed generally in gold, jewels, and wool. Rashi explains that the gold, reminiscent as it was of the sin of the golden calf, would have been problematic.

05-02
03:41

Metzora: Expertise versus Authority?

Some stupendous humility may be called for in such a case. Perhaps the teacher of all of the priests is not a priest. Then, that teacher will never be able to declare tzara’at, though his students could. A surprising lesson is contained here. Listen to the Parsha Pick-Me-Up to learn more.

04-18
05:04

Tazria: First in Thought or Last in Value?

"If a man does well, they say to him, you preceded the angels; if he does not, they say to him: (in creation) the fly preceded you, the gnat preceded you, the snail preceded you." - Reish LakishBut what does this have to do with the laws of Kashrut and ritual purity?

04-11
04:23

Shmini: Love, Then and Always

"I am torn within, I cry without end. I do not sleep.... Maybe Hashem has finally decided that we are no longer His chosen people?" Words and worries from the past and present. As always, the parsha comes to speak to our moment.Sources:Rabbi Yuval Sherlow, Shu’’t HaHitnatkut p. 139Lev. 9:23 with RashiJer. chap. 2 with Rashi.

04-04
03:48

Tzav: No Strings Attached?

Do we need to earn our place in this world? We find ourselves here, and no one asked us whether we were interested. Yet, once we are here, God makes demands of us. Our parasha contains the beginning of a meditation on this problem.Sources: Lev. 6:10, Malachi 1:10, Tosefta Demai 2:8.

03-28
03:10

Vayikra: Whom Do We Serve?

Soldiers on the front lines will have an easy time answering key questions. They serve the people of Israel. And the rest of us?

03-21
03:00

Pikudei: The Surprise of the Mishkan (and Why it Took So Long to Put Up)

Surely, complex as the process was, it could not have taken six months to make such a small building as the Tabernacle! What was it that took so long that the Mishkan could not be assembled until nearly six months had passed? The answers the Sages give is mysterious. It is also precisely the answer we need right now.

03-14
05:14

Vayakhel: Going Beyond the Title

Bezalel is key to the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), such that it is named after him. What is the Torah teaching us by singling him out?

03-07
04:46

Ki Tisa: The Opposite of Holy

There is a great secret here: That which is kadosh, holy or sacred- or its opposite- can change our lives.

02-29
03:17

Tezaveh: The Golden Thread

The High Priest's apron requires golden threads in each strand. The gold teaches us a special lesson that may elevate our behaviors.

02-23
03:37

Trumah: The Sacred Secret of the Menorah

The Menorah has a very unusual quality to it: each of its six outer lamps faces in towards the center, so that its light travels inwards.

02-15
03:32

Mishpatim: True Lies?

Negative speech, in order to qualify as Lashon Hara, must be true. So how could the Sages construe our verse, which explicitly warns against falsehoods, to be a warning against true speech, negative though it may be? 

02-08
05:04

Yitro: The Power of Connection

There is an important and timely comment on social ties made at the beginning of our Parasha- one that usually goes unnoticed.

02-01
04:51

Beshalach: Recasting and Reframing in Freedom

What is the significance of this place, Pi HaChirot? In fact, it stems from something we learned of long ago but means so much to us now.

01-25
04:12

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