R. Shimon bar Yohai & Life After Eden

 

Listen to tonight's class, "R. Shimon bar Yohai & Life After Eden," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

Moshe Rabenu & R. Akiva

 

Listen to tonight's class, "Moshe Rabenu & R. Akiva," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

The Light of Torah

 

Listen to tonight's class, "The Light of Torah," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

Torah Speech & Torah Thought

Listen to tonight's class, "Torah Speech & Torah Thought," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

Reading Tehilim at Night

Listen to today's class, "Reading Tehilim at Night," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

The Written Torah & the Oral Torah

Listen to tonight's class, "The Written Torah & the Oral Torah," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

Torat Eress Yisrael

Listen to this morning's class, "Torat Eress Yisrael," here.

Follow along with the sources here.


For further research:

Read Yaakov Blidstein's "תורת ארץ ישראל ותורת בבל במשנת הנצי"ב מוולוז,'ין" here.

Creativity in the Study of Torah

Listen to yesterday morning's class, "Creativity in the Study of Torah," here.

Follow along with the sources here.

Women and Birkot HaTorah

Listen to "Women and Birkot HaTorah" here.

Follow along with R. David Yosef's teshuvah here.

The Experience of Talmud Torah

1) Listen to this morning's class, "The Experience of Talmud Torah," here. Follow along with the sources here.

2) For further study: Read "Torah Study: Intellect and Experience," Chapter 9 of Reuven Ziegler's Majesty and Humility: The Thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, here.

The "Freedom" of Torah

1) Listen to this morning's class, "The 'Freedom' of Torah," here. Follow along with the sources here.

2) Read R. Pinchas Stolper's English translation (from his Living Beyond Time) of the passage from Pahad Yisshak (Shavuot 21:1) that we read here.

3) Read a previous - and different - explanation that I proposed to the facet of "freedom" inherent in Torah study, here.

The Joy of Talmud Torah

Listen to this morning's class, "The Joy of Talmud Torah," here. Follow along with the sources here.

For further research:

1) See the various sources that we cited from Pahad Yisshak in their "original": a) Shavuot 6, b) Igerot UMikhtavim 2, c) Hanukkah 6, d) Shavuot 30.

2) Read the full article by Prof. Yaakov Elman, cited in the class, here.

3) Read R. Yitzchak Blau's excellent "The Joy of Torah Study According to Rav Hutner," here.

4) Read our related devar Torah for Parashat VaEthanan here.

Torah for Non-Jews

Listen to this morning's class, "Torah for Non-Jews," here. Follow along with the sources here.

See Shlomo Brody's summary of the issue, in his A Guide to the Complex, here.

Are You Living a Double Life?

Listen to this morning's class, on R. Hutner's approach to divrei reshut - the realm that is neither obligatory nor forbidden, here.

Follow along with his Iggerot UKetavim, Pahad Yisshak - Shavuot (no. 36), and Pahad Yisshak - Pesah (no. 69).

For further research:

1) Read R. Yitzchak Blau's thorough analysis of this topic, on Yeshivat Har Etzion's VBM website, here.

2) Read our related devar Torah for Parashat Korah here.

3) To learn more about the life and thought of R. Hutner, see Steven Schwartzschild's "An Introduction to the Thought of Isaac Hutner" here, Yaakov Elman's "Pahad Yitzhak: A Joyful Song of Affirmation" here, Hillel Goldberg's "Isaac Hutner: A Synoptic Interpretive Biography" here, and Matis Greenblatt's "Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner: The Song Before His Eyes" here.

Torah LiShmah - Hasidim vs. Mitnagdim

Listen to this morning's class on "Torah Lishmah - Hasidim vs. Mitnagdim" here. Follow along with the sources here.

For further research: 

1) As mentioned, the classic book on this topic is R. Dr. Norman Lamm's Torah for Torah's Sake. 

2) R. Reuven Raz recently published הרב קוק בין חסידים למתנגדים, in which he probes Rav Kook's thought for his stances on classical Hasidim vs. Mitnagdim debates. Chapter 6 deals with "Torah LiShmah." Read the part relevant to Rav Kook here.

3) R. Elyakim Krumbein has authored an entire series on the topic of "Torah Lishmah," published on Har Etzion's Virtual Beit Midrash - explore it here.

Learning in Kollel

Listen to this morning's class, on the topic of "Learning in Kollel," here. Follow along with the source sheets here.

Women and Torah Study

1) Listen to this morning's class, on the topic of HaRambam's approach to women's Torah study, here. Follow along with the source sheet here.

2) There is a lot of written material on this topic - I suggest the brief and well-presented article of Warren Zev Harvey, "The Obligation of Talmud on Women According to Maimonides." Read it here.

See, as well, Lawrence Kaplan's brief analysis in his short monograph of Hilkhot Talmud Torah here.

3) The issue of women's study of Torah has been the focus of several recent articles at Lehrhaus. Read them here.

Hilkhot Talmud Torah - Perek Aleph

Listen to this morning's class, on the first perek of HaRambam's Hilkhot Talmud Torah, here.

Follow along with the text of the perek and source sheet.