Simply Deep

When quoting your parent after their death, the Gemara in kiddushin 31b says that it’s kavod for you to say “I should be an atonement for their bed.” What does this mean? Rashi says that you’re asking for the punishment for their sins to come upon you. This doesn’t seem like a Jewish idea?! Also, how is this kavod?

The Gemara in Menachos 68b discusses a question Rav Tarfon asked in the Beis Midrash: why is a korban brought before the Omer passul while one brought before the shtei halechem, while not allowed, is kasher. After Yehuda bar Nechemia gave the correct answer, with a big smile, Rabbi Akiva told Yehuda that he’d be shocked if he would live out the year. And he didn’t. This Shiur is a mix of Halacha a...

Sanhedrin 89a and Melachim I:22 The Navi/Gemara describes how Hashem sent the spirit of Navos to seduce Achav to go to war (and get killed, as punishment for the death of Navos). We analyze this strange story.

Source sheet for the shiur Steps in Giving a Shiur ​Intro/Hook: sometimes vitally important, sometimes not needed at all ​The Facts: read and explain clearly ​The Questions: from students, then you add questions they missed. No answers allowed at this step. Try to ignore your answers at this stage ​Student Answers: Invite students to present answers and you listen, critique, agree, disagree, quest...

Rashi in Vayikra 10:17 deduces from the passuk that the kohanim eating a korban chatas brings atonement to the person who brings the korban. Why should this be?

Though we ordinarily think a metzora is isolated in order to break his addiction to social approval, Rashi (13:46) provides a different explanation: because he separated with his lashon hara between a man and his wife or a man and his friend, he too must be separated from people.

The Torah (Vayikra 10:12) refers to Elazar and Isamar as Aharon’s remaining sons. Rashi explains that they too were supposed to die because Aharon’s role in the egel warranted total obliteration of his sons. But Moshe’s tefilla helped to atone halfway and save these two remaining sons while Nadav and Avihu got killed. This is very difficult indeed. Didn’t they die for their own sin? It doesn’t see...

The first Rashi in Vayikra says that before speaking to Moshe, Hashem called him - in a loving manner - unlike the way he speaks to non-Jewish prophets. He then says that this “calling” didn’t apply to the gaps between the parshios. Rather the gaps served to give Moshe a chance to think about what he just heard. This episode analyzes these Rashis and derives an important lesson about how to learn...

Rashi (Shemos 39:33) says that when the Mishan was too heavy for anyone to erect, Hashem told Moshe to pretend to lift it and Hashem would help him. Why?

The Gemara in Sukkah 25a says an avel doesn’t wear tefillin because thy are called a pe’er — an adornment. Firstly, how so? And more importantly, so what? Why does this create an exemption? In three different places, Rashi gives three subtly different explanations.

Was it the river or fasting on Pesach?

What sense is there to numbers being raised to the 0 power? Or to a negative power? Or to the 1/2 power? To answer these questions, we have to define what exponents really are. See here for the shiur on The Benefits of Learning Gemara: https://open.spotify.com/episode/08Wv2qXlQp4DmslRM0JzUi?si=50alzn6oQNi2Z7T1GkMo5A

The Gemara in Megilla 13b says that Esther would go right from sleeping with Achashverosh (and washing herself off) to sleeping with Mordechai. It’s hard to believe that such a risky move would be literal, but if not, what is it teaching us?

The gemara in Megilla 13a cites a 5-way machlokes about which was her real name and which name teaches an idea about her. We analyze these five positions and see what they're all trying to explain.

The Gemara in Megilla 13b says that Haman was happy that his lottery landed on the month Moshe died. But he didn’t realize it was also the month he was born. What’s the significance of all this?

What’s the import of Zachor and Shamor being said by Hashem simultaneously ? And how does it relate to the other three examples of dibur echad that Rashi (Shemos 20:8) cites (musaf on Shabbos, shatnez in tzitzis, and yibum).

The Rambam describes the origin of Avoda Zara as giving honor to created beings as a means of giving honor to God. Isn’t this what we do when we honor our parents?

Why did Hashem tell Moshe to stop davening for the Jews when the Egyptians were chasing them? Rashi (Shemos 14:15) gives two explanations.

Why is the tefillin shel rosh called totafos ? Rashi (Shemos 13:16) has two pshatim.

Why is a donkey the only nonkosher animal that has a mitzvah with its bechor? Rashi (Shemos 13:13) gives two difficult answers.

The first Rashi in Vayechi gives two explanations why Parshas Veyechi is stuma (closed)—that is, it doesn’t start with a break as other parshios do. We analyze these two explanations and discover the sadness of Parshas Veyechi.

After being told Yosef was alive, Yaakov offered korbanos to “The God of his Father Yitzchak” (Breishis 46:1). Why not just say God or connect God with Avraham as well? Rashi explains that a person is obligated to honor his father more than his grandfather. This episode analyzes this cryptic Rashi.

Rashi in Sanhedrin 101b cited an Aggada about Moshe’s discussion with Hashem about removing a Jewish baby (who ended up becoming Micha) from a wall in Egypt. This episode analyzes this midrash and reveals its significance in Jewish history and in the development of Avoda Zara in klal yisrael.

This episode discusses two Rashis on the pesukim describing when Yosef met Binyamin.

Shabbos 23b discusses the reward for certain mitzvos and says the mitzvos of lighting candles (Shabbos and Chanukah) leads to children who are talmidei chachamim. We analyze this connection.