Simply Deep

This episode analyzes these parts of the haggada and their significance.

The Gemara in Gittin 52a discusses a story of the Satan causing two people to fight every Friday night. While Rabbi Meir helped them make peace, he ultimately heard the Satan’s final response. This episode analyzes this story while providing some insight into peacemaking and psychotherapy.

The Ramban (Shemos 31:2) explains how Hashem miraculously “made” Betzalel—one man who had the combination of the practical wisdom to make the Mishkan and philosophical wisdom to understand its ideas. This episode explores the significance of this miracle.

Rashi (Shmos 37:1) explains why the Torah singles out Betzalel’s making the Aron: because he devoted himself more fully than all others. This episode discusses the meaning of this Rashi and the lesson we can learn from it.

Rashi (Esther 1:12, based on the Gemara Megilla 12b) says that Vashti was asked to come out naked on Shabbos because she demanded that the Jewish women would work naked on Shabbos.

What lessons are we supposed to learn from reading the Megilla?

Which of the four tokefs (strengths) much you read about: Achashverosh, Mordechai, Haman, or the nes? Why not all four? This episode analyzes this machlokes.

This is the first of a three part shiur discussing the machlokes tanaim about how much of the Megilla one must read to be yotzei. This sugya is a mix of Halacha and Hashkafa/megillah.

While the Megilla (9:26) tells us why it’s called Purim (because of Haman’s lottery), this explanation seems unsatisfying. After all, it’s based on a seemingly inconsequential element of the action-packed Purim story. This episode discusses the significance of the name Purim and derives a lesson that’s applicable to politics in our day and age.

Rashi (Shemos 26:9) says that the covering of the Mishkan is reminiscent of the veil of a modest bride. Rashi (26:13) also says that the covering of the covering of the Mishkan teaches that a person should take care of beautiful things. This episode analyzes these Rashis and elucidates basic ideas about the beauty of the Mishkan.

The Torah in Shemos 24:6 describes Moshe putting half of the blood of the korbanos on the mizbeach and the other half on the people. Rashi is bothered: Who split the blood??? He answers that a malach came and split it. This episode analyzes why there’s any need for a malach to do something as mundane as splitting the blood. In doing so, we discuss ideas about a covenant between Hashem and man.

Rashi (Shemos 22:25) says that just like Hashem returns your nefesh daily, so too you should return the poor person’s collateral daily. This episode analyzes this strange analogy.

The first passuk in Yisro describes what Yisro heard that caused him to come to the Jews in the desert. The Rashis on this passuk add alot to the pshat in the passuk. This episode analyzes these Rashis.

While people often learn lessons from Hashem hardening Pharaoh’s heart, this shiur focuses more on the lessons to be learnt from Pharaoh hardening his own heart. It also discusses the confusing issue of who hardened Pharaoh’s heart after Barad.

Even though the passuk (Shmos 18:13) says Moshe judged from morning until evening, Rashi says that this isn’t literal but is teaching us a lesson. Namely, someone who judges a true din, even for one moment, it’s as if he is involved in Torah all day and it’s as if he’s a partner with Hashem in Creation (where it often says, “and it was evening, and it was morning, day x.”)

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 44a says that Yehoshua knew that the malach of Hashem wasn’t a sheid because he did something that no sheid would do…

In Shmos 11:5 and 12:29, Rashi discusses why makas bechoros extended to all firstborns, even of the maidservants and the captives. This episode discusses the justice of this and deals with the question why the makkah would have extended to Jewish firstborns but for Hashem’s salvation (as indicted in Rashi on Bamidbar 8:17).

The Gemara in Brachos 6a discusses various ideas about mazikin or sheidim. Among other points, it discusses their chicken footprints in ashes around your bed. This episode (a shiur given during COVID time) provides an approach to explaining this and similar gemaras about sheidim.

This episode analyzes the various elements of reward that Rashi (Shmos 12:28) says the Jews received for doing the Korban Pesach.

In Shmos 7:3, Hashem tells Moshe that He’ll harden Pharaoh’s heart. Why is it just to punish him if he didn’t have free will? This episode discusses various answers to this question, with a specific focus on Rashi.

The details of the mitzvah of stoning certain sinners are learned from how the Torah describes what would be done to someone who breached the boundary of Har Sinai (Sanhedrin 45a). This episode analyzes why the details of this permanent mitzva would be learned from the momentary event at Har Sinai. In doing so, we discuss some fundamental ideas about capital punishment in the Torah.

This episode analyzes the Gemara in Gittin 66a that discusses how to detect if someone is a sheid (demon) or a regular person: look if his shadow has a shadow.

In Bereishis 48:22, Yaakov gave Yosef one “Shechem” over his brothers. Rashi has two pshatim in Shechem: (1) the city Shechem; (2) a portion. This episode analyzes how each of these pshatim learn this passuk.

After Yaakov died, Yosef’s brothers worried that he would take revenge. Yosef appeased them by saying (Bereishis 50:19-20) two points: 1) Am I in place of God? 2) While you planned evil against me, God planned that this would be for the good, so that I can be here, in Egypt, to support our nation. On the surface, Yosef’s answers don’t seem compelling. This episode analyzes them according to Rashi...

Rashi in Bereishis 45:18 teaches that when Pharaoh told Yosef that he would give his family the good of the land of Egypt, he was unknowingly expressing a prophecy that the Jews would empty Egypt of all its wealth. This episode discusses the meaning and significance of this hidden prophecy.