Into the Verse - Exclusive Podcast

How can we make sense of the laws in Parshat Kedoshim? They seem to deal with such a mix of unrelated topics. Some of them are obviously about moral behavior: Don’t steal, don’t deceive people, leave some of the grain in your field for the poor. But laws about sacrifices also get a lot of space. What do those laws have to do with morality? And what are these different ideas all doing in the same p...

Parshat Emor includes a familiar passage known as the parshat hamo’adim – the section of the Torah that describes all of the Biblical holidays. But there are two major interruptions in this passage, two things that just don't seem to belong. Why are they invading the holiday section of this parsha? As it turns out, these two “interruptions” may be the key to understanding what Jewish holidays...

Lag BaOmer: It’s a day for celebrations… parties, music, bonfires, barbecues. What exactly are we celebrating, though? Among other things, Lag BaOmer is the day when we remember the Talmudic sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. So who exactly was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai? Well, for one thing, he was the man who, according to the Talmud, almost burned the world to a crisp. Oh, you’ve never heard that story...

(Part 1 of 2) If you were asked what we remember on Shavuot, what would you say? The giving of the Torah, right? But the Biblical commandment to celebrate Shavuot doesn’t even mention receiving the Torah! Instead, we hear that Shavuot is a harvest holiday, a day to remember that God took us out of Egypt, a day to be joyful with our families and to include others in our celebration. So which one is...

(Part 2 of 2) If you were asked what we remember on Shavuot, what would you say? The giving of the Torah, right? But the Biblical commandment to celebrate Shavuot doesn’t even mention receiving the Torah! Instead, we hear that Shavuot is a harvest holiday, a day to remember that God took us out of Egypt, a day to be joyful with our families and to include others in our celebration. So which one is...

Parshat Naso speaks of the sotah – the "wayward woman" – who has been accused of committing adultery. The priest makes a mixture of water and dust, writing the law of the sotah on a piece of paper and dissolving it in the water, and gives it to the woman to drink. The Torah warns that if she was guilty, she will die a gruesome death — but if she was innocent, she will not only survive bu...

In Parshat Beha’alotcha, we see the beginning of the dramatic downfall of the generation of the exodus. This dive leads, eventually, to 40 years of wandering in the desert and death to the entire generation. What happened? What catastrophic event tipped the scales of the Israelites’ fate so significantly? Rabbi Fohrman explores this question and finds a link to another event with cataclysmic resul...

In Parshat Shelach, we read the story of the spies who ventured to the land of Israel and brought back a false report to the Israelites. Have you ever noticed that their report is strikingly similar to another story from earlier in the Torah? Think about it: a group of twelve men, ten of whom committed a terrible sin and two of whom were innocent... sound familiar? Join Beth Lesch and Rivky Stern...

What was really motivating Korach? Was it idealism, jealousy, thirst for power? We may just get a clue from the letters of Korach's name: Kuf , Reish , Chet . Somewhere in those letters lies a fascinating answer that the Torah is just waiting for us to uncover.

The laws of the red heifer in Parshat Chukat are notoriously difficult to explain. Why does the Torah require its ashes to be mixed with water? How does this water “purify” those who have come into contact with death? Is there anything we can still learn from this ancient ritual? And one more question: Is there a reason why the heifer needs to be red? Join Rabbi Fohrman and Daniel Loewenstein in a...

Shiva Asar B'Tammuz is a fast day that marks the beginning of the Three Weeks, a period of intense mourning that culminates with Tisha B'Av, the day the Temple was destroyed. Twice in our national history foreign armies broke through the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem on this day. Yet, it is much more than the start of an extended mourning period for the Temple. The Mishna lists fiv...

In Parshat Pinchas, we read about the daughters of Zelophehad, who seek to inherit their father’s land. God declares that their claim is correct, not only granting their request but also codifying it into law. This story isn’t just heartwarming – it’s also intriguingly similar to the Pesach Sheni story from earlier in the Book of Numbers. But what could land inheritance and the Passover offering h...

How do you succeed in a tough negotiation? At the beginning of this week’s parsha, the tribes of Gad and Reuben come to Moses with a really big ask. Just as the nation of Israel is about to enter and inherit the Land – in other words, at a moment that calls for the utmost unity and cooperation – these two tribes have a totally different plan for themselves! And perhaps even more surprisingly, Mose...

Rabbi Fohrman, Imu Shalev, and Tikva Hecht reflect on ten years of Aleph Beta Tisha B’Av videos. They discuss the lessons they have learned over the years about the meaning and nature of Tisha B’Av, and also review their personal favorite videos, and where to get started if you are new.

Parshat Va’etchanan tells the story of receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. But wait… Haven’t we heard this story before? Why does the book of Devarim repeat this story along with so many others? In this week’s episode, Ari Levisohn uncovers some subtle clues in Moses’s retelling of this story that open up a new dimension to the book of Devarim. Moses isn’t just telling us what happened....

In Parshat Eikev, Moses boils down, into a short, sweet list, what God really wants from us in this world. But, when the prophet Micah comes along and offers a different version, the clarity in God’s expectations gets muddied…or does it? Join Rabbi Fohrman in this episode of Into the Verse as he explores the different “cliff notes” versions of what God asks of us and helps us gain clarity on how w...

Everyone knows it’s not kosher when you cook meat and milk together, but the Torah in this week’s parsha only says you can’t cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk. This law gets extended to all cooking of milk and meat in the Oral Law. Rabbi Forham considers why the oral laws from the rabbis end up looking so different than the written Biblical laws - and the fact that law often feels like it has...

How can we live a meaningful life? In this episode of Into the Verse , Rabbi Fohrman finds an answer in an unlikely section of Parshat Shoftim: the Israelites’ pre-battle protocols, when the officers exempt various soldiers from fighting. Join Rabbi Fohrman as he explores these military exemptions, their fascinating parallels to elsewhere in the Torah, and what they show us about leading a life wo...

Parshat Ki Tetzei tells us that if we find a nest with eggs or baby birds in it, we have to send away the mother bird before we’re allowed to take her young. That certainly sounds as if the Torah wants us to treat animals humanely… but how exactly does it help the mother bird? Rabbi Fohrman explores different approaches to this question and explains why the Torah connects this mitzvah to the Fifth...

Rosh Hashanah – it’s Yom Hadin , the Day of Judgment, right? God is going to judge the whole world and decide its fate for the coming year. And our job is to search our hearts, confront our misdeeds from the past, and do teshuvah , repentance. Sounds like a big responsibility! But as it turns out, the Torah itself doesn’t say anything about Rosh Hashanah’s being Judgment Day. So how does the Torah...

Yom Kippur: It’s one of the most significant days of the whole year. We go into this day hoping for some weighty things… forgiveness, a chance to be a better version of ourselves. So it’s confusing that the Torah doesn’t give Yom Kippur any big buildup at all. Instead, we get a long description of the High Priest’s service in the holiest parts of the Tabernacle… and only at the end do we find out...

In this special bonus episode Imu and Rabbi Fohrman discuss a challenge, raised by a listener just like you, to a previous episode. This challenge sparked such an interesting and inspiring conversation, that we just had to share it with you. The topic: What is the role of fear on the High Holidays? Make a High Holiday donation here: https://www.alephbeta.org/donate What did you think of this episo...

The holiday of Sukkot brings us one of the stranger Jewish customs: Carrying the “four species” of plants around, waving them in all directions as we pray. The Torah commands us to take these plants but doesn’t tell us why. The only clue we get is what the Torah says next: “And you shall rejoice before God” on this holiday. But what exactly are we rejoicing about? And why is holding these plants s...

Why doesn’t the Torah ever mention dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures? Does this mean that according to the Torah there were no dinosaurs? Is this a sign that the Bible doesn't match up with history and science? In this episode, Rabbi Fohrman provides a profound, yet amazingly simple answer to the question of how to reconcile Torah and science. He argues that if we’re asking about the a...

This parsha is full of little vignettes about Abraham’s life, and it feels like a bunch of random episodes of “A Day in the Life of Abraham.” Is there some central theme here that can teach us why God chose Abraham to be the father of a great nation? In this episode, Rabbi Fohrman shows us the common thread that weaves its way through all of these stories and ties them together into an epic saga....