KMTT - the Torah Podcast

Ramban on the Torah | 49 | Korach, by Rav Eli Weber What was Moshe risking? What did Hashem create to kill Korach?

Korach | Moshe's Brilliant Response to Korach's Challenge, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Why did Korach, in spite of his claim that "the whole congregation are holy people", agree to a test to see "which one" would be selected by Hashem? Korach's initial claim - that כל העדה כולם קדושים - seems to argue for universal access to the משכן and a nationwide כהונה גדולה. Yet, when Moshe responds with the "In...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Parts 9 and 10), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: On the religious crisis in Pre WWII Europe; building a different type of yeshiva; can you become a talmid chokhom while servin...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Part 8), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: The "Language" of Role Modeling; Do We Care How the Non-Orthodox View Us?; Does Heresy Begin With Revulsion to Moral Misbehavior?; Rav...

Ramban on the Torah | Naso, by Rav Eli Weber Why can we rely on the miracle of sota? Is a nazir doing something good or bad? Why does the Torah repeat the korbanot of the Nesiim?

Ramban on the Torah | Behaalotekha, by Rav Eli Weber Why is Aharon's lighting the Menorah comparable to the Nesiim's Korbanot? Why was Pesach celebrated in the Midbar? Why does Hashem stand up for Moshe?

Ramban on the Torah | 1 Year Anniversary! | Shelach, by Rav Eli Weber Why doesn't Hashem stop Am Israel from sinning? What is the meaning of Moshe and Aharon falling on their faces? What does Moshe request from Hashem?

Shelach | Who is the Edah? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The interactions between the various actors in the dramatic scene when the scouts return from Eretz Canaan is hard to decipher. At what point does Calev separate from the 10? When does Yehoshua join him? More significantly, who "cries on that night" and who "wants to stone them" (Calev and Yehoshua)? Most dramatically - who is the focus of the pu...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Part 7), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: Why is Gemara Learning So Critical? Vision and Discipline Are Crucial for Growth in Learning; Shouldering Responsibility; The Yetzer H...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Part 6), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: The Value of Torah Study; Providing Spiritual Leadership for an Emerging Community; Practical Rather Than Ideological; The Importance...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Parts 4-5), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: 4. How Should The Holocaust Shape our Questioning of Hashem? How Does it Affect Our View of the State of Israel? How Does it Reshap...

Behaalotekha | Where was the Korban Pesach Brought? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Was the Pesach brought at the beginning of the 2nd year brought in people's homes?! Although we broadly assume that, once the Mishkan was constructed, any offerings would be brought there; especially in line with Vayikra 17 which prohibits שחוטי חוץ - animals slaughtered outside of the precincts of the Mishkan. Yet, there...

Fusing Justice with Mercy: The Secret to Maintaining a Flourishing Society (Avot 1:18), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Sharing Torah of Rav Asher Weiss How can we build a society that is both just and compassionate (hint: it's really hard)?

The Value of Peace and the Virtue of Being a "People Person" (Avot 1:12), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Sharing Torah of Rav Asher Weiss How does peace enable all other berakhot? And how is Ahron HaKohen the ideal role model for educators and parents?

Behaalotekha | Ner Tamid, by Moreinu veRabbeinu Harav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l Divrei berakha to the talmidot of Beit Midrash leNashim Migdal Oz, June 2008 Take with you the the sense, the identification, with the Torah that you learned as something that is permanent, deeply engrained in your own being, not something that is marginal, peripheral, here and there, but fundamental, basic.

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Part 3), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: Religious Coercion and the Case of Brit Milah; A Chassideshe Story Applied to the Issue of Secular Yeshivot; Calling Jews Post-Zionist...

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l (Parts 1-2), by Rav Moshe Taragin In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot: Should You Love Torah More Than Jews? Do People in Israel Suffer for Sins of Jews Abroad? Israel as the Anchor of Jewish Identity J...

Land and Legacy: Redemption in Megillat Ruth, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The notion of "Geula" is prominent throughout Megillat Ruth, reaching a crescendo in the final Rav Yitzchak Etshalom chapter. The redemption is not just about land, but about a person's memory - as exemplified by the curious structural relationship between the 7 uses of "שם" before chapter 4 and the corresponding 7 mentions in...

Simcha - An Essential Component of Torah Study (Avot 6:6), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Why is it so important that we find joy in our Torah study? Learning Pirkei Avot with the commentary of Rav Asher Weiss

Bamidbar | The Reasoning Behind The Exchange of the Levi'im for the Firstborn, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Perhaps the most curious item in the entire census (which covers the first 5 chapters of Bamidbar, properly speaking) is the command to exchange the Levi'im for the Bekhorot (firstborn males) and the subsequent directive to redeem the surplus Bekhorot, which became the paradigm for "Pidyon haBen...

Ramban on the Torah | 45 | Bamidbar, by Rav Eli Weber Why are we not allowed to count Am Israel? Why is Levi the smallest tribe?

Yom Yerushalayim 2024 | Hodu LaShem Ki Tov, by Rav Moshe Taragin From the miracles of 1967 to the darkness of 2024, it is important to recognize Hashem's presence in this world

The Conquest of Yerushalayim: The Blind and the Lame, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, we examine the curious presentation in II Shmuel 5 of David's "conquest" of Yerushalayim, with the puzzling mention of the "blind and the lame". Surveying the pre-monarchic history of Yerushalayim in Tanakh reveals numerous anomalies; the earliest reference to "Shalem" helps us unravel thes...

Yom Yerushalayim | The Never Changing, Ever Changing City, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom As we celebrate the reunification, בחסדי שמים, of Yerushalayim, we take a look at a favorite Psalm associated with the day; this Tehilla alludes to the dialectic nature of Tziyon, its stability offset by the dynamic experience of visiting our capitol city. This shiur was given at Congregation Poale Zedeck in Pittsb...

Torah Lishmah and "Clothing" our Nakedness (Avot 6:1), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Without these middot we are basically naked .... Learning Pirkei Avot with the commentary of Rav Asher Weiss