Seven Minute Torah

As Moses prepares for his own death, he is commanded to write down the Torah. Handing it to the Israelites, he hands us a tradition of writing and study that is still alive today. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevenminutetorahgroup Questions or comments? Email me at rabbistreiffer@gmail...

What does it mean when we say that we all stood at Sinai? This week's Torah portion - and the Rabbinic texts that comment on it - teach that Judaism belongs to all of the Jewish people in every generation. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevenminutetorahgroup Questions or comments? Email...

In Ki Tavo the Israelites are commanded to bring their "first fruits" as an offering to God. The words they recite during that ritual are a reminder of how our past shapes us, and how we shape the future.

In a parashah full of laws, an unexpected commandment about eggs, birds, and nests presents an opportunity to talk about the values behind our choices and actions. We will explore the mitzvah of the "mother bird" through the eyes of two medieval commentators, and discover what values they believe sit behind it. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . J...

This week's parashah is about various kinds of leaders in ancient Israel. It's also about the way Judaism is constantly evolving - and our ongoing responsibility to find new meanings in ancient traditions. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevenminutetorahgroup Questions or comments? Email...

This parashah describes the dietary laws - what Jews traditionally may and may not eat. What is a liberal Jewish approach to keeping kosher? To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevenminutetorahgroup Questions or comments? Email me at rabbistreiffer@gmail.com .  

This week's parashah, Ekev, contains the middle paragraph of the Shema - a challenging passage that speaks of God as Source of "reward and punishment." Should this passage be in our prayerbook? How might we read it through modern eyes. Turns it out can also be read as an ecological text. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group:...

This week we dig into the Shema and the command to "v'shinantam l'vanecha - teach (words of Torah) to your children." How has this become such a central idea in Jewish life today? To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sevenminutetorahgroup Questions or comments? Email me at rabbistreiffer@gmail...

With D'varim we begin the final book of Torah. Moses reminds the Israelite people of some past failures - with an eye toward helping them build a better future.

It would be easier to skip the story of the Israelite war with Midian. But by facing it, we can commit to learn from it and to do better going forward. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, go to www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Questions and comments: rabbistreiffer@gmail.com.

A conversation with Rabbi Stacey Blank: Pinchas is a parashah about extremism. What do we do with the Torah's apparent celebration of a violent act, and how can that reading of the text inform the ways we deal with religious extremism in our own society? Plus, we talk about Jerusalem, about liberal Judaism in Israel, and about feminine language in prayer. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Tora...

How does a story about a king, a sorcerer, a donkey, and blessings and curses teach us about standing up for what's right in the world? This week, we talk about parashat Balak. To become a supporter of Seven Minute Torah, visit www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah . Please email me at rabbistreiffer@gmail.com with comments and questions. Thanks for listening!    

This week's portion tells about the death of Miriam. But is the whole story really here? We read the text through the eyes of Rashi and the commentators, and of Dr. Judith Plaskow, a contemporary feminist scholar who teaches that it is our responsibility to search for the voices that have been excluded from Torah. To become a sponsor of Seven Minute Torah, click to www.patreon.com/sevenminutetorah...

By exploring this week's Torah portion we gain some insight into the Jewish view of reproductive healthcare. The Torah also gives a warning about those who would use religion in order to try to control others. If you would like to join us for our upcoming learning session about abortion in Jewish texts, please email me at rabbistreiffer@gmail.com.

The Torah's story of the scouts points to our ability to choose how we understand and respond to a given situation. In this episode I relate the parashah to Viktor Frankl's teaching of the "last of the human freedoms."

This parashah tells about a strange incident in which two Israelites prophesy "illicitly." Moses's reaction to them teaches something important about leadership and listening.

Digging a bit under the surface of the parashah, we find a message about the responsibility to  uphold the image of God in each person. And about what an individual, or a society, should do when it realizes that it has not done so.

In the wake of yet another horrific mass shooting in the United States, this week's Torah portion has much to say about respect for life, about "bearing arms," and about the responsibility of a society to guard the safety of each of its citizens.

A conversation with Rabbi Karyn Kedar. We talk about the Torah's theology of Reward and Punishment - our challenges with it and how we might understand it through liberal Jewish eyes. In the bonus interview, we discuss prayer, presence, and mindfulness via a reading of Rabbi Kedar's new book of poetry. Rabbi Kedar's book Amen can be found here: https://www.ccarpress.org/shopping_product_detail.asp...

This week's parashah is about the Sabbatical year, in which the land lies fallow and all debts and servitude are forgiven. We find a lesson there, and in Star Trek, about living your best life.

The Torah's strange prohibition against shaving the corners of your face is an opportunity to talk about holiness and about the relationship between ritual and ethics.

This week's parashah is about holiness - how we're supposed to strive for it, even through we'll never actually get there.

Sacrifice? Demons? A scapegoat?? This parashah describes the levitical practices of Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement. What meaning is there to be found for modern Jewish life in this ancient, priestly ritual?

A single confusing word in the story of the Exodus yields a message about the lifelong process of becoming your best self.

What is the power of the Passover story? How has it captured the hearts and minds of so many Jews for so many generations? I argue that this story brings out our sense of longing for a better world, and that it has helped Jews maintained a sense of cohesiveness as a people. I reference Susan Cain's new book Bitter Sweet and her argument about the power of longing.