Rabbi Shnayor Burton

The Great Sources with Rabbi Shnayor Burton

Religion EN ↓ 238 episodes

To help support this podcast, please consider making a tax-deductible donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com. Lecture series in Jewish Philosophy. What was the purpose of Creation? What is man's place in the world? What are prophecy and prayer about? What is the significance of Shabbos and the Promised Land? Explore these fundamental questions of Judaism from their sources, and become familiar with the systems developed by the great Torah thinkers: R' Saadiah Gaon, R' Yehuda HaLevi, R' Bachya ibn Paquda, Rambam and the school of the Mekubalim.

Author

Rabbi Shnayor Burton

Episodes

S2, E13 Exilic Times – When Do Jews Not Belong in EY? 13.05.2021 41:35

The Babylonian Jews who neglected to return to Eretz Yisrael during the Second Temple Era were unwelcome there afterward. They were denigrated and ostracized. Why would Jews be unwelcome in their Holy Land? And for how long were they expected to stay away? For this episode's sources, click here Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can e...

S2, E12 To Go or Not to Go: The Debate about Babylonian Jewry in the Second Temple Era 09.05.2021 42:52

The best and brightest of the Babylonian Jews stayed behind and didn't join Ezra in rebuilding the Temple and resettling Eretz Yisrael, thereby earning themselves the reprobation or Reb Yochanan, Resh Lakish and others. What is this machlokes all about?

S2, E11 Choosing Exile – Babylonian Jewry in the Second Temple Era 02.05.2021 43:56

Why did generations of great Jews and their leaders decline to return to Eretz Yisrael during the Second Temple era? For this episode's sources, click here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Burton with questions or comments at oros.yaakov@gmail.com

S2, E10 People who Lived Outside of Eretz Yisrael 25.04.2021 38:51

Throughout Jewish history there were generations of people both simple and great who chose not to return and live in Eretz Yisrael. What can that teach us about the Mitzvah to live there? For this episode's sources, click here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Bur...

S2, E9 Awaiting Redemption or Effecting Redemption? 16.04.2021 51:44

Should we passively await a miraculous event of divine redemption? Or should we actively bring it about ourselves? This episode has been generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Ben Zion Jacobs, לעילוי נשמת R’ Avrohom Yisochor Krakowski ז"ל For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click  here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories Please take a...

S2, E8 Eretz Yisrael without the Shechinah 11.04.2021 49:36

What is Eretz Yisrael without the Bais Hamikdash and the presence of the Shechinah? Is it special? For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Burton with questions or comments at oros....

S2, E7 The Decree of Exile 21.03.2021 47:33

Hashem decreed that His nation should be exiled from its land. What are the implications of that for the mitzvah to live there? For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click  here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Burton...

S2, E6 How to Keep the Oaths: Halachah L'maaseh 14.03.2021 46:27

What does keeping the oaths mean in practice? Would they proscribe moving to Eretz Yisrael en masse today?  For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click here Here is a link to my new podcast: The Book of Memories   Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Burton with questions...

S2, E5 Jewish Nationhood and the Historical Process 07.03.2021 44:10

The spiritual aspirations of the Jewish people can be threatening to the other nations of the world and can also be detrimental to the Jewish people – politically, socially and economically. The 3 oaths teach us to be aware of these broader issues and to consider them well before actualizing our great aspirations. For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click...

S2, E4 The 3 Oaths – The Peril of Jewish Destiny 28.02.2021 41:29

Rambam explains the 3 oaths as warnings of the gravest danger that the Jewish people face if they attempt to retake Eretz Yisrael and don't succeed. This is explicit in the Letter to Yemen, can be inferred from the Mishneh Torah, and also explains the text of the Gemara perfectly. For this episode's sources, click here   For the YouTube video of this episode, click here The sefer about the mi...

S2, E3 The Awesome Oaths: Dreadful Sin? Or Dreadful Danger? 21.02.2021 43:00

Chazal record numerous severe and fearful oaths against engaging in Messianic activities, such as rebelling against the nations and retaking Eretz Yisrael.  What are these oaths all about? Is there some grave sin in retaking Eretz Yisrael, or is it a matter of grave danger? For this episode's sources, click here For the YouTube video of this episode, click here The sefer about the mitzvah of...

S2, E2 Is there a Mitzvah to Live in Eretz Yisrael? 14.02.2021 40:54

Ramban counts living in Eretz Yisrael as one of the 613 commandments. But BH"G, RS"G, Ibn Gabirol, Yereim, Rambam, SM"G and Chinuch don't. Does it make any practical difference? For this episode's sources, click  here For the YouTube video of this episode, click here The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here: Ha'aretz Asher Arecha - R. Shnayor Burton הארץ אשר...

S2, E1 Living in Eretz Yisrael, an introduction 07.02.2021 37:17

To live in Eretz Yisrael, or not to live in Eretz Yisrael: that is the question this series will answer. This introductory episode will give you a sense of the issues involved, some of the sources, and an outline of what to expect going forward in this season.  For this episode's sources, click  here The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here: Ha'aretz Ash...

S1, E50 The Reasons for Mitzvos, according to the Rambam 16.01.2021 59:05

Should we look for reasons for God's mitzvos? The Rambam says we should, and himself did so at length. But he also says that God’s wisdom is inscrutable and that we humans can’t understand His motivations.  The resolution of this contradiction opens up a world of depth to the Torah and shows how the reasons for mitzvos are dynamic, changing with time and place. For this episode's sources, cli...

S1, E49 Eretz Yisrael, according to the Rambam 10.01.2021 41:58

What is so special about Eretz Yisrael? What makes it holy? Its people, says the Rambam. Those who serve Hashem should live together and form a society suffused with His knowledge and worship – that’s what makes a land holy. For this episode's sources, click here Sponsored by R' Zeev Shub in memory of his father, Yeshaya ben Berach Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podc...

S1, E48 The Messiah and the Messianic Era 27.12.2020 38:15

The Rambam’s twelfth principle of faith involves believing in and hoping for the arrival of both a person and an era. Messiah, scion of King David, will restore the great dynasty to its original glory, and also usher in an era of peace, prosperity and independence, when people will focus exclusively  on knowing Hashem. Learn why the Davidic dynasty is needed in order to initiate this great er...

S1, E47 What is Chanukah? The Danger of a False Dawn 13.12.2020 39:22

Chanukah reclaims the true light for the descendants of Shem. The Greek descendants of Yefes and their darkness were vanquished; the Menorah and its miraculous light symbolize the return of prophetic clarity. But did we truly reclaim the original light? Prophecy didn't return and the Shechinah didn't dwell in the Temple; true redemption is still elusive. This lead some of Chazal to deemphasize the...

S1, E46 Light and Darkness: Chanukah, Adam and the Greeks 06.12.2020 40:08

Chanukah reclaims the original holiday of light established by the first man, Adam.  When evil got mixed with goodness, darkness got mixed with light. Man lost his ability to see clearly: the pure, primordial light was hidden away. He thought that he would die in darkness, the days getting progressively shorter until all would fade away and be gone; when the days lengthened again, Adam instit...

S1, E45 Hebrew, Greek, and the 70 Languages 29.11.2020 40:36

Perception shapes language – how we think influences how we talk. Accordingly, Chazal considered Hebrew and Greek antithetical; the "Holy Tongue" is a verb-centered language and reflects a dynamic world of Godly action, while the “Beauty of Yefes” is focused on the visual and reflects a static world of objects in space.  Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts ....

S1, E44 Holy Names and their Uses 22.11.2020 38:50

Are there really words that have magical powers? Explore the lost art of how to use the secret names of Hashem, the subject of extensive discussion by the Mekubalim – and also of Rambam's scornful dismissal. For this episode's sources, click here Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts . Thanks for listening! You can email Rabbi Burton with questions or comments at o...

S1, E43 Angels and Angelology, an introduction 15.11.2020 44:03

What are angels and what is their function? According to Rambam, they are immaterial, disembodied intellect; Raavad and others consider them to be composed of rarefied matter that sometimes becomes visible to humans. These mysterious divines that fill the Torah’s pages are the intermediaries of the transcendent God, agents through which He interacts with the universe. For this episode's sources, c...

S1, E42 Love of God, according to the Mekubalim 08.11.2020 35:12

The Mekubalim teach that God is unified with His attributes. His creation is unified as well, and the entire historical process is but the demonstration of this grand unity.  The mitzvah of loving Hashem is to experience and live with this unity – to partake of and to further this great cosmic project. For this episode's sources, click here Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review...

S1, E41 Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, Pillars of the World 31.10.2020 40:43

Why are the stories of a father, his son and his grandson so central to the Torah? Come see how the three forefathers found and founded the knowledge of Hashem, each in their own way; how this knowledge became the subject of the history of their descendants, the Jewish nation; and how the key to the future redemption lies in the relationship between these three great men. For this episode's source...

S1, E40 Love of God, according to Rambam and R' Bachya ibn Paquda 25.10.2020 42:28

It is the pinnacle of divine worship, but what exactly is love for God and how is it achieved? Explore the distinctive paths of love charted by the Rambam and the Chovos HaLevavos, the one rooted in intellectual perfection and the other in purity of spirit, and learn how love unites us with Hashem and evokes His love for us. For this episode's sources, click here Please take a moment to subscribe...

S1, E39 The Unification of God, according to the Mekubalim 18.10.2020 44:38

Hear O Israel, Hashem is one; one and not two, one and not composite – that is the simple meaning. But the Mekubalim say: Hear O Israel, Hashem is unified. This mystical unity of God with His Attributes gives unity to the entire creation and history, all rooted in one God and tending towards one good. For this episode's sources, click here Please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Ap...