The Tanakh Podcast

In a nail-biting chapter, the king threatens his "wise-men" if they fail to recall and interpret his dream. Daniel prays to God and succeeds. We discuss the comparisons and contrasts to the Joseph-Pharaoh episode, and we ask whether Daniel was indeed a prophet.

Today we introduce the book and figure of Daniel. Daniel is a personality who is very much in dialogue with other "Jews in a foreign court" - the Biblical Joseph and Mordechai and Esther (And Nehemiah) - but quite different. Daniel is a proud, open Jew, who observes his Jewish practices loudly and unashamedly even as he serves as an advisor to a world leader.

The final chapter of Esther seems such an anti-climax. Do we need to hear about taxes and royal prowess? Why is this a suitable close to this story? Through intertextuality we will see that it packs quite a punch.

How did Purim become a holiday in the Jewish calendar? This is the first post-biblical chag or festival. It must have been controversial. We will see how Esther and Mordechai work hard to craft and form the rituals of celebration, enabling it to enter the calendar.

Haman is dead. Let's go celebrate! But no - we cannot relax! The decree to annihilate the Jews is still in full force. Mordechai and Esther will discover that it is no easy matter to annul and abolish the genocide plan. How will they save the situation? 

We are at the second feast. Esther needs to bring the king to a point at which he sees Haman as the enemy. How does she do it?

Why can't the king fall asleep? What is he worrying about? Why does Achashverosh want Mordechai to be paraded around Shushan? Does he suspect Haman? Of what? The tables are beginning to turn!

Esther risks her life, approaching the king uninvited. But what does she request? That the king (and Haman) attend a party! And then another party! What is Esther's plan?

The royal writ has been issued, the letters dispatched, and the Jews are decreed for annihilation. Mordechai appeals to Esther for help, but she refuses. What makes Esther shift from passsive to active, from an object to a subject, from a victim to a heroine?

In Chapter 3 Haman's rivalry with Haman leads to Haman's plot to annihilate the Jews

Who are Mordechai and Esther - Devout or Assimilated Jews? Why is the "beauty contest" of Achashverosh quite possibly the cruelest way to find a wife? And what de we learn from the Bigtan and Teresh story?

Chapter 1 takes places several years before Esther comes to power, and way before the decree against the Jews. Why is the story of Vashti relevant? We offer three central lessons that we can take from ch.1

How does Kohelet end? What is his conclusion? Does he concluded with a soliloquy about death, or a series of statements about guidance and life?

Practice kindness, diversify your investments, invest in life - even if you cannot fully understand it, and enjoy your youth! These are Kohelet's messages - a philosophy of humble pragmatism.

One act of foolishness can sully a sterling reputation.

Death might be the great equalizer, but in the meantime, there are better ways to live and worse ways.

How might we act in the face of temperamental but powerful figures of government? How do we navigate an unpredictable world in which good and bad are seldom evident? Do we just eat and drink and be happy? Or maybe we allow wisdom to make our face shine.

The word "tov -good" is the keyword of our chapter. Kohelet has been asking what the key to good is. In this chapter he offers a new pragmatic approach.

6:9: "Better what you can see than the wanderings of desire." Today we address the attractions and fantasies that make us not only dissatisfied with our worldly blessings but also sap our ability and focus to appreciate and be present in the good fortune that we experience.

Is there a value in visiting the Temple? Should an individual make a vow? The opening lines of chapter 5 speak about religious ritual, the power of speech and the manner in which a person approaches God. What is Kohelet's perspective?

This world can be tough. Kohelet suggests that many people might prefer never to have been born at all. And yet, with a little financial modesty and less comparison, with some simple companionship, we will see success and happiness.

A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot that which is planted... A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Kohelet entertains three possibilities of what might make life meaningful: wisdom, pleasure and work. But the ultimate litmus test will be the death of a person; does anything valuable endure after we depart this work. Is everything ephemeral (hevel)?

What is the meaning of life? That is essentially the question that Kohelet seeks to address. Who is Kohelet? What does he mean when he says: "All the rivers flow into the sea but the sea is never full"?

Rather than a lament, Chapter 5 is a prayer. It begins by asking God to remember us and our humiliation, and it ends with a ple asking God to "Take us Back!"