West Deal Torah Center

Rabbi Joseph Dana hosts classes every Friday at 7:30 AM at West Deal Shul. In this class on Parashat Matot-Masei, Rabbi Dana focuses on the often-overlooked Parashat Masei, which records the 42 stops the Jewish people made during their 40 years in the wilderness. Drawing on the Degel Mahane Efraim in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Dana explains that the Mem Bet Masaot represent not just a hi...

Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat. In this class on Pirkei Avot 2:13, Mr. Sammy Saka explores the famous Mishnah in which Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai challenges his five students to identify the most important path a person should follow in life. Each student offers a virtue — a good eye, a good friend, a good neighbor,...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class opens on Pesachim 46a, exploring how to identify ambiguous dough that may have become chametz, including the Rambam's unique sound-test explanation. Rabbi Hanon then discusses the famous 18-minute rule, tracing its source to the walking distance between Migdal Nunya and Tiberias, and addresses the debat...

Rabbi David Semah hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:45 AM at West Deal Shul. In this class on Parashat Matot-Masei, Rabbi Semah explores why the Torah takes the time to recount all 39 places the Jewish people camped in the desert. He opens with a Midrash that compares God to a father who, after nursing his sick child back to health, lovingly recounts every stop of their difficult journey to...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class focuses on Pesachim 45b-46a, examining the Mishnah's phrase v'chen l'inyan tuma and why the Gemara finds it problematic. The difficulty is that the first part of the Mishnah sets a size-based criterion for chametz on Pesach, while the second part introduces a subjective criterion of whether a pe...

Rabbi Moshe Tobal hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:30 AM at West Deal Shul. Rabbi Moshe Tobal explores the thematic connection between Parashat Matot and Parashat Masei, focusing on how the two parshiot together teach a complete philosophy of personal spiritual growth. Drawing on the Chatam Sofer, he explains that while the Shulchan Aruch establishes a universal foundation of halacha, each...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class opens with a recap of the previous session's discussion about whether crumbs in different parts of a house combine to form a kazayit of chametz, and how the Rambam resolves his lenient rulings by factoring in bitul. The Gemara then introduces a case of moldy bread that is no longer fit for human consump...

Rabbi Joseph Dana hosts classes every day at 6:50 AM at West Deal Shul. This class picks up on the ongoing discussion in Berachot regarding the laws of Baal Keri — a person in a state of impurity who has not yet immersed in a mikveh. The Gemara presents a range of Tannaic and Amoraic opinions debating what a Baal Keri is permitted to study or recite, ranging from complete restriction to allowing M...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class covers Pesahim 45b, beginning with Abaye's three-zone framework for dough used to seal mixing bowls and the addition of Rav Ashi regarding the bowl's rim. The Gemara then discusses the ruling of Rav Nachman in the name of Rav regarding whether the halacha follows Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar's position that desi...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every Monday at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class continues the Gemara in Pesachim 45a-45b, beginning with the Mishnah discussing dough found in the cracks of a kneading bowl. The central question is whether the obligation to remove chametz depends on both the quantity of the dough and its location in the bowl, specifically whether it is in the water-holding zone o...

Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat. In this class on Pirkei Avot 2:12, Mr. Sammy Saka explores the two opinions cited in the name of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai regarding who was the greatest of his disciples: Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanos, known for his vast encyclopedic knowledge (the Sinai), and Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, c...

Rabbi Moshe Tobal hosts classes every weekday at 6:30 AM at West Deal Shul. In this class on Parashat Pinchas, coinciding with July 4th, Rabbi Tobal opens with a reflection on the importance of Hakarat HaTov — gratitude — toward America for the extraordinary freedom it grants Jews to live Torah lives. He draws a parallel to the census in the parasha, examining Rashi's explanation of why each f...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes weekdays at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class opens by concluding the sugya on Heter Mitzaref L'Issur, examining why the Torah gives two sources for combining permitted and prohibited foods to form a kazayit, and how Rebbi Akiva and the Rabbanan differ in their application. The Gemara defends Rebbi Akiva against a challenge from a Beraita about a Nazir, explain...

Rabbi David Semah hosts classes every weekday at 6:45 AM at West Deal Shul. In this class on Parashat Pinchas, Rabbi Semah opens with the dedication to Kuki Masri, a great baalat chesed, and highlights how the daughters of Tzelofchad demonstrated that women have a deeper love for Eretz Yisrael than men. He then focuses on Moshe Rabbeinu's response upon learning he will not enter the Land — rat...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every weekday at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. The class continues the sugya on Pesahim 44b-45a, focusing on the principles of Ta'am Ki Ikar (taste equals prohibition) and Heter Mitzaref L'Isur (permitted and prohibited quantities combine). Rav Acha challenges Rav Ashi: if the Rabbanan use the word Mishrat from Nazir as a universal source for Ta'am Ki Ikar, w...

Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat. In this class on Pirkei Avot 2:10-11, Mr. Sammy Saka explores the five elite students of Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakkai, each representing a distinct facet of Torah mastery. Rabi Eliezer Ben Hurkanus is praised as a cemented cistern that loses not a drop, teaching us that genuine love and...

Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat. In this class on Pirkei Avot 2:9, Mr. Sammy Saka explores the teaching of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, who said that if one has learned much Torah, they should not take credit for themselves, because that is what we were created to do. The key insight is that the more a person truly le...

Rabbi Joseph Dana hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:50 AM at West Deal Shul. This class on Berachot 21b continues the analysis of a Machloket between Tanak Hamah and Rabbi Yehuda regarding a Baal Keri — someone who has had a seminal emission — and his ability to recite words of Torah, including the Shema and its blessings. The Gemara asks whether Rabbi Yehuda's lenient position means he...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. This class continues the Gemara in Pesachim 44b, focusing on the dispute between Rabbi Akiva and the Rabbanan regarding the word "mishrat" in the laws of Nazir. The central question is how both can derive different principles from the same word — the Rabbanan using it for ta'am k'ikar (taste constitutes prohibi...

Rabbi Joseph Dana hosts classes every day at 6:50 AM at West Deal Shul. This class covers Brachot 21b, focusing on the status of a Baal Keri — someone who has experienced a seminal emission — and whether they are permitted to engage in words of Torah. The Mishnah presents a dispute, with Rabbi Yehudah's opinion that a Baal Keri may recite blessings before and after Torah study and meals. The G...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30 PM at West Deal Shul. This class covers Pesachim 44a-44b, focusing on a debate between Abaye and Ravdimi regarding the principle of kazayit b'chdei achilas peras — whether one can receive lashes for consuming a prohibited kazayit eaten over time rather than in one bite. Abaye challenges Ravdimi with cases involving mixed pots and boxe...

Mr. Sammy Saka hosts classes on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30PM. Contact Jacob Betesh to be added to the chat. In this class on Pirkei Avot 2:8, Mr. Sammy Saka explores the Mishnah's paired teachings on excess and virtue, offering moderation as the unifying theme. The first half of the Mishnah warns that overindulgence in food, possessions, and household staff leads to worry, moral pitfal...

Rabbi Ike Hanon hosts classes every day at 6:10 AM at West Deal Shul. This class continues the Gemara in Pesachim 44a, examining a case involving a stew mixture of terumah and chulin, and asking how a non-kohen who eats it can receive malkut when the terumah may not constitute a full kazayit on its own. The central debate revolves around two competing mechanisms: kazayit b'chdei achilat peras,...

Rabbi David Semah hosts classes Monday through Friday at 6:45 AM at West Deal Shul. In this class on Parshat Chukat Balak, Rabbi Semah focuses on the pasuk describing Bilaam waking early to saddle his donkey and set out to curse the Jewish people. Rashi notes that Bilaam's intense hatred caused him to act beneath his stature, saddling his own donkey as hatred distorts a person's normal beh...

Rabbi Moshe Tobal hosts classes Sunday through Friday at 6:30 AM at West Deal Shul. Rabbi Moshe Tobal explores the common thread running through the double parashah of Chukat and Balak: in both portions, Hashem saved Am Yisrael in a hidden, behind-the-scenes manner and then chose to reveal those miracles to the people. In Chukat, the Emorim secretly positioned themselves in mountain caves to ambus...