Vayeira - 2014 (based on a Shiur by Mrs. Esther Wein)
Parshat Vayeira opens with the well-known scene of Avraham sitting the by opening of his tent when he, in the midst of a prophetic encounter with Hashem, sees three people standing over him. The wording of that encounter raises a number of questions for us to explore. More specifically, we will look at a small vowel in one word that gives us insight into Avraham's approach to all people and guidance for each of us.
Parshat Vayeira opens with the well-known scene of Avraham sitting the by opening of his tent when he, in the midst of a prophetic encounter with Hashem, sees three people standing over him. The wording of that encounter raises a number of questions for us to explore. More specifically, we will look at a small vowel in one word that gives us insight into Avraham's approach to all people and guidance for each of us.
Vayeira-2014.wma | |
File Size: | 29577 kb |
File Type: | wma |
Lech Lecha - 2014 (based on a shiur by Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein)
The parsha of Lech Lecha begins the journey of Avraham and Sarah and at the same time instructs and guides us on our own journey. With the title of Rabbi Wallerstein's shiur, "You can't get where you're going if you don't leave where you are," we can appreciate how difficult it was for Avraham and Sarah to leave their homeland, their community, and their family -- all the influences that had surrounded them -- to walk forward to a new level of life and living. We are charged with the same call and also need to step away from the subtle, yet profound influences of our surrounding culture that shape our thoughts, speech, and action. Can we do it?
The parsha of Lech Lecha begins the journey of Avraham and Sarah and at the same time instructs and guides us on our own journey. With the title of Rabbi Wallerstein's shiur, "You can't get where you're going if you don't leave where you are," we can appreciate how difficult it was for Avraham and Sarah to leave their homeland, their community, and their family -- all the influences that had surrounded them -- to walk forward to a new level of life and living. We are charged with the same call and also need to step away from the subtle, yet profound influences of our surrounding culture that shape our thoughts, speech, and action. Can we do it?
Lech Lecha-2014.wma | |
File Size: | 28988 kb |
File Type: | wma |
Noach - 2014 (based on a shiur by Mrs. Esther Wein)
The end of Parshat Bereishit is really the beginning of Parshat Noach because it's at that point that we are told about Hashem's sadness, the sadness He feels about the state of humanity. What happened to people? How did things go so terribly wrong? When Hashem brings the Mabul, the Flood, it isn't to wipe out creation entirely and forever, but rather to start over. However, Hashem changes the way the world will work and creates a new reality that features human beings who are more physically frail and fragile and limited and who have lost the immense wisdom that characterized human beings before the Mabul. How does this change help us and will there ever be a return to the previous state of greatness?
The end of Parshat Bereishit is really the beginning of Parshat Noach because it's at that point that we are told about Hashem's sadness, the sadness He feels about the state of humanity. What happened to people? How did things go so terribly wrong? When Hashem brings the Mabul, the Flood, it isn't to wipe out creation entirely and forever, but rather to start over. However, Hashem changes the way the world will work and creates a new reality that features human beings who are more physically frail and fragile and limited and who have lost the immense wisdom that characterized human beings before the Mabul. How does this change help us and will there ever be a return to the previous state of greatness?
Noach-2014.wma | |
File Size: | 29625 kb |
File Type: | wma |