Ta Shma

Hadar Institute

Bringing you recent lectures, classes, and programs from the Hadar Institute, Ta Shma is where you get to listen in on the beit midrash. Come and listen on the go, at home, or wherever you are. Hosted by Rabbi Avi Killip of the Hadar Institute.

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780 episodes
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Episodes780

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Yesterday · 48 min
R. Tali Adler: What Are You Doing Here, Elijah?
This class explores the powerful stories of the prophet Elijah, asking what they reveal about prophecy, leadership, and religious zeal. As Elijah performs miracles and confronts the people of Israel, the narrative raises difficult questions about certainty and compassion. Recorded at Hadar's Tanakh Intensive, Winter 2026.
Wednesday · 11 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Eikev: Memory and the Divine-Human Partnership
Two intertwined themes are explored in Parashat Eikev: memory and human agency. What is the connection between these ideas? And how do they work together in our brit, our partnership with God?
July 27 · 40 min
R. Shai Held: Hope After Hope Is Lost
How might we maintain hope during a time when it seems to many of us that all hope is gone? One biblical idea is that, although God is frequently disappointed, God also refuses to give up. (What) can we learn from that? This class turns to Tanakh, to midrash, and to medieval Jewish thought to help think more deeply about hope and hopelessness—and about what we can hold onto in dark times. Recorded at Hadar's Rabbinic Yeshiva Intensive, 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/RYI2026HeldHopeAfterHope.pdf
July 22 · 12 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Va'Ethanan: Law After War
Our parashah describes a deeply charged moment—a moment where the Israelites are at risk of forgetting the Holy Blessed One. Surprisingly, this danger does not stem from lack or deprivation, but rather from a reality of abundance and tranquility that awaits them after conquering the Land.
July 20 · 7 min
R. Elazar Symon on Tisha B'Av: Wood and Stone
At least in the plain sense of Lamentations 4, the destruction of Jerusalem is not presented as the execution of a carefully designed plan. It is a moment of unleashed fury.
July 15 · 12 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Devarim: Eikhah: What Does God Lament?
Parashat Devarim is always read on the Shabbat preceding Tisha B’Av, the week in which we read Megillat Eikhah (the Book of Lamentations). This creates a triple echo of a single word within our tradition: eikhah (which can mean both “alas” and “how”). The first is the one read on Tisha B’Av, the very eikhah that opens the scroll and gives it its name: “Alas (eikhah)! Lonely sits the city once great with people! She that was great among nations is become like a widow; the princess among states is become a thrall” (Lamentations 1:1). A second eikhah is found in the Haftarah for Parashat Devarim, spoken by the prophet Yeshayahu: “Alas (eikhah), she has become a whore, the faithful city that was filled with justice, where righteousness dwelt—but now murderers!” (Isaiah 1:21). And a third eikhah is uttered by Moses in the opening verses of Parashat Devarim—an eikhah we might easily overlook if not for this convergence of timing and the echo of Megillat Eikhah: “How (eikhah) can I bear by myself your burden, your weight, and your strife?” (Deuteronomy 1:12).
July 13 · 34 min
R. Dani Passow: Esh Kodesh: Finding God in the Midst of Suffering
In the darkest days of the Holocaust, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczner Rebbe, offered weekly teachings to his community in the Warsaw Ghetto. These sermons, later collected as Esh Kodesh (“Sacred Fire”), are among the most profound works of spiritual courage ever written. In this six-part series, we’ll explore how the Rebbe turned to Torah to confront unthinkable suffering, searching for God in moments of devastation, and uncovering sparks of hope, resilience, and inner strength. His words speak not only to the horrors of his time, but to anyone seeking meaning, faith, and comfort in the face of life’s struggles. Recorded in Winter 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/PassowEishKodesh2026Part1.pdf
July 8 · 12 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Mattot-Masei: The Daughters of Tzlofhad and the Sons of Menashe
The Book of Numbers concludes by revisiting a narrative we first encountered last week: the story of Tzlofhad’s inheritance. This episode appears first in chapter 27 and again in chapter 36, with the two accounts mirroring each other. Yet, despite the extensive linguistic parallels between them, these similarities actually serve to highlight the deep gaps and contrasts between the two parts of the story, inviting us to reflect on the ability of minority groups to speak and be heard.
July 6 · 41 min
R. Tali Adler: Rabbinic Personalities: Getting to Know R. Yohanan Ben Zakkai
Who were the rabbis who shaped Judaism as we know it today? This class delves into Talmudic stories about Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, comes to know him as a human being and tries to understand his approach to rebuilding Judaism in the wake of a lost world. Recorded in Winter 2026. The rest of the series is available on Hadar's Torah Library: https://hadar.org/torah-tefillah/collections/rabbinic-personalities-0 Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/AdlerRabbinicPersonalities2026Part1.pdf
July 3 · 36 min
4th of July Special: R. Ethan Tucker: 250 Years of Judaism in America
Over 250 years in America, Judaism—a way of life that centers obligation—has had to negotiate a culture defined by autonomy and freedom. How has that tension shaped Jewish life, mitzvot, and halakhah over the past 250 years? What will it take to sustain a culture of mitzvot over the next 250 years? Recorded at Hadar's Summer 2026 Kickoff Event. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/250YearsJudaismAmericaTucker2026.pdf
July 1 · 10 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Pinhas: Between Optional and Obligatory Wars
Over the past three years, a myriad of terms for the reality of war have emerged in Israeli discourse: a commanded war (milhemet mitzvah), an existential war (milhemet kiyyum), a war of restoration (milhemet komemiyut), an optional war (milhemet reshut), and more. At the core of each concept lies a different mode of conduct and a different motive, and they express a stance on the place war occupies in society as a whole, and in relation to other social duties and needs in particular.
June 29 · 8 min
R. Elazar Symon on the 17th of Tammuz: What Must Be Broken
The tragedies we remember on 17th Tammuz are really of different kinds.
June 24 · 10 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Balak: “A People Like a Lion”
Bilam’s prophecies are rich, dense, and enigmatic. One in particular was emphasised recently in 2025 when the war with Iran took its name from Bilam’s words: “a people like a lion” (am ke-lavi). What does this phrase mean? What kind of people are “like a lion”? What does this mean for our identity as Israel? And what use of power does Bilam’s analogy suggest?
June 22 · 40 min
R. Elie Kaunfer: Stepping into Prayer
Before the Amidah, we take three steps forward. What is the origin of this custom, and what is the symbolism of these steps? This class explores a number of approaches, all oriented to deepen our connection with God. Recorded at Hadar's Rabbinic Yeshivah Intensive, March 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/RYI2026KaunferSteppingIntoPrayer.pdf
June 17 · 11 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Korah: Living in Dispute
This parashah focuses on the leadership and religious dispute that erupts between Korah and his assembly and Moshe and Aharon. Seemingly, the parashah rules in favor of one side—that of Moshe and Aharon—against Korah’s claim. It could easily be extrapolated from this drama that disputes are harmful, that they create violence and division, and that what God really wants for us is total unity behind our leadership. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/HochsteinParashatKorah5786.pdf
June 15 · 49 min
R. Dena Weiss: Unintended Consequences
Not everyone has the best intentions. This class explores the category of the "eid zomem" - the false witness who tries, but fails, to condemn an innocent person through their testimony. What is the proper way to think about one who tries to do wrong, but doesn't succeed? What do we do when the punishment can't possibly fit the crime? The remainder of this 6-part series can be found on Hadar's Torah Library. Recorded in Winter 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WeissConsequences2026Part1.pdf
June 10 · 12 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Shelah: How to Stand in Minority
Parashat Shelah confronts us with a poignant question that touches our personal lives from time to time: How do we hold fast to a minority opinion? How can we align ourselves with Yehoshua and Calev, resisting the temptation to join the majority consensus of the spies?
June 8 · 52 min
R. Aviva Richman: A Torah of Sexual Ethics: Part 3
What do we do when our leaders—or our most sacred texts—repeatedly disappoint us? We live in a world that continues to struggle with how to live out a sexual ethics of mutual dignity. In this series, R. Aviva Richman confronts moments of disappointment related to sexual ethics in Talmud and explores how to inherit this part of Torah in ways that invite honesty and growth. Recorded In Winter 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WinterLectureSeries2026RichmanSexualEthicsPart3.pdf
June 3 · 10 min
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat BeHa'alotkha: Mitzvot as a Communal Project
Parashat BeHa’alotkha returns us to the story of Pesah—this time, in the second year after the Exodus from Egypt—and underscores the ways in which observing God’s mitzvot is a fundamentally communal project.
June 1 · 45 min
R. Aviva Richman: A Torah of Sexual Ethics: Part 2
What do we do when our leaders—or our most sacred texts—repeatedly disappoint us? We live in a world that continues to struggle with how to live out a sexual ethics of mutual dignity. In this series, R. Aviva Richman confronts moments of disappointment related to sexual ethics in Talmud and explores how to inherit this part of Torah in ways that invite honesty and growth. Recorded In Winter 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WinterLectureSeries2026RichmanSexualEthicsPart2.pdf