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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Jul 16, 2025 · 7 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Pinhas: A Father’s Daughter
Daughters of fathers are different from sons. Daughters, as they grow, do not take on their father’s image. A daughter’s voice will not deepen into her father’s baritone. Her jaw will not sharpen to resemble his, and, in all likelihood, she will not reach his height. Rarely will anyone ever be startled when they encounter her on the street after her father’s death, thinking for a moment, because of their resemblance, that they are seeing a ghost.
Jul 14, 2025 · 49 min
R. Dani Passow: Reading the Rabbis Part 3
The Talmud is notoriously complex, and its stories are no exception. In this class, we will learn strategies for how to understand these texts such as structural analysis, to explore the narrative flow and construction; interiority, to uncover the unstated emotions and motivations of the sages; and contextual analysis, to place each story within the broader tapestry of Talmudic and rabbinic literature. Through these and other tools, we’ll gain a richer understanding of the inner worlds of the sages, the ethical questions they grappled with, and how these tales continue to speak powerfully to our lives today. Recorded in Winter 2025. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/PassowReadingRabbis2025Part3.pdf
Jul 9, 2025 · 7 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Balak: Turning to See
The moment when Bilaam can’t see the angel is familiar to us—too familiar for comfort. We’ve seen this scene before: a hidden angel, an unusual occurrence, the word of God. We’ve seen it all at the burning bush (sneh), the moment when Moshe, our greatest prophet, receives his first mission: speech.
Jul 8, 2025 · 7 min
R. Micha'el Rosenberg on the 17th of Tammuz: The Memory of Tragedy
There shouldn’t be much ambiguity about why 17 Tammuz is a fast day; the Mishnah relates five tragic events that took place on this date.
Jul 2, 2025 · 5 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Hukkat: Miriam of Words
It is Miriam who was always the speaker of the three siblings. Miriam, who, according to the Talmud, was also called Puah because of the sounds she made to soothe women in childbirth as their babies emerged into the world. Miriam, who used her words to stand up to her father when he separated from his wife, insisting that a chance at life, however small, was better than no chance at all. Miriam who quickly figured out what words would ensure that Pharaoh's daughter would adopt Moshe, creating the path to redemption.
Jun 30, 2025 · 4 min
R. Avi Strausberg on Pride Month 2025: Flags of Love
The Song of Songs (2:4) imagines a boundless love between two lovers in which one lover says of the other, “his flag of love was upon me.” That’s how I felt at Pride this month—surrounded by flags of love.
Jun 25, 2025 · 7 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Korah: Pretended Perfection
The most insidious part of Korach’s claim is that it is a lie we desperately want to believe.
Jun 23, 2025 · 43 min
R. Dani Passow: Reading the Rabbis Part 2
The Talmud is notoriously complex, and its stories are no exception. In this class, we will learn strategies for how to understand these texts such as structural analysis, to explore the narrative flow and construction; interiority, to uncover the unstated emotions and motivations of the sages; and contextual analysis, to place each story within the broader tapestry of Talmudic and rabbinic literature. Through these and other tools, we’ll gain a richer understanding of the inner worlds of the sages, the ethical questions they grappled with, and how these tales continue to speak powerfully to our lives today. Recorded in Winter 2025. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/PassowReadingRabbis2025Part2.pdf
Jun 18, 2025 · 8 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Shelah: When the Story Changes
To be a Jew is to believe in impossible dreams. To be a Jew is to believe that slaves can become free. It is to believe that the senselessness of this world can be disrupted by divine words that break through the barrier between heaven and earth. It is trust, even on our darkest days, that we are part of God’s dream.
Jun 16, 2025 · 40 min
R. Dani Passow: Reading the Rabbis Part 1
The Talmud is notoriously complex, and its stories are no exception. In this class, we will learn strategies for how to understand these texts such as structural analysis, to explore the narrative flow and construction; interiority, to uncover the unstated emotions and motivations of the sages; and contextual analysis, to place each story within the broader tapestry of Talmudic and rabbinic literature. Through these and other tools, we’ll gain a richer understanding of the inner worlds of the sages, the ethical questions they grappled with, and how these tales continue to speak powerfully to our lives today. Recorded in Winter 2025. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/PassowReadingRabbis2025Part1.pdf
Jun 11, 2025 · 7 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat BeHa'alotkha: Unspoken Words
The tragedy of Moshe’s final conversation with his father-in-law are the words that he leaves unsaid.
Jun 9, 2025 · 41 min
R. Shai Held: Psalm for Shabbat
The psalms attached liturgically to each day of the week are often mumbled over quickly, without much attention to their meaning. In this series, we'll engage in careful literary-theological readings of these psalms, looking at how various midrashim interpret the psalms, and bring new meaning to this part of our daily prayers. Key themes explored will include the idea that God creates the world by subduing the chaotic forces that threaten life; the notion that a concern for justice is what makes a god "qualified" to be one; and the question of what kind of character those who seek to live in God's presence must have. Recorded in Fall 2023. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/HeldShirimShabbat2023.pdf
Jun 4, 2025 · 6 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Naso: Choosing to Live
There are moments in life where things have gone so wrong that we cannot see a way forward. That may be what has happened to the woman who chooses to drink the sotah waters.
May 28, 2025 · 10 min
R. Tali Adler on Bemidbar: A Jew Without Sinai
To be a Jew is, when we are lucky, to feel the memory of Sinai in our bones. We strive to feel as if we have experienced both the slavery and liberation of Egypt first hand, as if we ourselves saw God’s miracles.
May 27, 2025 · 7 min
R. Micha'el Rosenberg on Shavuot: What Did We Hear at Sinai?
What did we hear at Sinai? What does God want us to hear?
May 21, 2025 · 8 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat BeHar-BeHukkotai: Breaking the Cycle
When it comes to the enslavement of Jews, God gives us two imperatives. First, strive to be like God. Failing that, resist the temptation to become like the Egyptians.
May 19, 2025 · 28 min
R. Shai Held: Psalm for Friday
The psalms attached liturgically to each day of the week are often mumbled over quickly, without much attention to their meaning. In this series, we'll engage in careful literary-theological readings of these psalms, looking at how various midrashim interpret the psalms, and bring new meaning to this part of our daily prayers. Key themes explored will include the idea that God creates the world by subduing the chaotic forces that threaten life; the notion that a concern for justice is what makes a god "qualified" to be one; and the question of what kind of character those who seek to live in God's presence must have. Recorded in Fall 2023. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/HeldShirimFriday2023.pdf
May 16, 2025 · 6 min
R. Micha'el Rosenberg on Lag Ba'Omer: The Paradox of Respect and Humility
What makes Lag Ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, special? Why has this day become an oasis of relief, and even celebration, amidst the generally mournful period between Pesah and Shavuot? The Talmud tells us simply that one year, R. Akiva’s 24,000 students all died between Pesah and Shavuot; a post-talmudic tradition asserts that the plague that felled them came to an end specifically on the 33rd day of the Omer. Something about this day ended the catastrophe that befell these second-century sages.
May 14, 2025 · 7 min
R. Tali Adler on Parashat Emor: A Tale of Two Structures
Parashat Emor features two types of ritual buildings: the first, the mishkan (tabernacle), later transformed into the beit ha-mikdash (Temple); and the second, a sukkah. We encounter the mikdash this week, mostly in the form of limits on who may serve in it and how they must conduct themselves. Those who may serve there are not allowed to engage with the world as other Jews are: kohanim (priests) are not permitted any contact with the dead, except for their closest relatives. The Kohen Gadol may not even become impure through contact with the dead for his closest relatives—even his mother, even his father.
May 12, 2025 · 8 min
R. Micha'el Rosenberg on Pesah Sheini: The Afterglow of Nisan
When you stop to think about it, Pesah Sheini is a very strange holiday, with a motivation that would be incomprehensible for almost any other festival. As we read in Bemidbar 9, some people were ritually impure on the 14th of Nisan—the eve of Pesah—and therefore unable to perform the foundational mitzvah of slaughtering and eating a paschal offering. They ask for a second chance, and God grants it: On the 14th of the following month, Iyyar, they may slaughter their lamb.