Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

Found 6 Search results

1. What is the Difference Between the Prophet and the Fortune Teller?

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ג | |

   Devarim 18 both prohibits turning to the necromancer or soothsayer and commands listening to the prophet. Does this contrast portray the prophet as superior to the soothsayer as a source of information or does it depict prophecy as a qualitatively different endeavor altogether? Utilizing traditional commentaries and surveying the prophetic role in Tanakh, we will explore three approaches to this question.

2. The Oral Law and the Two Versions of the Ten Commandments (Audio)

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau | 10 minutes

   The Ten Commandments in Devarim are slightly different from their presentation in Shemot. Which version was given out loud, and which appeared on the tablets? Different approaches are examined, each with fascinating ideas pertaining to revelation, prophecy, and the connection between the written and the Oral Law.

3. The Oral Law and the Two Versions of Ten Commandments

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

   What is the relationship between the Ten Commandments in Shmot and the Ten Commandments in Devarim? Were both delivered at Sinai? Were both written in the Luhot HaBrit? The Ten Commandments in Devarim might represent Moshe’s interpretation - a human perspective, or Torah She’Be’al Peh regarding the Ten Commandments in Shmot.

4. Beshallah: The Complaints Begin

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau | 40 minutes

   Our parasha is the one in which the complaints of the Israelites in the desert begin. With the help of classical commentaries, we will explore the nature of the complaints in this parasha and the reaction of Moshe in light of similar stories elsewhere in the Torah. 

5. Were the First Nine Makkot Deadly?

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ד | |

   The tenth plague is known as being the harshest and most deadly. What about the first nine plagues- were they deadly, too? Patterns are apparent in the structure of the plagues narratives as presented in the book of Shemot. Some plagues include warnings, and some include explicit an explicit separation between the Egyptians and the Israelites, but these elements are not present in all of the plagues. Why are there discrepancies? What is the purpose of the presence or lack of a warning or separation? We compare and contrast the different opinions of the classic commentators as we approach these questions. 

6. The Flood and Its Aftermath

   Rabbi Yitzchak Blau

   After Noah and his family leave the ark, Hashem both blesses them with the promise of offspring and commands them to procreate. In between the blessing and the command, Hashem also prohibits murder. Why are these the essential commandments at this juncture of human history? This article examines the aftermath of the flood and the commandments given to Noah, attempting to repair and rebuild a destroyed world.