Sinai

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1. Nothing is Nearer than Him

   Haftarot: Yitro

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   God’s exaltation is beyond all measure; how then can He act within the confines of the world He created? God's transcendence stands in contradiction to His involvement in our material world. Yeshayahu’s message is that wherever we find a description of God’s exaltation, we also find a description of His providence.

2. Moshe's Leadership and the Transition of Generations

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   One of the central dilemmas in Avodat Hashem is the constant tension between abstraction and illustration. This lesson discusses the implications of this tension in the second half of the book of Bemidbar, in light of the Red Heifer.

3. Parashat Yitro

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   "When the horn ("yovel") sounds long, they shall ascend the mountain." What is the sounds that permits the nation to ascent onto the mountain that was previously forbidden to touch? After the divine presence had descended, the nation was meant to climb the mountain and meet God’s presence “face to face.” But the nation was scared and requested continued mediation from Moshe. While the fear of God is positive, there is a spiritual price to pay for preventing the direct encounter with God.

4. "When you bring the nation out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain"

   Sharón Rimón

   Parashat Yitro describes the main component of the change Bnei Yisrael are meant to undergo while travelling through the desert. Bnei Yisrael arrive at Sinai - the place they had originally set out for in order to worship God, where they will experience God's revelation and become God's nation.

5. Of Parts and Pieces: The Instructions and Assembly of the Mishkan (Audio)

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 16 minutes

   The lack of symmetry between the text's portrayal of God's commands pertaining to the Mishkan and Moshe's fulfilment of those commands hints to a message that the Torah seeks to convey about the Mishkan and its relationship to the people and the priests. This shiur explores the symbolism, significance and purpose of the representation of the Mishkan—the Tent of Meeting as a portable Sinai, as portrayed at the end of the book of Exodus.

6. Be Holy, For I Hashem Am Holy

   Rabbi Yair Kahn | 17 minutes

   This shiur presents various ideas about what it means to "be holy" according to Parshat Kedoshim, and why the command needed to involve gathering the whole congregation of Israelites together (by exploring other instances of gathering the whole congregation). The content of the parasha is analyzed to shed some light on the above questions.

7. The War against Amalek

   Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

   Bnei Yisrael were unprepared for their redemption from Egypt, and God places them in various situations of peril, encouraging Bnei Yisrael to raise their spiritual level high enough to enable that process to continue, and work toward real independence from their captors. 

8. The Dedication of the Mikdash

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   The Dedication of the Mikdash, the dedication of the Mishkan and Matan Torah at Sinai, the three foundational national events of collective revelation are linked together. This chapter raise several issues rearding the Mikdash:

   • The Mikdash as a place of prayer and a  conduit for all prayer, from near or far 
   • Is the Mikdash a place for God or a place for man?
   • The place of the non-Jew in the Mikdash

   The dedication concludes with God's promise that his sanctity dwelling in the Mikdash is conditional on keeping the Mitzvot. 

9. Prophet in Distress

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Eliyahu had orchestrated a three-year drought that had brought the nation to its knees. This had culminated in the decisive religious contest at Mt. Carmel that had exposed the falsity of the Baal, bringing king and country to proclaim faith in God alone. It had been an excruciating process, with Eliyahu living in exile for three years. Indeed, he had succeeding in turning the king around. But now the entire project, this huge educational endeavor, lay shattered, in ruins. It was not Izevel's death threat alone. Izevel's confidence highlighted the understanding that she was in control, and that the transformation of national priorities would be a more arduous, complex, and protracted process. All of this leads to Eliyahu's feeling of dejection and his rejection of his role as a prophet. Unlike Moshe, he is unable to be zealous towards the sinner but to invoke God's mercy on the nation as a whole. 

10. Of Parts and Pieces: The Instructions and Assembly of the Mishkan

    Rabbi Chanoch Waxman

    The lack of symmetry between the text's portrayal of God's commands pertaining to the Mishkan and Moshe's fulfilment of those commands hints to a message that the Torah seeks to convey about the Mishkan and its relationship to the people and the priests. This shiur explores the symbolism, significance and purpose of the representation of the Mishkan—the Tent of Meeting as a portable Sinai, as portrayed at the end of the book of Exodus.

11. Behar-Bechukotai: End of the Story

    Rabbi Jay Kelman

12. Rav Medan: Sefirat HaOmer, Matan Torah, and the Yovel Year

    Rabbi David Silverberg

13. Parashat Shemot - Sneh and Sinai

    Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 30 minutes

    We will talk about story story of the sneh (the Burning Bush)- the first encounter between God, Moshe, and Bnei Yisrael and the beginning of Moshe’s Divine mission. It is a story of theophany at the sneh, but also the story of the recruitment of Moshe. Why does God choose Moshe? What special aspect of his charater makes him the right person for this mission?

    Moshe is the first one to ask this question. Many commentators look to the past (Chapter 2 of Exodus, for example). In this shiur, we will pursue something  a bit different. We will look at God’s response toanswer why Moshe is the one, and we will look for the significance of the parallels between the story of the sneh and the story of Bnei Yisrael at Sinai.

    Sinai is an expansion- a macrocosm of the event at the sneh.