Tanach In Depth

Episode 23 Fomenting Rebellion? Welcome to our twenty-third in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Whither Malchut Chapter 20 brings collective amnesia as we pretend that Shaul didn’t just try to kill David. Instead David concocts an elaborate ruse to force his dear friend Yehonatan to see the truth of his father’s madness. We note parallels between the rosh chodesh meal of Shaul and the feast of Esther and offer an explanation for why Yehonatan needed to be bothered with shooting arrows when he was able to simply speak to David directly in the end.

Lastly, I offer an extended musing on the concept of Mored b’Malchut as applied to David and Yonatan and find a surprising explanation in the story of Uzziah which has many similarities to the current situation in Israel.

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our twenty-first in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 21 - Shaul descent into the maelstrom

In this shiur we offer an explanation for why Shaul doesn’t seem to recognize David when the two had met in the previous chapter. We also attempt to understand the repetitious nature of the chapter by positing a novel literary technique that forces the reader to experience events as though they were the character (the movie reference was Momento). Thanks to Susan Ackerman’s insight that in Tanach love is never explicitly reciprocated, we avoid a reading that sees David as cold and calculating. Lastly we are perplexed by Shaul’s request, and David’s acceptance of a bride-price that involves mutilating the enemy and find shades of the Lavan story that will continue into the next chapter.

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

---

#Tanach #Shmuel #David #Shaul #Michal #Bible

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our twentieth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 20

David vs. Goliath.

In chapter 17 we experience collective amnesia as David’s anointment seems to have caused no effect on anyone. We offer an explanation for why Goliat hasn't appeared in any previous battles. We briefly site the fatuous exegesis of Malcom Gladwell wherein the Philistines send a decrepit acromegalic as their champion. We raise the most confounding question of why Shaul does not recognize David and hint that the solution is related to David's relationship with Yonatan.

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our Nineteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 19

In chapter 16 we encounter the beginning of the transition from the kingship of Shaul to that of David. Is Shmuel’s protest against going to select a successor for Shaul to be taken serious in light of the fact that just a few short verses beforehand he was telling Shaul the he would do exactly that? David’s anointment seems to be a strange non-event and we note the parallel between David’s selection as a court musician and Esther’s appointment as Queen. Finally, from a story perspective what is the point of anointing David here and what impact does this Ruah Hashem have?

We do begin to broach the topic of Shaul’s madness but there is much more to explore.

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our seventeenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 17

We creep into some morally murky waters with chapter 15. How do we understand the biblical mitzvah to wipe out Amalek completely when it would seem the Amalekites of Shaul’s time should not be blamed for the acts of their nation hundreds of years prior? Can Shaul not cite precedent of Yericho and Ai in dedicating the best spoils to Hashem and holding the enemy king for a public spectacle?

The theological questions get even harder (if you can believe it!) when we consider, broadly speaking, the implications of whether or not God changes God’s mind.

Additional topics include an excursus on the Teraphim and a recourse to ancient eastern views on the symbolism of the hem of robes

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our sixteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 16

We seek to plumb the depths of the exceedingly rich chapter 14 including noting how Yonatan's approach to basically everything is the inverse of Shaul. This leads us to another example of our Twice Told Tale series wherein we compare chapter 14 to the story in the talmud of Dama ben Netina. Next we point out the historical curiosity of the British using the geography of our perek to combat the Ottoman Turks in WWI.

Additional topics include comparing Yonatan and Shimshon an excursus on the Urim v'Tummim and a discussion of David Jobling's reading of Yonatan as essentially a junior David to serve as the transition from Shaul to David

All this and more.

Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoy this podcast and will consider sharing it with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our Fifthteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 15

While we found the roots of Shaul’s heroism in chapter 13 this week we encounter a confused king who seems to be winning in spite of himself. In chapter 14 we find many surprises including Shaul’s son Yonatan who seems bent on doing everything differently than his father. We note how much of the scene where Shaul curses anyone who eats with death and Yonatan’s subsequent eye opening experience is patterned after the story of eating from the tree of knowledge.

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our fourteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 13 – I’m not even supposed to be here today

After a deflating capstone to Shaul’s third inauguration last week, we analyze chapter 13 and find the roots of Shaul’s heroism this week. Shaul is put to an impossible test by Shmuel, essentially a Kobayashi Maru for you star trek fans. However, after experiencing failure Shaul does not cower as Dante Hicks in Clerks but instead rises to the occasion inspite of seemingly insurmountable odds. Will it be enough to secure his kingship when the navi has already indicated it is lost?

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our twelfth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 12

This week we discuss why, absent a directive from God, kings are anointed with oil and what such a symbolic act might mean. We note, with Dr. Micah Goodman that while Shmuel may not be in favor of kingship broadly, he seems to be accepting of Shaul as king because of Shauls obsequious nature. Lastly we note the lottery-like process of selecting Shaul before the people reminds us of the wicked Achan.

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our eleventh in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 11

This week we transition from a world where Jewish leaders were Shofetim, judges, to one where they are kings, and we do so, from Shmuel’s perspective, very begrudgingly. We note the similarities between the Shaul story and that of Yosef and we try to explain why it would be necessary, conceptually, for the first king of Israel to seemingly be so unworthy of the office.

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our tenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 10

This week we answer the questions from chapter 8 and the previous shiur and discuss how the request for kingship creates two distinct offices, that of ruler and of prophet, both dependent on one another for success. We also try to uncover how the events in chapter 8 are connected to the wildly different perspective in chapter 9.

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our ninth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 9

This is the chapter you’ve been waiting for (sorry, chapter 7 wasn’t recorded), we finally begin the transition to a king and a royal line and it is perplexing and mystifying. How is it possible that Shmuel allows his sons to not follow in his ways when he saw first hand the results of Eli and Eli’s children? Why would the people who clearly identify the problem with dynastic leadership expressly request dynastic leadership? Where does the mishpat Hamelech that Shmuel shares with them come from? And perhaps most surprising, if God tells Shmuel to listen to the people and appoint a king, twice, why does the chapter end with Shmuel’s failure to do so?!

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our eighth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 8.

This week we cover chapters 5-6, and try to understand, fundamentally what the need is for all this information. Meaning, why include two chapters of God destroying the Plishtim when we can sum up the events in 2-3 sentences. However, what we uncover is an intentional patterning on a previous story in the Chumash. Then we turn our attention to ask what the author is trying to accomplish through the use of this pattern. All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our seventh in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 7.

This week we cover chapter 4, the downfall of Eli, the loss of the aron and the destruction of Shiloh. We seek to understand why the destruction of the Mishkan is absent from the text even though it is cataloged elsewhere in Tanach. This week we conclude our exploration of Eli’s failure as a leader and point out how the destruction here is necessary to shift away from a corrupt Kohen paradigm to a prophetic one with Shmuel, who the people did not consult even though were just previously told that all his words came true and God was with him.

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

From Understanding to Meaning

We continue to analyze patterns in language and theme between Song of Songs and other parts of Tanakh. Two specific examples of wayward and broken relationships that are contrasted are in Hoshea chapter 2 and Mishlei/Proverbs chapter 7.

We use these comparisons to explain the necessity for writing Song of Songs poetically, rather than simply saying that Hashem and the Jewish people love each other, the reason for the metaphorical language is to contrast with other prophetic metaphorical language that is used to describe the Jewish nation straying after idolatry as a form of harlotry or a debasing of their loving relationship.

Approaches to Understanding the Text Citing from Rishonim and Achronim we discuss how to understand allegory and metaphor in Tanach generally and Song of Songs specifically. Does eros lead to agape?

Next we identify some recurring themes such as everyone guarding something.

We then trace many terms used for love and relationship in Song of Songs with their original sources in the Gan Eden story and see how their use in the megillah is attempting to illustrate the resolution for earlier breakdowns in relationships.

Finally we try to understand the meaning of the parallels between Shir HaShirm and the Keruvim and the story of Bilaam.

Exploring themes and patterns of meaning in Song of Songs while trying to avoid apophenia. We use musical structures such as Rondo and Ritornello to understand the repetition and variation across the songs.

In this episode we take the Artscroll introduction to Song of Songs to task for claiming that it would be false to read this megillah according to it's simple, straightforward and literal meaning - what is called pshat. We find that Rashi disagrees with Artscroll and we explore how the concept of pshat is meant to be understood.

We begin our exploration of the meaning of Song of Songs, why it was written, why it is missing any overt religious message, and who wrote it. There's also a great anecdote about C.S. Lewis's Jewish child.

We complete our straightforward/pshat reading of Song of Songs, chapters 7 and 8. Please note some terminology as written and translated in the Megillah is for a mature audience.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our Sixth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 6. This week we cover chapter 3 which juxtaposes Shmuel’s ascent with Eli’s decline. We offer a unique reading of Shmuel’s sleep in the Mishkan and finally we ask why Shmuel’s first prophecy seems to be so inconsequential to Eli, to Shmuel and to us the reader?

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our fifth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 5. This week we complete chapter 2 which continues the theme of the thing and its opposite, in this case Shmuel is contrasted with the sons of Eli. We struggle to understand the magnitude of the sins of the sons of Eli and we point out that perhaps not everything Eli hears about his children is factual. We explore whether or not these men lost their free will and finally we ask why , whatever the nature of their sin might be, why would it have such eternal consequences?

All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our fourth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy.

Episode 4. This week we begin chapter 2 and are immediately confronted with the perplexity of Chana’s famous prayer. How do these seemingly disparate statements hang together and why, as Rashi and others point out, is she continuously referring back to the misery she experienced at the hands of Penina. The solution we offer is to see Chana casting herself as a new Naomi, with the hopes of being the progenitor of kingship. All this and more.

Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our third in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or SamuelThe Book of Samuel: Episode 1 and the founding of Jewish monarchy. This week we complete chapter 1 and take a brief detour to ponder the source of the name Nitzevet (Bava Batra 91a) and contrast the story of Chana with that of Naomi and find similarities in language and theme. We then try to understand the implications of this comparison for malchut. All this and more. Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with others.

Welcome to the book of Shmuel chapter 1. This week we trace some of the background for the first perek back to the story of Pilegesh b’givah by noting the unusual term miyamim yamima. In sefer shoftim we come to identify the roots of the kingship of Shaul as related to Yavesh gilead and we understand how unlikely a king from Shevet Binyamin would be.

Thanks for joining and please consider sharing this podcast with others.

Whither Malchut

Welcome to our first in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. This week we introduce the book and what the goal of the work seems to be. We point out the famous question that the authority of the king as depicted in the Torah is extremely limited and is in stark contrast to the god-kings of the ancient world. Where do concepts like mored b’malchut come from and why is it so important to have a limited monarch. All this and more. Thanks for joining us.

Lastly on a personal note I am release this shiur on the first yartzeit of my father, may the Neshama of yaakov ben akiva Nachum have an Aliyah.

Welcome to Messy-nism the Jewish Understanding of Moshiach episode 7

This week we navigate through the approach of Jewish mysticism to Moshiach starting with the Heichalot literature proceeding to the Zohar, Rabbi Avraham Abulafia and his attempt to convert the Pope, the Arizal and his student R’ Chaim Vital and finally culminating in the most famous and successful Jewish false messiah of the past 1600 years, Shabbetai Tsvi. Thank you for joining us and I hope you enjoy.

If you find these shiurim interesting or valuable I would be grateful if you shared them with a  friend.

Welcome to Episode 6 of messy-nism the Jewish view of Moshiach. This week we cover 1700 years of messianic history including Herod, Christianity, Bar Kochva, and lesser known claimants such as Abu Isa, David Alroy and Ines Herrera the 11 year old female prophetess who was thought to be the messiah. We also noted the historical trends that tend to foster messianic fervor.

Thank you for listening, I hope that if you enjoy the shiur you’ll take the time to recommend it to others.

Thank you for joinins us for Messy-nism the Jewish view of Moshiach episode 5. In this jam packed shiur we discuss the opinion of Rebbi Hillel that the person of Moshiach has already come and gone, identify possible names for the Messiah, try to understand if Moshiach can come from the dead and explore the sources for several anti-nomian ideas such as the mitzvot being nullified in the future and the arrival of a new Torah. Lastly we look at references to Moshiach in the world of Piyut both historically and into our modern era. I hope you enjoy.

One final request, if you do enjoy this shiur, please tell a friend and help spread the word. Thank you.

Welcome to messy-nism, the Jewish understanding of Moshiach, episode 4. This week we look at extra-biblical and non-canonical sources that discuss Moshiach. We trace the reference to a Moshiach ben Aharon found in the dead sea scrolls to a source in Zechariah and eventually back to Yetziat Metzrayim. We explore an Aggadah where Yonatan ben Uziel is prevented from producing a targum of Ketuvim for fear of disclosing the meaning of of the verses in Daniel which would reveal the arrival of Moshiach and ask if the date of the arrival is a fixed quantifiable piece of data or not, and finally we begin exploring a series of aggadot from Sanhedrin on what will happen in the generation of the advent of Moshiach.

Welcome to messy-nism, understanding Moshiach episode 3. This week we read through a survey of pesukim in Tanach which speak about the days of Moshiach and find a very different eschatological picture than we might expect. We begin to see where and how Rambam and the Geonic diverge and we wonder if it is Moshiach or Hashem alone who will be ushering in this new era.

I hope you enjoy

Welcome to messy-nism, understanding Moshiach episode 2. This week we complete Rambam’s minimalist and rationalist approach and contrast it with the geonim who read much of the pesukim and midrashim literally. We look briefly at Rav Hasdai Crescas and take a detour to ponder the question, does Moshiach need to actually be anointed and finally we suss out whether chatGPT holds like Rambam or Rav Hai Gaon.

Thanks so much for listening.

Welcome to the first recorded shiur on the Jewish view of Moshiach (the Messiah). We begin with Rambam’s definition of the principle of faith and his codification of the messiah in Jewish law. This week we explore some confusion of language stemming from Judaism’s adoption of the focus on a Moshiach rather than a Moshiah. Finally we discuss the unexpurgated halahot in Rambam where Christianity and Islam are seen as paving the way for the era of Moshiach.

Thanks for joining us. If you enjoy this content rather than leaving us a rating I would ask that you find a few friends and tell them to check it out.

Learning Genesis in depth can feel a lot like trying to swallow the ocean. We start by setting a framework for our study, meeting some of the less-common commentaries who will help guide us such as Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Luzzato (ShaDaL), Rabbi Benno Jacob, Rabbi Moshe Dovid (Umberto) Cassuto, JPS/Nahum Sarna, Andre LaCocque and R' Yonatan (Jonathan) Grossman.

We discuss discrepancies between the Chumash and science; eg birds are created before land animals while evolutionarily that order is necessarily reversed - and propose to use the late Stephen Gould's NOMA framework so that while science may tell us the 'what' of our world, Torah tells us the 'so what', as in so what does God want from me and how can I have a relationship with God?

Join our conversation in asking lots of questions on the second chapter of Genesis. Where, within the garden, was the tree of knowledge located? Why is man needed to pray for rain if the garden has a stream to irrigate it? For that matter, why do we have a radically different second story of Man's creation?!

(we'll avoid the facile and reductionist documentary hypothesis - for a rebuttal of that approach see our previous talk on Biblical Criticism)

Man is commanded to work and guard the garden, just as the Levites are commanded to do so for the Mishkan/tabernacle but that begs the question - who is man guarding the garden from? We notice that Man, who is often identified by his unique faculty of language, does precious little actual speaking and we contrast this with the talmudic story (further explicated in the text of Sefer Yetzirah/ the Book of Creation) of the creation of a golem (automaton) who is likewise found to be incapable of speech. We identify the radical implications of the need for communication in order to facilitate creation and ask if the original Ezer K'Negdo was supposed to be God.

Thanks for joining us.

Thanks for joining us in our continuing exploration of the depths of Genesis. This week we begin reading chapter 3 and note many surprises in the text. What was the Woman doing near the tree in the first place? What was the snake trying to accomplish? Did the snake know that Woman was different than all other animals who had been given the right to eat vegetation, but not been told they can eat from the fruit of the tree? Was it even a snake?!

As we read through chapter 3 we discuss some interesting concepts that arise, like does the advent of the punishment imply that beforehand an opposite situation held sway? Meaning, before Woman is cursed that Man 'shall rule over her' was she ruling him? Why were man and woman given the same job outside of Eden as they were previously and why has no one in the history of Tanach ever tried to go back to Eden?

Thanks for joining us

Welcome to the sixth and final installment of A Twice Told Tale: The retelling of Tanach in the Aggadah. In this shiur we outline the similarities and differences between the concept of gilgul, reincarnation or metempsychosis and our principle in the Aggadah, we explore the story of one of the, spoiler alert, four Jewish temples, Beit Chonyo and compare it to thestory of Pesel Micah. Finally we offer some thoughts as to what the reason for this principle might be, taken from, of all place, Artscroll biographies. I hope you’ve enjoyed this fugue. Thanks for listening.

For the full shiur notes and bibliography message me on twitter - @isaacson

Welcome to a Twice Told Tale, the retelling of Tanach in the Aggadah, episode 5. This week we continued to identify some pattern breakers and then ran through a number of examples of parallels between stories in Tanach and the Aggadah including the approach of Rebbi Akiva’s wife and the Shunamite to Elisha, the parades of Dovid with the Aron and Bikkurim, the killing of King Yoshiahu and Bava ben Buta and much much more. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy

Welcome to a twice told tale, episode 4. This week we look at a number of additional parallels between aggadot and stories in Tanach include the story of the golem, the emperor and rav tanchum and the famous story of Rav Kahana going to Eretz Yisroel. We also began to look beyond the confines of the pattern to see examples which break or exceed the pattern including the stories of Rav Hiya’s wife Yehudit and King Shapur and Shmuel. Thanks for joining us

This week we look at Yosef and Shimshon and how thematic elements of their lives appear in the biographies of Rav Yochanan and Rebbi Meir? Welcome to A twice told tale, the retelling of Tanach in the Aggadah, episode 3

After a brief recap of the previous weeks we touch on the fact that the purpose of exploring these comparisons is not necessarily to delve into the underlying message each parallel might be conveying, but rather to test the hypothesis that when Chazal are able to utilize thematic elements from Tanach in the Aggadah there is a bias towards doing so. I hope you enjoy.