Full class: https://youtu.be/xCIiAkZDSGQ Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/568347?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/566742?lang=bi Watch the Full Class: https://youtu.be/FRhY5TSlsqo

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/548331?editor=1

As we close out the Book of Exodus, a 13th century Spanish preacher helps us, finally, make sense of all the details.

Who knows how to take the prophet's heavenly vision and bring it down to the ground? The Shadow knows!

Moses has just come back down from speaking with God. And he's glowing.

Our reluctant protagonist just wants a week off.

Parsha Study with Rabbi David Kasher from February 3, 2022.

It all started with dolphins. 

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/379209?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/546667?editor=1

"This week," says Rabbi Kasher, "we are going to look at an idea that seems so far outside of mainstream Jewish thought that if I came up with it myself, they’d kick me right out of Judaism!"

Why is the most important parsha in the Torah named after a foreign priest?

Water is the dominant motif in this week’s Parsha. Almost every event in the reading centers in some way around water: splitting water, begging for water, sweetening water, drawing water from a rock. Why so much talk about water? The Talmud provides us with some symbolism that will lend a new layer of meaning to all these watery scenes.

Right in the middle of all the action in the Exodus story - with the plagues devastating the land and the Israelites preparing to leave Egypt - the Torah suddenly pauses to introduce us to... the calendar?! This week I'm remembering an old friend who once taught me just how important this moment was.

Our experience of the pandemic has us asking all kinds of new questions about the Ten Plagues. Rabbinic tradition has answers, but they will take us into a very different reality.

Today we'll look at what is surely one of the strangest stories in the Torah.

How much work can one little verse do? We put that question to the test with the seventh verse in the Book of Exodus.

The family is back together again. Years of bitterness and resentment have been healed. Finally we're on the right track. But Jacob just can't let go of his great obsession...

70 people went down to Egypt. But we only count 69! Who's missing? The woman between the walls.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/545191?editor=1

"Our Father Jacob never died.” That’s what our rabbis tell us. But he was embalmed and buried! So what could they mean?

This book has been analyzed and interpreted for millennia - so how can there possibly be anything left to say? But thanks to the concept of 'hiddush,' there's always room for a new approach.

Joseph rises to power in Egypt on the strength of his dream interpretations. But where did he learn how to do this so convincingly? Listen carefully, and you’ll find out. 

The rabbis of the Talmud dig their fingers into the Joseph story and come up with some weird, wild stuff.

There's a vampire hiding in your Torah. To find him, you'll have to connect the dots.

A talking snake. A talking donkey. And now… talking rocks! Are we really supposed to believe this stuff?! A 16th-century Jewish philosopher offers us a novel approach for reading the wildest texts in our religious tradition.

In this week's parsha, parents are playing favorites - and so is Rabbi Kasher.

A Kabbalistic legend traces the Abrahamic family tree to a mysterious village of wise ones who possess great spiritual gifts. A 17th-century Hebrew printer thinks he’s figured out where it is.

The Binding of Isaac is such a nightmarish tale that it can leave us wondering how a holy book can contain such horrors. But what if the horror is intentional?

The story of Abraham begins with a thundering call to action, but then quickly starts to sound like a travel itinerary. Why does the Torah give us all the little details of the journey? There are lessons for the future hidden here, if we know how to read the signs.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/543516?lang=bi

“Noah saved all animal species - and humanity itself - from extinction. He’s the ultimate hero! We should be singing his praises every day! But…there’s something wrong with Noah.”

In this week's episode (Naked Torah - Parshat Bereishit), we examine the famous story of the Garden of Eden, and ask the question, "Is the forbidden fruit really just a metaphor for sex?" Answer: sort of, but not like you think.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541791?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/479870?editor=1

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/538397?lang=bi

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/536848?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/528461?lang=bi

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/531708?lang=bi

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/404083?lang=bi Watch the Full Class: https://youtu.be/YrP-HnwjiNc

Rabbi David Kasher's Weekly Parsha Study. Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/525551?lang=bi

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 11.2.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A...

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 10.26.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A...

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 10.19.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fikar-la.zoom.us%2Fmeeting%2Fregister%2FtJwrfuytrz4jGtMKB6cYx0bcGz7JmFw5rgUd&sa=D&ust=1697577720000000&usg=AOvVaw1yOKzqinM2sivSvIl6GPS9