Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally – Details, episodes & analysis

On this week's parsha, Parshat Shoftim, we focus on a particular verse that can help us through this challenging week: "Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha" - that we become wholehearted, blameless, innocent before God. At the funeral of Hersh Goldberg Polin, Sivan explains, we had an opportunity to see this command in action. In their eulogies, Hersh's parents praised God for gifting them their son. They thanked the nation of Israel for supporting them through their battle to bring him home. They asked Hersh to shine his light on them from above. Wondering how to take action in light of tragedy? To help support the families of the hostages? To become innocent before God, and to do so in this holy month of Elul? Tune in to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On this week's parsha, Parshat Re'eh, we learn to see. Of the fifty-five mitzvot laid out in the parsha, Sivan focuses on the very first verse, which, she explains, can help us keep them all: to see God's blessings and his curses. This is because the mitzvot are not there to be blindly obeyed. Nor are they there just for intellectual appreciation. It's about seeing the mitzvot clearly - about feeling God's spiritual world - and integrating them into your life. What's this got to do with the saying the mourner's kaddish for 10/7 victims? Tune in to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

On Parashat Shelach, spies are sent into the Land of Israel, and report back on its flowing milk and honey. But the majority are scared to enter. Many Israelites even want to go back to Egypt. Now imagine yourself in the desert, Sivan asks. Would you go with the majority opinion, not confident in your and your people's abilities? Or would you find the inner optimism needed to succeed? What's this got to do with the great rebbe Jerry Seinfeld? Tune in to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

With this week's parsha, Parshat Beha'alotekha, we ask the question: how do we want to want? Sivan ties the parsha's disparate stories together, from Aaron's lighting of the menorah to Miriam being punished with leprosy, through the theme of wanting to take ourselves higher. Desiring to raise ourselves up. Aspiring to help others and connect with those around us. Sounds like a lot, right? So how can we do all that and more? Tune in to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

This week, we're skipping Parshat Naso and bringing you an episode all about Shavuot. To celebrate this great holiday where we received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, Sivan brings us five things we can each do to strengthen our connection to Judaism. From checking out Torah translations, like ArtScroll, to reading Liel and Sivan's latest books, to listening to beautiful Jewish music, like Thinking of Her by Aaron Razel, Sivan asks each of us to find ways to connect to Judaism, to ourselves, and to those around us. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today we begin the Book of Numbers with Parshat Bamidbar. In the Sinai Desert, God commands the Israelites to conduct a census. It's about numbers, and counting, sure. But, as Sivan explains, the parsha is really about making sure each person feels like they personally count. It's about validating others and raising their heads high. It's about experiencing oneself as an essential part of a whole. What's this got to do with Jewish leaders, from Moses to the Rambam, Rabbi Jonathan Sachs to the Lubavitcher Rebbe? Listen to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Parshat Bechukotai's got a lot of blessings, and a lot of curses. Follow God's commandments, you're in the clear. Don't follow ’em, some gnarly stuff can happen. Persecution. Exile. A divine wrath. But could it be that it's all a blessing, even the curses? That the worst sin isn't some particular action, but apathy toward our connection to God? Tune in to find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Portion WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

In Parshat Behar, we're talking about community. From business dealings to first responders, Sivan explains how the week's parsha emphasizes the bond to "achicha" - in Hebrew, your brother. How do we build this brotherly bond with others? How can we create caring and engaged communities, based not just on mutual trauma but on love and support? Listen and find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Thought WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Between Yom HaZikaron, Israel's memorial day, and Yom HaAtzmaut, its independence day, Parshat Emor's got us thinking about the difference between valuing life and valuing death. What can we learn from those who've fallen in defense of the Jewish state? How can they teach us to live fulfilling Jewish lives in the face of rising hate? And what's this got to do with stickers found on Israeli streets? Listen and find out. Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Thought WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

In this week's parsha, Parshat Kedoshim, we get holy. With 51(!) mitzvot - about family, salaries, sex, blindness, gossip, neighborly love, you name it - Sivan explains how the parsha is really about...everything. It's about your life. The lives of those around you. About loving others, and also ourselves. It's about elevating our worlds by becoming just a little bit holier. Wondering how? Tune in! Sivan Rahav-Meir is a leading Israeli journalist, media personality and Torah scholar. You can sign up for her The Daily Thought WhatsApp group, where Sivan sends small insights about Judaism and current affairs. Check out Liel’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books. You can find all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.