KMTT - the Torah Podcast

Rav Soloveitchik on Teshuva (4): Is Teshuva a Mitzva? Must I Repent? by Rav Dovid Gottlieb Fourth in a series of mini-shiurim on R Soloveitchik's approach to Teshuva based on his famous and incredible sefer Al HaTeshuva. Part 1 of our discussion of the second essay in the sefer. If a person sins MUST he / she do teshuva or is that something that can be done of one wants? In other words, if I sin and don't do teshuva, is that a 2nd sin (because I am obligated to do teshuva) or is it merely 1 sin with a missed opportunity to get forgiven for that sin??

Exploring the Themes and Pesukim of Rosh Hashana, by Rav Moshe Taragin Bringing Hashem to a G-dless World; The Anthem of Jewish History

Ramban on the Torah | 61 | Nitzavim-Vayelekh, by Rav Eli Weber   "You stand this day, all of you, before your God." Don't we always live our lives in God's presence? And more...

Vayelekh | Hakhel in Yavneh... And Beyond, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom What is the impact of Hakhel in our day?  The penultimate Mitzva found in the Torah is the command to assemble all of the people at the end of the Shemitta year, to hear a public reading of the Torah (התורה הזאת) - including the men, the women and the children. In a famous story recorded in Tosefta Sota, a homily of R. Elazar b. Azariah's about Hakhel is recorded, and is followed by two more homilies which all seem unrelated. Tying R. E;lazar b. Azariah's revolutionary approach (see BT Berakhot 27b) to education, we tie these three דרשות together into a weave that forms the foundation of this astonishingly new approach to teaching and publicizing Torah - all anchored in this ancient Mitzva. Source sheet >>

The Road to Teshuva | Part 8, by Rav Moshe Taragin Avoiding "Viduy Traps": Denial, Deflection, Disingenuousness

The Road to Teshuva | Parts 6-7, by Rav Moshe Taragin Paradoxes of Teshuva: Can Teshuva Be Selective?; The Halakhic Definition of What is Considered "Forgotten" Paradoxes of Teshuva: Personal Teshuva vs. Collective Teshuva; Believing in Jews as a Route to Teshuva; Covering With Snow Rather Than Cleansing   

Ki Tavo | Why Did Bnei Yisrael Need a Second Tokhacha? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom Why is the imprecation (תוכחה) in our Parasha so much more frightening and graphic than the earlier one in Vayikra 26 Parashat Ki Tavo is perhaps most well-known for the lengthy and painful imprecation which Moshe integrates into the covenant which he initiates with Bnei Yisrael in the Plains of Moav - a decidedly second and "other" covenant to the original one entered into at Sinai. We explore the need for a second covenant and the significantly more frightening imagery in the second תוכחה and propose why it may have been needed for this second generation, born free in the desert. לע"נ אחי יונתן הלל בן הרב אשר אהרן ומרים Source sheet >>

Ramban on the Torah | 60 | Ki Tavo, by Rav Eli Weber   What is the meaning of Vidui Bikkurim? Is there a meaning to what the goyim think of us? What is the meaning of writing the Torah on stones?

The Road to Teshuva | Part 5, by Rav Moshe Taragin Teshuva Paradoxes- "We Will be in the Same Place Next Year"- 3 Ways to Solve the Hypocrisy of Religious Recidivism

The Road to Teshuva | Part 4, by Rav Moshe Taragin Can Teshuva Aspiration be Too Ambitious; Divine Reassurances Without Reducing Standards