Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally

On this week’s parsha, the Torah raises one of its most difficult questions: How could Jacob’s righteous sons, the forefathers of us all, treat their brother Joseph so harshly? How could they plot to kill him, and why did they eventually sell him off to slavery? The question resonates with us today, as we continue to fight among ourselves, but the Torah, thankfully, gives us a powerful prescription for ending this strife. How can we become closer and create unity in the Jewish world? 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, Ya’akov returns home to face his fears and his brother Esau, and earns his eternal name, Israel, by fighting with an angel. But this story of extraordinary struggles contains a few key insights for us ordinary people trying to bounce back from very difficult blows. How is an ancient ruling about not eating one specific cut of meat a reminder of what we ought to do when the going gets tough? 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, we meet Ya'akov as he flees his brother Esau's wrath. But as the story unfold, he transforms into a man in full, no long running away from something frightening but working towards a good and great goal. How can we, too, stop seeing ourselves as victims and connect instead to a higher, brighter calling? 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, Toldot, the Torah gives us Isaac, a man with a dilemma: when the one and only Abraham is your dad, what do you do for an encore? The answer has to do with digging wells, an activity that may not sound glamorous but holds many key insights to happiness, community, and spiritual growth. What can we do in our lives to continue Isaac’s sacred and absolutely necessary well-digging? 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, Chayei Sarah, the Torah gives us one profoundly brilliant life hack: always do more. But what does it mean in practice? And how can we apply this principle, embodied by Rebecca, to continue and grow as people in every area of our lives? 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, Vayera, the Torah teaches us that if we want to help people, we have to do more than merely offer them food, drink, and other basic necessities. True charity, we learn, involves giving people the education they need to have faith and strive to uplift themselves and others. What can we learn from Abraham about being kind to strangers? 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, Lech Lecha, the Torah gives us a master class on journeys, not just towards destinations unknown but also, and more importantly, into our own souls, our own destinies, and our own best selves. But what must we do when we’re seized by doubt and uncertainty? 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, Noach, the Torah reminds us that we can’t really expect to make it through the flood of life unless we have an ark of our own, a safe and sturdy vessel to carry us when things get too choppy. What’s the best sort of ark we can find now that the challenges that plague us are a bit more modern than a good, old fashioned flood? 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, our parsha-less streak reaches its home stretch, as we celebrate the holiday of Simchat Torah. It's a loaded one this year, as this otherwise joyous holiday marks the one year anniversary of the October 7 massacre. What do the families of those murdered on that dark day think we should do now that we're heartbroken yet are commanded to sing and dance and be merry? 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.

Dreyfus: A Very Modern Affair is an October 7th story, but one that begins not in 2023, but in October of 1894 with the arrest of French military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who also happened to be a Jew. The implications of his framing, arrest, incarceration and the fallout of his eventual exoneration reverberate today. Over this five-episode series, we examine how these events unfolded, and how they connect to the antisemitism that exists today.Visit https://www.tabletmag.com/dreyfuspodcast or search for Tablet Studios on your podcast app for the rest of the series.