Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally

This week, we continue with our parsha-less streak, celebrating the High Holidays And this week, it’s time for Sukkot, the festival that commands us to take all of our meals for one week in a rickety outdoor hut. But could it be that this rickety hut is actually more stable than our homes? And is Sukkot the natural antidote to a life made so much more complicated and stressful by digital technology? 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, there’s no parsha. Because this Friday evening we mark the beginning Yom Kippur, the only Jewish festival that we celebrate even when it falls on Shabbat. Most of us consider it a solemn, somber day of awe, but is it also, maybe, joyous? And what does it have to teach us about not letting our good ideas and good intentions just fade away without action? 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 continue to read the Torah, but are focused on celebrating Rosh Hashanah. What is the holiday’s central mitzvah, and why is it, surprisingly, not about doing anything but merely about stopping, paying attention, and taking stock? 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 parashot, a double-header of Nitzavim and Vayelech, the Torah gives us a practical guide to life, a reminder that we can tackle even the most daunting of tasks and that nothing we’re commanded to do is too great for our earthly powers. What does a famous story about a small child visiting a zoo have to teach us about our true potential? 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 Ki Tavo, we discuss how to act when we enter the land of Israel. With all sorts of terrible things that can happen, what should we focus on? How should we act? As Sivan explains, one verse directs us: "Because you did not serve God with happiness and gladness of heart when you had an abundence of everything." We should pay attention to what we have. Thank God for what we are given. Appreciate the privilege in our lives. But how can we be happy after such a challenging year? How can we create happy Jewish futures? And what does this have to do with the famous Israeli singer Ishay Ribo? 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 this week's parsha, Parshat Ki Teitzei, we read seventy four mitzvot, the largest number out of all the parshot in the Torah. But Sivan zeroes in on just one: HaShavat Aveda, or lost and found. That if you see something astray, you are commanded to return it to its owner. Yes, this relates to physical objects in the world. But it's also about those who are spiritually lost. That when one strays away, we must help bring them back. How do we help others return to themselves? How do we help ourselves if we've gone adrift? What's this got to do with Sivan's first time keeping shabbat? 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.

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.

This week's parsha, Parshat Eikev, is all about perspective. Because in Moses's closing speech, he tells the Israelites that if they fulfill the commandments, they will prosper, and if they don't, they won't. This, Sivan explains, is a warning to us moderns: that when one has everything, and in large quantities at that, we can easily lose focus on what really matters. Can we connect to the commandments and not just our pocketbooks? Can we zoom out, take a breath, and appreciate God's attention in the world? What's this got to do with fresh squeezed orange juice? 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.

In this week's parsha, Parshat Vaetchanan, we talk about begging and repenting. Because when Moses begs to enter the promised land, his dream is not fulfilled. So how does he continue in the face of this hurdle? Tshuva, or repentance. The idea that you can falter and sin and still come back to yourself, others, and God. What does this have to do with survivors of the Nova music festival attack celebrating Shabbat? 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.