Ta Shma

The idea that God can revive the dead became central to our prayers and Jewish theology in general.  But what does this “resurrection” entail?  Do we have to take it literally, or can we understand it in a more metaphorical way?  And what do we lose without the literal meaning?

There is a halakhic obligation to eat on the day before Yom Kippur. What is the nature of this obligation? Where does it come from? What can it teach us about the meaning of Yom Kippur itself and the process of Teshuvah? Recorded for Hadar's onliene yom iyyun on Erev Yom Kippur 5789.

Akeidat Yitzhak, the Torah reading for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, is usually seen as the ultimate Jewish model of personal sacrifice. But is willingness to die for God really the epitome of sacrifice? In this session, R. Tali Adler  explores a midrash that questions Akeidat Yitzhak's role as the central model of personal sacrifice, and offers a story about Rachel our Matriarch as an alternative.

How are we meant to begin the process of teshuvah, returning to God?  Is this something we initiate, or does God help us to begin?  Or perhaps it is some combination?  How is this process understood in the Torah and in our Amidah?

In a newly released video and audio series (originally recorded in 2020), Rabbi Elie Kaunfer introduces aspects of the High Holiday Mahzor as we prepare for the upcoming Hagim. This is the first of these introducing the Malkhuyot (or Kingship) section of Rosh Hashanah Musaf. You can go to hadar.org and sign up for the WhatsApp group to receive this video and audio series every day.

In Parahsat Ki Tavo, the word “amen” appears 12 times in 12 consecutive verses (Deuteronomy 27:15-26).  It is also a word that features prominently in our prayer experience, usually in response to the prayer leader’s prompt.  But what does this word mean?  What is happening ritually when we say “amen”?

In what way is the Talmud like a recipe book? In this panel event that brought together an incredible slice of the New York Jewish community, Hadar’s Rabbi Miriam-Simma Walfish leads a discussion about a revolutionary new cookbook, "Feeding Women of the Talmud, Feeding Ourselves," collected by Kenden Alfond. Learn not only about this book but also about the women of the Talmud and mustard seeds! 

Jewish identity is irreducibly made up of both religious and ethnic components.  One of the situations where this complexity comes to the fore is for converts (or in Hebrew: gerim), people who become Jewish but do not necessarily have ethnic Jewish ancestors.  And yet, our liturgy is full of references to the “God of our ancestors” and similar formulations assuming an ethnically Jewish background.  How should Jews by choice interact with a liturgy that assumes, at least sometimes, that those who recite it are Jews by birth?

Putting together a lot of her teaching over the years, Rabbi Avital Hochstein explores the verb “to see” in the Torah. How can seeing someone else create connection and mutual understanding? How can seeing help us evaluate what is good and right?

At the end of the Amidah, we ask for God to “שים שלום - grant peace.”  But the word “שלום - peace” has multiple meanings, and it is not clear exactly what we are asking for in this moment.  Is this a request for broad political stability, or something more personal?  How might we understand this request for peace and how it relates to our prayer life?