Monotheism

Found 10 Search results

1. Parshat Vaetchanan - Shema Yisrael

   Rabbi Alex Israel | 35 minutes

   Parashat Vaethanan is filled with well-known passages, including the Ten Commandments and the Shema. Reciting the Shema is seen as fulfilling the mitzvah of accepting the Yoke of Heaven. This shiur is devoted to developing a deeper appreciation of the first verse of Shema. Though only six words, it is a difficult text. We raise questions and examine the readings of various classical commentators, exploring historical, theological and philosophical readings which enrich our experience of this famous and meaningful declaration.

2. Avraham: Repaying Debts and Inspiring Monotheism

   Rabbi David Silverberg

3. Adon Olam: The Burning Palace has an Owner

   Rabbi David Silverberg

4. Something from Nothing: Who is Avraham?

   Rabbi David Silverberg

5. Tanakh and Literature of the Ancient Near East

   Part 3 - The Narratives in Sefer Bereishit and their Parallels in Ancient Near Eastern Literature

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Some argue that the great similarity between the stories in Breishit to stories in sources that are unquestionably more ancient, may serve to substantiate the authenticity of those stories. On the other hand, others argued that the biblical story was simply a duplication of the earlier Mesopotamian tradition.

   However, the contrasts between the stories point to the fundamental differences between the pagan and the monotheistic worldviews, and demonstrate the superior moral message of the Torah’s story over that of the pagan story. The fact that the traditions of the great flood and creation were familiar to the nations of the Ancient Near East presents no difficulty, and there is no reason that the Torah should refrain from recording it just because it was already well-known. It is specifically the comparison of the messages arising from the respective descriptions that strengthens the distinction between them.

6. Two Negotiations and Two Historical Struggles (Chayei Sarah)

   Rabbi Moshe Taragin

   תאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | |

   Parashat Hayyei Sara contains two negotiation stories that parallel each other: Avraham's request to buy a burial plot in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite, and Avraham's servant's quest to find a wife for Yitzhak in Aram Naharayyim. What is the significance of the juxtaposition and of the many similarities? In this shiur, we examine the many parallels between these two stories, such as the journeys, the initial ease and then the adversity and obstacles. We discover that they complement each other, and together they raise questions about universalism vs. particularism. Though these concepts (and stories) seem to contrast and negate  each other in some ways, in Avraham and his people they are interconnected.

7. Rashi - Part 6 - Rashi and Christianity (I)

   Dr. Avigail Rock

   The comments and midrashim that Rashi brings not because of any interpretative need, nor because of their educational or moral significance, but rather because of their exigency for his generation, a generation living beneath the shield and the sword of the Christian faith are examined.

   Rashi sometimes strays from the peshat of the verses because of the need to contend with Christian claims against the Jews, out of his desire to strengthen the spirit of his nation.

   There is no doubt that Rashi, in his commentary to Shir Ha-shirim, is responding to the First Crusade. Similarly, in his commentaries to a number of psalms and the Book of Yeshayahu, Rashi relates to the cruelty of the Christians, their claims against the nation of Israel, and the punishment that God is destined to bring upon them.

   Also in the Torah itself, we find anti-Christian trends in Rashi's commentary.

8. Ekev: Monotheism, Paganism, and Human Pride

   Rabbi Shlomo Dov Rosen

9. Where is God's place in Biblical Thought?

   Yael Leibowitz

   תאריך פרסום: 2022 | | Hour and 5 minutes

   For centuries, Israel’s prophets chastised, begged, and cajoled Israel to stop worshipping foreign gods, to no avail. And yet, upon their return from Babylon, a short seventy years after the destruction of the first temple, the returnees to Judea were exclusive monotheists, as were, with rare exceptions, all subsequent generations of Jews. What accounts for that sudden, long-awaited shift in thinking and practice? Come explore those ways in which Biblical theology evolved in the context of, and in reaction to, the historical and cultural realities that Israel faced throughout the first temple and early post-exilic period.

    

    

   Dedicated in memory of Rosina, Pardo Korda, Shoshana Baat Saadi, who learned, loved, celebrated, and performed Torah and Mitzvot with all of her heart and soul

10. Abraham My Beloved: From ‘the Land I Will Show You’ to Mt. Moriah

    Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg

    תאריך פרסום: 2023 | | Hour and 8 minutes

    In this shiur we will follow Abraham through his life's journey – a journey that begins with questions of livelihood, children's education, marital relationships, and barrenness, in a constant effort to spread the name of God in the world – that ends in the sublime moment of the Akeidah.