Podcast
Ta Shma
Hosted by Hadar Institute · EN
Bringing you recent lectures, classes, and programs from the Hadar Institute, Ta Shma is where you get to listen in on the beit midrash. Come and listen on the go, at home, or wherever you are. Hosted by Rabbi Avi Killip of the Hadar Institute.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Shoftim: The Torah of Military Service
3d ago00:14:32Tap to summarizeThe preoccupation with the question of who goes to war is not new. It is a question that meets us, Israeli society, in our day-to-day lives. There is an acute sense here of exhaustion of military forces, alongside awareness of the high price that those who serve and their families pay, accompanied by political tension surrounding the issue of military service, all of which grow day by day—and even fuel one another.
Transcribe →R. Elazar Symon on Rosh Hodesh Elul: A Different Kind of Comfort
5d ago00:08:12Tap to summarizeThe month of Elul marks the beginning of a process that leads us toward the Yamim Noraim, the days of awe. Yet in another sense, even at the beginning of Elul, we are already mid-process. Going back to at least medieval France, the sequence of haftarot we read in the synagogue on Shabbat from the 17th of Tammuz until Yom Kippur were understood as representing a long process split into three periods.
Transcribe →R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Re'eih: The Dangers of Incitement
1w ago00:12:18Tap to summarizeIn Parashat Re’eih, the Torah warns against a uniquely insidious threat: the mesit or inciter. In Hebrew, this act of enticing or manipulating another person toward harm is known as hasatah, “incitement.” The discourse of incitement is one of the most central and sensitive topics in social and political interaction in Israel. The term hasatah is used by the Israeli public both as a formal legal definition (a prohibited call for violence, racism, or terrorism) and as a popular political tool designed to invalidate the other side's position and label it as dangerous. The Torah approaches hasatah as well, indicating that incitement is dangerous because it is confusing, powerful—and primarily because it works.
Transcribe →R. Tali Adler: What Are You Doing Here, Elijah?
2w ago00:48:34Tap to summarizeThis class explores the powerful stories of the prophet Elijah, asking what they reveal about prophecy, leadership, and religious zeal. As Elijah performs miracles and confronts the people of Israel, the narrative raises difficult questions about certainty and compassion. Recorded at Hadar's Tanakh Intensive, Winter 2026.
Transcribe →R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Eikev: Memory and the Divine-Human Partnership
2w ago00:11:52Tap to summarizeTwo intertwined themes are explored in Parashat Eikev: memory and human agency. What is the connection between these ideas? And how do they work together in our brit, our partnership with God?
Transcribe →R. Shai Held: Hope After Hope Is Lost
3w ago00:40:38Tap to summarizeHow might we maintain hope during a time when it seems to many of us that all hope is gone? One biblical idea is that, although God is frequently disappointed, God also refuses to give up. (What) can we learn from that? This class turns to Tanakh, to midrash, and to medieval Jewish thought to help think more deeply about hope and hopelessness—and about what we can hold onto in dark times. Recorded at Hadar's Rabbinic Yeshiva Intensive, 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/RYI2026HeldHopeAfterHope.pdf
Transcribe →R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Va'Ethanan: Law After War
3w ago00:12:18Tap to summarizeOur parashah describes a deeply charged moment—a moment where the Israelites are at risk of forgetting the Holy Blessed One. Surprisingly, this danger does not stem from lack or deprivation, but rather from a reality of abundance and tranquility that awaits them after conquering the Land.
Transcribe →R. Elazar Symon on Tisha B'Av: Wood and Stone
4w ago00:07:11Tap to summarizeAt least in the plain sense of Lamentations 4, the destruction of Jerusalem is not presented as the execution of a carefully designed plan. It is a moment of unleashed fury.
Transcribe →R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Devarim: Eikhah: What Does God Lament?
Jul 1500:12:40Tap to summarizeParashat Devarim is always read on the Shabbat preceding Tisha B’Av, the week in which we read Megillat Eikhah (the Book of Lamentations). This creates a triple echo of a single word within our tradition: eikhah (which can mean both “alas” and “how”). The first is the one read on Tisha B’Av, the very eikhah that opens the scroll and gives it its name: “Alas (eikhah)! Lonely sits the city once great with people! She that was great among nations is become like a widow; the princess among states is become a thrall” (Lamentations 1:1). A second eikhah is found in the Haftarah for Parashat Devarim, spoken by the prophet Yeshayahu: “Alas (eikhah), she has become a whore, the faithful city that was filled with justice, where righteousness dwelt—but now murderers!” (Isaiah 1:21). And a third eikhah is uttered by Moses in the opening verses of Parashat Devarim—an eikhah we might easily overlook if not for this convergence of timing and the echo of Megillat Eikhah: “How (eikhah) can I bear by myself your burden, your weight, and your strife?” (Deuteronomy 1:12).
Transcribe →R. Dani Passow: Esh Kodesh: Finding God in the Midst of Suffering
Jul 1300:34:16Tap to summarizeIn the darkest days of the Holocaust, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczner Rebbe, offered weekly teachings to his community in the Warsaw Ghetto. These sermons, later collected as Esh Kodesh (“Sacred Fire”), are among the most profound works of spiritual courage ever written. In this six-part series, we’ll explore how the Rebbe turned to Torah to confront unthinkable suffering, searching for God in moments of devastation, and uncovering sparks of hope, resilience, and inner strength. His words speak not only to the horrors of his time, but to anyone seeking meaning, faith, and comfort in the face of life’s struggles. Recorded in Winter 2026. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/PassowEishKodesh2026Part1.pdf
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