Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Rambam: On Women Learning Torah - Part 2 (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:13) This afternoon (10/21/21) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we continued in our attempt to understand the Rambam's shitah on teaching Torah to women. I say "attempt" because the tasked proved to be quite difficult. I can't say we really arrived at a firm understanding. Unless you REALLY want to be thorough, I might even recommend skipping this one. The only real big move we...
Oct 21, 2021•55 min•Season 6Ep. 15
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/20/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we took up the "hot topic" of women learning Torah. We began by reviewing an unrelated side-question: "What's the deal wth the paragraph breaks in the various editions of the Mishneh Torah?" We then read the two halachos in the Rambam about women learning Torah and fathers teaching their daughters Torah, and we analyzed them step by step, drawing upon the Mishneh Torah commentarie...
Oct 20, 2021•53 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/19/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued our sidequest to understand the Rambam's view of learning talmud, on the one hand, and learning Talmud, on the other (and if that distinction is lost on you, then you REALLY need to listen to part 1). After reviewing what we learned yesterday, we set out to understand what the Rambam means in his statements about Davar Katon in Yesodei ha'Torah 4:13. We read the extre...
Oct 19, 2021•57 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/18/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we went on a little bit of a sidequest. Last week we read the Rambam's tripartite talmud Torah curriculum: a third Torah she'bi'Chsav, a third Torah she'baal Peh, and a third the ACTIVITY of Talmud. Today we delved into the questions of: What, exactly, does the Rambam mean by "talmud," and what is the relationship between HIS "talmud" and what we call "learning Talmud"? We began w...
Oct 18, 2021•59 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/14/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we FINALLY found a satisfactory answer (or answers) to the question of how the Rambam could be supported by his brother while he learned Torah, thanks to R' Shelat's footnotes on several of the Rambam's letters - plus a halacha we missed in Hilchos Sanhedrin. The first letter we read also showcased the Rambam's human side, revealing the depths of his grief over the loss of his bro...
Oct 14, 2021•59 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/13/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we devoted one more day to analyzing the Rambam's statements about being paid for Torah. We decided to pursue a tangent that came up about avodah zarah and Chazal's approach to non-prohibited superstitious practices. We then went back and attempted to understand the Rambam's statements about the relationship between work and benefiting from Torah. Although we didn't complete our f...
Oct 13, 2021•54 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/12/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we analyzed the Rambam's fivefold enumeration of why it's bad to treat Torah as a job. Although we didn't complete our analysis, we did come up with a unified approach which I'm happy with. Tomorrow (God willing) we'll take another stab at it, and continue our analysis with the Rambam's next paragraph. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ג:י רמב"ם - מ...
Oct 12, 2021•57 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/11/21), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we continued our exploration of the Rambam's view on the permissibility of being paid to learn, teach, or adjudicate Torah. We began with his (vehement) codification of his view in the Mishneh Torah. We then read and discussed the foonotes of R' Makbili (the editor of the critical edition of the Mishneh Torah we use), looking up some of the relevant primary sources he references a...
Oct 11, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/7/21) we took a brief detour from Hilchos Talmud Torah to read through the Rambam's famous diatribe against "profiting" from Torah, in his commentary to Avos 4:7 (or 4:5, depending on your edition). We began with the Aruch ha'Shulchan's concise summary of the heter that the world relies on, just so we can have a point of contrast, and then we read through the Rambam's lengthy remarks. Our goal was to finish the whole t...
Oct 07, 2021•54 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/6/21) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we finished the initial halachos about teaching Torah in Chapter 1. We covered three topics: (1) If botha father and son need a basic Torah education, who takes precedence? (2) What comes first: learning Torah or marriage? and (3) Is it permissible to pay or charge Torah teachers? Before we move on in Hilchos Talmud Torah, we're first going to learn through the Rambam's famous diatri...
Oct 06, 2021•55 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/5/21) we went over everything we did yesterday in an attempt to sharpen our questions and start to explore ways to answer them. I think we got as far as we can get for now. The next step is to read on, and to at least finish the next few halachos about the obligation to teach - if not the full first perek. Once we do that, we'll have a better shot at forming a comprehensive theory. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה,...
Oct 05, 2021•45 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/4/21) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we began Hilchos Talmud Torah. As is our custom, we started by comparing the Rambam's formulation of the mitzvah in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos, the Reshimos at the beginning of the Mishneh Torah, the Koseres, and the first halachos. Not surprisingly, we already have a plateful of questions! Tomorrow we'll begin by reading the Torah she'bi'Chsav and then reviewing the opening halachos to se...
Oct 04, 2021•30 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Since today (10/4/21) was our first REAL session of Rambam Bekius in the 2021-2022 academic year (now that the moadim are over), I decided it would be a good idea to review what the Mishneh Torah is and what approach we will be taking in our Rambam Bekius chavurah. We reviewed the essential excerpts from the Rambam's statements about the purpose and scope of the Mishneh Torah and we gave a recap of our methodology. ---------- מקורות: רמב...
Oct 04, 2021•26 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/14/21) we attempted to answer the questions we raised yesterday. Using a combination of our own minds and the sources provided by R' Qafih in his digest, we were able to arrive at a decent understanding of two ways to learn the Rambam. We had a nice tangential discussion about the tension between the notion that our sins are completely erased by teshuvah and the idea of "my sin is before me always." We ended off with a ...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 13 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/13/21) we took up the question: Which sins should a person publicize his teshuvah on and which sins should he keep private? After reviewing the Rambam on the basic mitzvah of vidui, and going over a few "side ideas," we learned Hilchos Teshuvah 2:5, raising all the major questions and starting to develop an approach. Tomorrow we'll attempt to answer all of our unanswered questions. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ...
Sep 13, 2021•57 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/6/21) we had a special edition of Rambam Bekius in which we examined the three places where the Rambam utilizes the metaphor of "waking up." The three are (1) in Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4, when he explains the "message" of shofar, (2) in Hilchos Mezuzah 6:13, in his explanation of the purpose and importance of mezuzah, and (3) in Hilchos Avel 13:11-12 when he talks about how a person should react when a friend dies. In this ...
Sep 06, 2021•53 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (8/4/21 at YBT), in our last Rambam Bekius chavurah of the 2020-2021 year, we completed Hilchos Deios. After reviewing the Rambam's treatment of nekimah (taking revenge) and netirah (bearing a grudge) in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos, we did the "hidden" source on revenge in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos, in the Rambam's discussion of the prohibition to curse a fellow Jew. We then read the halachos about nekimah and netirah in the Mishneh T...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (8/2/21 at YBT), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we finished the topic of lashon ha'ra, explaining the last couple of halachos in Deios Chapter 7 and then attempting to understand as much as we could of the end of Tumas Tzaraas, where the Rambam discusses another dimension of the harm of lashon ha'ra. We concluded by reading the Sefer ha'Mitzvos on our two remaining mitzvos in Hilchos Deios: the prohibitions against taking ...
Aug 02, 2021•45 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (7/29/21 at YBT) we focused on two topics: avak lashon ha'ra (the "dust" of lashon ha'ra , i.e. the four categories of partial lashon ha'ra , which is still prohibited) and the halachos about other forms of lashon ha'ra , including the wide misconception that "if it's public, then it's okay to talk about." ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר המדע, הלכות דעות ז:ד-ה ---------- This week's Torah content has been sponsor...
Jul 29, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (7/28/21 at YBT) we revisited the question we spent yesterday working on, namely, "What is rechilus?" Thanks to some non-Rambam sources, we were able to come up with a clear definition of rechilus according to the Rambam and explain how lashon ha'ra is a subcategory. We then analyzed the statements the Rambam cited about the harm of lashon ha'ra. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה, ספר המדע, הלכות דעות ז:א-ג ויקרא יט:טז ...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (7/27/21 at YBT) we resumed our Rambam Bekius chavurah with the seventh and final perek of Hilchos Deios! Our plan is to finish by the end of next week so that we can start Hilchos Talmud Torah at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year. Today we focused on the surprisingly-difficult-to-define activity of rechilus ("gossip mongering"). We did a pretty thorough job of exploring the possibilities, but didn't QUITE arriv...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/17/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we concluded the sixth chapter of Hilchos Deios, which is about the treatment of widows and orphans. In the remaining time we took up a question that was raised yesterday: According to the Rambam, if yedias Hashem (knowledge of God) is the ultimate perfection, then where do mitzvos bein adam l'chaveiro (interpersonal commandments) fit in? We answered this question by reading -...
Jun 17, 2021•59 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/16/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we continued on in the sixth chapter of Hilchos Deios with the mitzvos of tochachah (rebuke) and she'lo le'halbin panim (not to embarrass). In addition to learning what the Rambam wrote, we also mused about the current state of the mitzvah of tochachah in Klal Yisroel today. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות דעות ו:ו-ט רמב"ם - ספר המצוות, עשה רה; לא תעשה שג...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/15/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we continued on in the sixth chapter of Hilchos Deios, which covers a variety of bein adam l'chaveiro mitzvos. Today we learned about three: loving your fellow Jew, loving the convert, and not hating your brother in your heart, which also touched upon the mitzvah to rebuke your fellow Jew. Tomorrow we will continue where we left off. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר ה...
Jun 15, 2021•55 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/14/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we began the sixth and penultimate chapter of Hilchos Deios, in which the Rambam writes about the importance of associating with chachamim and their talmidim. Will we finish the 6th perek before the summer? We shall see! Let's plan to do what we always try to do: let the momentum of the learning dictate the pace, and not allow ourselves to feel rushed. After all, we don't want...
Jun 14, 2021•50 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/10/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we (miraculously?) finished Hilchos Deios Chapter 5 today, which covered several other areas of chachamim conduct: perception of their speech, walking, dress, management of personal finances, and business conduct. Our goal is to try to finish Hilchos Deios Chapter 6 next week, which is our last week of yeshiva before the summer, then tackle Hilchos Deios Chapter 7 during our s...
Jun 10, 2021•58 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/9/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we continued the chapter about how talmidei chachamim should conduct themselves in the particulars of their lives, which covered the topics listed in the title. The most interesting thing (to me, anyway) was how the Rambam classified the many statements of Chazal on these topics. Certain statements we had assumed were standard for all people, but the Rambam codified them in thi...
Jun 09, 2021•58 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/8/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we began the chapter about how chachamim (or talmidei chachamim) should conduct themselves in the particulars of their lives. Today's topic focused on how chachamim should and shouldn't eat. We contrasted this with some similar statements at the end of Hilchos Tumas Ochlin, and that comparison led to a key hypothesis about how this chapter fits into Hilchos Deios as a whole. We...
Jun 08, 2021•58 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/7/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we decided to take a brief break from Hilchos Deios to learn some Rambams about Bris Milah, since there will be a bris in yeshiva tomorrow - the first one I've been to since pre-COVID! We began with the Rambam's four initial presentations of the mitzvah, then we read his explanations for the reason for Bris Milah in the Moreh ha'Nevuchim, and we ended by going over the berachos...
Jun 07, 2021•59 min
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/3/21 at YBT) in our Rambam Bekius chavurah we finished the chapter in Hilchos Deios comprised of the Rambam's health guidelines. Although we encountered far more outdated statements this time compared to last time, we also encountered more enduring truths and insights into the Torah's approach to health. All in all, I definitely found it worthwhile to go through this chapter, and I think we were right not to skip it. --...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr
