Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (11/1/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we did something a little different. Because our ultimate goal is to translate our learning of the Rambam into practical terms, we looked at how the Shulchan Aruch, Rema, and Aruch ha'Shulchan codified these first halachos in the Rambam. We might do this more as we proceed through this topic. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר זרעים, הלכות מתנות עניים ז:א-ג שולחן ערוך יורה דעה ...
Nov 01, 2022•20 min•Season 9Ep. 21
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/31/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we began by thinking about the interrelationship between the three pesukim cited by the Rambam as the source of the mitzvas aseh of tzedakah. Next, we read the halacha about what (NOT how much) we are commanded to give. We then analyzed the case in which we are commanded to restore an impoverished person back to his prior standard of living, even if it was extremely high. ----- ...
Oct 31, 2022•20 min•Season 9Ep. 20
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/27/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we revisited and attempted to answer the question we left off with yesterday (about how the placement of the halachos of tzedakah in Sefer Zera'im changes our view of tzedakah). We then read the first halacha in Hilchos Matnos Aniyim, taking a brief detour to review the Rambam's definitions of chesed and tzedakah in the Moreh ha'Nevuchim. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: הקדמה, ...
Oct 27, 2022•20 min•Season 9Ep. 19
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/26/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, after reviewing what we did yesterday, we attempted to answer our question on the Rambam's anomalous formulation in the minyan ha'mitzvos - and even though our answer failed, it nevertheless exhibited good methodology. We then played the "If YOU wrote the Mishneh Torah" game in an effort to appreciate why the Rambam placed the halachos of tzedakah where he did. We left off with ...
Oct 26, 2022•22 min•Season 9Ep. 18
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/25/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we began the topic of tzedakah, starting with the Rambam's formulations in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos and the minyan ha'mitzvos in the Mishneh Torah. We raised a few questions, and we plan to go over his other two formulations tomorrow before making any moves. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - ספר המצוות, עשה קצ"ה ולא תעשה רל"ב דברים טו:ז-ח ויקרא כה:לה-לו רמב"ם - משנה תורה: הקדמה, מנין המצוות, עש...
Oct 25, 2022•23 min•Season 9Ep. 17
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/24/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we learned another beautiful idea from The Kuntress on the Rambam's view of mashiv ha'ruach u'morid ha'geshem. Not only is the idea beautiful, but it also helps mitigate the pain of repeating shemoneh esrei if you forget and say the wrong thing. ----- מקורות: למקדח ולמחרוז במשנה תורה להרמב"ם - משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר אהבה, הלכות תפילה וברכת כהנים ב:טו; י:ח ת...
Oct 24, 2022•17 min•Season 9Ep. 16
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (10/4/22), in a special Erev Yom ha'Kippurim shiur, we went through around half of a shiur from The Kuntress on Karapah and Teshuvah. Although we didn't get a chance to answer all the questions, we did succeed in getting to the main idea, which was a theory of kaparah. Towards the end we discussed at least one approach to dealing with the pre-Yom ha'Kippurim anxiety which is so common at this time of year. ----- מקורות: למקד...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 9Ep. 15
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (10/3/22), in our last Rambam Bekius mini-shiur before the break, we reviewed the major questions from last week and then offered a new answer - one which gets to the heart of what deios are, and why we are commanded in ve'halachta bi'drachav. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ז:ג רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:נד ----- This week's Torah learning has been sponsored by Joey and Estee, whom I'd like to thank for...
Oct 03, 2022•19 min•Season 9Ep. 14
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/29/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we reviewed the major questions from yesterday, then offered an answer based on my limited understanding of what my Rosh ha'Yeshiva said when we asked him right before maariv last night. On Monday (בג"ה) I'll share my own answer. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ז:ג,ו רמב"ם - ספר המצות, עשה ח רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות דעות א:ב ----- This week's Tora...
Sep 29, 2022•15 min•Season 9Ep. 13
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/28/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we raised a number of thorny questions on the seventh chapter of Hilchos Teshuvah, the biggest of which is about the difference between the teshuvah described by the Rambam in 7:3 and the entire mitzvah of ve'Halachta bi'Drachav described in Hilchos Deios. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה פרק ז רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות דעות א:ה-ו ----- This week's ...
Sep 28, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 12
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/22/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we refined yesterday's approach and attempted to explain what is added by the pasuk in Mishlei. We didn't manage to develop a complete approach, but we did come up with a few insights. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ב:ג רלב"ג - משלי כח:יג ----- This week's Torah learning has been sponsored anonymously, and is dedicated to Yehudit Malka bat Ronit Elisheva, ...
Sep 22, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 11
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/21/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we reviewed yesterday's two approaches, refined them, and attempted to unify them. We then raised two more questions: one about the other way of learning the Gemara about tovel v'sheretz b'yado, and another about the pasuk in Mishlei. We'll attempt to answer these questions tomorrow, which will be our last Rambam Bekius shiur before the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah commence. ----- מקורות...
Sep 21, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 10
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/20/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we began by reviewing the five questions we raised yesterday, then started two approaches to answering them: one based on a sound methodological principle in the Mishneh Torah, and the other based on the Rambam's explanation of vidui in the Moreh ha'Nevuchim, combined with an excerpt from The Kuntress. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה א:אב; ב:ג רמב"ם - מורה ...
Sep 20, 2022•19 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/19/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we moved on to the next halacha in the Rambam which posed several difficulties. We learned through the facts and set up all the questions, and we'll attempt to answer them tomorrow. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ב:ג רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר טהרה, הלכות מקוות יא:יב ----- This week's Torah learning has been sponsored anonymously, and is dedicated to Yehudit M...
Sep 19, 2022•16 min•Season 9Ep. 8
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/15/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we attempted to answer two of the many questions we raised this week: (1) Why does nechamah (regret) come AFTER teshuvah instead of at the outset? (2) Why does the Rambam define teshuvah gemurah BEFORE defining teshuvah? ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ב:א-ב ירמיהו לא:טו-יט רש"י - יומא דף פו עמוד ב ----- The Torah content for the first two weeks of yeshiva ...
Sep 15, 2022•24 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/14/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we answered one of the questions we left off with yesterday: How is it possible to require The One Who Knows Hidden Things (i.e. God) to testify about you that you will never return to your sin? That seems to be an impossibly high standard! David Fischbein, a friend of mine, gave an amazing answer to this question, which I did a rather inadequate job of expressing in shiur today....
Sep 14, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/13/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we read through the Rambam's definition of regular teshuvah (as opposed to yesterday's teshuvah gemurah) and attempted to get pshat. We ended with a few questions, which will be added to our list of questions from yesterday. The plan tomorrow is to read the pesukim cited by the Rambam, in their proper context, and then attempt to answer our questions. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה ת...
Sep 13, 2022•19 min•Season 9Ep. 5
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/12/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we read through the Rambam's definition of teshuvah gemurah and started raising questions ... questions which we hope to answer over the course of this week. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ב:א-ב ----- The Torah content for the first two weeks of yeshiva has been sponsored anonymously. May Hashem send a refuah shleimah to Moshe Gavriel Ben Malka. ----- Plea...
Sep 12, 2022•21 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/8/22), in our Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we began by reviewing what we covered yesterday, then finished reading the Yad Peshutah's heuristic principles for understanding the Rambam's mitzvah formulations in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos and the Minyan ha'Mitzvos. REALLY useful stuff! It makes me want to go back and review everything we did in the first year of Rambam Bekius shiur. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות ...
Sep 08, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/7/22), in our inaugural Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we reviewed the Rambam's four formulations of the mitzvah of teshuvah and vidui, noting their similarities and difference. Then we found a HUGE methodological principal, as revealed by Rav Nachum Rabinovitch in his Yad Peshutah commentary, which not only helped us with our question here, but might answer dozens of other questions we've had over the years on the discrepan...
Sep 07, 2022•16 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (9/6/22), in our inaugural Rambam Bekius mini-shiur, we took a cold plunge into Hilchos Teshuvah, noting some of the "classic questions" on the Rambam's initial formulations of this mitzvah. Next time we will aim to answer some of them and/or move on to the Rambam's definition of teshuvah, which is the topic I'd like to focus on. ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה כותרת, א:א רמב"ם - משנה תורה: הקדמ...
Sep 06, 2022•18 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, On Reading the Rambam's Mishneh Torah Like a Love Letter , which is part PSA and part rant regarding the widespread practice to favor the standard printed editions of the Mishneh Torah over the critical editions. ---------- This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Naomi Mann in honor of Rabbi Moskowitz zt"l, whose shloshim is this week. ---------- If you h...
Jun 21, 2022•6 min•Season 8Ep. 27
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/16/22), in our last Rambam Bekius chavurah of the season, we continued reading Halbertal's analysis of the intended purpose and role of the Mishneh Torah, weighing in with our own views and supplementing his sources with sources of our own. The conclusion he reached was quite fitting for a final Rambam Bekius chavurah of the year. בג"ה, we will continue next year with more exciting adventures in our learning of the Ramb...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 8Ep. 26
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! NOTE: I forgot to read a CRITICAL source!! The Rambam's Hakdamah אות ל-לג. I intend to begin tomorrow's shiur with this. This afternoon (6/15/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we returned to the topic we took up on Monday: what was the Rambam thinking when he declared that a person can paskin straight from the Mishneh Torah? After reading the views of the Tosfos Yom Tov and Chazon Ish, who (mistakenly) claim that the Rambam never inten...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 25
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/14/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we decided to do a follow-up to yesterday's shiur: a sort of "demo" of the difference between the Rambam's and the Aruch ha'Shulchan's halachic treatment of the same topic. I chose the topic of Shnayim Mikra because of its size, given the fact that we only have three days of shiur before we break for the summer. My intention is to highlight the extreme differences between the Ramba...
Jun 14, 2022•57 min•Season 8Ep. 24
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/13/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we took up a topic that I've wanted to address for a very long time: what the Rambam intended to accomplish with his Mishneh Torah, and what other Rishonim thought. Specifically, the Rambam clearly held that people could and should paskin straight out of the Mishneh Torah, whereas the Rosh held that such "psak" would be prone to error without familiarity with the sugyos in Shas. We...
Jun 13, 2022•59 min•Season 8Ep. 23
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/9/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began by reviewing some of what we did yesterday, after which we learned what the procedure for Birkas Kohanim was in Mikdash. We encountered more questions than answers, but still found everything to be quite interesting. We'll continue next week (בג"ה). ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר אהבה, הלכות תפלה וברכת כהנים יד:ז-יא רש"י - חגיגה דף טז עמוד א ירושלמי מגילה ד:ח שול...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 22
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/8/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began learning a new and exciting topic: Birkas Kohanim, chosen in part because it's featured in this week's parashah. Today, after a brief intro about Qafih's Taryag poem, we learned through the introductory sources in the Rambam about Birkas Kohanim, followed by the halachos outlining the procedure of the berachah outside of Mikdash. Tomorrow we'll contrast this with the proced...
Jun 08, 2022•59 min•Season 8Ep. 21
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/2/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we began learning through the halachos pertaining to Chag ha'Shavuos (a.k.a. Atzeres) in the Beis ha'Mikdash. We got through most of the halachos in a mostly bekius fashion, delving into more in-depth points here and there. We didn't finish the perek, but we at least got an overview of the relevant mitzvos. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר עבודה, הלכות תמידין ומוספין ח:א-טו ----...
Jun 02, 2022•51 min•Season 8Ep. 20
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (6/1/22), in our Rambam Bekius chavurah, we took up a one-day topic which (unfortunately) was very practical for me this week. The good news is that my recent experience with these halachos gave me new insight into several things that I wouldn't have otherwise seen. Miraculously, we actually did "bekius" today - so much so, that we'll move on to another topic tomorrow (בג"ה). ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר שופטים, הל...
Jun 01, 2022•57 min•Season 8Ep. 19
