Mechon Hadar Online Learning

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

פרשתנו מתארת רגע שיא של מפגש ישיר בקשר שבין אלוהים לאדם, וליתר דיוק רגע שיא בקשר שבין עם ישראל לאלוהיו: "ויוצא משה את העם לקראת האלוהים מן המחנה ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר [...] וידבר אלוהים" (שמות יט, י"ז; כ, א').

Avital Hochstein. Our parashah describes the climactic moment of the direct encounter between humanity and God, or more specifically, the people of Israel and their God.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

בפרשתנו מופיע עמוד הענן. מהם מאפייניו ומה טיבו של עמוד הענן המדברי? כיצד הוא מתאפיין בהתגלות ראשונה זו בפרשתנו ובכלל? ומה ניתן ללמוד על המציאות שלנו, המציאות הבתר מדברית, חסרת עמוד הענן, ממאפיינים אלו?

Avital Hochstein. The pillar of cloud first debuts in our parashah. What is the nature of this cloud that appears in the desert? How does it manifest in this first appearance and how is it characterized in general? What can we learn from what constitutes this miraculous cloud about our contemporary reality, beyond the desert and without this pillar of cloud?

Dena Weiss, Ethan Tucker. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

פרק יב בספר שמות מציג ברוחב יריעה מבט של הווה וגם אל עבר העתיד. בשיאו נמצא סיפורה של מכת בכורות ויציאת מצרים שבעקבותיה

Avital Hochstein. The twelfth chapter of Shemot gives us a wide-angle view of the present, past, and future. At the climax of the story we find the description of the final plague, the death of the firstborn. This is when Pharaoh finally relents and the Exodus begins.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.

עקשנות היא תכונה קשה ומורכבת, לא לחינם 'זוכה' בה דמות הנתפסת כמרושעת ביותר – פרעה . שוב ושוב מסרב פרעה לראות את המציאות נכוחה וממאן בעקשנות לשלוח את בני ישראל ממצרים. אולם, פרשת וארא מלמדת שגם לדמויות נוספות, שאינן מרשעות, יש מן התכונה זו. מה ניתן ללמוד על טיבה האפשרי של העקשנות, ומה מספר הפרק על ערכה של עקשנות ועל הנסיבות שבהן כדאי להיזקק אליה?

Avital Hochstein. Pharaoh is the paradigmatic stubborn person in the Exodus story, yet Parashat Va’Era also points to other characters in the story who are not considered wicked in any way who are nevertheless portrayed with this characteristic of stubbornness. This implies that perhaps stubbornness is not all bad. What can we learn about this character trait from our parashah and when it might make sense to employ it?

Shai Held. Are faith and doubt mutually exclusive, or is one necessary for the other? Does having faith mean one can't have doubts, or might faith actually require us to have doubts? We live in a religiously ambiguous world: there are good reasons to believe in God, and good reasons not to. We live in a world suffused with profound love and wondrous beauty; we also live in a world overrun by suffering, oppression, and degradation. How do we make sense of our lives amidst all this? In this honest and searching lecture, Rabbi Shai Held shared personal and philosophical reflections on God; on faith and doubt--and on why doubt is necessary for faith; on suffering and how we respond to it; and on how the modern world shapes how believers and non-believers ought to talk to one another. The fourth and final lecture in our Fall 2016 series on Faith and Doubt in the Modern World. Recorded live on December 1, 2016. The series was presented in partnership with the Samuel Bronfman Foundation in memory of Edgar Bronfman.

Dena Weiss. In celebration of 10 Years of Mechon Hadar, the extended Hadar community will be learning all of Pirkei Avot together at a pace of 3-5 mishnayot a week, concluding with a Siyyum Celebration on March 2, 2017 and a National Shabbaton March 3-5, 2017. Each podcast includes the full text, a translation with explanations, and a short Dvar Torah inspired by that week's mishnayot.