Shows
Ta ShmaR. Avital Hochstein: Do Moshe's Hands Make War?Since October 7, the word "Amalek" has often been invoked in regard to the Israel-Hames War. Is that an appropriate analogy? By looking at ancient responses to biblical verses about Amalek, including those that express discomfort, we can learn these verses anew, revisit the foundational ideas that underlie the verses, and shed light on present realities. Recorded at the Rabbinic Yeshiva Intensive, March 2024. Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/RYI2024HochsteinAmalek.pdf2024-07-2932 minTa ShmaLearning From Our Children: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #7R. Avi Killip rejoins R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon to talk about our relationships with our children. What are we trying to inculcate in them? And what do we hope that they can remind us about?2024-01-1128 min
On Sacred GroundLearning From Our Children: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #7R. Avi Killip rejoins R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon to talk about our relationships with our children. What are we trying to inculcate in them? And what do we hope that they can remind us about?2024-01-1128 minTa ShmaWhat Are We Allowed to Feel? A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #6R. Avi Killip and R. Avital Hochstein introduce Dr. Tsivia Frank Wygoda, a new member of Hadar's team in Israel who supports independent minyanim in Be'er Sheva and southern Israel. They reflect on how war pushes us to think in terms of black and white binaries, and yet, the reality - politically, morally, and emotionally - is such more more complex. Are there limits on what we are allowed to feel and how we can express these feelings?2023-12-1433 minOn Sacred GroundWhat Are We Allowed to Feel? A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #6R. Avi Killip and R. Avital Hochstein introduce Dr. Tsivia Frank Wygoda, a new member of Hadar's team in Israel who supports independent minyanim in Be'er Sheva and southern Israel. They reflect on how war pushes us to think in terms of black and white binaries, and yet, the reality - politically, morally, and emotionally - is such more more complex. Are there limits on what we are allowed to feel and how we can express these feelings?2023-12-1433 minTa ShmaR. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #4R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon take the opportunity - belatedly - of Thanksgiving to talk about what they're thankful for and the difficult but necessary role of thankfulness in tefillah2023-12-0421 minOn Sacred GroundCan We Be Thankful? A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #4R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon take the opportunity - belatedly - of Thanksgiving to talk about what they're thankful for and the difficult but necessary role of thankfulness in Tefillah.2023-12-0421 minTa ShmaR. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #3What happens in a beit midrash during a time of war, violence, and uncertainty? We checked in with R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon, both members of Hadar's team in Jerusalem, to discuss what learning Torah means in this difficult time and what this war reveals about Israeli society.2023-11-2035 minOn Sacred GroundR. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #3What happens in a beit midrash during a time of war, violence, and uncertainty? We checked in with R. Avital Hochstein and R. Elazar Symon, both members of Hadar's team in Jerusalem, to discuss what learning Torah means in this difficult time and what this war reveals about Israeli society.2023-11-2035 minTa ShmaR. Avital Hochstein: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #2In the second part of this special series, we check in with Rabbi Avital Hochstein, President of Hadar in Israel, to hear about life in Israel, Tefillah, and Torah this week. 2023-11-0722 minOn Sacred GroundR. Avital Hochstein: A Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #2We check in with Rabbi Avital Hochstein, President of Hadar in Israel, to hear about life in Israel, Tefillah, and Torah this week. 2023-11-0722 minOn Sacred GroundA Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in Israel #1Avital Hochstein is a rabbi, a Jerusalemite, a mother of two soldiers currently serving in the IDF, and President of Hadar in Israel.In this episode, we hear directly from R. Avital and Hadar's Beit Midrash in Jerusalem. What parts of Torah can we reach for? How can we pray and what can we pray for? What does ritual and communal life look like in the shadow of this tragedy? 2023-10-2835 minTa ShmaA Spiritual Perspective from on the Ground in IsraelAvital Hochstein is a rabbi, a Jerusalemite, a mother of two soldiers currently serving in the IDF, and President of Hadar in Israel.In this episode of Ta Shma, we hear directly from R. Avital and Hadar's beit midrash in Jerusalem. What parts of Torah can we reach for? How can we pray and what can we pray for? What does ritual and communal life look like in the shadow of this tragedy? 2023-10-2735 minTa ShmaR. Avital Hochstein: Seeing as a Path to a Life of Ethics and HesedPutting together a lot of her teaching over the years, Rabbi Avital Hochstein explores the verb “to see” in the Torah. How can seeing someone else create connection and mutual understanding? How can seeing help us evaluate what is good and right?2023-08-2144 minTa ShmaR. Avital Hochstein on Yom Ha-Atzma'ut: Sanctity and LandThe concept of the “קדושת הארץ - sanctity of the Land” simultaneously gives meaning to, and creates a tremendous challenge to, life in the State of Israel. Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, the birthday of the State of Israel, is an opportunity to ask: What is the meaning of living in a place to which holiness is attributed? In what ways is it possible, worthwhile, and appropriate to exist on a daily basis in that holy place?2023-04-2414 min
Jewish Ideas to Change the WorldShmitta: From Biblical Narratives to Contemporary Perspectives – Dr. Rabbi Avital HochsteinA virtual event presentation by Dr. Rabbi Avital HochsteinEVENT CO-SPONSORED BY:Hebrew Educational AllianceABOUT THE EVENT:In this class we will look at the diverse biblical narratives of Shmita, how they play out – practically and ideologically, in later Talmudic and Halachic sources and ponder what this all had to do with our current day awareness of the challenge and threat to sustainabilityABOUT THE SPEAKER:Dr. Rabbi Avital Hochstein is president of Hadar in Israel. Hochstein has done research and taught at many institutions, among them the Shalom Har...2022-05-1256 min
Mechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Ha'azinu - Human Existence in an Age of Divine ConcealmentAvital Hochstein. One of the most heartbreaking verses regarding the relationship between God and people is found in our parashah, in God’s declaration: “I will hide My countenance from them” (Deuteronomy 32:20). In talmudic literature, Rabbi Meir is described as one who deals with the reality this verse reflects and, at the same time, strives to make sense of the world around him and offer a way of living under the shadows of Divine concealment.2017-09-1915 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Nitzavim-VaYelekh - The Value of Forgetfulness in a Culture of TraditionAvital Hochstein. As we approach the end of Devarim, we also approach Moshe’s death. The tension rises: The only leader the Jewish people have known thus far is about to die. Even we—the readers of the biblical text from a distance of hundreds of years—sense the great fear that must have been felt by the Israelites. But there is another aspect to the tension, which we, the readers, are not only observers of, but also party to. In a culture that values tradition, which is largely founded on a connection to the past, moments of death and transi...2017-09-1314 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Ki Tavo - "When You Enter the Land"Avital Hochstein. Land as a Place, Aspiration, or Outcome - Our parashah, as one can see already from its name, presents us with a particularly relevant challenge: What is the meaning of the phrase “when you enter the land,” and what are its ramifications in our day and age, in which life in the state of Israel, situated in the land of Israel, is a present, everyday reality for many Jews? What was the meaning of the phrase and what were its ramifications throughout the many generations in which Jews did not live in their land, or lived there, but with...2017-09-0611 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Ki Teitzei - Were It Not Written, It Would Not Have Been ThinkableAvital Hochstein. Our parashah presents a law regarding slavery that also criticise the phenomenon, teaches that slaves are not property, and teaches us that relationships define what occurs between people but not people's essence.2017-08-2912 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Shoftim - Where are the Orphans, Widows and Strangers?Avital Hochstein. On the Audible Silence in Parashat Shoftim - Parashat Shoftim describes the political structures for the Jewish nation, to be implemented once they enter their land. This is a system characterized by almost complete freedom, of the sort where interference occurs only in the case of a problem. To the observer, this would appear to be an idyllic description; however, anyone familiar with the Torah and its ways will immediately note the striking absence of socially weak and weakened personae who, surprisingly, remain wholly unmentioned throughout the course of the parashah. There are no orphans or widows, no...2017-08-2312 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Reeih – A Place of Their Own, A Place of His OwnAvital Hochstein. Much of the book of Devarim is devoted to a reexamination of the desert period; but this look back is accompanied by significant contemplation of the future, and a good part of the book, including Chapter 12, is devoted to life in the land of Israel. The chapter opens the lion’s share of the book devoted to laws, and, along with the laws themselves, it offers insights about the significance of the transition to a land, to one specific place.2017-08-1511 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Eikev – What the Manna Teaches about Life in the Land of CanaanAvital Hochstein. Our Torah portion, our parashah, reveals a particular approach towards the manna experience, from which one can also derive an outlook towards living in the land of Israel during a post-manna period.2017-08-0912 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Va'Etchanan – Mapping a Relationship: Chapter 4 of DevarimAvital Hochstein. A map is reflected in Chapter 4 of the book of Devarim, a complex map of the relationship between Israel and their God. This map can also be used as a basis, a background, or an arena for thinking about relationships in general.2017-08-0214 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Devarim – The Book of DevarimAvital Hochstein. Beginning the Jewish Interpretive Tradition - Toward the end of his life, Moshe stands before the children of Israel, addressing them and conveying his final thoughts. Even though the book of Devarim is known as Moshe's last speech, the book is not just a farewell. The last book of the Torah is also in fact the founding stone of the Jewish interpretive tradition: “On the other side of the Jordan, in the land of Moav, Moshe undertook to expound the Torah” (Devarim 1:5).2017-07-2713 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Mattot-Mas'ei– Balancing Freedom with Responsibility, and Individual Needs with Communal NeedsAvital Hochstein. The end of the book of BeMidbar leaves us with the question, When and how is it legitimate to give and to limit freedom. The criteria include questions such as, what motivates the specific need or desire for distinction? In what areas may restrictions be imposed as conditions for granting that freedom, and are those restrictions legitimate? What motivates the restriction on freedom, and will the result of the specific judgment be division and rupture, or on the contrary, a change in the entire community?2017-07-2013 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Pinchas– Regarding Leadership and SpiritAvital Hochstein. What are the required qualities of a leader? What makes a good leader? How is a retiring leader supposed to designate a successor? Our parashah suggests surprising and complex answers to these questions.2017-07-1210 minMechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Balak– Between Pinhas and Balaam: On the Democratic Nature of the Relationship with GodAvital Hochstein. Is the relationship with God open to all who seek it? And what is the model of human communication with God? Our parashah suggests an answer to these questions which generates an unexpected role reversal between Moses and the Israelites, on the one hand, and Balaam and the Moabites on the other.2017-07-0511 minMechon Hadar Online LearningInnovation or Tradition — Do We Have to Choose?Avital Hochstein. In a world focused on innovation, how do we continue to learn from and honor a tradition that emphasizes our connection to the past? In this class, we will explore rabbinic sources which highlight traditional thoughts about innovation, and novice thoughts about tradition. Through these sources we will ask about the changing role of women and the place of democracy in the eyes of the Jewish tradition. Join us as we discover what our tradition teaches us about innovation and how we can learn to innovate in a traditional way. Recorded live as part of our 2017 Jewish Professionals...2017-06-281h 14Mechon Hadar Online LearningParashat Chukkat – Death-Impurity and the Pursuit of LifeAvital Hochstein.The first chapter of Parashat Hukkat deals with death and the struggle with its potentially paralyzing dimensions. The chapter has two parts. In the first part, we hear about the process for preparing the ashes of the red heifer that serves as the vehicle for purification in cases of corpse impurity. The second part describes the ways in which people and objects contract this type of impurity. Read together, they call us to see that life must continue moving forward even as it does and must encounter and engage with death.2017-06-2810 min