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pinchas: always more
July 20, 2022
sholem aleichem, friends! another week in the book. which book? we'll find out soon! We're going to do a short one this week, that I haven't planned at all....
balak: no nations, no borders
July 14, 2022
hello friends, It's been a week, and that's a fact. I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready (once again) for Shabbos. We're in Balak this week, which is the...
chukas:
July 8, 2022
sholem aleixem! Wow, another week! I'm personally feeling quite overwhelmed by gestures broadly. But, it's time for some Torah study and preparation for...
korach: for the sick and afflicted, a maskil of moshe
July 1, 2022
hello all, a short note this week -- i've found it difficult to write, for absolutely no particular reason whatsoever at all. starting in bamidbar 15:32 (end...
sh'lach: fringe theories of halakha
June 24, 2022
hello! What a week! I'm sitting down to draft this on Friday, at the last possible moment, because I've been wildly busy with work and other activities....
beha'aloscha: hello darkness my old friend
June 16, 2022
hello friends! Did you know that cranes build other cranes, unless they are really tall, and then they build themselves? What a metaphor for,,, something....
nasso: priesthood for the people
June 9, 2022
sholem aleichem, Hello friends! Welcome to the end of another week (the plan is to be weekly again for Bamidbar). I hope you had a revelatory Shavuos (if...
bamidbar: borders require police
June 2, 2022
sholem aleixem, Hello again friends! It has been a little while. I hope this newsletter finds you [screeching noises]. Over the course of my Vayikra-hiatus I...
tazria-metzora-achrei: אין אחד אלא דאגה
April 10, 2022
hello friends, A couple introductory caveats. I will be using the words "pure" and "impure" in this drash. Often we try to avoid these, since they carry...
shmini: 1+1=1
March 23, 2022
hello friends, A few very brief thoughts on this week's Torah portion. So in this portion we have Moses giving some commands and then we're told that ויקרבו...
ki sisa: give the infinite to hashem
February 16, 2022
dear friends, hashem spoke to moshe saying: see, i have called by name betzalel son of uri son of hur of the tribe of yehudah. i have filled him with the...
tetzaveh: without wisdom
February 9, 2022
the root of yiddishkeit is walking with simplicity and without wisdom and you will teach all that are wise of heart a person who goes after their wisdom will...
terumah: beauty for its own sake
February 2, 2022
hello friends, I have had an unfortunate flare-up of some nerve problems, and I have to save the limited amount of time I can type for giving my students...
mishpatim: remembering
January 27, 2022
sholem aleixem, I hope you'll forgive me a slightly more personal newsletter this week. I promise we'll be back to wild gematric minutiae shortly. But...
yisro: be ready and be gay
January 20, 2022
hey cats, This email is a bit late and a bit short because I have been overwhelmed by the three-pronged trident of starting a new semester teaching,...
beshalach: apocalyptic hope
January 13, 2022
hello friends, My school decided to go remote for the first couple of weeks this semester, thank g-d, so I just finished reorganizing my classes for that and...
bo:
January 6, 2022
sholem aleichem, Welcome to 2022! For better or worse, time does keep moving. A short note this week, starting with a common question: if g-d knows who all...
vaera: one plague two plague rich plague poor plague
December 31, 2021
hello friends, The last week has been quite chaotic for all the reasons you can guess. My New Year's plans are now officially postponed, so I'm going to...
shemos: this you call a torah commentary?
December 23, 2021
hello friends, I just submitted my last paperwork of the semester, handled my last student emergency of the semester, and closed my work email -- the school...
vayechi: it is permitted to change
December 16, 2021
hello friends, What a ride Bereishis has been this year! Thank you all for joining me for it. We're closing up the semester here as well this week, so...
vayigash: why should we die while you look on
December 7, 2021
sholem aleichem, Chanukah is over, but hopefully some of the light remains. Personally, I spent my Chanukah inventing the 13-branched menorah and finishing...
miketz: i am but a heap of bones
December 2, 2021
sholem aleichem, another short note, alas, as we dive into the final weeks of the semester. so this week, have some Quick Torah Hits in the form of my raw...
vayishlach: kisses and other methods of midrash
November 18, 2021
sholem aleichem, It's been a week! Let's dive right in. Content warnings: eugenics, antisemitism I'm teaching statistics this semester, which means that I'm...
vayetzei:
November 11, 2021
sholem aleichem, I'm drafting this newsletter later than usual, because a school I teach at had a COVID outbreak last Friday, went fully virtual, and came...
toldos: hunting with our mouths
November 4, 2021
sholem aleichem friends, Oy, what a week. It's Wednesday as I write this, and I just got hailed on walking back from teaching calculus, so you know. Winter...
chayei sarah: strangeness for the sake of heaven
October 28, 2021
Hello friends, It's cold, it's rainy, it's autumn. I hope you all have a delightful Spookot (the Jewish holiday celebrated by leaving the Sukkah up until the...
vayera: yitzchak imeinu
October 21, 2021
sholem aleichem friends, It's Wednesday as I write this, and I just got back from teaching a calculus class on the Chain Rule, in which we calculate how...
live laugh lekh lekha
October 14, 2021
Sholem aleichem, Once upon a time, the villagers of Chelm were trying to move a large boulder down a hill. They had dragged it about halfway down, when a...
Noach: fear g-d not history
October 8, 2021
Gut shabes friends, I'm drafting this newsletter on a quiet Sunday evening. I spent all morning grading assessments and preparing for my classes this week,...
Breishis: not only for profit or pleasure
October 1, 2021
Gut shabes my friends! It's a bit of a gloomy day here, but the sun is supposed to peak out a bit later. I just got back from teaching class, where I seem to...