How are we supposed to feel when approaching Rosh Hashanah? Should we tremble with fear at the Day of Awe? Should we rejoice in crowning God as our King? In this course Rabbi Fohrman...

How can I attain closeness with a God who is so beyond my comprehension? Why would the Creator of the Universe care about my prayers? Is God even listening? If you’ve ever asked yourself...

Teshuvah, or repentance, is a personal and emotional process. Laws are impersonal; they are objective and unbiased. The law doesn’t care about personal feeling. But, nevertheless, Judaism...

At the center of the Rosh Hashanah prayer service is the passage Unetaneh Tokef, literally, “let us speak of the awesomeness.” The powerful and dramatic prayer borrows imagery from...

How did Jonah think that he could run away from God? What was God attempting to teach Jonah with the strange allegory of the kikayon plant? More essentially, what is the Book of Jonah...

Ever wonder what the story of the Maccabees was like for the Maccabees themselves? In this course, we venture deep into the the oft overlooked Book of the Maccabees, a first hand account...

Chanukah: Why Light Candles and Ignore the War?

Was there a second Chanukah? In this course, Rabbi Fohrman takes us through a portion of Talmud that indicates another, more positive meeting between the Greeks and the Jews. In showing...

Doesn't the Miracle of the Lights seem like a relative small miracle? Is there a connection between the miracle of the war and the miracle of the candles? Through this course, Rabbi...

Reading the Purim story year after year sometimes feels just a little bit like being back in third grade. But when you look more closely, important questions pervade the megillah. Why...

We often think of Esther almost as a fairytale, with evil Haman, silly Achashverosh, brilliant Mordechai and angelic Esther. In this video course, Rabbi Fohrman uncovers a fascinating...

Why would we name Purim after Haman's lots, which represent both Haman's method of destruction and his focus on chance, which is antithetical to our belief of God's Divine involvement?...

Who is the main character of Megillat Esther? Mordechai, the prophet? Esther, the title character? Haman, our enemy? Rabbi Hayyim Angel explores the well-known narrative of Megillat...

Unlike most other Jewish Holidays, the story of Queen Esther is about God's hand in what seems like coincidence. But is that the whole story? Wasn't the victory in Esther political...

How do we come to grips with a command to utterly destroy Amalek? How thin is the line between the great heroism of Esther and the great evil of Haman? The two may not be as far apart...

In this series, Rabbi Fohrman examines the Exodus through the lens of the narrative of Jacob’s burial, exploring the roles of the father figure and the different Pharaohs in each narrative,...

In this course, Rabbi Fohrman explores the three signs that God shows Moses at the burning bush, connecting them to both the past and future of the Israelites as God’s way of showing...

In this course, we explore the nature and focus of the holiday of Passover through a careful examination of the larger process of the Exodus story. In doing so, we consider and analyze...

In this course, we examine the meaning of Ten Commandments and explore the most fundamental principles of Judaism. In so doing, we highlight three distinct layers of meaning within...

The Torah seems to speak of Shavuot as a harvest holiday, but the Rabbis conceive of it as the time to celebrate the Giving of the Torah. Which one is it? In this series, Rabbi Fohrman...

In this course, Rabbi Fohrman uses the connections to two stories of Genesis to shed light and understanding on the book of Ruth, looking closely at the concepts of kindness and recognition...

Shavuot is an epic holiday in which we received the Torah and became a nation! But why do we read the Book of Ruth on such an exciting holiday? Is it just because of the harvest, or...

Join us as we explore the life of King Chizkiah, focusing in on one fateful moment at the end of his reign, a tipping point moment laden with potential, but with disastrous consequences....

In this course Rabbi Fohrman examines the Biblical character Rachel through the eyes of Jeremiah as well as the Genesis narrative in order to better understand relationships, empathy,...

In this course, Rabbi Fohrman explores the fascinating Talmudic allegorical narrative of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, looking carefully at the connection between the different episodes of...

In this course, Rabbi Hayyim Angel shows us that hidden in the structure of of the megillah are the secrets of Jewish mourning and a deep hope toward the rekindling of our relationship...

In last week's Ki Tavo video, Rabbi Fohrman introduced us to the farmer with first fruit, the individual with tithes stored in his house, and the person who might be cursed. In this...

In this video, the first of a three-part series, we ask about God's odd prophecy to Moses at the end of the Torah. As Moses is about to die, why does God tell him about how the Israelites...

God promises us dark, sadistic curses, if we don't live up to our responsibilities to Him. It's so difficult to read, how could He be so cruel to us? Join us as we grapple with the...

Whether you've been learning the weekly Torah portion for years or this is your first time, Rabbi Fohrman's clear elucidation and exciting content will illuminate the parsha in unique...

Whether you've been learning the weekly Torah portion for years or this is your first time, Rabbi Fohrman's clear elucidation and exciting content will illuminate the parsha in unique...

Whether you've been learning the weekly Torah portion for years or this is your first time, Rabbi Fohrman's clear elucidation and exciting content will illuminate the parsha in unique...

The most fundamental question, the one that keeps many of us up at night, is this one: why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the meaning of my life? In this new series, Rabbi...

Often times the laws we find in the Biblecan be traced back to earlier stories of our ancestors. In this course, weexplore an unbelievable example of that, when we examine a seemingly...

In this course, we examine the meaning of Ten Commandments and explore the most fundamental principles of Judaism. In so doing, we highlight three distinct layers of meaning within...

The waters that carried Moses, the sea that split, the waters of Miriam's well, and the the waters of strife...what do they all have in common? Discover the connections and discern...

Abram and Nachor, as well as Shem and Yefet, act to stem the magnitude of the tragedy. But they do so with different results.

We add the prayer service of Hallel on holidays, but what exactly are we saying? Is it just a collection of Psalms? In this course, Rabbi Fohrman argues that not only are we learning...

In this course, Rabbi Hayyim Angel explores the overarching themes of the Book of Joshua as a whole, especially the primary themes of leadership and the lack of chronological order...

Was Moses really not allowed into the land of Israel because he hit a single rock? Really? Moses did everything he could for the nation! In this course, Rabbi Fohrman will take an in-depth...

After the destruction of the Temple, the town of Yavneh became the new headquarters of Torah learning. What were the ultimate goals of Yavneh and did it save and transform the Jewish...

Jacob is always called a man of truth, but how accurate is that depiction? Someone who tricks his father, pretending to be his brother...even if we find justification, how could this...

In this week's parsha video, Rabbi Fohrman asks about one of the interesting names of God and takes us on a whirlwind tour of modern cosmology.

This series is recorded live at the Young Israel of Woodmere, in October of 2015.

This series is recorded live at the Young Israel of Woodmere, in December 2015 and January 2016.

This video was originally a parsha video, but we put together these three for a larger course about parenting

This audio course about the Ten Commandments is an extended version of the video course.

Shattered Tablets and the Calf of Gold

In this course, we explore the nature and focus of the holiday of Passover through a careful examination of the larger process of the Exodus story. In doing so, we consider and analyze...

Through this course, Rabbi Aaron explores the concept of tefilah, differentiating it from the traditional concept of prayer and showing how it really benefits us more than it benefits...

How could the Israelites fail God so shortly after the “Golden Age” of Joshua? How did leadership contribute to the Israelites' challenges or help the Israelites overcome them? In this...

The stories of the Book of Genesis are familiar to us, but their meanings often seems maddeningly elusive. Why would God deny humanity knowledge of Good and Evil? Aren't we better off...

The parallels seem to continue; but let’s take a break to ponder their meaning. What might these parallels mean? What common denominator is there between the story of creation and the...

Abram and Nachor, as well as Shem and Yefet, act to stem the magnitude of the tragedy. But they do so with different results.

Abraham's Journey 2

The Temple in Jerusalem was inaugurated with a special psalm - but nothing about the text seems to relate to the Temple at all! In this lecture, Rabbi Fohrman explains how Psalm 30...

Antisemitism. Where did it all originate and can we trace it through the Tanahk? Rabbi Fohrman argues that it may have begun with the story of Amelek, which is widely known as one of...

Rabbi Fohrman explores an incredible chiasm that encompasses more than 15 chapters, and asks, how do the pieces of this puzzle, especially the focal point at the center, come together...

In this course, Rabbi Hayyim Angel explores the book of Samuel, focusing on why we learn about the character of Samuel and David and what we can learn from them for our own lives.

Each lecture in this course is a recording of a webinar that Rabbi Fohrman gave to Premium users.

A series on Lot and his daughters, Judah and Tamar, and the Book of Ruth.

Who was Judah? The mantle of kingship comes through the line of Judah, but according to our Sages, Judah was also the instigator of mistreating Joseph - even the one who suggested killing...

Poison Pill: Rachel and the Tree of Knowledge

In this video series, the fifth in the larger "Genesis Unveiled" series, Rabbi Fohrman weaves together creation story and the the post-flood Biblical story, with the intriguing possibility...

In this course, guided by Rabbi David Fohrman, we explore the connections between the creation narrative and the post-flood world of Noah. In so doing, we are introduced to the concept...

When Elisha turned his back on Judaism, his disciple, R' Meir, did not cut off ties with him, but continued to maintain a close connection with him. The Talmud tells of a heavenly...

In this course, we are exposed to the seemingly-random linguistic and textual similarities between the story of Joseph and Psalm 30. What could be the connection between such different...

Planting With Tears? Understanding Shir HaMaalot

What is the true purpose of miracles and what are they meant to teach us? Join us as we explore the fascinating story of Eliyahu (Elijah) and his unique role as a miracle worker and...

Six lecture series by Rabbi David Fohrman