Ta Shma Hadar Institute

The five books of the Torah—like the 54 parshiyyot—are by tradition each named after their first significant word or phrase. In the case of the fourth book, the name is taken from half of a semikhut (construct) phrase: “בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי - in the Sinai Desert” (bemidbar Sinai). The custom has developed to use just the first of the two words: bemidbar, meaning just: “in the Desert.” That leaves us with a particularly evocative title, one that casts us out into a vast unknown...

I am blessed to have three kids, aged 9, 6, and 2—this means a lot of first days of daycare and school. These first days are always exciting for us and for them. We know that they will make new friends, have new experiences, grow and learn in unimaginable ways. Yet they are also days filled with trepidation; they set off for new and unknown experiences for which we can’t accompany them. On each of these days, we tuck a family photo in their backpack in a safe place.&nb...

One of Rashi’s comments in this week’s parashah highlights the rabbinic tradition of interpreting a feature of Hebrew script known as “אותיות חסירות ויתרות” (otiot haseirot v’yeteirot), “missing and extra letters.” The Hebrew alphabet has no vowel letters, and in most Hebrew writing, the vowel notations (nekudot) are not included; we know how to pronounce words based on context and tradition. But certain vowels are sometimes “carried” by a silent letter, either a vav (ו) or a yod ...

When my dad died in my early 20s, I remember being wowed by the ways in which grief came in waves. One minute, I was crying and couldn’t imagine ever moving through my sadness and several hours later, I was surprised to find myself laughing—actually able to laugh—within the first days of my dad’s death. With confidence, I realized, this was the way it was going to be. Each time that I cried and each time that I laughed, I knew it wouldn’t be the last time. The grief an...

One of the hallmark Rabbinic interpretive techniques is the identification of parallel wording in two different sections of the Torah. In legal interpretation, this is the foundation for the second of R. Yishmael’s “13 principles by which the Torah is interpreted”: the gezeirah shavah, or “the rule of equivalence.” This principle, first quoted in the name of Hillel the Elder, posits that if the same word or phrase appears in two distinct legal cases in the Torah, that is an indication that we...

I am lucky to live a life with no food sensitivities. I can eat what I want and I’m happy to be an “easy guest,” quick to assure hosts that I have no special food needs. However, several years ago, in an attempt to identify the cause of my migraines, I found myself a person suddenly with many food sensitivities I was told to avoid. I went from being a person who could eat everything to a person who approached each meal with anxiety, wondering what food I would find to fill m...