Mining The Riches Of The Parsha

Rabbi Michael Whitman

On this podcast we think carefully, admit what we don’t know, and learn from wherever truth shows up. Here we explore how Torah works for living seriously, joyfully, and truthfully in real life. I am Michael Whitman, rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, a Modern Orthodox synagogue community, and adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. Contact me (michael@adath.ca) to receive a daily email, Study with Rabbi Whitman Today, with current and past insights for that day — video and audio, all in one easy-to-access place, sent directly to your inbox. Contact me (michael@adath.ca) for any questions, suggestions, or feedback.

  1. Sep 24

    I Barely Passed My Semichah Exam. Kohelet Told Me So. | 10@9 | 2026.09.24

    Kohelet is filled with remarkably practical wisdom about how to live. Today we look closely at several more of these verses and ask what they might teach us about living more appreciatively, wisely, and deliberately. But one verse from Kohelet I will never forget. Years ago, I took my oral examination for Semichah - Rabbinic Ordination. The rabbi examining me was intimidating, and the exam did not go well. At the end, he gave me his verdict in such an oblique and cryptic way that I walked out not knowing whether I had passed or failed. Only later did I realize that the key to understanding what he had told me was a verse in Kohelet. I had passed - barely. I can still remember the relief and exhilaration of that moment. I could not have known then how consequential that barely-passed examination would be for the course of my life. Sometimes we study a verse of Torah. And sometimes, unexpectedly, a verse of Torah becomes part of our own story. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  2. Sep 23

    Kohelet Knows Something About Life We Keep Forgetting | 10@9 | 2026.09.23

    On the intermediate Shabbat of Sukkot, we read Kohelet - Ecclesiastes - traditionally attributed to King Solomon and one of the Biblical books scholars call Wisdom Literature. Kohelet can be difficult, provocative, and sometimes unsettling. But again and again, Solomon stops us with remarkably practical wisdom about how to live: appreciate what you have while you have it, don't waste the days you are given, and pay attention to the kind of person you are becoming. Today we look closely at several of those verses. None offers a complicated philosophy. Instead, they remind us of truths about life we probably already know - and somehow keep forgetting. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  3. Sep 18

    Leonard Cohen and Yom Kippur | 2026 09 17

    This evening we explore the life-long connection Leonard Cohen had to Yom Kippur, through his music and his writing. We provide a new understanding of the central prayer, Unesaneh Tokef, which for many is frightening and harsh. Partially inspired by Cohen's last interview, we can understand this prayer as expressing the joy of God's loving intimacy, and the control we have to be better. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  4. Sep 17

    Can We Still Say God Is Perfect? | 10@9 | 2026.09.17

    Moshe ends his life with one of the hardest declarations in the Torah: HaTzur Tamim Po'alo - God's work is perfect. "All His ways are just, a faithful God who does no wrong." But what happens when what we see makes those words almost impossible to say? Last night I watched episodes 7 and 8 of Fauda, Season 5, its dramatic recreation of October 7. I was shattered by what I saw. And this morning, Moshe's words are much harder for me to hear. Judaism does not ask us to pretend otherwise. Abraham challenged God. Moshe challenged God. Jeremiah and Job challenged God. For thousands of years, Jews have refused to surrender the question - even as we have refused to surrender our faith. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reminds us that this is one of the remarkable patterns of Jewish history. Again and again, after catastrophe, we have emerged shaken, scarred, limping - and begun again, rededicating ourselves to our mission and our faith. I cannot reconcile everything I saw last night with HaTzur Tamim Po'alo. I cannot explain how God's ways are perfect when the world can contain such evil. But perhaps faith does not begin when the contradiction disappears. Perhaps faith is what allows us to live with the contradiction - to question, to protest, to grieve, and still to trust. This Shabbat we will hear Moshe say that God is perfect and just. After everything we have seen, those words can be terribly hard to say. But we will. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  5. Sep 16

    Scientists Have Learned How to Increase Hope | 10@9 | 2026.09.16

    Hope sounds like something you either have or you don't. But scientists have discovered something remarkable: hope can be defined, measured - and increased. In a fascinating conversation with Daniel Gordis, oncologist Dr. Benjamin Corn tells two stories that changed the way he understood hope. After more than 30 years practicing and teaching radiation oncology, Corn came to see hope not simply as an emotion or an encouraging word, but as something we can study and deliberately strengthen. And the tools developed through Life's Door are now available to people facing cancer and other profound challenges anywhere in the world. But there is another part of Corn's story that moves me deeply. He says this work could only have developed as it did after he and his family made Aliyah. Hope is woven into the Israeli experience - so deeply that our national anthem is HaTikvah, "The Hope." At a time when Israel itself faces enormous difficulties, something rooted deeply in its soul is being offered to the world: not simply a message to be hopeful, but practical tools that can help us become more hopeful. Life's Door: https://lifesdoor.org/ Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  6. Sep 11

    Rosh Hashanah | 2026.09.10

    This evening we sharpen the question of why we don't blow Shofar when the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Shabbat (like this year), adding to the difficulty in three levels. Then we present an approach based on the novel "Paradise" by Toni Morrison. The motto, "Beware the Furrow of His Brow" is what we refer to as proclaiming God as Melech, the sovereign whose laws must be fulfilled, while taking no chance for a mistake. According to Rabbi Meilech Biderman, the Tifrach bus driver learned this lesson the hard way. May the merit of our not blowing Shofar this Shabbat, stand in our stead for a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  7. Sep 10

    Before Rosh Hashanah Asks Anything of You, Remember This | 10@9 | 2026.09.10

    Rosh Hashanah asks us to have some difficult conversations with God - about accountability, expectations, disappointments, and the people we hope to become in the year ahead. But Judaism doesn't send us into those conversations cold. First comes Ellul. The letters of Ellul are famously understood as an acronym for Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li - "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." Before Rosh Hashanah confronts us with judgment and accountability, Ellul gives us an entire month to establish something more fundamental: God loves us. That changes how everything that follows is heard. Accountability within a loving relationship is different from judgment delivered at a distance. The difficult conversations of Rosh Hashanah are not evidence that God has rejected us. They take place precisely because the relationship matters. And perhaps that is a model for every relationship that matters to us. Before telling someone what disappointed you, what needs to change, or what you hope for from them, make sure they know something first: I love you. Then the difficult conversation can be heard for what it is - not a threat to the relationship, but an expression of how much the relationship matters. As 5786 comes to a close, I have deep gratitude for each of you who gives me the privilege of studying together. I wish you, your family, and our entire community a New Year of good health, security, spiritual growth, and blessing. Shana Tova! Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

  8. Sep 9

    Don’t Believe the Warning. But Don’t Ignore It. | 10@9 | 2026.09.09

    Why do we still fast over the assassination of Gedalyah more than 2,500 years later? After the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of most of the Jewish People, Gedalyah was appointed governor over the small Jewish population that remained in the Land of Israel. His murder by another Jew was not only a political assassination - its aftermath led to the collapse of that remaining Jewish community and an even more complete rupture between the Jewish People and their Land. But Gedalyah had been warned that someone intended to kill him. He refused to believe the accusation - and failed to protect himself. Our Sages derive from this tragedy a remarkably subtle principle: when we hear something damaging about another person, we should not accept it as true. But we should take seriously the possibility that it might be true and take reasonable precautions. Rabbi Yisroel Reisman illustrates the other side of this principle with a wonderful story about two women and a box of cookies - and the anguish caused by assuming we know something that we really don't. Tzom Gedalyah teaches us to hold two difficult ideas at once: don't rush to judge another person, but don't ignore a warning either. We can protect ourselves without condemning someone before we know the truth. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (michael@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

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About

On this podcast we think carefully, admit what we don’t know, and learn from wherever truth shows up. Here we explore how Torah works for living seriously, joyfully, and truthfully in real life. I am Michael Whitman, rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, a Modern Orthodox synagogue community, and adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. Contact me (michael@adath.ca) to receive a daily email, Study with Rabbi Whitman Today, with current and past insights for that day — video and audio, all in one easy-to-access place, sent directly to your inbox. Contact me (michael@adath.ca) for any questions, suggestions, or feedback.

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