Mining The Riches Of The Parsha

Rabbi Michael Whitman
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Daily

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. 13h ago

    The Torah Cares About Something an Animal Only Imagines | 10@9 | 2026.08.21

    The Torah prohibits plowing with an ox and a donkey together. Why? Tosafot offers a remarkable explanation: because the two animals digest their food differently, the donkey may see the ox still chewing and imagine that the ox was given more food. The donkey wasn't actually deprived - but it may feel that it was. That means the Torah's concern for an animal goes remarkably far. It includes not only physical suffering, but even emotional anguish caused by something the animal merely imagines. The farmer didn't intend to cause pain. He didn't actually treat the donkey unfairly. And yet the donkey's experience still matters. Rabbi Aharon of Barcelona takes the lesson from animals to people. "I didn't mean anything by it" isn't always enough. Something completely innocent to me - boasting about what I have, displaying my good fortune, even an offhand remark - may hurt someone whose circumstances I haven't considered. We cannot protect everyone from every uncomfortable feeling, but the Torah asks us to cultivate the sensitivity to notice how our words and actions may be experienced by someone else. The Torah cares about something an animal only imagines. If even that matters, how carefully should we treat the human heart? 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. 1d ago

    Ki Teitzei | 2026.08.20

    This evening we consider why the nations of Ammon and Moav are detrimental to Jewish families. And we explore the lesson from Paul Reichman (I think it was Paul) about wealth and Jewish law. 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. 1d ago

    They Saw Who Was Helping the Medics. The Answer Was No One. | 10@9 | 2026.08.20

    IDF combat paramedics are the people everyone else depends on when the worst happens. They see terrible injuries, make life-and-death decisions under unimaginable pressure, and inevitably wonder afterward: Did I do everything I could? Did I make the right decision? Could I have saved someone I couldn't save? But who helps the medics? Elad Ariely and Yotam Cohen, two former IDF paramedics, recognized a critical need that wasn't being met. So they created Always Beside You - the Home for Military Paramedics, bringing medics together so they can discover that they are not alone, while providing emotional support and other forms of help. They built what was missing. Daniel Gordis introduces us to Elad and Yotam and their work. Their story is about much more than combat medicine. For me, it is another remarkable example of this generation of young Israelis: they see a critical need that isn't being met, recognize that someone needs to do something about it - and then become the people who do. 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. 5d ago

    Tribute to Rabbi Ronnie Cahana | 10@9 | 2026.08.16

    Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, who passed away on Thursday, was my friend and colleague. He is one of the holiest and most inspiring people I ever met. I share my conversations with him immediately after his debilitating stroke in July, 2011, when he could communicate only by blinking, and in the weeks and months after. I also share some of his writing, poetry, and teaching, which he miraculously continued until last week. Ronnie deeply affected and inspired me, his family, his congregation, all who knew and loved him, and the millions more who learned and will learn about him. 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. Aug 14

    You Can Have Faith and Still Be Afraid | 10@9 | 2026.08.14

    God repeatedly tells us: Don't be afraid. But does faith really mean that we should no longer experience fear? Psalm 27 - which we begin reciting in Ellul - presents a much more complicated picture. It opens with extraordinary confidence: “The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?” Yet as the Psalm unfolds, certainty gives way to vulnerability, anxiety, and longing. As Rivka Kahan writes, David expresses both “the conviction and vulnerability of the believer.” Faith and fear, it seems, can exist at the same time. Abarbanel goes further: sometimes fear is necessary. The person going into battle should be afraid - and then allow faith to guide them through that fear. And King Solomon teaches that fear of falling short can become a force for growth. That may be part of what the Shofar is meant to awaken during Ellul: not fear that paralyzes us, but fear that pushes us to examine ourselves, change what needs changing, and approach Rosh Hashanah better prepared. 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. Aug 14

    Shoftim | 2026.08.13

    This evening we explore wider and more subtle forms of bribes, which the Torah forbids for judges, and for everyone making a decision; flattery, personal connection to the question at hand, etc. As we enter the month of Ellul, the last month of the year before Rosh Hashanah, we should start what every good business does, an audit - financial (in terms of Tzedaka) and spiritual - our losses and gains, income and expenditures, successes and failures. And then use what we learn from this year to plan for the coming year: what needs more attention, improvement, and effort. 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. Aug 13

    The Best Reward for Doing Good Is Doing Good | 10@9 | 2026.08.13

    A young woman at summer camp volunteered for a difficult job no one wanted - cleaning an especially messy bunk. When she finished, her counselor told her something she never forgot: your reward is that you got to do it. Years later, she still teaches that lesson to her own children. We usually think the reward for doing good comes afterward - appreciation, recognition, gratitude, or some other benefit. But perhaps the deepest reward is already contained in the act itself: knowing that we did something good and worthwhile. Sivan Rahav Meir finds this idea in the opening of Parshat Re'eh: “See, I place before you today blessing and curse.” What is the blessing? That we listen to God's commandments. Perhaps the Torah is teaching us that doing what God wants is not merely the path to the blessing. It is the blessing. That changes everything. If our satisfaction depends on being noticed or thanked, we have handed other people control over our happiness. But if the reward is knowing that we helped someone, did what was right, and did something God wants from us, then no one can diminish it or take it away. The best reward for doing good is doing good. 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. Aug 12

    There Is More Than One Way to Come Close to God | 10@9 | 2026.08.12

    Rabbi Menachem Shach once told a young man who had lost his way a remarkable story from his own life. Something that seemed terribly wrong at the time ultimately saved his life. R. Shach had learned what it means to place yourself wholeheartedly in God's hands - even when you cannot understand where God is leading you. That is one understanding of the Torah's command, Tamim Tihyeh Im Hashem Elokecha - "Be wholehearted with the Lord your God." Ramban understands it as wholehearted trust in God. But R. Aharon Lichtenstein points to two very different interpretations, from Ibn Ezra and Rambam, revealing more than one authentic way to fulfill this extraordinary command. And perhaps that is precisely what some of us need to hear. There is more than one way to come close to God. We do not all need the same religious personality or the same spiritual path. But we do need to find and cultivate the paths that allow us to reach toward God - with trust, commitment, and our whole heart. 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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