KMTT - the Torah Podcast Rabbanei Yeshivat Har Etzion

Simcha - An Essential Component of Torah Study (Avot 6:6), by Rav Dovid Gottlieb
Why is it so important that we find joy in our Torah study?
Learning Pirkei Avot with the commentary of Rav Asher Weiss

Bamidbar | The Reasoning Behind The Exchange of the Levi'im for the Firstborn, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom
Perhaps the most curious item in the entire census (which covers the first 5 chapters of Bamidbar, properly speaking) is the command to exchange the Levi'im for the Bekhorot (firstborn males) and the subsequent directive to redeem the surplus Bekhorot, which became the paradigm for "Pidyon haBen." Why the first born were to be "de-sanctified" at all is never explained in the text, nor why the Levi'im are their "replacements". We examine the "popular" approach which first appears in a relatively late Midrash - that the Bekhorot all (?) sinned in the episode of the Golden Calf and that the Levi'im, contradistinctively, were the religious heroes of that dark moment and note several textual challenges to each of those assumptions. After a brief discussion, a novel suggestion is made that explains both sides of the question - the "redemption" of the Bekhorot as well as the initiation of the Levi'im into the sanctified world of the Mishkan. This shiur was given in memory of שושנה תמר בת הרב אשר אהרן ומרים ז״ל
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Ramban on the Torah | 45 | Bamidbar, by Rav Eli Weber
Why are we not allowed to count Am Israel? Why is Levi the smallest tribe?

Yom Yerushalayim 2024 | Hodo LaShem Ki Tov, by Rav Moshe Taragin
From the miracles of 1967 to the darkness of 2024, it is important to recognize Hashem's presence in this world

The Conquest of Yerushalayim: The Blind and the Lame, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom
In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, we examine the curious presentation in II Shmuel 5 of David's "conquest" of Yerushalayim, with the puzzling mention of the "blind and the lame". Surveying the pre-monarchic history of Yerushalayim in Tanakh reveals numerous anomalies; the earliest reference to "Shalem" helps us unravel these mysteries and address the odd phrases in this story. This shiur was given in memory of Nechama Rivlin ז"ל, the wife of our President Reuven Rivlin, a scion of a notable family that has helped rebuild Yerushalayim in the modern era. יהי זכרה ברוך
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Yom Yerushalayim | The Never Changing, Ever Changing City, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom
As we celebrate the reunification, בחסדי שמים, of Yerushalayim, we take a look at a favorite Psalm associated with the day; this Tehilla alludes to the dialectic nature of Tziyon, its stability offset by the dynamic experience of visiting our capitol city. This shiur was given at Congregation Poale Zedeck in Pittsburgh on Yom Yerushalayim 2019 in honor of that celebration.
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