KMTT - the Torah Podcast Rabbanei Yeshivat Har Etzion

Explaining the Wisdom of Harav Yehuda Amital zt"l, by Rav Moshe Taragin
In light of the recent publication of the sefer לעולם יהא אדם, מתורותיו של הרב יהודה עמיטל, Rav Taragin discusses with his talmidim many of the issues brought up in his rebbe's sichot:
Should You Love Torah More Than Jews?
Do People in Israel Suffer for Sins of Jews Abroad?
Israel as the Anchor of Jewish Identity
Jewish Identity Without Torah Observance
Commitment to Jewish History
Three Major Events of Modern Jewish Historymoshe taragin
Should Israel Calibrate Policy Based on Attitudes of Overseas Jews?

Land and Legacy: Redemption in Megillat Ruth, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom
The notion of "Geula" is prominent throughout Megillat Ruth, reaching a crescendo in the final Rav Yitzchak Etshalom chapter. The redemption is not just about land, but about a person's memory - as exemplified by the curious structural relationship between the 7 uses of "שם" before chapter 4 and the corresponding 7 mentions in chapter 4.

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
Source sheet >>

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