edJEWcation

edJEWcation

Your weekly dose of Jewish wit and wisdom. Each week Rabbi Abba Perelmuter, Chayaleah Sufrin, and Jay Covitz explore Jewish history, culture, and writings. Whether you're a relapsed Jew or an old pro there is something for us all to learn.

  1. −4 d

    Planning a Chabad Wedding

    It is just CL and I this week, because we wanted to give her a chance to speak this week (sorry, Rabbi). Her oldest son got engaged a few weeks ago, there has already been an engagement party in Crown Heights and a second one on the West Coast, and the wedding is coming fast. So we thought people would be interested: what actually goes into planning a Chabad Hasidic wedding? The answer starts with a phone call where you plan a huge party with people you have never met, and it only gets more interesting from there. In this episode, we get into: Why dating stays a secret until the engagement is announced at the Rebbe’s grave, and why the whole thing takes weeks instead of years Who pays for what, the fifty fifty split, and the gifts each side is expected to give Takana weddings, the thirty thousand dollar all in package that makes sure every couple gets a beautiful wedding, and why the community treats that as everyone’s responsibility The seven days before the wedding when the bride and groom do not see or speak to each other, get escorted everywhere, and get treated like a king and a queen Fasting on your wedding day, why it is considered a mini Yom Kippur, and the Rosh Chodesh loophole The badeken, the completely opaque veil, and the moment the next morning when the bride covers her hair for the first time Sheva Brachos, a full week of parties, and why the wedding is really a celebration of the entire family Come for the logistics, stay for ChayaLeah whispering under her own chuppah asking if anyone was even out there.

  2. 7 aug.

    The Book of Deuteronomy: Moses' Last Words

    Moses has five weeks left. He starts talking on the first of Shevat, he dies on the seventh of Adar, and in between he delivers the longest, most repetitive, most urgent speech in the Torah. The traditional name for it is Mishneh Torah, the repetition of the Torah, and many commentators say this is the one book Moses spoke on his own behalf. So this week we skip the parsha by parsha treatment and take the whole book at once, because the themes only show up when you stand back far enough to see them. In this episode, we get into: Why Deuteronomy reads differently from the first four books, and what “Moses spoke on his own behalf” actually means The discrepancies with Numbers, starting with who really wanted to send the spies, plus the small differences in the Ten Commandments Who Moses is actually talking to: a generation born in the desert with no slave mentality and no memory of Egypt The warning that prosperity, not persecution, is what makes people forget, and how uncomfortably well that lands in America Why Moses was not allowed to enter, what God showed him from the mountain, and why he wanted in so badly in the first place The Shema line by line: hearing as integrating, why “one” and not “alone,” the two inclinations hiding in V’ahavta, and how anyone can be commanded to love We also end up on free will, the chocolate bar, and a sixth grade yearbook from 1992 that somehow ties the whole thing together.

  3. 15 juli

    Matot-Masei: Vows, Tribes & Cities of Refuge

    The Rabbi opens with a request: can we please put a moratorium on the word “anti-Semitism” until next July 4th? (Spoiler: no, but we try.) Then we celebrate some family news and dive into Matot-Masei, the double portion that closes out the book of Numbers. The Rabbi calls it one of the juiciest parshas of the year, and he makes his case: a war, an angry Moses, a real estate negotiation gone sideways, and an ancient legal system for accidental killers. In this episode, we get into: Why some Torah portions are read as doubles, and who divided (and named) the parshas in the first place The trup (cantillation): how an ancient melody quietly narrates the story, including Joseph’s famous pause with Potiphar’s wife Gad and Reuben asking to stay east of the Jordan, and how one reversed word order exposed their priorities What the tribes’ obligation to fight alongside their brothers says about diaspora Jews when Israel is at war Cities of refuge: the Torah’s “safe space” for accidental killers, and why the tribe of Simon got scattered on purpose Whether you grew up with this parsha or you’re hearing “Matot-Masei” for the first time, pull up a chair. There’s a waffle bar story in here too. Links Parashat Matot-Masei (Numbers 30–36) Gad and Reuben’s request and Moses’ response (Numbers 32) “Every shock fighter among you crosses the Jordan” (Numbers 32:20–24) Cities of refuge (Numbers 35:9–34) The shalshelet in the Joseph and Potiphar’s wife story (Genesis 39:8) Shogeg vs. ones, laws of exile “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh” (all Jews are responsible for one another) “Those who tend a tree eat the fruit” (Proverbs 27:18)

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Your weekly dose of Jewish wit and wisdom. Each week Rabbi Abba Perelmuter, Chayaleah Sufrin, and Jay Covitz explore Jewish history, culture, and writings. Whether you're a relapsed Jew or an old pro there is something for us all to learn.

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