World of Medrash

Rabbi Aaron Zimmer
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World of Medrash uncovers the hidden narrative beneath the Chumash by reading Rashi and Midrash as a unified, unfolding story. I follow the clues left by Rashi, Chazal, and the psukim to reveal deeper patterns, surprising insights, and the mysteries that shape the Torah’s characters and events. Instead of treating Rashi as scattered comments, each episode shows how his choices create a coherent picture that brings the story behind the story to life. If you want to understand the deeper world that Chazal saw within the text, this show opens the door.

  1. 07/07/2025

    S7E7: A Good Happy Life

    This shiur is Koheles with Rashi, but it's not quite the World of Medrash. I thought it was worth including anyway.

  2. 07/06/2025

    S7E6: Eliyahu at Har Carmel

    A look at a unique moment in history

  3. 07/05/2025

    S7E5: The Paradigm of Sin and Teshuva — David, Avigail, and Batsheva

    Based on Gemaras and Rashi, and grounded in the philosophical issues raised in Rambam's Hilchos Teshuva.

  4. 07/05/2025

    S7E4: Dovid's Sin

    This shiur is based on the Gemara Sanhedrin 107a, which deals with a medrash of how Dovid asked to be tested and then sinned.

  5. 07/04/2025

    S7E3: Shaul's Original Sin

    About how to relate to a King (as not a replacement of God)

  6. 07/02/2025

    S7E2: Amalek and the Role of Evil

    Why does Rashi say that Hashem told Yehoshua not to kill all of Amalek in the first war? What was the purpose of leaving evil around?

  7. 07/02/2025

    S7E1: Menashe And Gideon

    Two different shiurs somewhat connected

  8. 06/08/2025

    Explaining the Worlds of Midrash and Halacha

    This episode draws parallels between midrashei aggadah and halacha to explain and justify the idea of the World of Medrash and Rashi's role in it. Many of us grew up hearing midrashim as colorful additions to the stories of the Torah. As adults, we often wonder what to do with them. Are they meant to be literal? Are they always metaphorical? Why do some midrashim feel fantastical while others seem to shape halacha itself? And how can Moshe’s height or Og’s strength appear in a serious halachic discussion without anyone questioning the historical details? In this episode I explore the system beneath the midrashic world. I look at examples from Shabbos and Berachos, where midrashim that seem impossible at first glance actually reveal consistent rules. I show how the Rashba describes midrash as a language with its own internal reality, where ideas can be expressed in ways that do not match history but still convey truth. And I examine how Rashi chooses specific midrashim to build a unified narrative that illuminates the pesukim without contradicting them. What emerges is an entirely different way to read midrash. Instead of asking whether it happened, the real question is what idea the midrash is constructing and how it fits into the larger system of Torah. Once that framework is clear, midrashim stop feeling random and begin to form a coherent world of meaning. World of Medrash explores the deeper architecture of Rashi and Chazal and uncovers the hidden structure beneath the stories of the Chumash.

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About

World of Medrash uncovers the hidden narrative beneath the Chumash by reading Rashi and Midrash as a unified, unfolding story. I follow the clues left by Rashi, Chazal, and the psukim to reveal deeper patterns, surprising insights, and the mysteries that shape the Torah’s characters and events. Instead of treating Rashi as scattered comments, each episode shows how his choices create a coherent picture that brings the story behind the story to life. If you want to understand the deeper world that Chazal saw within the text, this show opens the door.

Information

  • Creator
    Rabbi Aaron Zimmer
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rabbi Aaron Zimmer
  • Show Website
    World of Medrash