Best Book Ever (Rabbi David Kasher)

A whole new spin on Yom Kippur.

God gave us the law. Now we're giving it back. From Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha Studies class June 16, 2022

Moses has just come back down from speaking with God. And he's glowing.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's parsha study class from April 27, 2023.

A parlor trick in the palace of the Pharaoh will take us on a search to track down the source of an ancient legend. Recording from January 19, 2023

Uncovering the familial sexual prohibitions of Leviticus.

How knowing God is a revelation of ourselves.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from November 3, 2022

A new cycle of reading through the Torah! A new book! And a new season of Best Book Ever!

Three striking midrashim help us understand how the Hebrew name for this fourth book of the Torah can help frame our journey through it.

Right in the middle of the first major list of the Jewish holidays comes a major interruption.

Who knows how to take the prophet's heavenly vision and bring it down to the ground? The Shadow knows!

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/548331?editor=1

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/479870?editor=1

The Vanishing Power of Rabbinic Interpretation...

The book of B'midbar is a book full of conflict. And so that was the book that Ezra Furman suggested we talk about. It's appropriate - she's a punk musician and B'midbar is kind of the punk book of the Torah. I think you'll find it interesting to hear a a side of Ezra that you won't always see on stage, a soft, reflective side. She will scream at you from the stage, but one on one, when she's working through ideas, she's very quiet and deliberate. You can tell that she believes everything she says and and believes that how you say it and when you say it are extremely important, too. Buy Rabbi David Kasher's book, ParshaNut. Best Book Ever is a co-presentation of IKAR and the Hadar Institute. Find us on socials @WeAreIKAR and @HadarInstitute. You can follow my Facebook page at Rabbi David Kasher or find me on instagram @DavidKasher to keep up with the show and everything else we’re getting up to.

There is a curse upon the land.

As we close out the Book of Exodus, a 13th century Spanish preacher helps us, finally, make sense of all the details.

Buried in the laws of inheritance is a subtle reference to one of the most tragic stories in the Torah - one that we usually miss.

Have you ever killed your brother or sister? No? That's probably a good thing. But have you ever wanted to kill your brother or sister? If so, then have I got a book for you to read. It's the very first book of the Torah. In fact, the book of Genesis and sibling rivalry of all things might just be the number one theme that runs through the book. It's right there from the start. The person that made the most sense to discuss these topics with was my brother, Moshe. Along the way, we discussed polyamory, parental narcissism ,and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And I think we eventually got to a vision for world peace.

Our reluctant protagonist just wants a week off.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/551802?lang=bi

"This week," says Rabbi Kasher, "we are going to look at an idea that seems so far outside of mainstream Jewish thought that if I came up with it myself, they’d kick me right out of Judaism!"

Can a house get sick? The Torah seems to think so.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from November 10, 2022

So this is how it ends?!

This week, the Angel of Death showed up twice.

How did counting the Omer become so much more than numbers? This is an edited down version of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly Parsha Studies Class from 5/12/2022.

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/538397?lang=bi

Parsha Study with Rabbi David Kasher from February 3, 2022.

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from August 18, 2022

What's the connection between gossip and skin disease?

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/550092?editor=1

Parsha study with Rabbi David Kasher from March 31, 2022

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/566742?lang=bi Watch the Full Class: https://youtu.be/FRhY5TSlsqo

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from October 20, 2022

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 10.12.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fikar-la.zoom.us%2Fmeeting%2Fregister%2FtJwrfuytrz4jGtMKB6cYx0bcGz7JmFw5rgUd&sa=D&ust=1697577720000000&usg=AOvVaw1yOKzqinM2sivSvIl6GPS9

Guy Branum joins Rabbi Kasher to discuss Ashera and the presence of a goddess in the Torah

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha Study Class from July 7, 2022. For the full class visit IKAR's YouTube channel.

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/404083?lang=bi Watch the Full Class: https://youtu.be/YrP-HnwjiNc

Forty years in the desert?? Really?!?

Parsha study with Rabbi David Kasher from May 5, 2022

Astrologer Chani Nicholas joins Rabbi Kasher to discuss astrology in the Torah and one of the greatest Jewish thinkers who just happened to be an astrologer himself. They discuss Ibn Ezra, the intersection of Judaism and astrology, the implications astrology has for concepts like fate and freewill, and so much more.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/556558?editor=1

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/558262?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/528461?lang=bi

Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/536848?lang=bi

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/554948?editor=1

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha Studies class from July 21, 2022

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from September 8, 2022

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/379209?lang=bi

If Moses speaks for God and the People of Israel, what happens when he decides to speak for himself? 

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from March 10, 2023

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/545191?editor=1

Today's episode is a bit later than usual because of Shavuot.

Full class: https://youtu.be/xCIiAkZDSGQ Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/568347?lang=bi

The last stop in the itinerary of the Israelites' desert journey has a very strange name. And a heartbreaking story.

Why your rabbi is always right - especially when they’re wrong.

This podcast was produced while standing on our heads. The rest is commentary.

The Book of Leviticus spends a lot of time explaining what to do once we have committed sins. But how did we get there in the first place? What drives us to sin? For that, we turn to the great commentary of the Kli Yakar.

This week, we receive the first major list of kosher laws. But why are we supposed to keep kosher? There are some classic answers. But Rabbi Kasher's got a theory of his own.

Let us begin with one little clay pot. And we will arrive at the whole of existence.  

Parsha study with Rabbi David Kasher from March 10, 2022 

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 10.26.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A...

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from December 1, 2022

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from December 15, 2022

Who does Moses remember as his greatest enemies?

Rabbi Kasher checks in from his Seder in Israel

Parsha study with Rabbi David Kasher from September 15, 2022

The Torah warns us against someone - maybe even someone very close to us - who might come try to entice us to worship other gods! But when we look a little closer at the commentators, we begin to wonder if the real enticement might be coming from… a higher source.

Parsha study with Rabbi David Kasher from April 7, 2022

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/562111?lang=bi Full unedited class: https://youtu.be/O-gaUHURJBA

n Chapter 21 of the Book of Numbers, after forty years of desert wandering, we suddenly detect the stirrings of a cultural awakening.

Someone must have slipped something into my drink. I’m reading my Torah late one night and, suddenly, the letters start to run backwards...  

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from February 3, 2023

Who's on Team Korach?

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541791?lang=bi

Living in exile with God (as if such a thing could be.)

A recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly virtual parsha study class from 11.2.2023. Sign up for the class here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A...

Rabbi David Kasher's Weekly Parsha Study. Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/525551?lang=bi

Rabbi Kasher and Rabbi Sharon Brous in conversation

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from December 22, 2022

This is a condensed recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly parsha studies class from 5.4.2023. To watch the full class head over to IKAR's YouTube channel.

It all started with dolphins. 

It's one of the most difficult problems in theology: does God know everything we're going to do, or do we have free will? This week, we consider an answer by Judaism's most deterministic thinker: Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner, the Mei HaShiloach, and a response by his most illustrious student.

Do you believe in magic? This is a recording from March 02, 2023.

Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/546667?editor=1

Moses has a problem. This is an edited down recording of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly Parsha studies class from July 28, 2022.

Rabbi Kasher shares a surprising teaching from his new book on Torah commentary.

Pop Quiz: What Biblical verse is on the Liberty Bell? This is an edited version of Rabbi David Kasher's weekly Parsha Study class from 5/19/2022

Where does our national story begin? With a wandering Aramean, according to the story told in this week's parsha. But exactly who that Aramean was is a matter of great debate.

Weekly Parsha Study with Rabbi David Kasher from 5.9.2024 Full unedited class: https://youtu.be/tQGKQYEjVKA Source sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/563716?lang=bi

Join us today, as we begin a new book of Torah... and Nachmanides explains it all. Recording from January 12, 2023.

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/531708?lang=bi

This is a recording of Rabbi David Kasher's Parsha class from February 23, 2023