Taketen4torah Daily Torah Podcast

What's the best way to spend our Shabbat? Take Ten to find out. 

What are we supposed to be thinking about on Tu b'Shvat? Take Ten to focus on the origins of this day and what it has come to mean. 

After the Jews are saved at the sea, they have a realization that will influence their mitzvah observance forever. What is this new knowledge? Take Ten to find out.  This Ten is sponsored in honor of the wedding of Regina and Shai Rosalimsky.  

Torah learning is an important way to become a better educated and more inspired Jew, but is there an advantage to doing it daily? Take Ten to find out.  Sponsored anonymously in honor of TT4T's 900-episode milestone.  

There is a special custom to read the section of the Torah that deals with the Manna today, the Tuesday before the Torah reading of Beshalach. This Ten explores the meaning of this custom and how important it might be to say it - and think it - every other day as well. 

Miriam is often seen as a "third wheel" among her more active brothers, Moshe and Aharon. Take Ten to learn the critical and overlooked role that she had in the salvation of the Jewish people, and why she is equally listed as one of our saviors. 

We find some very unique laws relating to the lighting of the Menorah. This Ten discusses the - mostly unknown - beracha made while walking down a street and simply witnessing the lights of someone else's Menorah. Why would we make a beracha on this mitzvah "sighting" and not on witnessing other mitzvot? The answer to this and more in Ten or less. 

  Beit Shamai is famous for holding that the proper way to light the menorah is to light eight candles on the first night and then descend each night so that we light only one on the final night. This Ten explores the reason for their position, particularly in how it references a surprising Chanukah-Sukkot connection.  

The mitzvah of lighting candles of Chanukah is constructed in a scaled way that is unlike any other mitzvah. Why is that so? Take Ten to find out.

One of the two rabbinically mandated holidays, Chanukah is distinct from Purim in how it is observed in practice. Why is this? Take Ten to find out.

If you have 10 minutes to interrupt from Cyber Monday shopping, you might want to listen to this analysis of the ethics of distracted work. What does our forefather Yaakov teach us in this regard? Take Ten to find out. 

The Talmud credits Leah with being the first person in history to offer gratitude to G-d. How can this be? Take Ten to find out. 

We are familiar with the mitzvah of visiting this sick, but what are its goals, and what is expected of us? Take Ten to find out. 

Avraham was different than the people of his day and has always been acknowledged for that independence. How important is this part of his personality to us, his descendants? Take Ten to find out. 

Avraham's beliefs set him on a crash course with he world around him. What did he discover? How did he ensure that his teachings would remain in the minds of his children? Take Ten to find out. 

  What do we mean when, over the course of Rosh Hashana, we focus on establishing G-d as King? Take Ten to find out.   

This year we find specific laws relating to loans and making sure you are able to collect them. What is the Jewish ethic of making loans to those in need? How does a Pruzbul fit into this picture? Take Ten to find out.  Sponsored by Judy Lewis and Family in memory of Zachary Dicker, Zecharia Yehuda ben Shimshon z"l. 

Enjoy this exchange with special guest Rabbi Yisrael Motzen as we embark on an ongoing conversation about the meaning we take from popular, contemporary Jewish music.  In this episode, we discuss a beautiful new song by an Israeli artist named Shmuel Perednik called "Ten li Tefilah" (Give Me One Prayer) Here is the song on YouTube. Here is the translation.  PLEASE send feedback to rabbiismach@taketen4torah.org Enjoy!

We will mention the 13 attributes many dozens of times over the course of the Slichot through Yom Kippur season. But what do they mean? Take Ten to find out. 

This Saturday night we begin the special Tefilot of Selichot, composed to take advantage of the auspicious time of the High Holiday season. What is the origin and meaning of these prayers? Take Ten to find out.