Chayei Sarah Essays

[Reuven Chaim Klein]

Essays from my What’s in a Word? series related to Parshas Chayei Sarah:

• The City of Four and More - About חברון, ממרא, קרית ארבע, and אשכול.
• Take a Bow - About השתחויה, כריעה, and קידה.
• The Old Man and the See - About זקן, שיבה, ישיש, קשיש, ישן, and עתיק.
• Maybe Yes, Maybe No - About אולי, דלמא, פן, and שמא.
• Take a Drink - About לשתות, להשקות, and הגמיאני.
• All Wrapped Up - About צעיף and רדיד.
• True Love (Part 1 | Part 2)  - About אהבה, רחים, חיבה and עגב.

"Jewish Marriage by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein" (YouTube, Google Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TorahDownloads.com, Archive.org) - A 5-part podcast series about marriage: 1️⃣ The Mitzvah of Procreation  2️⃣ The Jewish Wedding  3️⃣ Forbidden Unions and Forbidden Marriages  4️⃣ Choosing a Wife  5️⃣ Miscellaneous Topics about Marriage and Married Life.

About King David and Bathsheba/Abishag (related to the Haftara): "Male Virility and Biblical Power Dynamics." Jewish Bible Quarterly 51.1 (2024): 3-19. [Also featured on the Shiloh Project website.]

Recordings from my Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer lectures related to this week's Parsha (available on many platforms including: YouTube, Google Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, TorahDownloads, OUTorah.org, Archive.org):

• Episode 61: Chapter 32a - Abraham's Ten Tests = 6 People named before their birth / Isaiah foretells of Cyrus / The Significance of the letters in Yitzchok's name / 2 Reasons for the name Ishmael / Iddo foretells of Josiah / The Satan tells Sarah about the Akeidah & she dies / 100 Blasts of the Shofar corresponds to 100 Sarah's cries (or Sisera's mother's) / Rashi: Sarah dies because Yitzchak was almost not slaughtered / Yitzchak mourns his mother's death for 3 years before getting married
• Episode 27: Chapter 16a - The Creation of the World (Day Six) = 3 Things on Which the World Stands (Gemach, Avodah, Torah) = Avraham, Yitzchak, & Yaakov = Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferet / On what covenant (bris) does the world stand? / Avodah = Tefillah (Prayer) and Korbanot (Sacrifices) / Why is making a bride and groom happy the epitome of Chessed? / God gladdens Adam and Eve at their wedding / Lovingkindness: Becoming a partner in creation / The changing definition of Chessed / The History of Sheva Brachos / Finding a Shidduch for Yitzchak / Playing Around with the rules of yerushah (inheritance) / Eliezer's 3 hour journey / Rivkah's royal lineage (Terach, Nachor, Bethuel) / The king's right to a virgin's "first night"
• Episode 28: Chapter 16b - The Creation of the World (Day Six) = Eliezer & Rivka's return trip to Hebron / Suspecting Eliezer of Hanky-panky / Rivkah as a gilgul (reincarnation) of Sarah / Proving Rivka's virginity / The custom of digital defloration of the hymen / Avraham's servent Eliezer is Og, king of Bashan and son of Nimrod / Setting Eliezer Free / Is Og a title or a name? / Learning Sheva Brachos from Shimshon (Samson) / 18 Ways in which A Chosson (groom) is like a King / Why can't a chatan work during Sheva Brachos? / Separate Seating at Weddings / Standing up when the bridesgroom walks down the aisle
• Episode 57: Chapter 30b - Abraham's Ten Tests = Hagar worships idolatry & and her flask is emptied / How old were Yitzchak and Yishmael when Yishmael was sent away? / God listens to Ishmael's prayers & gives them water/ The name of Ishamel's first wife (Eifah, Aisha, Issa) / Abraham visits Ishmael & tells him to marry somebody else / Are Moabite women modest? / Abraham approves of Ishamel's second wife (Fatumah, Fatimah) / Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer and the Koran / Ishmael's daughter Machalat and her daughter Iggeret / Abraham remarries Hagar (Keturah) / Halachic Definition of Pilegesh (concubine) / Are the Children of Keturah commanded to do circumcision? / Ethnography of Abraham's descendants / The Ishmael-Kayin connection / God's name is in Ishamel and Israel / Ishmael's conquests in the End of Days
  

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

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