Pastoral Parsha

In this week's episode of Pastoral Parsha, Dr. Michelle Friedman and Hody Nemes ('21) discuss one of the central themes of the Jewish Sinai Experience, and how we can incorporate a core value from that experience into our individual confrontations with religious and/or spiritual doubt.

Parshat Devarim - Truth and Memory by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

In this week's episode, Dr. Friedman and Hody Nemes ('21) explore the complicated psychological world of the accidental murderer and the "Cities of Refuge", and how someone can live with guilt for mistakes they made in the past.

Parshat Pinchas - Raising Good Children by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

In this week’s episode, Hody and Dr. Friedman use Bilaam’s relationship with nature to comment on how most human beings relate to nature, and the devastating effects our attitudes towards nature can have on the world if left unchecked.

In this episode, Dr. Friedman and Hody explore the tragic episode of Moshe and the Rock and consider how we as readers can try to more acutely feel his pain, as well as the pain of those closest to us.

In this episode, Dr. Friedman and Hodi consider the dangers of Charisma, as presented in the character of Korach in Sefer Bamidbar, and discuss how and when charisma is good, and how you can tell when it is bad.

Bemidbar is a book about journeys. After a loss, some members of a family may move on more quickly than others. This can lead to difficult feelings and relationships. Michelle and Hody look at many examples in the Torah of this theme - of loss and moving on.

Michelle Friedman and Hody Nemes talk about the difficulty of eulogizing a person who had fraught relationships in life. How do we deal with the sins of our fathers and mothers? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our parents and how can we heal some of these psychological wounds through Jewish rituals of burial and mourning?

Michelle and Hody pick up from last week's vignette and relate the story of security and threat in light of past sexual abuse to this week's parsha.

Dr. Friedman and Hody examine the verse about an eye for an eye and discuss two vignettes about people dealing with the difficulty of making peace with past wrongs.

Second-year rabbinical student, Hody Nemes, is the new moderator of the Pastoral Parsha. Every week, he and Dr. Michelle Friedman, director of pastoral counseling at YCT, will look at the parsha through a psychological lens.

You might think finding psychological meaning in the book of Leviticus would be a challenge - prepare to be surprised.

In this week's parsha Aaron is made the high priest and the people are build the mishkan, repairing two broken relationships with G-d, and proving that sin creates only temporary distance between G-d and the Jewish people.

Why do the people drink the water with the ashes of the golden calf? What is the key to putting a family back together in the wake of adultery?

The children of Israel act out of anxiety when Moses disappears on the mountain. Moses is put in the difficult position of having to defend to G-d the people who have just betrayed him.

How do clothes feature in the Torah? How do the priestly garments reflect the weight of the job?

The children of Israel donate and work together to build something that will stand as an important symbol of their community, and their relationship with G-d.

Dr. Friedman and Dr. Yehuda wonder why the first law that our chapter opens with is slavery and what that might mean for a nation that has just been liberated.

Yitro stands as an unparalleled example of excellence in mentorship in the Torah.