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Rabbi Shulman continues learning Maharal (פרק ס״ו), arguing that the miracles of Yetziat Mitzrayim were aimed at a single telos: that Hashem be *our* God by dwelling among us—“ושכנתי בתוכם.” He develops the Maharal’s framework of עילה/עלול (Giver/recipient) to show why the tachtonim (humans and the physical world) are the *essential* locus of Divine connection, while even angels are ultimately dispensable intermediaries. Rabbi Shulman then connects the historical “withdrawal” and “return” of the Shechinah to human sin and human righteousness, and explains how the שבע מצוות בני נח function as the bare-minimum structure for being “טוב לשמים וטוב לבריות,” with אבר מן החי serving as a restraint on uncontrolled desire that otherwise cascades into broader עבירות. Outline: https://ateres-ami.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/gvuros-hashem-66b-20261011-170534-outline-20261011-170613.pdf

Rabbi Shulman explains the halachah of **not eating or drinking after the fourth cup**, rooted in **“אין מפטירים אחר הפסח אפיקומן,”** so that the taste of the מצה (as זכר לקרבן פסח) remains in one’s mouth. He clarifies why the **third and fourth cups** do not contradict this rule—because they are themselves **mitzvah-drinking**—and why additional flavored drinks (even more wine) are still prohibited, with **water** as the primary exception. Rabbi Shulman concludes by emphasizing the larger רוח: the seder night should be lived with **simchah, clarity, and song**, ideally extending through the night for those able to do so. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65i-20260920-190925-outline-20260920-190950.pdf

Rabbi Shulman learns a passage (פרק ס״ו) from the Maharal (אמר יהודה בן בצלאל) arguing that any great divine act must have a correspondingly great purpose. He shows how the Torah itself defines the telos of Yetziat Mitzrayim: that Hashem be our God and that His שכינה dwell among us—seen through the sequence of redemption, Aseret HaDibrot, Mishpatim, and finally the Mishkan. Rabbi Shulman then addresses the philosophical challenge: if “השמים כסאו והארץ הדום רגליו,” why would Hashem choose to dwell in the lowly physical world, and he begins explaining that the deepest קשר is specifically between the עילה (Bestower) and the עלול/מקבל (recipient). Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-66a-20260920-190630-outline-20260920-190706.pdf

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Maharal’s approach to the “fifth cup” at the Seder, framing it as a *reshut* precisely because it represents a higher, more subtle category of Hashem’s kindness—especially *parnasah*—beyond the baseline gratitude owed for *geulah*. He then tackles a practical-nusach problem: if *Hallel HaGadol* belongs to the fifth cup (parnasah), why do many Hagados place it on the fourth cup, even interrupting between Hallel and its concluding *berachah* (*Birkat HaShir*)? Rabbi Shulman clarifies the Maharal’s preferred structure: keep the formal Hallel framework intact, and place additional praises (like Nishmat and Hallel HaGadol) only afterward—either with a fifth cup or without. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65h-20260906-220531-outline-20260906-220603.pdf

Rabbi Shulman explains the closing progression of *Hallel HaGadol*—from Hashem remembering us in our lowliness, to redeeming us from our oppressors, and culminating in Hashem providing food to all flesh. He develops the Maharal’s idea (based on Pesachim) that **פרנסה** is “greater” than **גאולה** because it is the ongoing, direct divine sustaining of all existence without intermediaries. This frames the **fifth cup** at the Seder as a (non-obligatory) elevation beyond the four cups of redemption, tied to *Hallel HaGadol* and to a deeper structure of “four directions” unified by a “fifth” central point. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65g-20260830-160503-outline-20260830-160537.pdf

Rabbi Shulman continues unpacking *Hallel HaGadol* (Tehillim 136) through the lens of the Maharal, showing how its sequence is a guided descent from Hashem’s transcendent governance—mediated through distinct classes of מלאכים—down into the created physical order of שמים וארץ and their details. He explains why “לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו” is placed before the description of the heavens: miracles flow from realms beyond the physical. Finally, Rabbi Shulman frames the transition from creation to יציאת מצרים as the “tenth,” sanctified stage—because the emergence of כלל ישראל is itself a completion of מעשה בראשית, giving the world its purpose. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65f-20260816-160429-outline-20260816-160508.pdf

Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman explains the Maharal’s approach to the structure of the cups at the Seder, emphasizing that the Gemara’s primary girsa points to two distinct cups beyond the basic four: the fourth for Hallel (with ברכת השיר) and an additional fifth connected to הלל הגדול. From there, Rabbi Shulman develops the Maharal’s central theological idea: why הלל הגדול is “great”—because it highlights Hashem not only as Creator but as the constant Sustainer, the “עילה” upon which all “עלולים” (dependent beings) rely for ongoing existence and פרנסה. He then connects the 26 refrains of “כי לעולם חסדו” to Shem Havayah (יהוה), and begins unpacking the hierarchy of angelic roles implied by “אלהי האלהים” and “אדוני האדונים.” Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65e-20260802-160430-outline-20260802-160514.pdf

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the closing structure of Hallel as it appears in *Nishmat* and *Yishtabach*, focusing on why some sections emphasize **eight** praises “from our side” while *Yishtabach* enumerates **fifteen** praises “from Hashem’s side.” He explains the conceptual difference between **הלל** (praise for Hashem’s beneficence) and **שירה** (song about Hashem’s might), and why the “big finish” of Hallel must culminate with a heightened form of praise. He then transitions to the sugya of a possible **fifth cup** at the seder, why it’s absent from the Mishnah’s required cups, and why *הלל הגדול* is called “great” as it highlights Hashem’s ongoing providence—especially sustaining all creation with food. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65d-20260729-121702-outline-20260729-121750.pdf

Rabbi Shulman analyzes why the Mishnah in Pesachim refers to the concluding berakhah after Hallel on the seder night with the unusual title **ברכת השיר** rather than the standard **יברך אחריו** (i.e., *Yehallukha*). He explains the Maharal’s approach: on leil Pesach, Hallel functions as **שירה**, and that “song-status” creates an added requirement for a formal concluding berakhah. From there, Rabbi Shulman explores Rabbi Yochanan’s position that **נשמת** (culminating in **ישתבח**) is “the song,” highlights the theme of **eight praises**, and then presents the Maharal’s critique of the practical Ashkenazic compromise (saying *Yehallukha* without its closing and then finishing with *Nishmat/Yishtabach*). Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65c-20260719-160533-outline-20260719-160610.pdf

Rabbi Shulman continues the Maharal’s discussion (פרק סה) of praising Hashem with the word “אָז,” explaining how “אָז” signals transcendence beyond the natural world of “seven” and even beyond time. He develops the Midrashic image that Israel “clothes” Hashem כביכול with a “חלוק של תפארת,” since honor functions like a garment, and the Torah’s expressions of עֹז are engravings on that robe. Rabbi Shulman then connects the “tearing” of this garment not primarily to the חטא העגל but to the חורבן בית המקדש, when Hashem’s splendor in the lower world is diminished. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65b-20260712-150529-outline-20260712-150600.pdf

Episode Notes Notes go hereR

Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman explains a teaching of the Maharal on the concluding “הודו לה׳” in Tehillim 118, showing that the chapter opens and closes with gratitude to highlight that the entire story is fundamentally about הודאה. Drawing on a Gemara in Pesachim that assigns different verses to different figures around David HaMelech (David, Yishai, Shmuel, and David’s brothers), Rabbi Shulman emphasizes the Maharal’s central point: Hashem’s good is not a “main recipient plus incidental bystanders,” but a perfectly ordered plan in which each participant’s benefit is directly intended.

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Mishnah and Gemara’s debate over what “ברכת השיר” is at the end of the Seder, explaining why many Haggadot incorporate both יהללוך and נשמת כל חי. He then focuses on a precise claim in the Gemara: within יהללוך there are specifically **eight** concentrated expressions of praise, and this “eight” aligns with a broader Torah pattern where songs are introduced by **אז** (whose letters total eight). Rabbi Shulman closes by introducing a Midrash (R. Akiva) about Hashem “wearing” a garment engraved with all the occurrences of אז in the Torah—torn after sin and restored in the future—setting up how the Maharal will interpret this symbolism. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-65a-20260706-170730-outline-20260706-170800.pdf

Rabbi Shulman explains a teaching of the Maharal on why Tehillim both opens and closes with “הוֹדוּ לַה׳,” framing the entire chapter as an exercise in הודאה (gratitude). He then traces a Gemara in Pesachim that assigns successive verses to different figures around David HaMelech (David, Yishai, Shmuel, and David’s brothers), showing that the goodness of Hashem is not “mainly” for one person with incidental spillover to others. Rather, every beneficiary is intentionally included in Hashem’s ordered plan, and therefore each one has a distinct obligation to thank—while all ultimately unite in gratitude to the single Source. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-64p-20260706-170432-outline-20260706-170503.pdf

Rabbi Shulman continues an explanation of Hallel (Tehillim 118), focusing on how Hashem elevates the despised “stone” into a “cornerstone,” revealing salvation as overtly miraculous and pre-planned from Creation. He then turns to the pleas of **“אָנָּא ה׳ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא”** and **“אָנָּא ה׳ הַצְלִיחָה נָּא”** as requests for deliverance from opposition and for continued success. Finally, he offers a striking reading of **“אִסְרוּ חַג בַּעֲבֹתִים עַד קַרְנוֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ”** as a call to intensify thanksgiving through עבודת הקרבנות, and notes how the chapter’s closing “הוֹדוּ” mirrors its opening. Outline: https://danielggordon.github.io/ateresami/gvuros-hashem-64o-20260629-142239-outline-20260629-142323.pdf