Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally

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Rating
5
from
115 reviews
This podcast has
84 episodes
Language
Publisher
Explicit
No
Date created
2024/03/18
Latest episode
2025/10/17
Average duration
20 min.
Release period
8 days

Description

Each week, Israeli journalist and Torah scholar Sivan Rahav-Meir and Tablet’s own Liel Leibovitz discuss the week’s parsha, giving practical advice from our holiest book.

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Check latest episodes from Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally podcast


On this week’s parsha, we begin again
2025/10/17
In this week’s parsha, the story begins: God creates the world, light breaks through darkness, and humanity takes its first breath. But Bereshit is more than a tale of beginnings. It’s an invitation to start fresh, to choose connection and creation once more. This week, that sense of renewal feels especially real. Twenty hostages returned home just before Simchat Torah, and across the world, Jews are finding their way back: lighting candles, learning Torah, rediscovering what it means to keep Shabbat. So what does it mean to begin again, not only in the Torah but in our own lives? Tune in to find out.
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Sukkot
2025/10/06
This week, we pause the regular Torah reading for Sukkot, the festival of joy, unity, and fragility. Sivan reflects on how entering the Sukkah connects us to generations who found stability in something temporary. The Sukkah mirrors our history: delicate in form but enduring in spirit, a reminder that strength often begins with humility and faith. Sivan shares a letter from Masha, a listener from California who grew up far from Jewish life. After October 7, she began studying Torah, keeping Shabbat, and reconnecting with her heritage. Her story captures what it means to be an “October 8 Jew,” part of a new wave of Jews rediscovering their roots in the aftermath of tragedy. As we gather under the Sukkah this year, the question feels especially relevant: what can this fragile shelter teach us about resilience, connection, and joy in uncertain times? Tune in to find out.
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Ha'azinu
2025/09/30
In this week’s parsha, Moshe sings of God’s care for Israel, of the dangers of complacency, and of the eternal covenant that binds us still. As Yom Kippur gives way to Shabbat, his words echo through time: ha’azinu—listen. Across Israel, new generations are doing just that: students gathering on Zoom to prepare for Shabbat, young people filling hotels in Jerusalem to greet its light, first-timers discovering peace in a day without phones. So how do we carry the fire of Yom Kippur and the first Shabbat of the year into the second, and the third, and the days beyond? Tune in to find out.
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Vayelech
2025/09/25
In this week’s parsha, the shortest in the Torah, Moshe offers a final charge: Though God may hide His face, He will never abandon His people. Again we hear the refrain chazak v’ematz—"be strong, take courage"—as the gates of repentance stand open before us.As Yom Kippur nears, the invitation is to shed pretense and step into our truest selves. What does it mean to begin the year with strength, sincerity, and joy? Tune in to find out.
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Nitzavim
2025/09/17
This week’s parsha is short, but it holds some of the Torah’s deepest principles. Moses gathers the people before God, reminding them that unity is the starting point of Jewish life: “You are standing today, all of you.” He speaks of exile and return, of redemption, and of freedom of choice. Life and death, blessing and curse are set before us and it is up to us to choose. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, the message feels especially timely. Nitzavim reminds us that Torah is not distant or abstract. It is within reach, ready to be lived and acted upon. Renewal is possible, change is attainable, and the work of teshuvah can be done with joy. So how do we take that first step into the new year, with resolve, with community, and with gladness? Tune in to find out.
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Gratitude isn’t just a feeling. It’s a declaration.
2025/09/10
This week’s parsha introduces the mitzvah of bikurim—bringing the first fruits to Jerusalem, handing them to the priest, and speaking words of thanks. It’s not enough to feel gratitude; we must declare it out loud, with joy, and connect our personal harvests to the larger story of our people. So what are the “first fruits” in our own lives today, and how can we offer them with joy and purpose? Tune in to find out.
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Ki Teitzei
2025/09/03
This week’s parsha opens with a farewell speech from Moses and lays out 74 commandments, the most of any single Torah portion. They cover everything from inheritance laws to caring for lost property, from ethical treatment of workers to remembering Amalek’s assault. Amid so many instructions, one mitzvah stands out this Elul: Lo tachalel alem—“Do not remain indifferent.” If you see a lost ox, a stray sheep, or a person in need, you cannot just walk by. The Torah doesn’t politely suggest; it commands that we act. And our commentators expand this: the principle applies to every corner of life, from forgotten objects to “lost souls” disconnected from their community. The lesson is simple but profound: each mitzvah is a chance to connect the physical and the divine, to bring holiness into the world. Whether returning a lost item, giving charity, or observing daily rituals, we are invited to participate in a partnership with God, sanctifying our lives in concrete, tangible ways. So as the school year begins and Elul marches on, how can we turn everyday acts into opportunities to reveal goodness and care in the world? Tune in to find out.
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Shoftim
2025/08/27
This week’s parsha opens with Moses’ command: "Appoint judges and officers at all your gates." On the surface, it’s about building a legal system. But our commentators go deeper: every person is a city, with gates of eyes, ears, and mouth. And just as a city needs judges and guards, so do we. Elul is the season of checking what enters and leaves those gates. What do we choose to see? What do we let ourselves hear? What words do we send into the world? To judge ourselves is hard; to guard ourselves is even harder. But this month, Moses’ call is clear: take one step, however small, toward making those gates holy. So how do we begin—by lofty resolutions or by one small, practical change? Tune in to find out.
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Re'eh
2025/08/20
This week’s parsha, Re’eh, opens with a challenge: See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. Moses tells the Israelites that faith isn’t just about words; it’s about the power of choice. Every moment offers us the chance to step toward blessing, or away from it. The timing is no accident. As we prepare to enter the month of Elul—the 40-day journey toward Yom Kippur—this call to “see” becomes even more urgent. These days are not just about repentance, but about vision: What do we want to change? Where do we want to begin again? Re’eh reminds us that choosing blessing often happens in small, decisive moments that ripple out for decades. So how do we train ourselves to truly see and to begin today to walk in the direction of blessing? Tune in to find out.
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Eikev
2025/08/13
In this week’s parsha, Moses warns the Israelites about the greatest spiritual danger they’ll face: not hunger or enemies, but comfort. As they prepare to enter a land flowing with milk and honey, he tells them to remember who gave it to them. Eat, be satisfied, bless, but don’t forget. Because forgetting leads to pride, and pride leads to thinking you did it all yourself. This warning feels just as urgent today, in a world where abundance is only a click away. When everything is easy, where is the sacrifice that once bound us to God? When the blessings pile up, how do we keep our hearts connected to the Source of it all? Tune in to find out.
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What do we pass down when we don’t know what we were given?
2025/08/06
In this week’s ⁠parsha⁠, Moses pleads with God to enter the land of Israel and is told no. Instead, he turns to the people, delivering some of the most iconic words in the Torah: the Ten Commandments, the Shema, the Ve’ahavta; words that shape Jewish identity across generations. But what happens when those words are forgotten? As we move from Tisha B’Av to Tu B’Av, from destruction to love, what kind of Jewish memory are we rebuilding? Tune in to find out.
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This week’s parsha asks: Who gets to tell your story?
2025/07/30
In this week’s parsha, we begin the book of Devarim, Moses’ final words to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. After four books of epic events, this one slows down. No plagues, no miracles, just a speech. But it’s a speech that matters. Because before a people can move forward, they have to remember where they’ve been. Devarim is a reminder that the most powerful tool a nation has isn’t its army or its land. It’s its story. As we enter the Shabbat of vision, what kind of future does this moment dare the Jewish people to imagine? Tune in to find out.
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Matot-Masei
2025/07/23
This week's parsha opens with what looks like just a long list—42 places the Israelites traveled through on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. But those stops aren’t just historical footnotes. They’re reminders that every leg of the journey matters. As Jews, we’re always walking, always evolving. Mas’ei asks us to look back at our own paths and ask: What have I learned? What was the purpose of that detour, that delay, that disaster? Can the act of remembering become its own kind of movement? Tune in to find out.
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Pinchas
2025/07/16
In this week's parsha, we watch as Moshe’s leadership begins to pass to the next generation. He won’t enter the land of Israel with the people he led out of slavery, but his story isn’t a failure. It’s a reminder that sometimes, we play a vital role in a journey we’ll never see completed. What does it mean to be part of a story bigger than yourself? Tune in to find out.
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Balak
2025/07/09
In this week’s parsha, Balak hires the prophet Bilam to curse the Israelites. But every time he opens his mouth, blessings come out instead. From these unexpected prophecies, we get some of our most enduring ideas, like the image of Israel rising “like a lion,” and the quiet holiness of privacy ("How good are your tents, O Jacob"). Thousands of years later, the contrast still feels familiar—between those who build and those who destroy, between the noise of social media and the sanctity of a home with the front door closed. What does it mean to live as a blessing even when others root for your failure? Tune in to find out.
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Podcast reviews

Read Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally podcast reviews


5 out of 5
115 reviews
Eti ch 2025/08/27
Wonderful weekly wisdom
Practical wisdom and spiritual pearls weekly. Love it.
eag810 2025/08/13
Love!
Love this so much :)
amandapix 2025/08/06
The best show for inspiration
The show is lively and upbeat, and it always gives you practical to do things to follow up on the teaching. It’s really time well spent!
Steven Kofkoff 2025/07/05
Wonderful podcast!
So happy to have found this lovely podcast. You will feel grounded and be motivated after listening.
TheGreatMensch 2025/03/19
Get it in weekly
I happen to love this podcast and make it a point to listen weekly. I learn so much and it’s easy to digest and put into practice.
LikeToListen1 2025/03/06
My favorite weekly listen
I listen to a lot of podcasts. This is my favorite. I’m learning so much about my heritage and the Torah. I recommend this podcast to everyone. Thank ...
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Ilana Herring 2025/01/31
Love!
Really love this podcast! Parsha with passion, direct from Israel. I look forward to it weekly.
biggogish 2024/12/18
Sivan is an amazing teacher!
This podcast is truly a lifeline. Keep up the great work!
am a mamamamam 2024/12/15
Sivan is a great teacher
I’m inspired every week by learning with Sivan and Liel. This podcast is a gem
sidm612 2024/12/06
exceptional
I have been listening to this podcast for sometime and I’ve always enjoyed it. Using it as a companion to the “Simchat Torah Challenge” has elevated t...
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