Whither Malchut Welcome to our fourteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 13 – I’m not even supposed to be here today After a deflating capstone to Shaul’s third inauguration last week, we analyze chapter 13 and find the roots of Shaul’s heroism this week. Shaul is put to an impossible test by Shmuel, essentially a Kobayashi Maru for you star trek fans. However, after experiencing failure Shaul does not cower as Dante...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our Thirteenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 13 We analyze chapters 11 and 12 this week. Chapter 11 is essentially an inversion of the story of Pilegesh b’Giveah. This is literally and figuratively Shaul’s crowning achievement, and yet it seems to be ruined by Shmuel in the Navi’s semi-valedictory speech. Shmuel, in passing the torch to Shaul, channels Moshe in his disclaiming of having...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our twelfth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 12 This week we discuss why, absent a directive from God, kings are anointed with oil and what such a symbolic act might mean. We note, with Dr. Micah Goodman that while Shmuel may not be in favor of kingship broadly, he seems to be accepting of Shaul as king because of Shauls obsequious nature. Lastly we note the lottery-like process of selecting...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our eleventh in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 11 This week we transition from a world where Jewish leaders were Shofetim, judges, to one where they are kings, and we do so, from Shmuel’s perspective, very begrudgingly. We note the similarities between the Shaul story and that of Yosef and we try to explain why it would be necessary, conceptually, for the first king of Israel to seemingly be so...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our tenth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 10 This week we answer the questions from chapter 8 and the previous shiur and discuss how the request for kingship creates two distinct offices, that of ruler and of prophet, both dependent on one another for success. We also try to uncover how the events in chapter 8 are connected to the wildly different perspective in chapter 9. All this and more....

Whither Malchut Welcome to our ninth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 9 This is the chapter you’ve been waiting for (sorry, chapter 7 wasn’t recorded), we finally begin the transition to a king and a royal line and it is perplexing and mystifying. How is it possible that Shmuel allows his sons to not follow in his ways when he saw first hand the results of Eli and Eli’s children? Why would the people who clearly identify...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our eighth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 8. This week we cover chapters 5-6, and try to understand, fundamentally what the need is for all this information. Meaning, why include two chapters of God destroying the Plishtim when we can sum up the events in 2-3 sentences. However, what we uncover is an intentional patterning on a previous story in the Chumash. Then we turn our attention to ask...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our seventh in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 7. This week we cover chapter 4, the downfall of Eli, the loss of the aron and the destruction of Shiloh. We seek to understand why the destruction of the Mishkan is absent from the text even though it is cataloged elsewhere in Tanach. This week we conclude our exploration of Eli’s failure as a leader and point out how the destruction here is necessary...

We conclude our learning of Song of Songs by reviewing the approaches heretofore cited and and offer our own explanation for the need for this work to be written as music specifically. Music conveys more than just information, it evokes feeling. The Song of Songs is an homage to exactly that. Put another way Shir Hashirim is a song about the concept of song, it is an ode to the artistry of human creation, or perhaps the collaboration that artist forms with the divine. We also seek to...

From Understanding to Meaning We continue to analyze patterns in language and theme between Song of Songs and other parts of Tanakh. Two specific examples of wayward and broken relationships that are contrasted are in Hoshea chapter 2 and Mishlei/Proverbs chapter 7. We use these comparisons to explain the necessity for writing Song of Songs poetically, rather than simply saying that Hashem and the Jewish people love each other, the reason for the metaphorical language is to contrast with...

Approaches to Understanding the Text Citing from Rishonim and Achronim we discuss how to understand allegory and metaphor in Tanach generally and Song of Songs specifically. Does eros lead to agape? Next we identify some recurring themes such as everyone guarding something. We then trace many terms used for love and relationship in Song of Songs with their original sources in the Gan Eden story and see how their use in the megillah is attempting to illustrate the resolution for earlier...

Exploring themes and patterns of meaning in Song of Songs while trying to avoid apophenia. We use musical structures such as Rondo and Ritornello to understand the repetition and variation across the songs. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/isaacson/support

In this episode we take the Artscroll introduction to Song of Songs to task for claiming that it would be false to read this megillah according to it's simple, straightforward and literal meaning - what is called pshat. We find that Rashi disagrees with Artscroll and we explore how the concept of pshat is meant to be understood. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/isaacson/support

We begin our exploration of the meaning of Song of Songs, why it was written, why it is missing any overt religious message, and who wrote it. There's also a great anecdote about C.S. Lewis's Jewish child. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/isaacson/support

We complete our straightforward/pshat reading of Song of Songs, chapters 7 and 8. Please note some terminology as written and translated in the Megillah is for a mature audience. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/isaacson/support

Whither Malchut Welcome to our Sixth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 6. This week we cover chapter 3 which juxtaposes Shmuel’s ascent with Eli’s decline. We offer a unique reading of Shmuel’s sleep in the Mishkan and finally we ask why Shmuel’s first prophecy seems to be so inconsequential to Eli, to Shmuel and to us the reader? All this and more. Thanks for joining us and please consider sharing this recording with...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our fifth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy Episode 5. This week we complete chapter 2 which continues the theme of the thing and its opposite, in this case Shmuel is contrasted with the sons of Eli. We struggle to understand the magnitude of the sins of the sons of Eli and we point out that perhaps not everything Eli hears about his children is factual. We explore whether or not these men lost their free...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our fourth in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. Episode 4. This week we begin chapter 2 and are immediately confronted with the perplexity of Chana’s famous prayer. How do these seemingly disparate statements hang together and why, as Rashi and others point out, is she continuously referring back to the misery she experienced at the hands of Penina. The solution we offer is to see Chana casting herself as a...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our third in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or SamuelThe Book of Samuel: Episode 1 and the founding of Jewish monarchy. This week we complete chapter 1 and take a brief detour to ponder the source of the name Nitzevet (Bava Batra 91a) and contrast the story of Chana with that of Naomi and find similarities in language and theme. We then try to understand the implications of this comparison for malchut. All this and more. Thanks for joining us and please...

Welcome to the book of Shmuel chapter 1. This week we trace some of the background for the first perek back to the story of Pilegesh b’givah by noting the unusual term miyamim yamima. In sefer shoftim we come to identify the roots of the kingship of Shaul as related to Yavesh gilead and we understand how unlikely a king from Shevet Binyamin would be. Thanks for joining and please consider sharing this podcast with others. --- Support this podcast:...

Whither Malchut Welcome to our first in a continuing series on the book of Shmuel or Samuel and the founding of Jewish monarchy. This week we introduce the book and what the goal of the work seems to be. We point out the famous question that the authority of the king as depicted in the Torah is extremely limited and is in stark contrast to the god-kings of the ancient world. Where do concepts like mored b’malchut come from and why is it so important to have a limited monarch. All this and...

WARNING: This episode contains controversial material, listener discretion is advised. Welcome to the 9th and final installment of Messy-nism, the Jewish view of Moshiach. This week we cover Zionism and the Messianic vision of Rav Kook as well as the Lubavitcher Rebbi and the revival of the fervor for bringing Moshiach at the end of the 20th century. We take a look at some Messianic claimants in the 21st century including the Yanuka and conclude with an attempt at understanding the value...

Welcome to Messynism, the Jewish view of Moshiach episode 8. This week comes with a warning, some of the material discussed is controversial and listeners may be uncomfortable. I believe that the substance of what is covered is accurate and important. If you continue to listen please do so with an open mind and feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss further on twitter @isaacson This week we summarize the story of Shabbetai Tsvi before delving into some of the mainstream...

Welcome to Messy-nism the Jewish Understanding of Moshiach episode 7 This week we navigate through the approach of Jewish mysticism to Moshiach starting with the Heichalot literature proceeding to the Zohar, Rabbi Avraham Abulafia and his attempt to convert the Pope, the Arizal and his student R’ Chaim Vital and finally culminating in the most famous and successful Jewish false messiah of the past 1600 years, Shabbetai Tsvi. Thank you for joining us and I hope you enjoy.   If you find...

Welcome to Episode 6 of messy-nism the Jewish view of Moshiach. This week we cover 1700 years of messianic history including Herod, Christianity, Bar Kochva, and lesser known claimants such as Abu Isa, David Alroy and Ines Herrera the 11 year old female prophetess who was thought to be the messiah. We also noted the historical trends that tend to foster messianic fervor. Thank you for listening, I hope that if you enjoy the shiur you’ll take the time to recommend it to others. ---...