Halacha and Parshanut

Service Description

Halacha governs not only our behavior as Jews but shapes our deepest perspectives on life and our relationship with Hashem. Halacha is not an area of Torah that is separate from the Torah Text — it grows from within it. The Written and Oral Torahs, given by One Giver, form a single, seamless system of perfect internal coherence. This course invites students into that system, training them to read the Torah's legal portions with new eyes. Building on the principle that ein mikra yotzei midei pshuto (discussed in a previous course) we go a step further, exploring Chazal's teaching that the peshat does not merely coexist with the drash, but serves as the very foundation upon which halacha is built. The Torah's precise language, its varying literary styles, the placement of mitzvot, and its subtle grammatical and structural choices are not incidental. They are purposeful, meaningful, and halachically generative. Drawing heavily on the work of Rav Yehuda Copperman zt"l and his magnum opus Pshuto Shel Mikra, this course trains students to read the Torah with careful sensitivity to its nuances. Among the questions we will explore: Why does the Torah sometimes narrate and sometimes quote direct speech — and how does that distinction bear on halacha? Why are certain mitzvot presented in the first, second, or third person? As a command or in another grammatical form? In the singular or plural? Why are certain mitzvot mentioned in more than one location in the Torah, and what halachic significance does placement carry? How does the Torah text serve as a basis and guide not only for Torah law but for Rabbinic enactment, as well? By the end of this course, students will have developed a fundamentally new approach to learning Chumash — one that illuminates the richness, precision, and internal harmony of the halachic system as it flows from the Torah's every word. They will emerge with a deeper appreciation of the interplay between parshanut and halacha, and with a renewed sense of the profound unity of the Torah that Hashem gifted the Jewish people. Recordings will be available for this class. Dates (10 sessions): June 16, 23, 30, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18