YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqdtCeFufQc 【Free】Vocab & Phrase list (PDF): https://buymeacoffee.com/tanakasan/e/393506 Transcript with furigana on kanji: https://buymeacoffee.com/tanakasan/e/393507 Tanaka Radio Playlist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkK7KO2TnEcx18YuX8g5OOOLBMomrIvCE…

Chapter 6 bears a startling similarity to ch.3. What are the unique lessons we can glean from this chapter? Why is the storyline repeated?

This chapter, immortalized in a historic painting by Rembrandt, tells how Belshazzar, drinking at a royal feast from the Temple vessels, is startled by the appearance of a hand, writing an indecipherable script on the wall of the banquet hall. Why could he not read it? What did it mean? And what is the meaning of this enigmatic story?…

The king has a dreadful dream (- yet again!) Daniel interprets it. It is all about a tree being cut down. What does it mean?

In an exciting story of religious defiance, self-sacrifice, and miraculous salvation, Daniel's three friends prefer death rather than bow to the great statue in Dura, set up by Nebbuchadnezzar. They prefer martyrdom than renouncing their religious identities. This story has become a foundation for many Jewish acts of sacrifice, from the times of th…

In a nail-biting chapter, the king threatens his "wise-men" if they fail to recall and interpret his dream. Daniel prays to God and succeeds. We discuss the comparisons and contrasts to the Joseph-Pharaoh episode, and we ask whether Daniel was indeed a prophet.

Today we introduce the book and figure of Daniel. Daniel is a personality who is very much in dialogue with other "Jews in a foreign court" - the Biblical Joseph and Mordechai and Esther (And Nehemiah) - but quite different. Daniel is a proud, open Jew, who observes his Jewish practices loudly and unashamedly even as he serves as an advisor to a wo…

How did Purim become a holiday in the Jewish calendar? This is the first post-biblical chag or festival. It must have been controversial. We will see how Esther and Mordechai work hard to craft and form the rituals of celebration, enabling it to enter the calendar.

Haman is dead. Let's go celebrate! But no - we cannot relax! The decree to annihilate the Jews is still in full force. Mordechai and Esther will discover that it is no easy matter to annul and abolish the genocide plan. How will they save the situation?

We are at the second feast. Esther needs to bring the king to a point at which he sees Haman as the enemy. How does she do it?

Why can't the king fall asleep? What is he worrying about? Why does Achashverosh want Mordechai to be paraded around Shushan? Does he suspect Haman? Of what? The tables are beginning to turn!

Esther risks her life, approaching the king uninvited. But what does she request? That the king (and Haman) attend a party! And then another party! What is Esther's plan?

The royal writ has been issued, the letters dispatched, and the Jews are decreed for annihilation. Mordechai appeals to Esther for help, but she refuses. What makes Esther shift from passsive to active, from an object to a subject, from a victim to a heroine?

In Chapter 3 Haman's rivalry with Haman leads to Haman's plot to annihilate the Jews

Who are Mordechai and Esther - Devout or Assimilated Jews? Why is the "beauty contest" of Achashverosh quite possibly the cruelest way to find a wife? And what de we learn from the Bigtan and Teresh story?

Chapter 1 takes places several years before Esther comes to power, and way before the decree against the Jews. Why is the story of Vashti relevant? We offer three central lessons that we can take from ch.1

How does Kohelet end? What is his conclusion? Does he concluded with a soliloquy about death, or a series of statements about guidance and life?

Practice kindness, diversify your investments, invest in life - even if you cannot fully understand it, and enjoy your youth! These are Kohelet's messages - a philosophy of humble pragmatism.

One act of foolishness can sully a sterling reputation.

Death might be the great equalizer, but in the meantime, there are better ways to live and worse ways.

How might we act in the face of temperamental but powerful figures of government? How do we navigate an unpredictable world in which good and bad are seldom evident? Do we just eat and drink and be happy? Or maybe we allow wisdom to make our face shine.

The word "tov -good" is the keyword of our chapter. Kohelet has been asking what the key to good is. In this chapter he offers a new pragmatic approach.

6:9: "Better what you can see than the wanderings of desire." Today we address the attractions and fantasies that make us not only dissatisfied with our worldly blessings but also sap our ability and focus to appreciate and be present in the good fortune that we experience.

Is there a value in visiting the Temple? Should an individual make a vow? The opening lines of chapter 5 speak about religious ritual, the power of speech and the manner in which a person approaches God. What is Kohelet's perspective?

This world can be tough. Kohelet suggests that many people might prefer never to have been born at all. And yet, with a little financial modesty and less comparison, with some simple companionship, we will see success and happiness.

A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot that which is planted... A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Kohelet entertains three possibilities of what might make life meaningful: wisdom, pleasure and work. But the ultimate litmus test will be the death of a person; does anything valuable endure after we depart this work. Is everything ephemeral (hevel)?

What is the meaning of life? That is essentially the question that Kohelet seeks to address. Who is Kohelet? What does he mean when he says: "All the rivers flow into the sea but the sea is never full"?

Rather than a lament, Chapter 5 is a prayer. It begins by asking God to remember us and our humiliation, and it ends with a ple asking God to "Take us Back!"

Chapter Four uses colours to depicts the suffering of the people on Jerusalem's streets. v.1-11 speak of the siege and famine v.12-20 speak of the bloodshed of Jerusalem and the loss of sovereignty and standing among the international community. The last verse gives a glimmer of hope.

Despite torturous suffering, the individual of our chapter retains his faith. Ultimately, God saves him. This is a story that gives hope to those who might otherwise despair, sowing the seed of promise even in the bleakest conditions.

Chapter 2 focuses on God's fury. Two victims in particular are singled out: 1. The Temple itself 2. The children and babies This chapter expresses forthright outrage and protest towards God.

Eikhah gives the human angle to the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is depicted as a woman, forlorn and in tears, abandoned and humiliated. Today we focus on many of the repeated phraseology of chapter 1 which evokes the imagery of ruin and tragedy.

This chapter is quite legal. Today we focus on two key words: the "name" and "geula - redemption" because here in chapter 4, "redemption" is expressed in the restoration of the "name" of the deceased, upon his "land" or ancestral portion. This concept is the backbone of the drama of restoration that reverses the tragedy of Naomi\'s family, and brin…

In this chapter Ruth goes out to the threshing floor at night. Boaz is apparently sleeping there all alone. And she uncovers his feet. The plan, devised by Naomi, seems to have pronounced sexual overtones. And yet it would seem that both Ruth and Boaz's high moral fibre ensure that this becomes the moments in which they reveal their intent to marry…

What attracts Boaz' attention to Ruth? What aspect of Ruth's persona is significant to Boaz? And how does Ruth embody the character of Abraham in contrast to her ancestor, Lot?

This is a story that takes place on the backdrop of the period of the Shoftim. And yet, its message is very different to that book. What is Ruth trying to add that hasn't been said in Shoftim?

In Chapter 8 the couple manage to express their love and to experience their togetherness in the fullest manner. And yet this is a difficult chapter. It is made of sub-units, whose connection is difficult to decipher. We read through the chapter, expressing the questions and offering a possible reading for the end of the book.…

Chapter 7 begins with the other women beckoning the woman-lover, the "shulamit" as she is called, to return and dance with them. Rashi and the Midrash reads this as a invitation to integrate and acculturate into foreign cultures. But the "shulamit" insists on her independence. As they describe her physical form, the Midrash sees each detail as an a…

After the traumatic separation of the couple, chapter 6 has the "dod", the king proclaiming that the woman is "my only one, my dove, my perfect one."Music. Evyatar Banai. Yafa Ka-levana

This is a scene of missed opportunities; as after a period of (apparent) separation, the beloved comes looking for the woman, but she fails to understand and appreciate the moment, the opportunity, and the couple don't achieve reunion. Hazal speak of this scene as the lackadaisical response to Cyrus's invitation to rebuild the Second Temple. But po…

The depictions of the bride are rather strange, when her hair is compared to a flock of goats, her neck to a tower, and her stomach to a pile of wheat. Are we describing the anatomy of a woman, or possibly the geography and beauty of the land of Israel? Music. Mattisyahu. Basi LeGani

After the lovers' two unsuccessful attempts to realize their love, chapter 3 depicts the grand wedding of the young woman with the king.

In the first song, the woman is ready to move ahead, the "dod" is more hesitant. In the second song., the "dod" is all excited; the "ra'aya" - the woman - is expressing doubts and excuses. This is the nature of unripe love.

We begin ch.1 by seeing how the lovers - the young woman and the man - are depicted by Shir Hashirim. What might this express about God and Israel?

This is a book that needs some framing. We offer a few words of introduction.

Iyov has a strange conclusion. Does the restoration of Iyov's fortunes and the birth of 10 children mean that his prior troubles and pain have been forgotten? How might we understand the closing chapter?

Here we draw some conclusions and closing lessons from our reading of the Book of Iyov.

Our chapter speaks of the mythic "behemoth" and "leviathan" possibly a huge wild hippopotamus and whale or maybe a dragon. Why is God depicting these frightening monsters? And what do Hazal say about them?