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Vayeshev 5784: Growth and Responsibility

What can the mitzvah of yibum, Levirate marriage, teach us about making difficult decisions and personal growth?

In this week’s episode of Pardes from Jerusalem, Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Daniel Reifman unpack the complicated family dynamics of Yehudah, his sons, and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. As the only mitzvah in the Torah that allows one to “opt-out”, Levirate marriage provides an opportunity to examine the Torah’s perspective on making choices that lead to personal growth. With this in mind, Daniel and Zvi find new perspectives on the story of Yehuda, a character who develops in real-time.

Credits: Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Daniel Reifman – Pardes Faculty

Daniel Reifman

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Reifman teaches Talmud in the Pardes Kollel and the Intensive Talmud Skills course. Daniel holds degrees in biology, Tanakh and hermeneutics, in addition to rabbinic ordination. He has taught at Midreshet Lindenbaum and Midreshet AMIT in Jerusalem, the BINA Secular Yeshiva in Tel Aviv, and the Drisha Institute and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York. He currently holds positions at Yeshivat Maharat and the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan University.

Daniel has written extensive curricula on the five Megillot for the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. He is in the middle of developing an independent, comprehensive Talmud Skills curriculum. Daniel lives in Yad Binyamin with his wife and five daughters.