Ta Shma

What do we do when our leaders—or our most sacred texts—repeatedly disappoint us? We live in a world that continues to struggle with how to live out a sexual ethics of mutual dignity. In this series, R. Aviva Richman confronts moments of disappointment related to sexual ethics in Talmud and explores how to inherit this part of Torah in ways that invite honesty and growth. Recorded In Winter 2026. 
Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WinterLectureSeries2026RichmanSexualEthicsPart3.pdf

Parashat BeHa’alotkha returns us to the story of Pesah—this time, in the second year after the Exodus from Egypt—and underscores the ways in which observing God’s mitzvot is a fundamentally communal project.

What do we do when our leaders—or our most sacred texts—repeatedly disappoint us? We live in a world that continues to struggle with how to live out a sexual ethics of mutual dignity. In this series, R. Aviva Richman confronts moments of disappointment related to sexual ethics in Talmud and explores how to inherit this part of Torah in ways that invite honesty and growth. Recorded In Winter 2026. 
Source sheet: https://mechonhadar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/WinterLectureSeries2026RichmanSexualEthicsPart2.pdf

Our parashah describes one aspect of the unique relationship between the Holy Blessed One, and Moshe.  The final verse of the parashah describes how the Holy One and Moshe would communicate in the mishkan (tabernacle).

According to Rashi, the defining feature of the people of Israel at the moment of receiving the Torah is complete unity.