The long running Dvar Torah blog, "Ancient Ideas for the Modern Mind", is now a podcast! Listen as Yosef Segal gives his weekly Dvar Torah and also discusses a variety of Torah topics including Chumash, Hashkafa, and Halacha

After a parsha full of business and property law, the end of the parsha begins to discuss...the holidays? Additionally, the Torah seems to indicate that the celebration is dependent on having a good crop, is that true? And what's the connection to this week's parsha? (11 minutes)   … [Read more...]

The medrash says that Yisro's blessing of Hashem was the first time someone had blessed Hashem for the miracles He performed in the desert. What about Az Yashir? And if this was the first time, what took Bnei Yisrael so long? (8 minutes- apologies for the poor audio quality this week.)   … [Read more...]

A new born firstborn boy is considered holy, then we redeem him from his holiness and he becomes like everyone else. The next thing we do is celebrate this milestone. Why would we celebrate his loss of holiness? (7 minutes) … [Read more...]

After the makkah of Barad, Paroh asks Moshe to daven that the makkah should end. Moshe responds that he will have to leave the city before he does so. This never happened before, what was different about this makkah? (7 minutes) … [Read more...]

After centuries of slavery with no word from Hashem, the Bnei Yisrael finally collapsed under the strain. All of a sudden, there are multiple mentions of Hashem's responsibility towards the Bnei Yisrael. What happened? (8 minutes) … [Read more...]

Yaakov gives Yosef strict instructions to bury him only in the Land of Israel. Rashi gives three explanations why. Why do we need three? Is Rashi simply being thorough or is there more going on here? (7 minutes) … [Read more...]

When Yosef's brothers decide to kill him, Reuven steps in and throws him into the pit in order to save him. While this doesn't seem like much, the medrash explains that the impact of this act teaches us a great lesson. (9 minutes) … [Read more...]