The Tanakh Podcast
Study Tanakh with Rav Alex Israel.
10 mins a day.
One chapter a day.
929 schedule.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 11 minutes
- Episodes
- 767
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Tehillim. Psalm 141 - Self-Doubt
David expresses his concerns and worries that he might succumb to the methods and morals of his adversaries. Today we speak about the virtue of self-doubt.
Tehillim. Psalm 140 - Men of Hamas
This chapter resonates strongly with contemporary events. It is a wonderful example of how Psalms written millennia ago can resonate afresh in other times.
Tehillim. Psalm 139 - Escaping God
God knows everything about me.
That can be such a crushing burden that at times a person wishes to run away from God.
What insights and understandings help a person to find his way back?
Tehillim. Psalm 138 - With a Full Heart
Chapter 138 is filled with gratitude. We stop to think today about the power of appreciation
Tehillim. Psalm 137 - If I forget you, Jerusalem!
Jews never forgot Jerusalem, though they wandered the globe for 2000 years.
What was the formula for their survival? This chapter gives us some key tools for the Jewish art of making Jerusalem our h…
Tehillim. Psalm 136 - The Universal and the Particular
This is a Hallel, a chant, an opportunity to sing and shout to God.
We will draw connections to the themes of the upcoming holiday, Sukkot:
1. The universal and the particulatr
2. Appreciation for th…
Tehillim. Psalm 135 - God in Nature; God in History
This is a chapter of Hallel.
What is the subject of God's praise?
Tehillim. Psalm 134 - Night in the Temple!
"Bless God all you servants of God who stand at night in the house of God"
There is no Temple service at night!
Who are these servants who praise God at night in the Temple?
Tehillim. Psalm 133 - Brotherly Love
"How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together."
We explain the dramatic story behind this Psalm, a story of sibling rivalry and reconciliation in five acts.
Tehillim. Psalm 132 - Two Oaths; Two Houses
David promises that he will make a house, a Temple for God; God promises that he will make a royal house for David and his progeny. Today we discuss the relationship between king and Temple.
Tehillim. Psalm 131 - Like a Nursing Baby
Do we rely on God because we expect everything to turn out okay; or do we rely in God because attachment to God is simply life itself?
Tehillim. Psalm 130 - Out of the Depths
This Psalm is one of the most commonly recited Psalms in times of trouble, sickness, or distress. It is also recited during the Ten Penitential Days between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.
Tehillim. Psalm 129 - Antisemitism
In every generation, "since my youth, the haters, the assailants have attacked me, but they will never prevail against me."
This is a song about anti-Semitism and Jewish survival.
Tehillim. Psalm 128 - The Vine and the Olive Tree
This Mizmor offers the Godfearing person individual and national blessings. We discuss the images of the vine and the olive tree, the family and the nation.
Tehillim. Psalm 127 - If God will not Guard the City
Today we study the chapter with an eye to the year we have experienced. Wishing everyone a Shanna Tova!
Tehillim. Psalm 126 - Joy and Tears. The Challenge of Return.
This Psalm sung on Shabbat and festive moments before Birkhat Hamazon.
It starts with the joy of the return to Zion. But then it requests of God: "Return our captives!
Have we returned or not?
And if…
Tehillim. Psalm 125 - Jerusalem. The Little Hill That Could
"Jerusalem has mountains surrounding it, and God surrounds His people now and forevermore"
We examine this statement both topographically and historically. Has Jerusalem always been protected by God …
Tehillim. Psalm 124 - Song of Jewish Survival
This is the song of what might have been, the chorus of Jewish survival, the symphony of thangsgiving to God for having our back throughout the millennia and not allowing our enemies to succeed in de…
Tehillim. Psalm 123 - "If as Sons; If as Slaves!"
What can a slave expect from his master?
In this podcast we relate chapter 123 to our Rosh Hashanna liturgy.
Tehillim. Psalm 122 - Seek the Peace of Jerusalem
This beautiful and colourful chapter describes the excitement of a pilgrims journey to Jerusalem and the sights that they encounter. It ends with a three-fold prayer for peace.