June is well underway and that means it’s time to review the weekly Torah portion!
Okay, it’s always time to review the weekly Torah portion, but it’s especially important in the summer.
Why, you ask? (Well, maybe you didn’t. But I asked it for you.)
Because schools let out at the end of June.
I went to a Jewish day school for high school, and I attended NCSY, whose National Convention always fell right after New York State Regents exams (end of June for all you “out-of-towners”). Year after year, I learned parshas Shlach, maybe Korach, mmmaybe even Chukas, and then? See you in September!
The parshas of Balak and Pinchas never got anywhere near the same attention as Bereishis through the first half of Sefer Bemidbar. And Matos-Masei? Fuggedaboutit!
And this year, schools won’t start again until parshas Ki Seitzei or Ki Savo, at the end of Sefer Devarim. This is not exactly an ideal jumping-on point in the narrative. (Yes, I say “Ki Seitzei” and “Ki Savo.” It’s just how I roll.)
Now maybe if you went to summer camp these parshiyos were covered as thoroughly as Bereishis, Noach and Lech Lecha were in school. I wouldn’t know; some of us worked in the summer! But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most people are probably not as proficient in parshas Eikev as they are with, say, parshas Bo.
If you never had the opportunity to learn these sedras as thoroughly as the rest of Chumash, then summer is the perfect time to double down on reviewing the parsha. And if you have kids or teens out of school and home for the summer, it’s a great opportunity to help familiarize them with this material while bonding over the weekly parsha.
And OU Torah is here to help. (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?)
Aside from the amazing array of shiurim on the parsha from a plethora of prominent personalities (#alliteration), OU Torah is proud to present Shnayim Mikra, a parsha-review series like no other.
Shnayim Mikra isn’t one shiur on the parsha; it’s seven – one per aliyah. The series is designed not to expound upon a particular thought or question from the parsha; it’s designed to help the listener review and appreciate each sedra in its entirety.
Shiurim are given by master educators including Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom, Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, and many others. A text synopsis by yours truly accompanies each shiur, clearly explaining what’s going on in even the toughest of parshiyos.
You can access Shnayim Mikra directly online, or sign up for the daily email, which will deliver the synopsis straight to your inbox with a link to the shiur. (We didn’t mention it but the web site also offers the text of the Torah portion in the original Hebrew and English translation. We’ve got you covered.)
So this summer, jump on board with OU Torah’s Shnayim Mikra – you just might come out knowing Bemidbar and Devarim like you do Bereishis and Shemos!
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Fun Fact: Number of times it says the word “parsha” or some variation of it in this blog post: 15. Seemed like more, didn’t it?