Rabbi David Sedley

A repository of written, audio and video Torah classes given by Rabbi David Sedley

Month: April 2013

  • “Twelve” themed ringtones

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    Here are 5 ringtones for the 12th day of the Omer (some of them contain music, and some not, depending on your taste – you have been warned) 1. 12 Bar Original by the Beatles 2. 12 Reasons by My Life Story 3. Prelude 12 by Styx 4. Twelve Fingers by Young the Giant 5.… Read more

  • Ringtones for Day 11 of the Omer

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    How about “Eleven” themed songs (5 of them) which you can use as ringtones for today (don’t listen to them – it is still Sefirat HaOmer!) 1. 11:11 by Rufus Wainwright 2. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock by U2 3. Song Eleven Could Take Forever by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin 4. Eleven by Primus 5. The Eleven… Read more

  • Schlissel Challah (Key Challah)

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    Some have a custom to bake challah with a key inside it (or challah in the shape of a key) the Shabbat following Pesach. This has never been my custom (or my family’s custom) nor have i ever lived in a community where the custom was widespread. Nevertheless, with the internet (and particularly facebook) minhagim… Read more

  • Interesting Fact 3: Rabbi Akiva Appears in Almost Every Tractate of Mishna

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    [For interesting facts 1 and 2 about Rabbi Akiva just follow the links] According to Zecharia Frankl, in Darkei HaMishna (p.111, footnote 9) , statements of Rabbi Akiva appear in approximately 260 mishnayot. In fact, there are very few masechtot of mishna which do not contain statements from Rabbi Akiva: לר”ע באו הלכות במשנה כמעט… Read more

  • 5 Ringtones for 10th Day of the Omer

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    5 Ringtones you could use to remind yourself that today is the 10th day of the Omer (none of which actually have ANYTHING to do with the Omer): 1. Perfect 10 (Beautiful South) 2. 10 out of 10 (Paolo Nutini) 3. Force Ten (Rush) 4. 10 X 10 (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) 5. Tell me Ten… Read more

  • Interesting Fact 2: Rabbi Akiva’s Father-in-Law

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    As I said yesterday, everyone knows that Rabbi Akiva’s father-in-law was knows as Kalba Savua. However, did you know that according to the Gemara (Shabbat 147a) Rabbi Akiva had a father-in-law with a differnet name as well? יהושע בן כפוסאי היה חתנו של ר’ עקיבא …it was Yehoshua ben Kapusai, father-in-law of Rabbi Akiva… If… Read more

  • Sesame Street Themed Sefira RingTones

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    Here are some more suggestions for ringtones for Sefirat HaOmer. These ringtones are brought to you by the letters “S” and “esame Street”. And by the number “5” 1. Number One goes to The Count (of course) with Batty Bat (which sounds pretty ‘Jewish’ to me – almost Fiddler on the Roof) 2. Dots (Lots… Read more

  • Interesting Fact 1: Rabbi Akiva’s Brother-in-Law

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    We have certain mourning practices during Sefirat HaOmer because of the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who all died at this time. However, immediately afterwards Rabbi Akiva went and taught another five Rabbis in the South, and (almost) the entire Oral Torah as we have it today developed from what he taught those students. Here… Read more

  • 5 Sefirat HaOmer Themed Ring Tones

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    Here are five ideas for Sefira themed ring tones. (For those who don’t know, the theme is counting). 1. Rikki Don’t Lose that Number (Steely Dan) 2. Counting the Beat (The Swingers) 3. Count on Me (Bruno Mars) 4. Colour by Numbers (Culture Club) 5. Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder) Obviously you would need to find… Read more

  • Food for Thought from Mark Twain

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    I just read this paragraph in Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” (which is a great book by the way – just in case you haven’t read it). On this up trip I saw a little towhead (infant island) half a mile long, which had been formed during the past nineteen years. Since there was… Read more