Aleph Beta

24/06/2026

The Torah diagnosed antisemitism thousands of years ago—and it comes down to three Hebrew words.

Rav—many. Atzum—mighty. Yakutz—repulsed.

The first time they appear together: Pharaoh, watching the Israelites grow in Egypt. Fear of their size, fear of their strength, and those fears turning to repulsion. That’s the moment slavery begins.

The second time: a different king, hundreds of years later, watching Israel defeat the most powerful nation in the region. Same fear. Same repulsion. Same three words.

The Torah is an incredibly precise text—every word is deliberate. So when the exact same three words appear together in two different stories, that is not a coincidence. That’s the Torah drawing a direct line between two moments in history and saying: this is the same story.

Different century. Different king. Different method. But the Torah wants you to see that it all starts in the same place.

These ideas are based on our video “What Is Israel’s National Mission?” If this resonated and you want to go deeper—Aleph Beta just launched a free membership tier. No trial. No credit card. One video every week going deep into the Hebrew Bible. Link in bio to sign up.

23/06/2026

The red heifer is one of the strangest rituals in the Torah, and it is featured in this week's portion, Chukat.

A perfectly red cow is burned into ash. The ash is mixed with water. And that water is sprinkled on someone who has come into contact with death.

It sounds almost impossible to understand.

But maybe the ritual is trying to teach us something very human.

When we encounter death, there are two dangers. One is that we become shattered by it and can’t find our way back into life. But the other is that we become numb. We see too much. We hear too much. We scroll past too much. And slowly, death stops shocking us.

The parah adumah may be a ritual meant to wake us back up.

Its ashes remind us that even something strong and alive can become dust. Its water reminds us that life is fragile. And its strangeness reminds us that death should never become ordinary.

Maybe the Torah is telling us that to live fully, we need to preserve our reverence for life.

To be human is to know that life is fragile, and to let that knowledge make us more tender, more awake, and more careful with one another.

Learn more:
https://www.alephbeta.org/content/parsha-lab?episode=red-heifer-ash-law-offering-sacrifice-meaning

Pictured: red heifers in Israel

Nothing cleanses like…ash from a red heifer? Parshat Chukat starts out with instructions for how to purify someone who became tamei met , "impure through…

22/06/2026

There's a contradiction hiding in the first two chapters of Genesis that most people never notice.

In Chapter 1, it says God creates all plant life on Day 3 and Adam and Eve were created on Day 6. But in Chapter 2, when Adam is created, the Torah says there were no plants yet—because it hadn't rained, and there was no man to work the land.

The Talmud resolves it with something remarkable. The plants were created on Day 3—but didn't grow. They stood at the opening of the ground, waiting for Adam to arrive and pray for rain. From here, the Sages conclude that God desire prayer.

God didn't forget to make it rain. He designed the world so that it would be incomplete without human prayer. The potential was there—it was just waiting for someone to show up and ask.

Want to connect to prayer more deeply? We have a free guide on how to make your prayers more effective. Comment PRAYER and I'll send it straight to you.

These ideas are based on Imu Shalev’s teachings in our video, “Why Should I Pray.” For a deeper dive, check it out at alephbeta.org

22/06/2026

Once a year, we turn to our beloved Aleph Beta community and ask for your support.

We don’t love asking for money, but as a nonprofit, we rely on generous contributors to help us keep creating the Torah content that inspires, uplifts, and gives you those unforgettable a-ha moments.

This year, Rabbi Fohrman and the team have curated a set of special perks with you in mind.

Take a look, see if anything strikes your fancy, and thank you for being on this journey with us.

https://www.alephbeta.org/perks-2026

18/06/2026

Everyone talks about Korach like he was just power-hungry. But what if that’s not the real story?
The people had just been told they would never see the Land of Israel. An entire generation, condemned to die in the desert. They were grieving.
And grief, left unchecked, doesn’t just make you sad. It makes you rage. It makes you turn on the people closest to you — even when they’re not the ones who hurt you.
Korach’s name literally means grief. That’s not a coincidence.

18/06/2026

🚨 This is a warning for communities:

Parshat Korach has a message for every community, every family, every organization: grief — if left unchecked — can tear the very thing you love apart.

Here's what's easy to miss in the story: Korach's rebellion didn't come out of nowhere. It came right after the devastating decree that the entire generation would die in the desert, never reaching the Promised Land. The people grieved. Deeply. And that grief moved through stages — first denial (they tried to conquer the land anyway), then rage.

And the rage didn't turn outward. It turned against their own leaders. Against Moshe and Aharon — the people who had led them, loved them, and fought for them.

The Torah in Devarim pairs this story with a law against a specific mourning practice — tearing out your hair in grief. The Sages saw the connection: just as self-harm in grief is destructive to the individual, communal rage in grief is destructive to the community. "Do not make yourselves into little groups," they said. Don't let grief split what is whole.

This is an extraordinary lens through which to read not just Korach — but so much of what we see in our communities today. Rabbi Fohrman's class and the Into the Verse podcast both explore this in depth:

🎥 Video: https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/why-did-korach-rebel
🎙️ Podcast: https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/korach-why-did-korach-rebel

Shabbat Shalom — and may we find the strength to turn grief into connection rather than division 💙

16/06/2026

Have you ever worked really hard at something, felt like you were doing everything right — and still felt completely overlooked?

That might be the most human thing about Korach.

Korach was from the family of Kehat — the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant through the desert. That sounds incredible. But here's what the Torah tells us about his actual job: the Kohanim (his cousins) would go into the Holy of Holies, carefully wrap every sacred vessel — and only THEN would Korach's family be allowed in to carry them. They couldn't even look at the vessels directly. If they peeked, they'd die.

So Korach spent his days carrying the most sacred objects on earth — but was never allowed to truly see them, touch them, or access them the way his cousins did. He was always the schlepper. Always one step removed.

And instead of recognizing the incredible value of his own role, he fixated on what others had that he didn't. Until it destroyed him.

Dive deeper here:
🎥 https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/korachs-hidden-backstory

What role in your life might you be undervaluing?

16/06/2026

Eve’s sin wasn’t just eating the wrong fruit. It was the order she approached the tree in.

In Genesis 2, God describes every tree in the garden as “pleasant to the sight and good for food.” But the moment before Eve takes the fruit, the Torah quietly flips the sequence. Now the tree is “good for food and a delight to the eyes.” Eating first. Seeing second.

And that’s not the only thing that changes. The word for how the tree looks to her shifts too—from nechmad (pleasant) to ta’avah (craving). It looks like appreciation. But it’s really just hunger.

According to Rabbi Fohrman, those two phrases aren’t just describing the way the trees look and taste. They’re describing two ways of relating to the world.

Comment “EDEN” and I’ll send you our podcast on this topic.

15/06/2026

This week we read Parshat Korach — and if you've always thought this story was just about a power-hungry rebel, Rabbi David Fohrman's class will completely change how you see it.

Here's the surprising insight: Korach's name itself is a clue. The word "korach" refers to an ancient mourning practice — tearing out one's hair in grief. And that's exactly what's happening beneath the surface of this story.

The people of Israel have just learned they will never enter the Land of Israel. An entire generation condemned to die in the desert. Their denial didn't work. And now, in Parshat Korach, their grief has exploded into rage — aimed straight at Moshe and Aharon.

Korach's rebellion isn't just about politics or power. It's about a community that is mourning its own future and tearing itself apart in the process. The Torah's warning against the "karcha" (the bald spot of mourning) and Korach's story are deeply linked — both warn us: don't let grief become self-destruction.

Watch it here 👇
🎥 https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/why-did-korach-rebel

11/06/2026

What is the One Word the Spies Never Said?

When the spies returned from Canaan, they gave what sounds like a positive report: "The land flows with milk and honey — and here is its fruit!" So why did everything fall apart?

Before Moses sent the spies, he gave them specific instructions — including one question that stands above all others: Is the land good or bad? Because God, all the way back at the burning bush, had made a promise: I will bring you to a good land.

The spies described the land in many ways. They talked about the people, the cities, the fruit. But they never once called it good. They conspicuously left out the one word that mattered most.

And then — the moment that broke Moses — the people used that word "good" to describe Egypt. "It would be good for us to go back." The exact inverse of God's vision. That's when Moses fell on his face.

Caleb and Joshua understood this. Their response wasn't just "we can win the battle" — it was tovah ha'aretz me'od me'od: "The land is very, very good." An echo of creation itself, when God looked at the world and called it very good.

This parasha asks: do we see the goodness God sees — or do we only see what we're afraid of?
🎧 Listen to "What Did The Spies Do Wrong?" on Aleph Beta Parsha Lab
🔗 https://www.alephbeta.org/parsha/shelach