Talmudic Tales Archives - מרכז ספיר לתרבות וחינוך יהודי

The author Haim Be’er met for conversations with Israeli intellectuals.

Starting with an ancient Talmudic story, each encounter featured a discussion that progressed toward profound and existential issues for our lives in the 21st century, thereby creating a contemporary and surprising dialogue.

Ancient Jewish wisdom unfolds within modern Israeli interpretation in a series of 20 fascinating discussions. The series is available via videos and on various podcast platforms.

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English subtitles will be uploaded in the near future. Until then, you are welcome to watch the videos in Hebrew

Haim Be’er meets Regev Ben-David

The author Haim Be’er and scholar Regev Ben-David discuss authenticity and imitation, and the way in which culture is created layer by layer, with delicate connections to the past, not out of absolute imitation but rather, with adjustments to the present. This is a conversation about figs that turn into gold, thrown etrogim, the Emperor Hadrian, Berl Katznelson, and even Meir Shalev.

Haim Be’er meets Dr. Rani Jaeger

The author Haim Be’er and Dr. Rani Jaeger discuss the possibility to create a world devoid of evil or temptation. Their investigation yields surprising insights about the evil inclination, the price of life in its absence, and about the pain and beauty that exist in less complimentary parts of the human soul. A conversation about lions, inclinations and… the Holy of Holies.

Haim Be’er meets Gail Hareven

The authors Haim Be’er and Gail Hareven study and discuss not the illustrious Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi but rather… his handmaid. How does a woman devoid of name and status teach the greatest Torah scholars a lesson? What is the advantage in the connection to mundane and maybe even miserable daily life? And what is the inherent criticism in the ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ of the world of those sitting in an ivory tower?

Haim Be’er meets Shay Zarchi

And the earth was unformed and void… The author Haim Be’er converses with Rabbi Shay Zarchi about the threatening chasm at the foundation of the Temple Mount, and on the method discovered by King David for ensuring that it would continue to sustain the world, without flooding or drying it up. A conversation on depths and Songs of Ascents that create sanctity, balances and life.

Haim Be’er meets Dr. Moti Zeira

The author Haim Be’er and Dr. Moti Zeira converse about idealists whose dream is shattered, the magic and power of the “big dream”, reactions to the encounter with complex reality, and about the practical people who compromise with reality and succeed in realizing the vision, even if only partially. A conversation on the Jewish Sages and the pioneers of the Second Aliya, dreamers, and those who experience disappointment and compromise.

Haim Be’er meets Dr. Tamar Elram

The author Haim Be’er and Dr. Tamar Elram, Director of the Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital, study and discuss female courage, wisdom, and daring in two Talmudic stories in which courageous and strong women meet powerful and high-ranking men, demonstrating impressive original thinking and self-assurance. This is a conversation about curiosity, courage, and the right thing to do, and on the ability to operate successfully in a male world.

Haim Be’er meets Prof. Haim Weiss

Do dreams predict the future or do they reflect the internal world of the dreamer? Does a dream have one single correct interpretation or several possible meanings? Can the dream’s interpretation influence reality? The authors Haim Be’er and Haim Weiss discuss these questions, the meanings of dreams, and their interpretation in former times and today.

Haim Be’er meets Rabbi Tamar Gur Krause

The author Haim Be’er and Rabbi Tamar Gur Krause in a moving dialogue on the clash between love and truth at critical, unique moments in life. What happens when dispute leads to remoteness and pain? Is it possible or desirable to give up on “the truth” a moment before the final separation? Or is specifically insisting on your view perhaps the desirable option?

Haim Be’er meets Noa Shakargy

The author Haim Be’er in a conversation with poet Noa Shakargy on the perception of beauty and ugliness in rabbinic sources and today. What is the meaning of the rabbinic admiration for and descriptions of beauty? What is the connection between external and internal beauty and does aging impair beauty or, in fact, enhance it?

Haim Be’er meets Amichai Chasson

The author Haim Be’er and poet Amichai Chasson discuss and study the relationship between the individual and God as described by the Jewish Sages – who needs who in this relationship, what kind of God is revealed in the words of the Sages, and what is the function of commentary in this tempestuous relationship, both in the ancient era and today?

Haim Be’er meets Noa Manheim

The author Haim Be’er in a conversation with the essayist and editor Noa Manheim on the World to Come as reflected in the eyes and thoughts of the Jewish Sages. Is life in this world a corridor to the better, more important World to Come or is life in this world – the here and now – the essence of life? And what exactly does the World to Come look like?

Haim Be’er meets Orit Gidali

The author Haim Be’er and poet Orit Gidali in a dialogue on and study of the connection between humans and God, and the question as to whether to engage in negotiations with God. What is the power of silence, what is the role of words and how does the Jewish Sages’ interpretation help us (or not) in such negotiations?

Haim Be’er meets Dr. Gili (Mivtzari) Zivan

The author Haim Be’er talks with Dr. Gili (Mivtzari) Zivan about the dramas that take place between teachers and students when differences of beliefs, worldviews, gender or appearance create conflicts that illuminate both teachers and students in a human fragile light. Their discussion addresses the sages of the Talmud but also touches on the teachers and students of today.

Haim Be’er meets Prof. Vered Noam

“We can say that we are not the first Jews to have complaints against the Jewish government of their state.” Israel Prize laureate in Talmud, Professor Vered Noam, leads us through the maze of intrigues, fake news, and politics in the court of King Yannai as depicted in an exceptional rabbinic story. Can we learn something from this story for our times?

Haim Be’er meets Adv. Dina Zilber

The author Haim Be’er converses with Adv. Dina Zilber on the ability to achieve a balance between Torah study and family, and between the aspiration for spirituality and closeness to God and their family’s daily life. What happens when the balance between a couple’s togetherness and the personal spiritual (or financial) need goes wrong and who pays the price?

Haim Be’er meets Dr. Ariel Levinson

Questions about home and belonging are now highly prominent in Israeli consciousness, but these have always been central to Jewish culture. Dr. Ariel Levinson, head of the Secular Yeshiva in Jerusalem, discussed with Haim Be’er children choosing different paths from their parents, parents wishing their children to fulfill their unrealized dreams, the crisis and pain of leaving home, and the possibility of reconnecting the childhood home with the chosen spiritual home.

Haim Be’er meets Tamar Weiss Gabbay

The author Haim Be’er talks with author Tamar Weiss Gabbay about the stories of Honi HaMe’agel (Honi the Circle-drawer) – on control, letting go, and an understanding that we are part of a continuous generational chain that grants genuine meaning to our existence.

Haim Be’er meets Rabbi Menachem Hacohen

The author Haim Be’er converses with Rabbi Menachem Hacohen, the rabbi of the Moshavim Movement and President of the Sapir Center, about approaches to life and the incongruencies between them. On the fundamental difference between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, between the pessimistic worldview of human fate espoused by Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel’s optimistic view of the human power to repair, to fulfill, and to change the world.

Haim Be’er meets Avirama Golan

The relationship between parents and children is a fascinating, complex and never-ending one. With the inspiration of Talmudic stories about parents and their (adult) children, Haim Be’er and the author and translator Avirama Golan discuss this basic and complex relationship. This personal conversation, which combines knowledge, wisdom and life experience, proposes a broad developmental view of the relationship dynamic which evolves over the different stages of life from the perspectives of parents and children.