SOUTHERN TORAH

Thoughts on the Torah, holidays and Jewish life from the South

Source Sheets

Click on the links below to see source sheets to various classes taught by Rabbi Davis:

 

The History and Development of Oral Law – Torah She’be’al Peh Beshanah
(Each class in this series is 90 minutes long, which includes 60 minutes of lecture and 30 minutes of text study)

  1. Origins of the Oral Tradition
  2. Bearers of the Tradition
  3. Divisions of the Tradition
  4. The Mishnah
  5. The Talmud
  6. The Siddur
  7. In Depth:  A Good Debate
  8. Sealing of the Gemara
  9. Mideaval Scholarship Flourishes
  10. Codes and Codifiers
  11. Parshanut
  12. Philosophy and Poetry
  13. Minhag Madness
  14. Achronim
  15. Parshanut and Philosophy of the Achronim
  16. In Depth:  Enlightenment
  17. In Depth:  Chasidut
  18. Review of the Torah She’be’al Peh

Legal Ethics Lunch and Learn Series
(Each class is 45 minutes long)

  1. Guy v. Mims – Prisoner Rights in Jewish Law
  2. County of Allegheny v. ACLU – Public Menorah Lightings
  3. Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl – Child Custody and Adoption
  4. Parents of Minor Child v. Charlet – Clergy Confidentiality
  5. Town of Greece v. Galloway – Prayers at Government Functions
  6. Eirand-Herskowitz v. Mt Carmel Cemetery Assn.
  7. Grayson v. Goetting – Hair Cuts
  8. Bloch v. Frischholz – The Mezuzah Dispure

Kosher 101
(Each class is 60 minutes long)

  1. What needs to be kosher?
  2. Divisions between meat and milk
  3. What to do when something goes wrong (it happens!)
  4. Miscellaneous laws (Bishul Akum, Stam Yainam, Tevilat Keilim, Kosher terms)

Lunch and Learn Series
(Each class is 30 minutes long)

  1. Death of the Messiah
  2. How old is the Zohar?
  3.  Finding God in Exile
  4. Forced Conversion and the Path of Return
  5. Halachik Status of the Temple Mount
  6. In Search of the Ark of the Covenant
  7. In Search of the Crown of Allepo
  8.  Is God knocking on your door?
  9. Jews, Jesus and the Return of the Noahide Laws
  10. Kosher Fraud and Charleston
  11. Are Doctors allowed to go on Strike?
  12. Autopsies and Embalming in Jewish Law
  13. In Search of the True Israel
  14. Levirate Marriage and the Shtar Chalitzah of Charleston
  15. Physician Assisted Suicide
  16. Charleston’s Impact on the Kosher Status of Turkey
  17. Chocolate Covered Locusts
  18. Is Evil Born or Bred?
  19. Paducah, Kentucky and General Order No. 11
  20. Rabbi Karo and the Magid
  21. The Root of Sibling Rivalry
  22. Charleston Jewish Slave Owners and the Story of Uncle Billy
  23. Syrian Refugees
  24. The Case of the Undead Father
  25. The Dignity of Old Age
  26. The Future of Jewish Cemeteries
  27. The Golem of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg
  28. Checking out Against Doctor’s Orders
  29. Vampires in Jewish Mythology
  30. What Happened when the Lights went out in Egypt?
  31. What the Jewish of Kaifeng can teach us about Jewish Continuity
  32. Halacha vs. Minhag
  33. Who were the Maccabees?
  34. Ethics of the South Carolina Alligator Hunt
  35. From Yemen to Ethiopia: Perspectives on Jewish Isolation
  36. The Heinz Dillema
  37. Kabbalah for Non Kabbalists
  38. The Right to Die
  39. The Wine of Redemption (Passover topic)
  40. Chesed for the Sake of Chesed (Insights to the Book of Ruth)
  41. The Truth about Naomi (Insights to the Book of Ruth)
  42. In Search of Sinai
  43. The Nazir of Jerusalem
  44. Reestablishing the Sanhedrin
  45. What your kindergarten teacher did not tell you about God
  46. Teaching Torah to all People
  47. Rabbi, I live my life according to the Ten Commandments
  48. When Rabbis Flight:  A Look at the Divorce of Cleves
  49. Should  a Burial be Delayed for Out of Town Relatives
  50. Till Death do us Part: Halachik Innovations in Jewish Divorce
  51. Jihad, the Crusades and Milchemet Mitzvah
  52. The Trolley Problem
  53. Who is a Jew? Lessons Learned from Ethiopian Jewry
  54. AIPAC, J-Street and the Hearts of American College Students
  55. Reincarnation
  56. Party over Platform:  What do our Jewish affiliations mean?
  57. The Mass Conversion of 1313
  58. Then Kohen Gadol, the Chief Rabbinate and Peace in the Middle East
  59. Abortion and a Mother’s Rights
  60. Galileo, The Church and the Jews
  61. Do Modern Scientific Findings Change Jewish Law?
  62. Zionism in the Megillah
  63. Stress Free Passover Preparation
  64. Must a Jew Pray for the Government
  65. The Ethics of Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy
  66. Tikkun Olam
  67. The Legacy of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai
  68. Mourning Loss and the Loss of Mourning
  69. Did I see you at Sinai?  Unpacking the Midrashim of Matan Torah
  70. Perspectives on Land for Peace
  71. Is there a Place for Guns in Synagogues
  72. A Life of Blessing and Life of Curse
  73. Are we Supposed to Ask for Forgiveness on Rosh Hashanah
  74. Are you Bitter Today (The real meaning of Marcheshvan)
  75. No Jab No Pay: Should we compel people to get vaccinated?
  76. Did Sarah sin with the Expulsion of Ishmael?  Lessons for our Times
  77. Dating, Monogamy and the Jewish Concubine