Preparing a Dvar Torah/Torah Discussion

Read the parsha: Hebrew/English
Re-read the parsha, SLOWLY. Be open to words/phrases/ideas/events that may grab you. Are there any apparent conflicts or "holes" in the text? Does anything seem unusual vis a vis your sense of Jewish values/morality/"tradition"? Jot down things that intrigue you but don't do any heavy thinking YET.
Re-read the parsha, SLOWLY. Be open to words/phrases/ideas/events that may grab you. Are there any apparent conflicts or "holes" in the text? Does anything seem unusual vis a vis your sense of Jewish values/morality/"tradition"? Jot down things that intrigue you but don't do any heavy thinking YET.
Review your list of possible subjects. Decide what you'd like to explore further. Reread the verses that deal with that topic. What questions do you have of your topic? What more do you want to know about it? What is it about your topic that you'd like to share with others?
Study some traditional and modem commentaries on your text: what's interesting to you in these commentaries? What questions did they have of the issue? What insights do they convey on your topic? How do they approach it? What of these commentaries would you like to share with people?
What questions are you still left with? What issues do you still want to explore?
Deepen/broaden your reflections by looking at secondary resources that address the perspective you are seeking to illuminate (i.e. historical/halakhic/feminist/ritual or liturgical/philosophical/political/psychological ... etc). For recommendations of secondary sources relating to specific topics, call someone else with an extensive library, who may be able to suggest books and articles. Also, you can ask for suggestions at any library, including the library at JTS (212-678-8000). Of course the Internet is also one of today's great research tools.
What further insights or connections has your learning yielded in helping you explore your topic? Try to summarize your learning. What conclusions or resolutions can you begin to draw, if any?
Open up to the community for their reactions and thoughts OR prompt them by sharing any questions or issues you may be left grappling with.

Points to Remember:

* Tell them what you're going, to say

* Say it

* Tell them what you've said

When quoting from Hebrew sources, if the quote is not too long, and if you can, try to repeat it in the Hebrew before you translate it. Whenever you use Hebrew words, be sure to translate them for those who don't understand.

Be sure to cite the source of something you're quoting or an idea you're sharing. As it says in Pirkei Avot: "Those who says something in the name of its author bring redemption to the world".

A successful dvar torah need not contain some new "revelation" or discovery made by the speaker. It may simply be an interesting review of millennia of Jewish commentary on an interesting theme/verse/event/apparent conflict in the Torah.A successful darshan is both a student and a teacher.

Bibles:

JPS Hebrew/English Tanakh

Torah commentaries: (samples and antholozies)

Midrash Rabbah (Soncino Press),

Legends of the Bible by Louis Ginzberg (JPS)

Sefer Ha'aggadah, Bialik and Ravnitzky

Mikreot Gedolot/Torat Chayim

The Pentateuch and Rashi's Commentary, SS and R Publishing (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, 1040-1105, France)

Ramban/Nachmanides (13th Century) Commentary on the Torah, Shilo Press

Horev, Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th century)

Sefat Emet: The Torah Commentary of Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger (Hasidic, 19-20th century)

The JPS Torah Commentary

The Torah: A Modem Commentary, Rabbi Gunther Plaut, UAHC Press (Reform)

Eitz Hayim: A Torah Commentary, JPS (Conservative)

Studies in the Weekly Parsha, Nechamah Leibowitz

In the Image of God: a Feminist Commentary on the Torah, Judith Antonelli

Lifecycles: Jewish Women on Bible Themes in Contemporary Life, Rabbi Debra Orenstein, Jewish Lights Publishing

92^nd Street Y's weekly "Torah Fax"

Chancellor Ismar Schorsch's weekly dvar, www.jtsa.edu