S4 Ep. 4: Divine Love and the Ten Commandments

A Book Like No Other

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Picking up from last week's cliffhanger, Rabbi Fohrman and Imu tackle an uncomfortable and paradoxical question: How can a perfect being—God—choose vulnerability? This unsettling concept seems to be at the heart of the parallels they uncover between Genesis 27 and the Revelation narrative. By analyzing the blast of the shofar at Sinai alongside Esav’s anguished cry, they explore what it means for God, the perfect being, to open Himself to vulnerability.

This paradox leads them to a deeper understanding of the Ten Commandments and their articulation. Through this reflection, Rabbi Fohrman and Imu reveal how God’s first commandments speak to profound truths about divine love, family dynamics, and the nature of idolatry. What does Jacob’s invocation of God’s name reveal about the third commandment? And how might Isaac’s relationship with his sons offer insights into our own connection with the divine?

Join Rabbi Fohrman and Imu as they unpack these questions and show how the Torah’s most foundational laws emerge from one of its most complex family dramas.

For more on Rabbi Fohrman's reading of the deception story, see this essay from his book Genesis: A Parsha Companion, as well as this video Why Did Rebecca Trick Her Husband Isaac.

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