Topics covered: Chapter 2, Mishna 1 Priests may not drink alcohol nor shave their heads nor wear their hair long when serving in the Temple. So should all priests (kohanim) keep their hair the right length and abstain from drinking …

Topics covered: Chapter 2, Mishna 1 How and why did they move the ark and Torah scrolls into the town square on public fast days? How and why did they don sackcloth and ashes? The strange statements of the Nineveans …

Topics covered: Chapter 2, Mishna 6 The order of prayer when the Sages decreed a fast day (usually due to drought). Who was worthy to be the prayer leader? What blessings would he add to the everyday prayers? Would the …

PART 2 of this class: Watch Now Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 5 Do pregnant and nursing women join in communal fasts? As a drought worsens, the communal fasts become more intense. What does it mean when Sages add “sounding the alarm?” …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 5 How do we conduct ourselves on a fast day? Depends in part whether it’s a day of mourning or a day of desisting from pleasure. How do we allot our time on that day …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 4, 5 Fasting for only a few hours – is it really a fast? What if a date listed in Megillas Taanis falls on a day decreed for fasting? May we eat all night during …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 4 Good eating habits when you’re on the road. Don’t party when the community is in distress. Two guardian angels accompany us everywhere, but they will testify against us on the Day of Judgement if …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2, 3, 4 The Holy Land was created before other lands, and God personally attends to its rainfall. Where does rain come from according to our Sages? Relative sizes of Israel, Egypt, Cush, the world, …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2 Rainfall is equivalent to the resurrection of the dead. Torah scholars sharpen each other. Rabbi Chanina said, I have learned much from my teachers and more from my friends, but I have learned the …