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Latest revision as of 18:10, 31 October 2026

Welcome to Step 4 — a wiki of accessible Torah wisdom, tightly bound to identifiable sources in TaNaCh, Gemara, and Mesorah.

Explore All Shiurim →

Browse the complete table of contents for recorded shiurim, including summaries, source material, audio, and transcripts.

✦ Today's Featured Article

Shiurim Summary coming soon.

Read full article...

Published: October 29, 2026

? Did You Know...

...that the word tirosh (wine) contains tirash (poverty), and this duality is the key to understanding Kiddush? (source)
...that Shabbos candles are not merely about light, but about establishing seder — an ordered, purposeful framework for Shabbos?
...that the phrase Av Hamon Goyim — "father of a multitude of nations" — encodes a transformation in Avraham's very identity?
...that true leadership begins with recognizing that Hashem is the Elokei HaRuchos — the G-d of all spirits?
...that Kiddush Hashem is not only about martyrdom but about how we live every ordinary moment?

📖 This Week's Parsha

Parashat Vayera

20 Cheshvan 5787 · October 31, 2026 · Genesis 18:1-22:24

Three angels visit Avraham; Sodom and Amora are destroyed. Lot and his daughters escape. Yitzchak is born to Sarah. Hagar and Yishmael are sent away. The Akeidah — the binding of Yitzchak — is the parsha's climax.

Haftarah (Ashkenaz): II Kings 4:1-37

Read on Sefaria →

🗓 Upcoming Holidays

Holiday	Date
Chanukah: 1 Candle — First night of Chanukah	December 4, 2026
Chanukah: 2 Candles	December 5, 2026
Chanukah: 3 Candles	December 6, 2026
Chanukah: 4 Candles	December 7, 2026
Chanukah: 5 Candles	December 8, 2026
Chanukah: 6 Candles	December 9, 2026
Chag HaBanot	December 10, 2026

All dates begin at sundown of the evening prior. Times are for Diaspora.

Browse by Topic

Shabbos & Kiddush

Leadership & Character

Ahavat Hashem & Avodah

From Shema to Integrated Love — נתיב אהבת השם, פרק א

Torah Sources & Study

About Step 4: This wiki preserves Torah wisdom learned from Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld — tightly bound to identifiable sources in TaNaCh, Gemara, and Mesorah; deep; and relevant. Learn more →

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 Welcome to '''Step 4''' — a wiki of accessible Torah wisdom, tightly bound to identifiable sources in TaNaCh, Gemara, and Mesorah.
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-{| style="width:100%; border:0; padding:0; background:transparent;"
+<div style="border:2px solid #2c4a7c; background:#eaf3fb; padding:12px 16px; margin-bottom:14px; text-align:center;">
+<div style="font-family:Georgia, serif; font-size:1.15em; font-weight:bold;">[[Shiurim|Explore All Shiurim →]]</div>
+<div style="margin-top:4px;">Browse the complete table of contents for recorded shiurim, including summaries, source material, audio, and transcripts.</div>
+</div>
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-'''[[Kiddush: Tirosh or Tirash: Wine, Daas, and the Inner Work of Kiddush]]''' explores a profound tension hidden in the Hebrew language itself. The word for wine — ''tirosh'' — contains within it the word ''tirash'', meaning poverty. Rabbi Gershenfeld draws on this linguistic duality to illuminate the inner work of Kiddush: wine elevates when approached with ''daas'' (deep, integrated knowledge), but diminishes when consumed without it.
+'''[[Shiurim]]''' ''Summary coming soon.''
-The shiur traces this theme through the Zohar and Maharal, showing how Kiddush is not merely a ritual declaration but an act of consciousness — a moment in which a person either rises toward Shabbos or retreats from it. The choice between ''tirosh'' and ''tirash'' is the choice between presence and absence, between sanctification and its opposite.
 <div style="text-align:right; margin-top:6px;">
-[[Kiddush: Tirosh or Tirash: Wine, Daas, and the Inner Work of Kiddush|Read full article...]]
+[[Shiurim|Read full article...]]
 </div>
 <div style="border-top:1px solid #ddd; margin-top:8px; padding-top:6px; font-size:0.88em; color:#555;">
-'''Recently featured:''' [[Kiddush: Wine as Sod in Kiddush: Bridging the Hidden and the Revealed|Wine as Sod in Kiddush]] · [[Kiddush: Bridging Zohar and Maharal: Wine, Binah, and the Meaning of Kiddush|Bridging Zohar and Maharal]] · [[Shabbos: The Framework of Oneg and Kedusha|Oneg and Kedusha]]
+'''Published:''' October 29, 2026
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-<div style="font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom:4px;">Parashat Matot-Masei</div>
+===Parashat Vayera===
-<div style="font-size:0.9em; color:#555; margin-bottom:8px;">26 Tamuz 5786 · July 11, 2026 · Numbers 30:2–36:13</div>
+<div style="color:#555; font-size:0.9em; margin-top:-8px; margin-bottom:8px;">20 Cheshvan 5787 · October 31, 2026 · Genesis 18:1-22:24</div>
-'''Matot''' ("Tribes") opens with the laws of vows and oaths — a person's word has the power to create binding obligations. The parsha continues with the war against Midian and the allocation of spoils, and addresses the request of the tribes of Reuven and Gad to settle east of the Jordan, which Moshe permits on condition they lead the conquest.
-'''Masei''' ("Travels"), the final portion of Sefer Bamidbar, opens with a complete list of the forty-two journeys of the Israelites in the desert. Hashem commands the destruction of idolatry in the Land, outlines Israel's borders, and establishes the laws of cities of refuge for accidental killers.
+Three angels visit Avraham; Sodom and Amora are destroyed. Lot and his daughters escape. Yitzchak is born to Sarah. Hagar and Yishmael are sent away. The Akeidah — the binding of Yitzchak — is the parsha's climax.
-<div style="font-size:0.88em; margin-top:8px; border-top:1px solid #ddd; padding-top:6px;">
+<div style="margin-top:8px; font-size:0.92em;">
-'''Haftarah (Ashkenaz):''' Jeremiah 2:4–28, 3:4 &nbsp;·&nbsp; '''Sephardic:''' Jeremiah 2:4–28, 4:1–2
+'''Haftarah (Ashkenaz):''' II Kings 4:1-37
 </div>
-<div style="font-size:0.85em; color:#666; margin-top:6px;">
+<div style="text-align:right; margin-top:8px;">
-This Shabbat is '''Shabbat Mevarchim''' — we bless the new month of Av.
+[https://www.sefaria.org/search#query=Vayera Read on Sefaria →]
-</div>
-<div style="text-align:right; margin-top:6px; font-size:0.88em;">
-[https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.30.2?lang=bi Read on Sefaria →]
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+<div style="background:#2c5c7c; color:white; padding:6px 12px; font-size:1em; font-weight:bold; font-family:Georgia, serif;">
 🗓 Upcoming Holidays
 </div>
-<div style="padding:10px 12px; font-size:0.92em;">
+<div style="padding:10px 12px;">
-{| style="width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;"
+{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; font-size:0.9em;"
+! Holiday !! Date
 |-
-! style="text-align:left; padding:3px 6px; border-bottom:1px solid #ddd; color:#555; font-size:0.85em;" | Holiday
+| Chanukah: 1 Candle — First night of Chanukah || December 4, 2026
-! style="text-align:left; padding:3px 6px; border-bottom:1px solid #ddd; color:#555; font-size:0.85em;" | Date
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px;" | '''Tisha B'Av''' — Fast & mourning for the Temple
+| Chanukah: 2 Candles || December 5, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; white-space:nowrap;" | July 22–23, 2026
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8;" | '''Tu B'Av''' — Day of joy and renewal
+| Chanukah: 3 Candles || December 6, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8; white-space:nowrap;" | July 28–29, 2026
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px;" | '''Rosh Hashana''' — Jewish New Year (5787)
+| Chanukah: 4 Candles || December 7, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; white-space:nowrap;" | Sept 11–13, 2026
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8;" | '''Yom Kippur''' — Day of Atonement
+| Chanukah: 5 Candles || December 8, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8; white-space:nowrap;" | Sept 20–21, 2026
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px;" | '''Sukkot''' — Feast of Tabernacles
+| Chanukah: 6 Candles || December 9, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; white-space:nowrap;" | Sept 25 – Oct 2, 2026
 |-
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8;" | '''Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah'''
+| Chag HaBanot || December 10, 2026
-| style="padding:4px 6px; background:#f0f4f8; white-space:nowrap;" | Oct 2–4, 2026
 |}
-<div style="font-size:0.82em; color:#666; margin-top:6px;">
+<div style="font-size:0.82em; color:#666; margin-top:4px;">All dates begin at sundown of the evening prior. Times are for Diaspora.</div>
-All dates begin at sundown of the evening prior. Times are for Diaspora.
-</div>
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 * [[Teaching the world|Teaching the World]]
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+'''Ahavat Hashem & Avodah'''
+* [[Ahavat Hashem: From Shema to Integrated Love — נתיב אהבת השם, פרק א|From Shema to Integrated Love — נתיב אהבת השם, פרק א]]
 '''Torah Sources & Study'''
 * [[Crucial Gur Aryehs for Bereishit, Shemos, and Vayikra|Key Gur Aryeh Sources]]
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 <div style="border:1px solid #a2a9b1; background:#eaf3fb; padding:10px 14px; font-size:0.9em; color:#333;">
 '''About Step 4:''' This wiki preserves Torah wisdom learned from Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld — tightly bound to identifiable sources in TaNaCh, Gemara, and Mesorah; deep; and relevant. [[Main Page/About|Learn more →]]
+</div>
 </div>