At the Heart of Judaism

Pensées Juives brings together the teaching of Rav Raphaël Benizri: more than a hundred video lectures on the weekly parashah, the Jewish holidays and the great texts of Jewish thought, freely available.

The Beauty of a Living Tradition

The Judaism spoken of here is not a set of rules to memorize: it is a home one enters. The Torah is read for what it says about us, about our families, about our contradictions; the Ethics of the Fathers, the Proverbs of Shlomo and the midrash Bereshit Rabbah open up a depth that is never exhausted, and the lights of Kabbalah illuminate the text without ever closing it off.

Added to this is the warmth of a tradition: that of Morocco, with its piyyutim and the aromas of its Shabbat, where study, song and the generosity of the table are all one. The sources are cited, the commentators called upon — yet the tone remains that of a conversation, because we never understand better than when we feel welcomed.

Three Paths

The weekly parashah follows the annual cycle of Torah reading, portion by portion: it is the most regular meeting point, and the simplest place to begin.

The Jewish holidays take up each festival of the calendar — Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuot — to seek, beneath the customs, the idea that carries them.

Jewish philosophy opens the great texts of wisdom: the Ethics of the Fathers, the Proverbs of Shlomo, the midrash Bereshit Rabbah and the figures of the three Patriarchs.

Who It Is For

For those who have been studying all their lives and are looking for a fresh perspective, as well as for those who have never opened a book of Torah and do not know where to begin. No lecture assumes any prior knowledge: each one opens a door, and you come away with something to reflect on until the following week.

There is nothing to sign up for, nothing to pay. You choose a topic that speaks to you, and you begin.