Yitro: The Two Dimensions of Shabbat

Introduction

There are two accounts of the ten commandments – one, in our parsha, which is happening in “real” time. The other account appears in Deuteronomy, when Moshe re-tells the momentous events of Sinai to the new generation that has grown up in the desert and is about to enter the Land. Although the accounts are essentially identical, there are some conspicuous differences between the two versions of the shabbat commandment. In this podcast, Rabbi Meir Schweiger explores those differences and explains them. Hopefully this will lead to a deeper understanding of the shabbat experience.

Thank you to Dr. Phillip Ross for sponsoring this podcast in honor of his teacher, Rav Meir Schweiger.

Credits:
Larry Kluger – Creative Consultant
Arlene Harel – Production Coordinator

Meir Schweiger

Rabbi Meir Schweiger taught at Pardes for more than four decades before retiring in 2020. Originally from the Bronx, New York, he made aliyah in 1972. He studied at Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and Yeshivat Har Etzion, received rabbinic ordination in Jerusalem, and later earned an M.Ed. in Teaching Bible from Herzog College.

At Pardes, Meir taught a wide range of subjects including Chumash, Talmud, Halakha and Siddur. He served as Mashgiach Ruhani, guiding the school’s spiritual life through coordinating and supervising tefillot, tiyulim, shabbatonim, and pre-holiday yemei iyun. For more than 10 years, Meir was also the Director of the Pardes Fellows’ Program for returning 2nd year students and the Educational Director of the Pardes Learning Seminar.