Parshat HaShavua: Giving Lessons from the Weekly Parsha

Weekly Wisdom, Perennial Questions

Every week of the Torah cycle contains teachings about tzedakah, justice, and communal responsibility — many of them hidden in plain sight. This session series draws these teachings out and makes them available to anyone serious about connecting their Jewish practice to their giving practice.

How the Series Works

Each session stands alone and can be accessed independently. We structure each episode around three elements:

The Parsha: A close reading of the week's Torah portion, looking specifically for tzedakah teachings — explicit and implicit.

The Tradition: What do the Sages, Chassidic masters, and halachic authorities say about this text? How has it been applied in different eras?

The Application: What does this teaching ask of us today? How should it shape our practice, our communal priorities, our individual giving decisions?

Sample Teachings from This Series

"The earth is the Lord's" (Psalm 24, echoing Bereishit) as the foundational ownership premise of all tzedakah.

The connection between Lavan's greed and the anti-tzedakah impulse in all of us (Vayeitzei).

What the laws of the corners of the field (pe'ah) teach about structural generosity vs. reactive charity (Kedoshim).

The Jubilee year (Yovel) as a vision of periodic economic reset — and its contemporary relevance.

This Is a Living Series

New sessions are added regularly throughout the year. Each week's new episode is available to free users; the archive is available to members and above.