Yardaena Osband, at The Blogs

Yardaena Osband

Dec 13, 2023, 4:28 PM

Soldiers are seen monitoring surveillance cameras at a command center at the IDF’s Re’im camp in southern Israel, November 5, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

A woman certainly lights, for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Women are obligated regarding the Hanukkah light, for they, too, were in the miracle (אשה ודאי מדליקה דא"ר יהושע בן לוי נשים חייבות בנר חנוכה שאף הן היו באותו...

May 13, 2022, 4:48 PM

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This bird you cannot change

Great Sparrow (or Southern Rufous Sparrow or Rufous Sparrow), Passer motitensis at Marakele National Park, South Africa - male. Or דרור in Hebrew. (Hebrew Wikipedia, Derek Keats)

The Torah's jubilee year and its mandated release of slaves gives a whole new meaning to the expression, 'as free as a bird' (Behar)

Feb 14, 2020, 3:46 PM

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Talmud, every day

Jethro advising Moses, Jan van Bronchorst, 1659. (Wikimedia Commons)

Moses discovered early how necessary the Oral Law is to understand the Torah -- it's one reason I believe everyone should try learning Daf Yomi (Yitro)

Jan 10, 2020, 3:50 PM

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This is a story that never ends

'Joseph and His Brothers,' by Franz Anton Maulbertsch, between 1745-1750. (Wikimedia Commons)

Joseph could forgive his brothers, but how was he ever to forget that they had sold him into slavery? (Vayechi)

Oct 4, 2019, 2:38 PM

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Transitions

Moses's parting command moves the people from acute dependence on God to daily life - no wonder it is read on Shabbat Shuvah, at the horizon of a new year (Vayelech)

Jul 5, 2019, 2:47 PM

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Transitions and transformations

Illuminated Bible, miniature of Moses hitting the rock in the desert to bring forth water with two Israelites behind his back. 13th century, France.

When Moses hit the rock to bring forth water, he provided an explanation for the transformative power of the incomprehensible (Hukat)

Jan 18, 2019, 4:15 PM

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Torat Miriam: Hope springs eternal

Illustrative. Tiran Island, in the Red Sea, Egypt, February 10, 2017. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)

Long before the Israelites crossed the sea, Miriam knew that water had the power to save, for she'd seen her brother pulled from the Nile (Beshalach)

Jul 25, 2018, 1:25 AM

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Finding the words: Moses and the women

(Jewish Observer, 1984. Agudas Yisroel, under the auspices of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. Courtesy, Leslie Ginsparg Klein)

Launching an intiative to bring women's voices to the parsha discussion, for they are ready to be heard

About Me

Yardaena Osband, MD, is a pediatrician and a teacher. She hails from Boston. She studied for two years in Midreshet Lindenbaum, received her BA in Jewish Studies and Music at Stern College for Women, and attended medical school at the Sackler School for Medicine. She has taught in many schools and synagogues and is the co-host of the Daf Yomi podcast, Talking Talmud. Yardaena is currently a student in the International Halakha Scholars Program at Ohr Torah Stone. She serves on the boards of ORA - Organization for the Resolution of Agunot and The Eden Center, and is a founder of the Orthodox Leadership Project.