A Congregation Toras Chaim Shabbaton with Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko of Jerusalem | Shabbos Parshas Beshalach, February 4, 2012 | Everyone is invited.
Friday Night
- 5:45 PM Davening/15 min speech: The Dual Dimension of Divine Deliverance. This brief talk shows that from the Burning Bush to the Splitting of the Sea the redemption progressed along two continua, Divine Providence and human free will.
Shabbos Day
- 8:30 AM Shabbos Morning Davening/Kiddush/Speech: Moshe and Aharon: What they Share and Where they Differ. The distinct responsibilities of Moshe and Aharon in the Egyptian exodus, determine their respective roles in the transmission of Torah. This talk also clarifies the concept of “Kehuna” as well as the essential differences between “Torah Shebichtav” (written Torah) and “Torah Sheb’al Peh” (oral Torah).
- 4:15 PM  Speech: The Miniature Matan Torah & Jethro’s Jewdiciousness. The Miniature Matan Torah at Marah combines with Yisro to prepare us for Revelation at Sinai. The culminating chapters of  Maimonides’ “Guide of the Perplexed” illuminate the dialogue and disagreement between Moshe and Yisro preceding the giving of the Torah and clarify the Rambam’s view of interpersonal ethics.
- 5:15 PM Mincha/Shalosh Seudos/Speech: Foreknowledge and Free Will. Maimonides’ view of the seeming conflict between Divine foreknowledge and human free will in the Mishnah Torah & The Guide of the Perplexed may well shed light on the epoch ordeal of Yoseph HaTzadik.
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko
Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko was ordained by Yeshivath Ner Israel where he earned his Master’s Degree in Talmudic Law in 1969. He continued his post-semicha studies in the famed “Kodshim Chabura†of Beth Midrash Govoha of Lakewood where he held a select graduate instructorship in Jewish philosophy. He founded the Talmudic College of Florida and served as its associate dean until his aliya in 1977. In Israel he served as dean of Yeshivat Ohr Torah in Efrat. In 1986 Rabbi Poupko founded Kneseth Beth Eliezer , a yeshiva training students with a backround in public and organizational life for the rabbinate and offering programs for laymen as well.
As a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces Rabbi Poupko served as a non-commissioned Officer in Lebanon, Gaza and the Golan Heights. He lectured for over seven years in the IDF Officers’ Institute and has been cited for excellence in this capacity. He has also taught in various programs offered to students at the Overseas Program at the Hebrew University and at the Bnai Brith Hillel House on Mount Scopus at the University. In Israel, Rabbi Poupko’s weekly Biblical commentary is broadcast on Israel National Radio. A lecture of his , delivered at the Van Leer Institute, was included in an anthology of contemporary Israeli thought published by Yediot Achronot. Articles of his on Talmud and Jewish philosophy have also appeared in the Hadarom scholarly journal.
He has served as scholar-in-residence at the Marble Arch Synagogue of London, the Cape Town Hebrew Synagogue (S.A.) and the Young Israel Congregations of Woodmere, West Hempstead, Edison N.J. and the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue of Manhattan, Shevet Achim of Seattle , as well as at other synagogues in America and the U.K. Rabbi Poupko also represented the Orthodox Union in its debate with the leadership of Israel’s Reform movement and was twice selected by the Supreme Court of Queens (N.Y.) to lecture the judges’ weekly study group.
Rabbi Poupko currently lectures on Jewish Philosophy at the Orthodox Union’s Israel Center, where he serves as a rabbinic consultant. He continues to serve communities in Great Britain as a scholar-in-residence and lectures Christian clergymen at the Ami Jerusalem Center of Biblical Studies.
Allen Hoffman author of the best selling “Small Worlds†novels offers this description of his lectures:
“Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Poupko defines both the nature of man and the ethical challenge to the Jew through his literary, philosophical, and halachic inquiries into Biblical narratives and midrashic commentaries. He dramatically engages his listener as he skillfully applies the rich, classical interpretive tradition to examine the most mythic and mystifying Biblical and Talmudic texts. In the timeless encounter between man and his Creator, between talmid and text, imagination complements knowledge to provide interpretive solutions that are sensible, psychologically satisfying, and profound.â€