Hot Off the Shtender

Hot Off the Shtender is a weekly blog that explores texts and reflections from the bet midrash. Lovingly referred to as “HOTS,” this is a SVARA resource you won’t want to miss.

I Don’t Know What Comes Next

My chevruta Eddie once told me a story that I’ll never forget. It’s a story his father told him. And, now, it’s a story I’d like to tell you. When…
A Talmud sits on a shtender, with colored stickies marking various places in the text.

The Rabbis Have Our Backs

This week, as we all navigate a constantly shifting landscape of change, uncertainty, and global pandemic, SVARA began convening a daily Mishnah Collective. It has been incredibly grounding to plug…
Two chanukiyot (menorahs) stand on some SVARA materials, lit for the second night of chanukah (one center candles, two candles on the right).

The Meta-Miracle of Chanukah

Chanukah is filled with miracles—long-lasting surprise pockets of oil, an unexpected military victory, the legacy of zealous resistance in the face of hegemonic powers—but one of the most miraculous aspects…
A SVARA-nik's hands sit on an open Talmud on a shtender. The beit midrash reference guide is sitting on the table.

Radical Presence & the Practice of Rebuke

The Jewish new year season tends to have one “star of the show”—teshuva, the practice of recognizing whom we’ve harmed and repairing that harm, addressing where we might have fallen…