The Ba'al HaTurim's commentary on the Torah
The Ba'al HaTurim is Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Asher, the great Rishon best known for the Arba'ah Turim, the halachic code that shaped the Shulchan Aruch. Alongside that monumental work he wrote a concise commentary on the Chumash, and it is this commentary — not any tractate of Talmud — that gives the series its name. It is famous for its remazim: gematrios, patterns in the letters, and links between words that reveal an extra layer beneath the plain meaning of the verse.
That style makes the Ba'al HaTurim a favorite for parsha study. A short remez can open a whole idea: a shared numerical value hinting at a connection, or a repeated word tying two passages together. These are not the commentary's only content, but they are its signature, and they give a learner memorable, quotable insights to carry to the Shabbos table. The commentary rewards attention to the text itself, showing how much is folded into the Torah's precise wording.
Learning it parsha by parsha
In this series, Rabbi Glatstein walks through the Ba'al HaTurim's commentary on the weekly parsha, with roughly thirty shiurim in the collection. The format follows the Torah reading, so a listener can pair each week's parsha with the Ba'al HaTurim's remazim on it. Rabbi Glatstein's task is to unpack those hints — explaining how a gematria works or why a particular word-link matters — so that what can look cryptic on the page becomes a clear, satisfying idea.
This kind of guided study is especially valuable for the Ba'al HaTurim, whose brevity can leave a reader unsure what a remez is pointing to. A teacher who fills in the background turns a one-line note into a developed thought. Followed across the year, the series becomes a second lens on the parsha: after the story and the plain meaning, a look at the patterns woven into the letters, adding depth to a portion one already knows.
What you will gain
The reward of this series is a heightened sense of how deliberate the Torah's language is. When a learner sees that a word's numerical value or its placement carries meaning, the text stops feeling like ordinary prose and starts to feel precise and intentional. That appreciation deepens every future reading of the parsha, whether or not one remembers each individual remez. It trains the eye to expect that the Torah's wording is chosen with care.
Practically, the series gives families accessible, striking insights to share. A single remez is easy to repeat and often sparks a child's curiosity — the kind of "did you know?" that makes the parsha come alive at the table. Paired with a fuller parsha study, the Ba'al HaTurim adds sparkle and surprise, a reminder that even a familiar reading still holds hidden layers waiting to be noticed.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
FilteredTube is a kosher video service built for Jewish families — every single video is approved against one written standard before it can appear, with no open feed, no comments, and no surprises. It is a calm, safe place to look for the Torah and Jewish music you love.
If your family enjoys the Ba'al HaTurim parsha shiurim, search FilteredTube for the speakers and topics that matter most to you. With a daf yomi shelf, a weekly parsha shelf, topic shelves, audio-only listening for the car, and a kids mode with a PIN, kosher Jewish video is easy to reach — and the approved catalog keeps growing every day.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- The Ba'al HaTurim is Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Asher's commentary on the Chumash — not a tractate of Talmud.
- It is famous for remazim: gematrios and word-patterns that reveal a layer beneath the plain meaning.
- Rabbi Glatstein teaches the commentary parsha by parsha, unpacking the hints across roughly thirty shiurim.
- The series deepens a learner's sense of how precise and intentional the Torah's wording is.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.