A teacher of Sephardic halacha and custom
Rabbi Mordechai Lebhar teaches practical Jewish law with a clear focus on Sephardic tradition. His shiurim work through everyday questions — which products need a hechsher, what to do about items that carry none, and how a family keeps kashrus in a real kitchen. Rather than abstract theory, he speaks to the decisions people actually face, drawing on the rulings and customs that shape Sephardic practice. The result is Torah that a listener can bring straight to the table.
A recurring thread in his teaching is the meeting point between halacha and minhag, where written law and long-standing communal custom each carry weight. He examines cases such as the machine-matzah question as it played out in Morocco and what it means for practice today, showing how a community's history shapes the way it keeps a mitzvah. This attention to both sources and lived tradition gives his classes real depth and grounding.
Kashrus and the questions of the kitchen
Several of Rabbi Lebhar's shiurim center on kashrus in daily life. He addresses what a hechsher represents and the trust it carries, how to handle food products without reliable certification, and the ordinary uncertainties that come up while shopping and cooking. His approach is careful and specific: he lays out the concern, the relevant sources, and a workable path, so a listener walks away understanding not only the ruling but the reasoning behind it.
He also takes up questions of regional history, such as whether chadash applied in the Sephardic countries — a topic that blends halacha, agriculture, and the realities of a particular time and place. By tracing how such issues were understood in their own setting, he helps learners see Jewish law as a living tradition, responsive to circumstance while anchored in unchanging principles.
The festivals and the Jewish year
Rabbi Lebhar gives careful attention to the holidays and their halachos. His Purim shiurim, for example, take up a woman's obligation to hear the Megillah and the custom by which some are lenient, along with the practicalities of mishloach manos when recipients keep different diets or standards of hechsher. These are the small, real questions that decide how a family actually observes the day.
On Chanukah and across the calendar he brings the same blend of source-based analysis and practical guidance. A parsha thought such as "The Power of Amen" shows another side of his teaching — short, focused ideas drawn out of the weekly reading. Taken together, his classes give a household a steady, knowledgeable voice to learn from throughout the year.
Learning from these shiurim at home
Because the topics are concrete, these classes suit a family that wants Torah it can use. A parent preparing for a chag, someone unsure about a product on the shelf, or a learner curious about the roots of a familiar custom will find a clear answer and the sources behind it. The Sephardic focus makes them especially valuable for families in that tradition, though the halachic reasoning rewards any listener.
Rabbi Lebhar's steady, unhurried delivery lets ideas settle, and his habit of naming both the ruling and the reasoning invites further study rather than closing it off. For a household building a routine of learning, his shiurim offer material that is useful this week and worth returning to as similar questions come up again through the year.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
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If your family enjoys teachers like Rabbi Mordechai Lebhar, 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
- His shiurim focus on Sephardic halacha and minhag — kashrus, hechsherim, and the customs of the festivals.
- Practical kitchen questions, such as trusting a hechsher or handling uncertified products, are a recurring theme.
- He connects law to communal history, as with the machine-matzah question in Morocco and chadash in Sephardic lands.
- Holiday classes cover real observance details, from hearing the Megillah to mishloach manos across different diets.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.