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Ep. 73: Rabbi Avraham Grodzinsky: The Exemplar of Slabodka

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 57:34 — 26.3MB)

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Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski was the last head of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania. He was primary disciple of the Alter of Slabodka, and his successor after the Alter moved to Chevron, heading the yeshiva until WW2 broke out, and even leading a cadre of students in the ghetto under ghastly conditions.  With the destruction of European Jewry in the Holocaust, the vibrant world of the Lithuanian Mussar Yeshiva world expired – the great yeshivos erected or resurrected after the war are a shell of their progenitor’s glory.

Rabbi Grodzinksi is an exemplar of the glory and greatness of that lost world

A man of unmatched nobility – even aristocracy, a person of flawless, sterling character, an unparalleled intellect, and a man who lived a tragic life replete with all manners of suffering, punctuated by his macabre murder by the Nazis on the 22nd day of Tammuz 1944, exactly 76 years to the day from when this podcast is released

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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This Jewish History Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leiluei nishmas Rivka bas Reb Avraham. May her holy Soul be elevated in Heaven

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#31: Innovation and Dynamism in Oral Torah

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 40:21 — 18.5MB)

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In the narrow sense, Oral Torah refers to the interpretation and understanding of the Written Torah. The Written Torah is written cryptically, and the Oral Torah demystifies and explains it. But the truth is that Oral Torah includes much more than that. Oral Torah includes all of Torah that is not included in the Written text. In our next installment on Rambam’s Thirteen Principles, we discuss the concept of Rabbinic Law, its roots, and how the corpus of Oral Torah was expanded.

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Pinchas – Consistency is Key

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 25:39 — 11.7MB)

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When the Temple was extant, first thing each morning a Tamid sacrifice was offered, and an afternoon Tamid offering was the last sacrifice of the day. The Midrash reveals to us quite surprisingly that the essence of Torah is encapsulated in the Tamid sacrifices. What is so special about this sacrifice that makes it worthy of that distinction?

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Lion’s Tail (4:20)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 44:29 — 20.4MB)

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The author of this Mishnah served as the rabbi of Rome. While all his colleagues were coalesced together in the great Torah centers of Israel, Rabbi Masya Ben Charash led the small community and academy in the epicenter of impurity. How he got there is certainly a tantalizing question. In this teaching he guides us in making career choices, ensuring relationship harmony, and how to be a pleasant amiable person.

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Chukas & Balak – Second Chances

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 29:12 — 13.4MB)

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Over the course of the Nation’s 40 year sojourn in the Wilderness they tested God 10 times. But God believes in second chances, and gave them an opportunity to rectify their misdeeds. This principle applies on a national and individual level. We are all given second chances, but we must listen to those messages and seize those opportunities. Seeing them is not enough.

This Parsha podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leiluei nishmas Yisrael Ezra Ben Peretz HaLevi.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Theodicy Today (4:19)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 24:26 — 11.2MB)

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The blissful existence of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous raise difficult questions for the believer: If God is in total control of all that transpires, why would He cause pain to those who obey His words and reward those who neglect them? In this pithy mishnah we learn that the classical reconciliation of this problem may leave us wanting.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Sorcery (#62, 511)

Podcast (mitzvah): Download (Duration: 33:04 — 15.1MB)

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The Torah commands us to not keep sorcerers alive. Sorcery is prohibited on pain of death. What exactly is sorcery and why is it banned?

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Chukas & Balak (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 2:01:51 — 55.8MB)

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In Parshas Chukas, we read about a highly unusual mitzvah: The Red Heifer, when an entirely red cow is burned together with a motley concoction of ingredients, and the resultant ashes are used to sprinkle on people that came into contact with dead people in order to purify them from their spiritual contamination. We also learn about the passing of Miriam and Aaron, and the multiple battles that the nation participated in on the Eastern bank of the Jordan, and we puzzle over the sin that condemned Moses and Aaron to die before entering the Land. Parshas Balak begins after the Jewish nation trounced the mighty kingdoms of Sichon and Og, the comparatively smaller and weaker kingdom of Moab resorted to unconventional warfare to attack the nation by hiring the prophet of the nations, a wily and devious character named Bilaam, to curse the Jews. It did not work out as planned.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Korach – The Legendary Malcontents

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 31:53 — 14.6MB)

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Dathan and Abiram appear in Scripture for the first time in this week’s parsha as conspirators in Korach’s insurrection, but according to the  Midrash this is not nearly their first rebellion against Moshe and Aaron. In fact, since Moshe was a young lad, Dathan and Abiram were thorns at his side, resisting him at every juncture. Why were these malcontents kept around for so long and what can we learn from them?

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Environment Makes the Man (4:18)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 30:23 — 13.9MB)

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Rabbi Elazar Ben Aruch was the most promising student of Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai. Unfortunately, his potential was not actualized, and in fact he forgot his Torah. In this autobiographical Mishnah, he shares with us the reason why his greatness did not pan out.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Shelach – Benefiting from Blunders

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 33:36 — 15.4MB)

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Mistakes are endemic to the human condition. We all make mistakes. Even the titans of our history like Moshe, Aaron, and Joshua made mistakes. In this hastily prepared podcast we speculate that mistakes are not incidental to greatness but are absolutely pivotal. Without mistakes there can be no greatness.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Crowning Achievements (4:17)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 1:00:49 — 27.8MB)

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In our most ideal state, the Jewish Nation is described as “A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.” We are all Kings! The Talmud teaches that in Olam Haba, all the righteous who merit an invitation will be adorned with a resplendent crown atop their heads, and be basking in the pleasure of God. In this Mishnah we discover the nature of those crowns.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!