Author Archives: admin

Behar & Bechukosai – Consequences of Closeness

In the last two parshas of Leviticus we read what a nation subject to God’s dominion looks like. Our life is regulated by God –  lending without interest, annulling loans, freeing slaves, returning rightfully purchased property, and ceasing to work every seventh year. We also learn what happens when Jews opt for rejecting the Almighty’s Torah.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Ep. 29: A History of Halacha

Halacha is the aspect of Oral Torah that teaches the practical instructions of fulfilling the mitzvos. It addresses questions like: What is allowed what is forbidden? What is kosher what is unkosher? Who is liable and who is innocent? For the Jewish people to exist and flourish, knowledge of Halacha must be ubiquitous. In this podcast we trace its history, and focus on the painstaking efforts to codify, standardize and write Halacha.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Understanding God Through Torah

Jews are required to love God. How can we love an entity that we have a hard time defining? Rambam addresses this question and informs us of a solution that will change our relationship with God and Torah.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Emor – Festivals of Hashem

In Parshas Emor we learn more laws relating to the sanctity of Kohanim; we get a detailed account of the Jewish festivals; and read about the blasphemer and what happened to him.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

The Jewish Obsession: Our Nation’s Love Affair with Torah Study

Torah study is the greatest mitzvah. The sources write that it is equivalent to the other 612 combined. The Talmud notes that the study of Torah is greater than saving lives. In the hierarchy of mitzvos, Torah study stands alone. In this podcast we probe why.

This Torah class is dedicated
.לעילוי נשמת אטא רבקה בת ישעיהו דוד ז”ל ת.נ.צ.ב.ה

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Ep. 28: A History of Zionism

69 years ago, the State of Israel was declared. For the first time since the arrival of Pompey and the Romans in 63 BC, Jews had sovereignty over their homeland; the Land promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Land from which they were twice expelled. For Zionists worldwide, it marked the actualization of their hopes and yearnings. It was the fulfillment of a half-century aspirations of Political Zionism conceived by Theodor Herzl in the 1890s, and a major moment in the destiny of Religious Zionism – the millennia-long hope of a spiritual reawakening as foretold in the Torah, perhaps with faint rumblings of the Messianic Era getting underway. What are the origins and tenets of these strands of Zionism? How did they coalesce in the founding of the State? What can the ideaological roots of the State tell us about the current challenges and policy disagreements facing Israel today?

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Acharei & Kedoshim – How to be Holy

This week’s double parshas include perhaps the most famous verse in the Torah, “Thou shall love your fellow as yourself”, along with a bevy of mitzvos geared towards making a person holier and more similar to his Creator.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Ep. 27: Great Jewish Personalities: Ramban (Nachmanides)

Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman was one of the towering figures of Medieval Jewish world, whose impact was unmatched in his lifetime, and whose volumenous and diverse writings continue to educate and inspire – and indeed shape Jewish life – 750 years after his passing.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Tazria & Metzora – Lessons in Purity and Impurity

Parshas Tazria and Metzora teach about various forms of purity and impurity, how they are contracted, the laws of a person who has them, and how they are remedied. In our podcast, we attempt to understand what purity and impurity mean and what practical lessons we can draw.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Shemini – Following Orders

After seven days of consecration, Aaron and his sons are promoted to being Kohanim, and after offering the sacrifices of day eight, the glory of God appears in the Tabernacle. Unfortunately, in the zenith of ecstasy, tragedy struck.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Special Pre-Pesach-Podcast: Explaining Exodus via Genesis and Deuteronomy

The Exodus is the most oft-referenced event in Jewish life. Twice daily we invoke it in the Shema, and every Shabbos holiday is characterized as “a remembrance for the exodus of Egypt”. Why is the exodus so central to Jewish life? In this podcast we explore that question and many others regarding the Exodus story and Pesach practices, and build a unified framework for understanding the Exodus and the holiday, and learn the secret to the Pesach Puzzle.

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Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

The Pesach Puzzle: Explaining Exodus via Genesis and Deuteronomy

The Exodus is the most oft-referenced event in Jewish life. Twice daily we invoke it in the Shema, and every Shabbos holiday is characterized as “a remembrance for the exodus of Egypt”. Why is the exodus so central to Jewish life? In this podcast we explore that question and many others regarding the Exodus story and Pesach practices, and build a unified framework for understanding the Exodus and the holiday, and learn the secret to the Pesach Puzzle.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at givetorch.com. Thank you!

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com;
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe;
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe;
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Please SUBSCRIBE, RATE and REVIEW all my podcasts on iTunes and Android:

Podcasts Links iOS:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah

Podcast Links Android:

This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics;
The Jewish History Podcast – Telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish People;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly Analysis and Exploration of the Parsha;
TORAH 101 – An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah