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Know Your Place (6.6.26)

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The greatest pedagogues of history – the Sages of the Mishnah – codified “knowing your place” as a means to acquire Torah, to acquire wisdom. What exactly is intended with knowing your place? In this Ethics Podcast we share three life-changing approaches.

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Mikeitz – The End of Days (5784)

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In our Parsha, Joseph is elevated to become viceroy of Egypt. He begins the day languishing in prison, and ends it be decked in garments of royalty and paraded throughout the city. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we share three ideas – deep ideas – from our Parsha: one about the end of days, one about Pharaoh’s recurring dreams, and the fascinating backstory of Joseph’s wife, Osnas.

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

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The Secret of the Chanukah Menorah

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The Chanukah story is quite dramatic. The world-dominating Greeks were militarily defeated by a prickly pack of Maccabees. Our sages point the focus of the festival to the miracle of the oil when the priests rededicated the temple and cleansed it from all the Greek defilements. They found only a solitary flask of oil. This oil was designed to last only one day, but miraculously it lasted eight. To relive and commemorate this miracle, the Rabbinic Festival of Chanukah was instituted. On each of the eight nights of Chanukah we light a candle to remember the miracle of lights. What really lies behind this mitzvah? What is the actual secret of the Chanukah Menorah? What does our kindling of the Menorah have to do with the miracle that happened 2300 years ago? In this fascinating Chanukah podcast episode, we share a very profound insight that will totally reshape our understanding of the festival and this mitzvah.

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This special Chanukah podcast is dedicated by my dear friend Alex Tannenbaum in loving memory and leilui nishmas his mother, Yocheved Leora bas Menachem, whose birthday fell out on the last day of Chanukah. May her soul be elevated in heaven.

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

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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Accepting Affliction (6.6.25)

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Life is full of nuisances. For many – maybe all – life inevitably contains some pain, suffering, and affliction. How we approach these situations is a central element of our religion and theology. Our Sages revealed to us that accepting affliction is a means to achieve wisdom. It is one of the 48 ways to acquire Torah. In this Ethics Podcast we explore this weighty subject and propose an approach to rationalize how this can contribute towards the acquisition of Torah.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Aug 21, 2023

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

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Parshas Mikeitz (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:03 — 29.8MB)

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Parshas Mikeitz continues the narrative of Joseph in Egypt. We pick up his story two years after his failed attempt at earning a reprieve via his cellmate, Pharaoh’s butler, who was about to be reinstated to his post as Pharaoh’s side. Joseph is languishing in a dungeon for a crime he did not commit; after being sold to a foreign land as a slave by his own brothers. By the end of the Parsha, Joseph is firmly ensconced as Pharaoh’s viceroy, and is amidst a long back and forth with his brothers who are in town to procure provisions during a fierce famine.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Trust Sages (6.6.24)

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Our primary responsibility as humans and as Jews is to develop and deepen our faith in the Creator. Can we have faith in man? Can we have faith in a mortal? In the 24th way to achieve and acquire wisdom, we learn about the concept of having faith in our Sages. What does it mean to have faith in Sages? How does this contribute towards our acquisition of Torah? In this interesting Ethics Podcast, we discover the answers.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Aug 6, 2023

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

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Vayeishev – Pit of Despair

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:02:21 — 28.5MB)

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Parashas Vayeishev is a downer for all people involved: Jacob has to witness his sons’ disunion. Jacob was informed of the apparent mauling of Joseph, his favorite son. Jacob was plunged into melancholy for 22 years. Joseph, the crown jewel of his father, was hated by his brothers, betrayed by his brothers, and sold as a slave by his brothers. His situation got even worse. In Egypt, he was falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned. When there was a faint hope of salvation, it vanished when the butler forgot him. Judah, the leader of Jacob’s sons was demoted, his wife died, his sons died, and he was duped into a dalliance with his daughter-in-law. The Parsha is a continuous story of disappointments for all people involved. But when the story is told in its entirety, a different picture emerges, a picture of the origins of monarchy, the monarchy of Joseph and the monarchy of David and the monarchy of Messiah. From the darkest of nights emerged the most brilliant of lights.

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

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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

TORCH
PO BOX 310246
HOUSTON, TX 77231-0246

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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Good Heart (6.6.23)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 30:12 — 13.8MB)

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Although the study of Torah is ostensibly a cognitive pursuit, there are many qualities that are not cognitive nature that facilitate and enable the study of Torah. In this way to acquire wisdom, way #23, we learn about what it means to have a good heart , and how that serves as a means to acquire wisdom.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jul 23, 2023

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

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Vayeishev – Dream of the Crop (5784)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 31:16 — 14.3MB)

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Our Parsha begins with Joseph’s two dreams of grandeur and supremacy. He dreams that he will rule over his brothers, who will bow before him in submission. Joseph decides to tell them about it. Why does he do that? Why does he tell his father about the second dream, but not the first? Why are the brothers envious of him after the second dream, but not after the first? In this intricate podcast, we dissect the dreams of Joseph and share an idea about the nature of prophetic dreams, with a very powerful principle to take away.

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

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Joseph’s Unconventional (and Counterintuitive) Path

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The saga of Joseph dominates the end of Genesis. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, but is hated by his brothers. They don’t view Joseph as someone worthy of keeping around, so they conspire to kill him and ultimately settle for selling him as a slave. In the end, Joseph achieves greatness that surpasses that of all of his brothers. The brothers thought he was a good-for-nothing, but ultimately he supersedes them. Why was there such a difference between what the brothers thought of Joseph and what he became? How did the brothers fail to see Joseph’s titanic potential? The brothers were incapable of seeing Joseph’s greatness because Joseph’s path was unconventional and counterintuitive.

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

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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Anger Suppression (6.6.22)

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Anger is part of the human experience. When things agitate us, we get frustrated and have a tendency to lash out, to berate, to say things that we may regret. In this ethics podcast, we learn about the virtue of being slow to anger and how it can help supercharge our pursuit of wisdom.

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

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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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