Category Archives: Torah 101

#93: Ultimate Reward and Punishment: Rambam’s Magisterial Essay Part 1 + TORCH Fundraiser

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In his commentary to Mishnah, Rambam (Maimonides) offers a fascinating overview of the subjects of the Afterlife, Resurrection, Messiah, Paradise, and Olam Haba (the world to come). This is arguably the single greatest essay on these exotic, esoteric, and arcane subjects. In this podcast, we address the first section of this magisterial essay. We read about the many different and varied opinions as to what the ultimate reward for righteousness is. We read about the whole notion of seeking ulterior motives for mitzvos and whether that is good or not. The third part of this section of the essay addresses the three different ways to interpret the words of our sages. To gain a deeper understanding of this fundamental part of our philosophy, there is no better place to look than this magnificent essay.

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#92: World of Souls + 2025 TORCH Fundraiser

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Why do bad things happen to good people? What role does Oral Torah play in Jewish life? Why did the Almighty create two worlds, the world of the bodies and the world of the souls? What is the difference between today and the days of Messiah? These are just some of the questions that are raised in the third and final installment on the introduction of the Sefer HaChinuch in this edition of the TORAH 101 Podcast.

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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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#91: The Purpose of Torah + Annual TORCH Fundraiser

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Why did God give us such a precious and holy and profound Torah? Wouldn’t it be enough to give us some simple rules to live by? Why is our nation chosen above all other nations? Shouldn’t all humans be the same? These are some very advanced question and one that our sages reveal deep insights about. In this Torah 101 podcast, we continue our exploration of the classic sources to talk about Torah philosophy and ideology and we continue with the magisterial introduction to Sefer HaChinuch.

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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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#90: Testimony at Sinai

The Sinai Revelation was a mass testimony of faith. The only event of its kind saw God revealing Himself to a nation comprised of millions, who heard and experienced prophecy and lived to tell their children about it. The founding event of our religion is historically unchallengeable and completely unprecedented: There is no other religion that even claims to have a National Revelation at its founding. In this TORAH 101 podcast, we study the introduction of Sefer HaChinuch to learn about the mechanism of believing history, the primacy of tradition over scientific and empirical analysis, and how we can have confidence that our religion – unlike other religions – is based on an airtight historical – verified and incontrovertible – Nation Revelation.

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#89: Where Atheists Go Wrong

Some atheists are quite intelligent. Some atheists score highly on IQ tests. How can they be so wrong on matters of faith? Where exactly do the atheists go wrong? In this interesting TORAH 101 podcast, we pinpoint the precise area that causes atheists to err. It turns out, a perfectly functioning and competent and capable brain is not enough to arrive at faith. The true cause of faith lies in the heart. If the heart is corrupted, all bets are off.

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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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#88: Unresolved Mysteries of Resurrection

We have made enormous strides in our pursuit of a deep, and comprehensive study of Rambam’s 13 principles of faith. We have plumbed the depths of these 13 tenets of our religion to the best of our ability. This podcast marks the final installment of this series. In it we explore some of the various quandaries and uncertainties regarding Resurrection. While our exploration of the 13 principles has been completed, we hope to, with the help of the almighty, continue studying and parsing out various subjects related to our philosophy and religion on this podcast channel. We hope you enjoyed the ride and continue with us as we proceed onward.

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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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#87: The Timeline of Resurrection

It is hard enough for us to keep track of what happens to us in our lifetime; what happens after we die is truly a mystery. But there are timelines that are even murkier: what happens after Messiah? How does the Resurrection unfold? Is Resurrection a one-time thing or are there many different resurrections? What happens to this world when the clock hits the year 6000? Our Sages just tell us that this world can only endure for 6,000 years. That is the endpoint. What happens next? In this very interesting podcast we explore the timeline of Resurrection: we learn about how the era of Messiah leads to the era of Resurrection, we discover the idea of the Great and Awesome day of judgment, and we venture a little bit into the mysterious notion of the seventh millennium, and the 8th, and the 9th, and the 10th.

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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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#86: The Nature of the Ultimate Resurrection

In the previous episode, we established that resurrection for the purposes of eternal life in Olam Haba is a process of restoring humanity to the sort of life that matches that of Adam and Eve before their sin. In this podcast episode, we further explore the nature of this resurrection: We identify the primary distinction between Adam and Eve before and after their sin, and lay out what it takes to be included in the rarified fraternity of those who are re-animated back to life – in the format of Adam and Eve before their sin – for eternal living and basking in the pleasure of the divine.

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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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#85: The Point of Resurrection

What is the point of resurrection? This question has dual meanings: what is the goal of resurrection and what is the point from which resurrection begins? In this very important podcast we answer both questions. What we learn greatly enhances our understanding of resurrection and gives us the faint outlines of the road map that we must follow if we want to be meritorious to be included in the good type of resurrection.

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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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#84: Rambam’s Epistle of Resurrection

The great medieval sage my Maimonides – Rambam – has been guiding us throughout our studies of the 13th principles of faith. This transcendental scholar, who’s magisterial writings are authoritatively accepted amongst the entirety of the Jewish people, was one of our people’s greatest personalities. His writings are enormously influential and authoritative in matters of philosophy and the foundations of our faith. In this episode we go through Rambam’s epistle on Resurrection. In his lifetime, there were many questions and doubts and uncertainties about Rambam’s position on several matters of resurrection. To dispel misconceptions misunderstandings, and misrepresentations, Rambam penned a lengthy epistle on the matter. This letter is sprawling and uncharacteristically wordy, but it is a very helpful source for us to gain a deeper and broader understanding of the subject of a resurrection.

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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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#83: The Nature of the Preliminary Resurrection

In our pursuit of understanding of the subject of resurrection, many questions remain. In the previous episode we talked about the two types of resurrection, there is still a lack of clarity in the similarities and the differences between the two types of resurrection. Furthermore, the Talmud says that the righteous are alive even when they are dead. If they are alive when they are dead, how can they be resurrected? In addition, Rambam – our guide to studying the 13 principles – says some statements that seem to contradict each other and the Talmud. In this very interesting podcast episode, we suggest a new framing for how to understand the initial resurrection in the times of Messiah. The listener is forewarned that what you are about to hear is a bit more speculative than most episodes, and also one that requires active listening. The podcast is called Torah 101 in part because the Talmud teaches us that we must study our Torah 101 times. I don’t know if this episode requires 101 listens, but certainly more than one would be necessary to fully understand every part of the framework.

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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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#82: Messianic Resurrection

One of me hallmarks of the Messianic times is the resurrection of the righteous. With Messiah comes the reemergence of the righteous. Those buried in the land will precede those buried outside of it, but all the righteous will come back. This is well established in the Literature. In this podcast we discussed the two types of resurrection and the nature of each.

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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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