Category Archives: Torah 101

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#51: How God Dispenses Divine Reward and Punishment

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 48:09 — 22.0MB)

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In our previous episode we established the basic principle that God dispenses reward to those who hearken to Him, and metes out punishment to those who disobey Him. In this episode we get down to specifics: What is the nature of the Divine system of reward and punishment? How is God’s methods of reward and punishment differ from ours? What do our sages tell us about how God rewards and punishes? It turns out to be very different from the human system.

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This TORAH 101 Podcast is dedicated in loving memory of Michael ben Shmuel, whose third yartzeit falls out on the Sixth of Adar, the same day that this podcast is being released. May the Torah study that we do together provide merit for his soul and elevate it in Heaven.

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#50: Divine Reward and Punishment: A General Introduction

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 39:21 — 18.0MB)

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The 11th of the 13 principles of Faith states that God dispenses reward to those who obey His will and punishes those who violate it. What is the nature of this reward and punishment is a vast and complex subject that we will yet navigate, with the help of the Almighty. In this podcast we start by examining the basics: we begin by establishing the general principle of reward and punishment as an accepted fact, unanimously agreed upon by all the sources; we talk about whether or not pursuit of reward and aversion of punishment should be a motivation behind doing mitzvos, and we begin to probe the subject of the precise venue in which God rewards the worthy and punishes those who deserve punishment.

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#49: Free Will and Divine Foreknowledge

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:08:42 — 31.4MB)

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We hold two beliefs that seem to be mutually exclusive. The 10th principle of the 13 principles of faith declares that God knows everything – including the thoughts, deeds, and speech of people – even before it happens. There is nothing that is hidden from Him. We also believe in free will. The principle of free will espouses that man can choose to do a Mitzvah or a sin, to become a Tzadik or to become a Rasha. If God already knows what man will choose ahead of time, is any other option on the table? This is one of the most intractable problems of Jewish philosophy and theology, and one that we tackle in the first podcast of 2022.

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#48: How Pedigree and Past Lives Determine Circumstances

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 50:09 — 23.0MB)

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How exactly does the Almighty determine what are the circumstances that people are placed in in this world? That is an impossible question for humans to answer with exactitude. Unless the Almighty reveals the answer via one of His prophets, we are in the dark. Nevertheless, our Sages outlines for us a bevy of frameworks for how the Almighty dispenses circumstances. In this very special episode, we follow Ramchal as he surveys a comprehensive list of all the reasons why the Divine treats people the way He does. This podcast will not empower us to know why a specific event or circumstance occurred to a specific person, but it will expose you to a slew of mind-blowing ideas that you have never heard of.

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#47: Frameworks for Human Situations, Sufferings, and Successes

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 43:05 — 19.7MB)

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Why are some people rich and others poor? Why do some people have a pleasant life, while others live in grinding, miserable, poverty and privation? Why is there so much inequality in the world? These questions are hard to answer. Rambam tells us that there is a certain kind of heretics that concludes from the disorder and chaos in the world that God has abandoned the land. In this podcast, we begin to fundamentally probe the various reasons why God allocates various circumstances to different people.

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#46: Divine Omniscience

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:03:44 — 29.2MB)

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The Tenth Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith states that God is aware of the actions of mankind and acts accordingly. This kickstarts the third section of the Principles which broadly deal with reward and punishment. Divine reward and punishment is only feasible if the Almighty has complete knowledge of all the behavior and deeds of the people that He judges. In the first episode on the Principle we discuss the unequal phenomenon of heretics who believe in an all-powerful God, but argue that God has abandoned the land and people. Why is that a common position, what prompted that position, and what is the Torah’s response to their questions?

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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!

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#45: The Immutability of Torah

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 52:35 — 24.1MB)

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In Principle #8 of the 13 Principles of faith, we learned that the Torah is divine. In our exploration of that Principle, we probed many aspects of the idea of the Divinity of Torah, ranging from the history of Torah, to the components of Torah, to Oral Torah, to Rabbinic law, and culminating with the imperative of Torah study. The study of Principle #8 was the subject of the last 17 episodes of the TORAH 101 podcast. In this episode, we cover Principle #9, namely that the Torah is immutable and unchangeable, in one session. What does this mean? How do we reconcile a fixed and immutable Torah with the vast corpus of rabbinic law and edicts? What are the scriptural and logical proofs that the Torah was given only once? And we also explore the ramifications of this principle vis-à-vis other religions that claim otherwise.

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#44: Torah Study: The Soul’s Panacea

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:06:54 — 30.6MB)

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Why is our nation so obsessed with Torah? Why do we make such an emphasis on it? What benefits do we as individuals and does society at large accrue with Torah study? In this sweeping episode we explore this fundamental question. We begin with the big picture by outlining some of the critical benefits that the world receives when we study Torah and proceed to share what we as individuals gain with Torah study. There is no way to listen to this podcast and not emerge with a renewed appreciation for Torah study and an urge to sit down and study.

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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!

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#43: Torah Fusion

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:02:10 — 28.5MB)

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Torah study in not just another discipline; it’s a relationship. Our Sages compare the relationship of the Jew to Torah as that of a husband and wife. It’s deep, intimate, and special. Just as husband and wife can unite to create something new, the objective of Torah study is to transform the person and create something new from this experience. In this sweeping episode, we describe the nature of how Torah study is framed in Jewish literature and how it can fundamentally transform the ones fortunate enough to develop a relationship with it.

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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!

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#42: Torah Study: Our National Pastime

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 55:04 — 25.2MB)

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For the Jewish people. Torah is not just a corpus of law, of an accounting of our past, or even the ancient heritage of our people. Torah and an obsession with Torah study have been the defining characteristics of our nation since its inception. Torah is what we stand for; it’s what we do; it’s who we are. Torah Study is the bedrock of our culture, it is our national pastime. In this special edition of the TORAH 101 podcast, we document the history of our national love affair with Torah study.

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#41: Immanent Proofs for the Divinity of the Torah + TORCH Fundraiser

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Can we find evidence for the divinity of the Torah? Is there proof that the Torah is from God? That is the question that we are pondering on the TORAH 101 podcast recently. In the previous episodes we examined Torah as an outsider and asked the question, “can this be written by man?” In this life-changing episode we plunge deep into the heart of Torah and examine it from within. When immerged in the center of Torah, an entirely different picture emerges. From an immanent perspective, the divinity of the Torah stares at us in the face. Are we brave enough to look?

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