Category Archives: Torah 101

#28: The Divine Torah: An Expanded Definition

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The Eighth Principle, that the Torah is Divine, is the central principle upon which all the Thirteen Principles lean. Our entire religion hinges upon the fact that the Almighty gave us His Torah. But what exactly does that mean? In this podcast we discover that the Eighth Principle is much deeper than a question of authorship; the divinity of the Torah means a great deal more.

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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!

Contact Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts

#27: Mosaic Prophecy

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The prophecy of Moses differs from all other prophecies. In fact, Rambam tells us that they are only nominally similar – in truth, they are two totally different experiences. When we break down the subject we find that the differences fall into several categories: Mosaic prophecy contains a different level of understanding than all other prophecies; the content of Mosaic prophecy is of a different nature; and Moses was subject to a completely different level of vetting than all other prophets, and consequently our faith in him is on a different level than our faith in all other prophets, both those who preceded him and those who came subsequently.

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Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

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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!

#26: Moses: The Greatest Man

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 56:37 — 25.9MB)

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The Seventh Principle of Faith orients around the greatest man and the greatest prophet of them all, Moses. Moses towered above all members of the human species, and indeed over angels too. As a result of his supreme stature, Moses became the sole prophet who could bridge the two words and convey Torah to humanity. In this podcast we share some of our Sages teachings regarding the unparalleled, transcendent stature of Moses

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Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

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

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!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah: Apple Podcasts

#25: The History of Prophecy + FREE TORCH Gift

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:14:12 — 34.0MB)

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In this sweeping retrospective of prophecy from Adam until the extinction of prophecy at the onset of the Second Temple Era, we address many fundamental questions: What is the critical difference between the prophecy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all other prophets? How did an entire nation merit prophecy at Sinai? How did a wicked man like Balaam merit prophecy? What are the various types of prophecies through which the 24 Books of the Tanach were written and what are the differences between these experiences? What led to the decline and extinction of prophecy at the beginning of the Second Temple Era, and what was the very dramatic event that effectively ended prophecy? We also discuss what types of prophetic experiences continued even after full-blown prophecy ended.

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Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

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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!

#24: Prophecy: An Introduction

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Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith can be divided into three general concepts: God, Torah, and Reward and Punishment. The first five principles oriented around the Jewish understanding of God. The four Principles from six through nine revolve around Torah. The first of those Principles in the concept of prophecy in general. In this podcast, we familiarize ourselves with the basic framework of prophecy: What does it take to become a prophet? How would the prophet receive prophecy? What is the content of those communications? How does the community vet a self-proclaimed prophet?

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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!

#23: The Parameters of Divine Providence

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A central tenet of Jewish theology is that the same Creator who created the Heavens and the Earth also supervises His creation on an ongoing basis. Moreover, that supervision, that oversight is personal and down to the most minute detail. As such, it would seem that everything that happens to us is the product of a divine decision. But what about the free will of others? What about the rigid rules of nature? Do these also play a role in determining what happens to a person? If yes, does that not detract from the notion of complete Godly oversight? In this podcast, we attempt to disentangle this knotty paradox into a neat, cogent principle outlining the parameters of divine providence.

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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!

#22: God Alone is Worthy of Worship

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In the fifth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies that God alone is worthy of our worship and that we ought not worship anything else, nor worship God via intermediaries. What is the general concept of worshipping God and why it is such a central pillar of our religion that it merits a slot in the Thirteen Principles of Faith?

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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!

#21: Torah and Science: Can they be Reconciled?

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There are many areas where Torah and the consensus of modern scientists seem to irreconcilably differ. The Torah indicates that the first man, Adam, lived around 6,000 years ago, and the universe is roughly that age. The consensus of the scientists is that the universe is multiple billions of years old. Can that gulf be bridged? The first chapters of Genesis teach us that God created all the species; science posits that species originated via evolution. Are they compatible? In this podcast, we outline the general Torah attitude towards science and its dangers, and offer several perspectives on Torah and scientific position on evolution and on the age of the universe.

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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!

#20: Creation Ex Nihilo and the Age of the Universe Question

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In the Fourth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies the distinction between God and everything else and the manner through which God effectuated Creation Ex Nihilo. In doing so, Rambam departs from the positions of Plato and Aristotle and explains the critical flaw in their thinking that made them incapable of distinguishing between how the world looks like today vs. the means through which it was created. We also begin to delve into the intersection of Torah and science and ponder the feasibility of reconciling the Torah’s stance on the age of the universe with science’s.

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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!

#19: The Incorporeality of God

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The Third Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith states that God is incorporeal: He has no body, nor does He behave in a bodily way, and all indications in Scripture and other Torah literature to the contrary must be understood as analogies and metaphors.

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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!

#18: Why Bad Things Happen to Good People: Three Torah Perspectives on this Vexing Problem

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The question of theodicy is one that all people of faith grapple with. The Talmud records multiple conversations between Moses and the Almighty on this subject, and even the ministering angels, and Adam before his Sin weighed in on it. It is a very difficult subject to understand, and doubly hard to find answers that satisfy. In this podcast we continue where we left off in the previous one in delineating three perspectives sourced from our Sages on how to understand the suffering of the righteous.

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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!

#17: Why Bad Things Happen to Good People: An Introduction to Jewish Theodicy

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Our nation is no stranger to suffering. Jewish history is a litany of pogroms, holocausts, expulsions, blood libels, and all manners of persecution and oppression. We believe that the Almighty is in full control of everything that transpires in the world. Nothing can happen against His Will. We also believe that the Almighty is good, and consequently what He does or what He allows to be done must also be good. Yet we see and experience suffering on a national and individual scale. How do we grapple with the very grave questions of theodicy?

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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!