Category Archives: Inspiration

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Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah: The Meaning of Sukkot’s Climax

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The Festival of Sukkot ends with a three-day constellation of significant days: The seventh day is Hoshana Rabbah, the eighth is Shemini Atzeres, and the ninth is Simchas Torah. These days have unique customs not found in any other day in the Jewish calendar. In this sweeping podcast episode, we explore these days, plumb their mysterious and Kabbalistic meaning, and demonstrate how they are a fitting culmination of Sukkot, and indeed of the entire Festival season.

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Tips and Tricks to Secure a Positive Judgment on Yom Kippur

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Yom Kippur is the end of the annual judgment. On Yom Kippur, the verdict written on Rosh Hashana gets sealed. Until that deadline, however, we can effectuate our judgment. The verdict can be rewritten and amended; the bad decrees can be annulled. But it won’t happen automatically. We need to expend effort to ensure that we earn a positive outcome on Yom Kippur. In this special pre-Yom Kippur podcast we survey 8 different tips and tricks – hacks – to gain a positive judgment on Yom Kippur. If you want to be cleansed from all your spiritual maladies and blemishes this Yom Kippur; if you want to emerge from this powerful day with a fresh, clean slate – this podcast is for you.

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Jonah: Studying the Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)

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On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the 48-verse Book of Jonah, which tells of a renegade prophet, Jonah, who defies the directive of God and refuses to castigate the people of Nineveh and instead escapes from God to Tarshish – with mixed results. A simple reading of the story reveals a tale of repentance, both of the protagonist, Jonah, and of the people of Nineveh. But our Sages let us in on a secret that the Book of Jonah contains a hidden, kabbalistic story embedded beneath the story – which also teaches us powerful, topical messages for the Day of Atonement.

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The Seven Wonders of Repentance

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Rosh Hashana kickstarts the Ten Days of Repentance which culminates in Yom Kippur. This is the time to repent. But repentance is a daunting and terrifying concept. All change is frightening. In this very special edition of the podcast, we shed a new light on repentance. We discover that repentance is a great gift that the Almighty gave us. It is supernatural and wondrous in many ways. Given that our Sages tell us that repentance is one of the seven things that were created before the world was created, we have the Seven Wonders of the pre-World and the Seven Wonders of Repentance. This episode is guaranteed to reshape your understanding of repentance and to make your season of repentance more meaningful and efficacious.

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This special pre-Rosh Hashana podcast is dedicated anonymously in loving memory and Leilui Nishmas Bret Adam Rosenthal who passed away this week at the awfully young age of 31. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven and may his grieving family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem

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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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The Essence of Elul

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These 40 days from the beginning of the month of Elul, the final month in the Jewish calendar, and Yom Kippur are the most powerful days of the year. These 40 days coincide with the 40 days that Moshe was in Heaven for the third 40 day stint when he received the second set of Tablets inscribed by the “finger of God.” Our Sages tell us that this month is “Days of Ratzon“, days of goodwill, days of desire. In this special podcast, we identify the central element of these days and discover the ways to unlock the unlimited power of Elul.

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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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Ruth: The Enduring Lesson of Shavuos

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The Book of Ruth – and its eponymous heroine – are true enigmas. The Book contains no new laws and its story, while inspirational and poignant, bears no easily discernible connection to the Festival of Shavuos, when it is read. The Book’s protagonist, Ruth, has a decidedly checkered pedigree, yet becomes the matriarch of the Davidic and Messianic dynasty. What is the secret to Ruth’s greatness, what is the Book’s connection to the day that marks the Revelation at Sinai, and what lasting lesson can we take from this story?

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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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Shavuos: The Time to Become Extraordinary

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Shavuos is the day that marks the most significant event in the history of humankind: A nation coalesced around Mount Sinai to temporarily catapult into a state of prophecy, to hear God say the Ten Commandments, and to live to tell the tale. Shavuos is thus aptly named, “the Day of the Giving of the Torah”. In the Talmud we discover that the power of the day is to transform people from being ordinary and generic into being special, great – extraordinary. In this special podcast we examine the connection between Shavuos and becoming extraordinary and learn the secret to elevate ourselves from being ordinary Joes into being truly special.

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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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Who was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and why does Lag Ba’Omer matter?

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Lag BaOmer is the day that marks the Yahrtzeit/Hillula of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, one of the great Sages of the Mishnaic Era. In celebration and recognition of Rabbi Shimon’s accomplishments and stature, the custom is to make it a mini-holiday. But of course, Rabbi Shimon was not the only transcendental Sage of that time. His teacher was the great Rabbi Akiva, his contemporaries included the great Rabbi Meir, that era was also graced with luminaries such as Hillel, and Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Judah the Prince. Why is Rabbi Shimon singled out above and beyond all the other scholars? In this podcast, we suggest an approach to that question that will hopefully make Lag BaOmer even more meaningful.

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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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The Rest of the Story with Esther Kaplan (Part 2: March 2021)

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Esther Kaplan (née Wolbe), along with her husband AJ, experienced the worst nightmare parents can undergo when their adorable and perfect son Shlomo passed away only 16 weeks into his life. This intimate and stirring conversation follows up on the one we had in 2018 in which Esther shares the story of Shlomo’s life and opens up about how parents absorb and process such an unthinkable tragedy.

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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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Reflections on Loss, Tragedy, and Bereavement: An Interview with Esther Kaplan (Part 1: March 2018)

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Esther Kaplan (née Wolbe), along with her husband AJ, experienced the worst nightmare parents can undergo when their adorable and perfect son Shlomo passed away only 16 weeks into his life. In this intimate and stirring conversation Esther shares the story of Shlomo’s life and opens up about how parents absorb and process such an unthinkable tragedy.

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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!

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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A Life of Joy

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When Adar enters, we increase in Joy (Talmud Taanis 29a). Adar, the month in which contains the Festival of Purim, kickstarts the season on joy in the Jewish calendar. On this month we were saved from Haman’s genocide, and it is closely followed by Nissan, the month of the Exodus. What does the Torah mean by joy? What is the role that joy plays in Jewish life? It turns out that joy is a central aspect of Jewish living.

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This podcast is sponsored by Danny Katz and Josh Newman in honor of Sarah Bandujo. We thank them for sponsoring

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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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