Category Archives: Holidays

Pesach: The Lifeblood of our People

The Exodus from Egypt is the founding episode of our nation. The Almighty plucked us out, a nation from amidst a nation, and chose us to be His people. What were the preconditions of the Exodus? What had to happen in order to facilitate our freedom? When we examine the Exodus carefully we learn about what our nations stands for, what we were chosen to do, and what ought to be the focus of the upcoming Festival of Pesach.

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The Book of Esther on an Allegorical Level (Rebroadcast)

On Purim we read the Book of Esther, which tells the story of the Purim miracle. The Persian king Achashverosh conspires with his Amalekite viceroy Haman to eradicate the entire Jewish nation, but God refused to allow their plans to unfold. Queen Esther, together with her relative Mordechai, spearhead the effort to turn the plan on it’s head: Instead of Haman killing Mordechai and the Jews; the Jews were given free rein to destroy their enemies. Every year we commemorate this miracle on the holiday of Purim. But the story goes deeper. Every part of Torah can be understood on multiple dimensions. The Gaon of Vilna wrote a masterful commentary explaining the Book on an allegorical level, in which the characters and the storylines symbolize the various conflicts of our lives. What emerges is a stunning portrayal of central components of Jewish philosophy that also contains very incisive lessons for Purim itself.

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The Kabbalistic Conflict of Purim with Rabbi Shmuly Botnick

Purim is a tantalizing festival. We get the dress up in costumes, read about close brush with destruction that our nation endured many centuries ago, and to drink alcohol guiltlessly. It’s a great party (certainly for extroverts). But what’s the deeper secret behind the day? What did Haman actually try to do to our nation? What was the banquet of Achashveirosh – the event that kickstarted the Purim saga – trying to accomplish? In this very special edition of the podcast, I am joined with my esteemed brother-in-law, Rabbi Shmuly Botnick, to learn about the Kabbalistic conflict of the day. Buckle up, sharpen your brain, and listen carefully: you are about to be treated with something very special.

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Purim: A Primer

The festival of Purim commemorates the story of salvation that our nation experienced in Persia more than two thousand years ago. Haman the heir of Amaleik schemed a plot to eradicate the entire Jewish people in one randomly selected day, the 13th day of Adar. But the Almighty would have none of it. In His kindness He orchestrated a series of events, told to us in the Book of Esther, that foiled Haman’s plot and led to our nation’s spiritual renaissance, the effects of which still reverberate today. In this podcast we retell the Purim story and delve into its themes to make our observance of the holiday ever more meaningful.

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Tu B’Shevat: The Secret of the Rosh Hashana for Trees

The fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shevat – known as Tu B’Shevat – is the New Year for trees and fruits. All the fruits that sprout before this cutoff are associated with the previous year’s yield and the ones that come afterwards are attributed to the new year’s. If that was all that we knew about this day it would be a pretty anemic day. But the Kabbalists revealed that is a very powerful and propitious day with deep, mystical meanings. In this special episode we plumb the depths of this day and discover its power and the potential. I must admit that coming into this project I knew very little about Tu B’Shevat. This was a truly eye-opening subject that I am sure will rivet the audience as it did me.

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Chanukah and Joseph (Rebroadcast)

Every year, Chanukah falls out during the weeks in which we read about Joseph and his exploits in Egypt. Our Sages tell us that there is a deep connection between Joseph’s and the Maccabean heroism. Many connections have been proposed, and in this podcast I suggest a new approach to understanding how Joseph precisely embodies the story, the lesson, and the transformation of Chanukah.

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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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Chanukah: History, Laws, and Customs (Rebroadcast)

About 2,200 years ago, the Jewish Nation faced an existential threat: The Assyrian Greek Empire led by Antiochus and his Hellenist henchmen undertook a concerted campaign to systematically eradicate the Jewish religion. They sought to make the Jews forget the Torah and depart from the mitzvos; they defiled the Temple; they harassed the Jewish daughters; and they banned the observance of many mitzvos on pain of death. But the Almighty did not forsake His people. He stood up for them in their time of sorrow; He waged their wars; He judged the judgment; He avenged their vengeance, and aided the Jews to total victory over their Greek overlords. To remember that miracle, and the miracle of the oil that lasted 8x its intended length, the Sages established the 8-day holiday of Chanukah. In this podcast we survey the history, laws, and customs of Chanukah.

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

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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Dreaming of a Sunny Sukkah

We are amid the incredible Festival of Sukkos. Each day (except Shabbos) we shake the Lulav and Esrog, we celebrate with our family, and we dwell in our temporary residence, the Sukkah. But what happens when the weather does not comply? What do we do when it gets swelteringly hot? In this podcast, we demonstrate that an unpleasant Sukkah is something that ought to be not only tolerable, but highly desirable. Give it a listen and tell me if you agree.

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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 Glorious Clouds of Sukkos

Over the course of the Festival of Sukkos (sometimes spelled “Sukkot”, sometimes “Succos”, rivaled only by the nightmare of trying to find the definitive spelling of Chanukah – Hannukah, Hanukkah), we must dwell in a temporary structure, a Sukkah. Why? “In order that your generations know that [God] made Sukkahs for us during the Exodus.” After we were redeemed from the enslavement of Egypt, the Almighty made us Sukkah, and we commemorate that miracle more than 3300 years later with a seven day Festival. What is the nature of the Sukkah that God made for us? Our Sages tell us that they were the “Clouds of Glory.” What are the clouds of glory and what do they have to do with the Festival of Sukkos? Listen to this podcast and find out.

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

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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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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Reconciliation and Forgiveness: The Interpersonal Component of Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is a day of atonement and expiation. On this auspicious day, the Almighty forgives us for all our transgressions and we become purified before God. But the purification of Yom Kippur is limited to sins between man and God. For interpersonal transgressions, there is no atonement unless the aggressor appeases and secures forgiveness from the aggrieved. In this sweeping episode we discuss the nature of interpersonal transgressions and the tremendous sensitivity and delicateness required to not cause another person pain or loss; we scour the process of how to gain atonement for interpersonal transgressions; and we talk about the importance and the challenge of forgiving others who have wronged us.

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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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