Category Archives: Parsha

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Haazinu – Antidote to Vacuousness

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 42:13 — 19.3MB)

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On the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys the Song of Haazinu to the nation. In this masterful prophetic Song, the Torah overviews Jewish history, past, present, future, and Messiah. In this penultimate parsha podcast we focus on what happens afterwards. After the Song, Moshe shares a few pithy words about the nature of Torah. As we near the end of this cycle of Torah and prepare to embark on another, it is helpful and useful to hear how Moshe defines Torah. The lessons will forever transform our understanding.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated by Boris and Diana Poperny on the occasion of their 12th wedding anniversary – Happy anniversary from the entire Parsha Podcast family. And in the merit of a speedy recovery of Alla Bat Raya from her health problems. May she merit a complete and speedy recovery.

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DONATE: 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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Ha’azinu – Small Step for Eaglet (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 42:32 — 19.5MB)

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The Song of Haazinu is a richly textured tapestry with layered meaning and subtleties. Our Sages tell us that it incorporates all of Jewish History. In its 613 words, it incorporates all of Torah as well. And it is arguably the most difficult Torah portion to decipher and unpack. In this special penultimate podcast of the fifth cycle of the Parsha Podcast, we examine a striking verse that compares the relationship between God and us to that of an eagle and its young. Upon initial assessment this seems like a strange comparison. W hen we explore the commentaries, however, we discover a life-changing perspective. This episode pairs perfectly with the upcoming holy day of Yom Kippur so give it a swig. Take it for a flight. It will be a joyous and thrilling ride.

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DONATE: 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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Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:00 — 26.6MB)

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Still in the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys to the nation a 43-verse Song predicting the contours of Jewish history, both past, present, and future. The patterns are familiar to the readers of Deuteronomy and even casual observers and students of Jewish history: The nation is recipients of tremendous divine goodness, yet they become corpulent and rebel against God. Consequently, God allows the nations to feast upon the people, but despite the harsh and painful torment and suffering, we continue to exist. The Song ends with a vivid description of the Messianic reclamation.

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DONATE: 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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The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day Two (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 54:36 — 25.0MB)

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On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the Torah section of Genesis chapter 22 that tells the very famous and quite troubling episode of the Binding of Isaac. Abraham – the same Abraham who railed against the ways of child sacrifice of the pagans – is instructed by God to take Isaac – the same Isaac who was declared as the one who will be Abraham’s true progeny – and offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. In this podcast we attempt to understand the many connections that this reading has with the themes and ideas of Rosh Hashana.

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DONATE: 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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The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day One (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:55 — 27.4MB)

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The Torah readings for the two days of Rosh Hashana were not arbitrarily chosen. There are very good reasons why on the first day of Rosh Hashana we read Genesis chapter 21, which tells of the conception and birth of Isaac, and the banishment of Ishmael, his brush with death, and his salvation. In this podcast we attempt to understand the many connections that this reading has with the themes and ideas of Rosh Hashana.

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DONATE: 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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Nitzavim Vayeilech – Pro Choice

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 53:11 — 24.3MB)

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On the final day of Moshe’s life, he gathers the entire nation for a parting message. After forging another covenant between the nation and God and explicating the consequences thereof, Moshe presents the nation with a choice: “Behold I have placed before you today: life and good vs. death and bad… Choose life.” There are two options for us: life that amounts to good or death that amounts to bad. What is the nature of this binary choice? What is Moshe trying to convey to the Nation? Why are we commanded to choose life? Isn’t it obvious that any sensible person will make that choice? In the final parsha Podcast before Rosh Hashana, we explore the stark choice that Moshe placed before the Nation, a choice that truthfully faces each one of us.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated by my dear friend, Dr. Paul Block, in loving memory and leilui nishmas his mother, Mrs. Mildred Block OB”M, מינדל בת רב צבי הירש, whose first yartzeit is כב אלול. This Friday Sept 8th. May her soul be elevated in Heaven.

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DONATE: 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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Nitzavim – Drawbridge Of The Soul (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 43:26 — 19.9MB)

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With the entire nation gathered on his final day of life, Moshe warns the people against being seduced by idolatry. The nation, Moshe reveals, is particularly vulnerable to idolatry because of the people whose land through which we have traversed. We saw the Egyptian fascination with idolatry. We saw the various other nations obsession with paganism. Consequently, we are susceptible to mimicking their ways. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast – the antepenultimate episode of the fifth cycle of The Parsha Podcast – we explore a mysterious and quite inexplicable element of Moshe’s warning. What we discover is quite surprising.

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DONATE: 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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Parshas Nitzavim & Vayeilech (Rebroadcast)

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On the final day of Moshe’s life, he gathered the entire nation – men, women, children, and according to the Talmud, all souls of future Jews – to pass them through a final covenant with God. The parsha also contains the prophetic predictions of the Messianic times, and it ends with a simple, binary choice: Moshe tells the nation, “Behold I have placed before you today, the life and the good, and death and evil… Choose Life!” Moshe is 120 years old to the day. He was born on the seventh of Adar and now it is the seven of Adar 120 years later. Today is his last day before his passing and he is taking leave from the nation and handing over the reins to Joshua.

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Ki Savo – Dial of Joy

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 54:38 — 25.0MB)

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The Torah has a surprising view on joy and how to attain it. The prevailing attitude in our society is that a person’s state of joy is contingent upon circumstance: In good days, people tend to feel a bit more joyous. On bad days, it’s more difficult to feel joy. Joy, according to society, is inextricably connected to circumstance. The Torah understands otherwise. The Torah teaches us that there is a dial of joy which can be easily manipulated. If you want more joy, all you need to do is rotate the dial in one direction. To reduce joy, spin it the other way. In this Parsha Podcast, we share the secret of the dial of joy. To boost your joy, listen carefully.

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Ki Savo – Maniacal Determination (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 39:18 — 18.0MB)

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Our parsha contains perhaps the most difficult Torah portion to read and digest: The Tochacha (Admonition). In it we are told the consequences of our deeds. If obey the Almighty and hearken to His commandments, He will reward us with bountiful blessings. Should we deviate from Him and repudiate His Torah, however, He promises to unleash all manner of suffering upon us. And it is brutal. Our Sages calculated that the Tochacha contains 98 distinct curses and maledictions. What is the message of these ferocious curses? In this special edition of The Parsha Podcast, we suggest a novel approach to understanding what the Torah wants of us.

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Parshas Ki Savo (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 55:33 — 25.4MB)

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As the Book of Deuteronomy draws to its conclusion, the narrative makes a transition: Moshe finishes conveying the mitzvos to the nation, and sets up his final parting message to the people. First, he commands the nation to perform several elaborate ceremonies on the very first day that they cross the Jordan River; then he conveys a scathing, terrifying list of curses that will befall the people in the event that we deviate from the Torah.

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TORCH Podcasts Survey

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DONATE: 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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