Category Archives: Parsha

Chukas – Between a Rock and a Watery Place

Parshas Chukas contains some of the most interesting and iconic sections of the Torah. It begins with the mysterious red cow, a blush bovine whose burnt ashes are part of the cleansing cocktail needed to purify the impure. Afterwards, we read about the death of Miriam and its aftermath, including the cessation of the well of Miriam, an event that precipitated the striking of the Rock by Moshe and Aaron. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we discuss the death of Miriam and Aaron and its associated lessons.

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Parshas Chukas (Rebroadcast)

In this week’s parsha, we read about a highly unusual mitzvah: The Red Heifer, when an entirely red cow is burned together with a motley concoction of ingredients, and the resultant ashes are used to sprinkle on people that came into contact with dead people in order to purify them from their spiritual contamination. We also learn about the passing of Miriam and Aaron, and the multiple battles that the nation participated in on the Eastern bank of the Jordan, and we puzzle over the sin that condemned Moses and Aaron to die before entering the Land.

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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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Korach – Debating Back to Sinai

Debate and disagreement are part of the human condition. We are all unique and we all see the world differently. It should come as no shock, therefore, that disagreements exist between different people. Our nation has made debate into a favorite pastime – just visit any Yeshiva and you will see what I mean. But why must we debate? And what are the pillars of a productive debate? In this week’s podcast, we learn the art of argumentation.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Shlomo Ben Chaim. May his soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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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Parshas Korach (Rebroadcast)

In this week’s parsha, Moshe and Aaron’s first cousin, a man named Korach, launches a rebellion claiming that Moshe is guilty of nepotism in appointing his brother as High Priest. What ensued should give one serious pause before engaging in any similar sort of divisive activities.

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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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Shelach – Enter Via the Window

One of the most unfortunate events in our history is chronicled in this week’s Parsha. The nation was on the doorstep of entering the Land of Canaan and actualizing the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In an effort to not to rely on Divine miracles, Moshe commissioned 12 righteous men to reconnoiter the Land. The report that they returned with was devastating, eventually leading to the nation being condemned to spend 40 years in the wilderness. That storyline is told in our Parsha’s beginning. It then transitions to talk about something very different: libations in sacrifices, the challah gift given to the Kohein, sacrifices for egregious sins, an episode of a person who gathered twigs on Shabbos resulting in his execution, and finally we read the third paragraph of the Shema, which talks about the Mitzvah of Tzitzis. Is there a central theme in our Parsha? On the surface it seems that the answer is no. In this podcast, we swim deep beneath the surface and discover some gems.

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This Parsha Podcast is sponsored in honor of Jonathan Schehr on the occasion of his 30th birthday, from his wife Rebecca–who wishes him a lifetime of happiness, ongoing weekly parsha podcast listening, growth in your Judaism, rock climbing, crazy hikes, and the opportunity for many more adventures”

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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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Parshas Shelach (Rebroadcast)

The Jewish people were on the cusp of entering the Land of Canaan, and made a prudent, but ultimately tragic, decision: To send a contingent of scouts to reconnoiter the Land, to examine its vulnerabilities and weaknesses in order to best plan the conquest. Unfortunately, the report of the scouts sent the nation into a tailspin and caused them to remain in the Wilderness for 40 years.

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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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Behaaloscha – Follow the Cloud

Traveling in the wilderness was not simple. The nation was guided by the clouds of Glory. When the clouds of Glory would depart from a top of the Tabernacle, that signaled it was time to go and the nation decamped and began to move. Where to? No one knew ahead of time. Wherever the cloud settled, that is where the next encampment was. When we examine this system of traveling, we find incredible lessons. On a basic level, it shows us the degree of commitment that the nation had to God. On a deeper level, it shows us the essence of the 40 years in the wilderness, and the nature of our navigation throughout the challenges and conflicts of our lives.

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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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Parshas Behaaloscha (Rebroadcast)

The Jewish nation has been encamped at Mount Sinai for nearly a year; in this week’s parsha they finally depart from the Mountain of God, and sadly leave gleefully as a child escaping school. This kick starts a series of missteps that carry harsh consequences.

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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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Nasso – The Fourth Crown

Our Parsha contains the interesting law of the Nazir. A Nazir is someone who has accepted upon themselves a vow to abstain from wine, haircuts, and contact with the dead for a given period, typically 30 days. The details of this law are featured in our partial and elaborated upon in appropriately named book of Talmud, the book of “Nazir.” What is the meaning behind this law and what can we learn from it? When we study the Nazir we discover the mechanism for rapid, accelerated, and dramatic transformation.

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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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Parshas Nasso (Rebroadcast)

In the longest parsha in the Torah by verses, we continue to read about the Levite families and their responsibilities, we learn about the three tiers of the Nation’s encampment, the laws of a suspected adulteress, the laws of the Nazir, the Priestly blessings, and we read a very wordy account of the gifts of the tribal leaders during the weeks following the Tabernacle’s inauguration.

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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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Bamidbar – Autopsy of Giants

Our Parsha recounts – for the third time hitherto in the Torah – the episode of the untimely death of Aaron’s two eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu. These two young priests were destined for greatness. Moshe believed that they were in fact greater than him and Aaron. Yet they brought an unauthorized sacrifice and died in a Divine conflagration on the same day that the Tabernacle was inaugurated. What exactly they did wrong and why they deserved such a fiery and premature death is a subject that fascinated our Sages throughout the centuries. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we offer a suggestion to explain what their calculation was and why it was wrong, learning along the way a pivotal lesson needed for anyone striving to actualize their potential.

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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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Parshas Bamidbar (Rebroadcast)

We kickstart the Book of Numbers with a census of the twelve tribes of Israel – not including the tribe of Levi who is counted independently – conducted by Moses, Aaron, and the most distinguished leaders of said tribes. Subsequently, we read about the banners of the tribes and their assigned encampments, the transference of the sanctity of the firstborn to the Levites, and the designated role of each of the Levite families.

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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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