Category Archives: Parsha

Bo – Shots on Goal

The Jewish people spent several centuries in Egypt, but now it is time to leave – and the nation is leaving with flair, with miracles, signs, and wonders. In this very special, celebratory, Parsha podcast, I share two incredible ideas that I shared over the past couple of days during the festivities surrounding the birth and the bris of our son, David Wolbe.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Bo – Climbing Mount Exodus (5782)

The Exodus from Egypt was the founding event of our people. Our nation had been in Egypt for more than two centuries and we had become acculturated into the Egyptian way of life. Over the year of the Exodus process, our nation was privy to miracles never before seen in history: we saw our masters humbled, we saw our nation elevated, we witnessed Moshe doing incredible miracles, and a spark was awakened within us. With the culmination of the Ten Plagues – the Death of the Firstborn – our nation was ushered out of the land. Our Sages tell us something fascinating: the remarkable transformation of the Exodus is revisited every time our nation experiences redemption. As such, studying the Exodus is more than the study of an ancient event, it is about discovering the formula of all kinds of redemptions. In this podcast we examine the principles of how to unlock an Exodus.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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 Bo (Rebroadcast)

After the first seven Plagues of Egypt related in last week’s parsha, Pharaoh and his people were still unwilling to release the Children of Israel. In Parshas Bo, the miracles and wonders of the Almighty intensified, culminating in the Death of the Firstborn and the Exodus from Egypt.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Vaeira – Labor and Deliverance

The Jewish nation was enslaved in Egypt for 100s of years. What was the essence of the enslavement? What is the consistent theme that is strung throughout the centuries of servitude? More broadly, what is the salience of the Egyptian narrative? Why is it so critical for us to study the exile and Exodus so closely? In this celebratory Parsha podcast we offer our take on the essence of the Egyptian enslavement, why it is ever more pertinent today, and what to do about it. We too can – and must – be redeemed from our servitude.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Vaeira – The Endurance Expedition (5782)

As the tag team representing God in the Exodus, Moshe and Aaron pull off some incredible miracles and feats in this week’s Parsha. When they are formally introduced and their pedigree is laid out, a very interesting praise is bestowed upon them. Upon analysis, we find the identical praise conferred upon many of the great giants of our history. In this Parsha Podcast, we discover a new definition of greatness, one that has profound consequences on how we ought to love our lives.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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 Vaeira (Rebroadcast)

Our Parsha begins in the middle of the dialogue between Moses and God. Moses’ initial foray into saving the nation has gone horribly awry. Instead of alleviating the pain of the Jewish nation; his intervention exacerbated it, and he returned to the Almighty asking for an explanation. In His response, God tells Moses that he will yet see the tremendous miracles and signs of the pending Exodus. In our parsha, that plan begins to unfold, and we read about the first seven of the eventual Ten Plagues.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Shemos – Moshe’s Treatment

We begin the new calendar year with a new book, the book of Exodus. The Jewish nation – still a family – is in Egypt, and things go from bad to worse. Pharaoh torments the people, enslaves them, and embitters their lives with back breaking labor. He then implements a policy of infanticide. But a great light emerges: Moshe is born. The leader of the Jewish people — who will extricate us from Egypt and lead us into the wilderness, and convey the Torah to us, and shepherd us —  is born and is raised in Pharaoh’s household. In this Parsha Podcast we go behind the scenes – we go to the backstage of the parsha and explore two interesting and topical elements of Moshe’s treatment: both how he was treated and how he treated others.

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

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Shemos – Make Your Move (5782)

Our Parsha is a difficult one to read. Our nation was enslaved, tormented, oppressed, and murdered by the Egyptians. Although we don’t see the salvation in our Parsha, the chess pieces of the redemption are set into place. In this edition of the Parsha Podcast, we study several themes of the Parsha that can improve our lives. We learn about how it’s often darkest before dawn, and about how that darkness contributes to the blazing light of day. We also learn about what it takes to unlock a bounty of divine blessing.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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 Shemos (Rebroadcast)

The Book of Exodus begins with the Egyptians cunningly enslaving their Hebrew subjects: mandating that they work in backbreaking labor, killing their male sons, and trying to stamp out their spirit and curb their population. But God heard their cries and saw their suffering and dispatched the greatest of all men, Moses, a reluctant leader, to lobby Pharaoh to release the people.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Vayechi – Jacob’s Strength

Parshas Vayechi marks the final installment of the book of Genesis. The family of Israel, the sons of Jacob, are all together in Egypt, where they settle and flourish. A lot happened to this family up to this point, and the setting for the next epoch of their story, and of Jewish history, is ready. In this parsha podcast, we address two elements from the Parsha: Jacobs decision to promote Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Menashe, and Jacob’s superlative self-control.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor of two Parsha Podcast engagements. Longtime listener and dear friend and host of the L’chaim L’chaim podcast, Noah Katz, got engaged to Hannah Baumgarten. Julian Kritz, dear friend and son of dear friends, Dr. Alan and Phyllis Kritz got engaged to Sara Frank. Hearty Parsha Podcast Mazal Tov wishes to the young couples. May they each build beautiful Jewish homes and families together, homes replete with happiness, and joy, and harmony.

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DONATE to TORCH: 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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Vayechi – Brotherly Love: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (5782)

Family is everything. If you are fortunate enough to have siblings, parents, and children you know that there are bonds of kinship and brotherhood (and sisterhood, of course) between family members are strong and often unbreakable. This is not something new. When Jacob was on his deathbed he shared with his sons his final thoughts and blessings. To Shimon and Levi he said that you two are motivated by brotherhood above all.

In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we dissect the blessing of Jacob to these two brothers, and what we discover is that we are dissecting a dissection. Jacob dissected Shimon and Levi, he plumbed to the depths of who they are and revealed it all for us to see and marvel at. In the short blessing to his sons, Jacob provides a Masterclass in self discovery, the inner workings of behavior, and how people actually learn and change. The lessons learned in this episode are life-changing.

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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 Vayechi (Rebroadcast)

Parshas Vayechi is the final portion of the Book of Genesis. Jacob is about to die and he tends to his affairs: He assures that he will not be buried in Egypt and will instead be interred in the Cave of Machpelah, he blesses Joseph and his sons, and he blesses/rebukes his twelve sons.

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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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TORAH 101