Category Archives: Parsha

Toldos – Intrauterine Cosmic Struggle

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:11:02 — 36.8MB)

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Telling the story of this week’s parsha while gleaning insights and lessons from it. The topics discussed in this episode:

Praying As Response to Infertility – [0:00]
God Answers Isaac’s Prayer – [4:52]
Jacob and Esau intrauterine Struggling; Esau Pining for Idolatry; The Cosmic Struggle between the Two Worlds – [10:16]
Jacob Seizing the Ankle of Esau and their Childhood; Isaac’s Love of Esau – [30:06]
The Sale of the Birthright – [37:56]
Isaac in the Prism of Abraham – [47:22]
Jacob Usurping the Blessings – [56:30]

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

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Website: RabbiWolbe.com

Twitter: @RabbiWolbe

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Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

Chayei Sara – Unselfish Spouses

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:08:38 — 36.1MB)

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Telling the story of this week’s parsha while gleaning insights and lessons from it. The topics discussed in this episode:

The Death, Bereavment and  Burial of Sarah – [0:00]
The Cave of the Machpelah – [14:23]
Eliezer’s Oath, Eligibility Test for a prospective Spouse for Isaac– [23:26]
Eliezer’s Encounter with Lavan and Rebecca’s family and the Corruptive Forces of Bias – [39:11]
The Shelf Life of Inspiration – [54:56]
Isaac and Rebecca’s Marriage and Love – [58:37]
The Death and Burial of Abraham – [1:05:11]
If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com

Twitter: @RabbiWolbe

Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

Vayeira – Reconciling Kindness and Child-Sacrifice

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:20:04 — 43.1MB)

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Telling the story of this week’s parsha while gleaning insights and lessons from it. The topics discussed in this episode:

Kindness Superseding Prophecy – [0:00]
Deconstructing Abraham’s Kindness with the Three Strangers – [9:57]
Abraham’s Intercession on Behalf of Sodom – [25:23]
Abraham’s Unsuccessful Kindnesses: How Kindness and Faith are Correlated and How Lot’s Kindness differed from Abraham’s – [34:48]
Sodom’s Perversion and Lot’s Warped Kindness – [41:56]
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and its Aftermath, the Pillar of Salt and Lot’s Merit– [51:47]
Birth of Isaac, Banishment of Ishmael and Binding of Isaac – [1:02:39]
Understanding the Binding of Isaac and Abraham’s Apparent Cruelty – [1:08:22]

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

Contact:

Website: RabbiWolbe.com

Twitter: @RabbiWolbe

Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

Lech Lecha – A Covenant of Greatness

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:11:25 — 38.0MB)

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Telling the story of this week’s parsha while gleaning insights and lessons from it. The topics discussed in this episode:

Abraham, the Most Transformative Human of All Time – [0:00]
Abraham’s Ten Tests and the Test of Lech Lecha– [2:48]
The Souls that they made in Charan – [19:45]
Israel, Godly Promises and the Egypt Episode – [24:53]
Lot, Sand & Stars, Abraham’s Great Fear – [37:14]
Abraham Marries Hagar – [54:00]
Circumcision – [1:02:03]

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

Contact:
Website: RabbiWolbe.com
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

Noach – Treating the Symptoms of Sin

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:19:49 — 42.2MB)

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A synopsis of the parsha and insights and lessons and themes from it. The topics discussed in this epsode:

The 120 Year Grace Period for Mankind – [0:00]
The Enigmatic Character of Noah – [4:35]
The Ark as Refuge; Ark’s Dimensions – [13:25]
Fiting everyone into the Ark – [18:45]
A Personal Flood And a Personal Ark for refuge – [26:35]
A Seeming Inconsistency in the Number of Kosher Animals – [30:00]
Separation of men and women in Ark – [35:07]
The lacking of Noah’s faith – [40:10]
Four Events that happened in Broad Daylight – [45:32]
The Legacy of the Dead, Life on the Ark, The Aftermath of the Flood – [50:48]
The Ham Debacle – [1:01:36]
Nimrod and The Tower of Babel – Rebellion With Willful Intent – [1:06:33]
Abraham’s Backstory and the Two Types of Miracles – [1:14:02]

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

Contact:
Website: RabbiWolbe.com
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

Bereishis – The Ominous Beginnings of Man

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:11:17 — 37.7MB)

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This is the first of a series on the entire Torah. Every week will feature a new episode that begins with a synopsis of the parsha and insights and lessons and themes from it. The topics discussed in this epsode:

Parsha Overview – [0:00]
The World Was Created with Ten Utterances – [6:46]
Hell Created on Day Two – [11:36]
The Demotion of the Moon – [15:43]
Why Adam was Created on Day Six –  [20:20]
Why no “And behold it was good” for Adam? – [25:32]
Adam and Eve: Model Marriage? – [28:46]
The Test and the Sin – [32:27]
Adam was Created Circumcised – [39:00]
“The Torah Begins and Ends with Kindness”/Adam to Moses Continuum – [41:48]
The Punishment and Repurcussions of the Sin – [48:07]
Cain and Abel: Impact of Actions – [01:00:29]
Deterioration of Mankind – [01:09:46]

—–

If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The Jewish History Podcast – telling the remarkable story of the Jewish People.

Contact:
Website: RabbiWolbe.com
Twitter: @RabbiWolbe
Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

The Golden Calf: A Scriptural Analysis

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:31:33 — 41.9MB)

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The Jewish attitude to Torah study has always been to not accept the words on a simplistic and superficial level. We view the text of the Torah as having infinite depth and subtle nuances and meanings. In this class we will attempt to dissect and unravel perhaps the most challenging episodes in the Torah: the Golden Calf story of Exodus Chapter 32. We will begin by reading the words at face value and then we’ll try analyzing and critically assessing the words and the narrative in an attempt to plumb deeper and deeper into the endless ocean of Torahidic insight.

Reflections of Genesis: How the Forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Built the Spiritual Profile of Our Nation

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:09 — 29.4MB)

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The narratives of Genesis mustn’t be read and understood as important stories or historical context; The Torah in it’s entirety is instructive. The manner in which the Forefathers are presented in the Torah and the content of those narratives and dialogues are reflective of the lessons that they exemplified and perfected that the Torah wants us – the readers – to incorporate into our behavior and spiritual makeup. Indeed, each of the forefathers mastered one of the three qualities that uphold the world: Torah – Jacob; Avodah – Isaac; Chessed (Kindness) – Abraham.