Category Archives: personal growth

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When and How to Prepare for the Afterlife

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Sooner or later, we all are required to drink from the bitter portion of death. As a result of the sin of Adam, death is the fate of all mankind. But what happens afterwards? What happens in the afterlife? In that, we are all different. The state of a person after they pass depends completely on their righteousness and the choices they made in their life. No one likes to think about their own mortality. No one likes to ruminate on the fragility of their life. No one likes to imagine their own death. But as we advance in life, it’s imperative to prepare. In this podcast, we’ll learn the principles of preparing for the afterlife.

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The King’s Way

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The sorcerer/prophet of the nations, Balaam, sought to curse the Israelites, but his attempts were thwarted. The Talmud reveals some very interesting elements of his botched effort. Had he succeeded in cursing the nation, there would have been nothing left. He would have achieved total devastation. In this very interesting and informative podcast, we study the methodology of Balaam’s deadly curse and how God transformed Balaam’s curse into the king’s way. This might be the most important and edifying podcasts of them all.

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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 System of Prayer

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It takes years to develop a taste for prayer. Prayer is described in our sources as “service of the heart.” Service of any sort is difficult for us, and most of us are not attuned enough to our hearts to even understand what service of the heart means. Prayer is a foundational pillar of our religious life. When our sages identified the three things upon which the world stands, one of them is prayer. Prayer is built into the Jewish day. We pray multiple times a day, and we are encouraged to pray even outside the regularly scheduled prayer services. How do we approach this very lofty but distant subject? In this very interesting podcast, recorded with my friend Dan Kullman of the Shema podcast, we explore the system of prayer, the philosophy of prayer, and address many core elements of this service of the heart.

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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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Two Anonymous Wives

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There are two wives – two women whose names we don’t even know – who caused seismic, tectonic shifts in the fates and the fortunes of their husbands, their families, their tribes, and the nation at large. 254 men were part of the Korach rebellion against Moshe and Aaron. 253 of them perished. On(e) survived thanks to his wife. The ringleader of this rebellion was incited to undertake this insurrection due to his wife. These wives carry a lot of sway over their husbands. When we unravel the story, we discover that the impact of these women goes far beyond the fate of their husbands.

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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 History and Mystery of the Ancient Blue Dye (Techeiles)

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We recite the three paragraphs of the Shema twice a day. The third paragraph contains the mitzvah of placing tzitzis fringes on the corner of our garments, and to wrap the fringes with a cord of blue-dyed wool. In this interesting podcast we share the fascinating and controversial history of the ancient blue dye, and share a profound insight into its power and symbolism.

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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 Ills of Envy and its Remedy

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Envy is a deadly sin, and it’s almost entirely unavoidable. Our Sages that “Envy extracts a person from the world.” It causes a person to be severed from the world. But there is so much cause for envy wherever we turn. In every area of life, there is rank inequality. Other people have things that seem good and desirable. How is it possible to not covet the goodies of others? In this interesting podcast, we share three perspectives for how to solve envy once and for all.

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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 Superiority of Torah

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We are incredibly fortunate to be included amongst the Jewish people. We are incredibly fortunate to be raised with a strong sense of Torah and Torah values, and a deep appreciation for the critical and indispensable mission that our nation was entrusted with at Sinai. We are fortunate to be descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are fortunate to be God’s chosen people. There are other religions out there. Many like to study the field of “comparative religion.” Is it appropriate to explore those religions? Are there any dangers of doing that? In this interesting and informative podcast, we learn about some of the differences between our people, our religion, our Torah, and the pretenders. We emerge with an enormously deepened appreciation for how special it is to be part of the Almighty’s nation.

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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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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

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Momentum Matters

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The hardest part of reaching space is the first moment of liftoff, getting the first inch off the ground. The second inch is still hard, but a little bit easier. The first bit of liftoff serves as momentum for the second inch. In our pursuit of spiritual and personal greatness, we are trying to achieve stratospheric heights. We’re trying to depart from the atmosphere of pettiness, and achieve something grand, something majestic, something otherworldly. The first step is the most important. Importantly, this same principle works in the opposite direction. Just as positive momentum facilitates achievement and height, the danger of negative momentum cannot be underestimated. The Torah tells a tragic and dramatic story about a man with a checkered pedigree and a tumultuous backstory who committed a grievous crime for which he was executed. When we take a careful look at what happened, we see the sheer power of momentum.

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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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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

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The Secret Passover Opportunity you Mustn’t Pass-Over

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This special pre-Pesach podcast is dedicated in loving memory of Meir Ben Shmuel Chananya. May his soul be elevated in heaven.

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The festival of Passover commemorates a very ancient event that happened more than 3,300 years ago: the release of the nation from bondage in Egypt in the Exodus. Why is the Exodus relevant to us, living thousands of years later? Why is there a daily commandment to remember the Exodus? Why are there so many important days and mitzvos whose liturgy define as a “remembrance for the Exodus?” Why does the Exodus make so many appearances in our religion? In this very interesting and profound podcast, we share the core insight that serves as the beating heart of this festival and learn valuable life lessons and frameworks that will utterly transform our perception of spiritual and personal development and ascent.

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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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Shema: Achieving Supremacy Over the Angels

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Angels are way loftier than us, right? They’re totally spiritual, they cannot possibly sin, they are messengers of God. We, on the other hand, are mortal, fallible, pitiful humans. That’s not necessarily the case. Our Sages tell us that the human soul is much loftier than the Angels. Our inborn holiness dwarfs that of our winged counterparts. Our supremacy over the Angels is demonstrated with the Shema declaration. Angels must do much more to connect with God than we do. In this very interesting and provocative podcast, we highlight the Shema’s role in elevating us, and share a powerful and profound perspective on the three different ways to achieve spiritual ascent. The first paragraph of the highlights one way to achieve greatness, the second highlights a second path, and the third paragraph contains is yet another way to do it. The end goal is absolute closeness with God. The end goal is merging heaven and Earth, body and soul. They end goal is to be holy to Hashem our God. But there are three ways to do it.

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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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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

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How to Conquer the Anger Impulse

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None of us admire the people who lose it in a fit of rage. We like we look up to the people who are calm, cool and collected. The people who comport themselves with dignity and nobility and are always in control of themselves. Rage is not a productive attribute. People don’t accomplish things when they lose themselves. From a spiritual vantage point, with the worst of the worst: it’s adjacent to heresy, and many types of purgatory control those who are always angry. But what’s the solution? How does someone control their anger? Is it possible to control completely? Is it possible to eliminate it entirely? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. In this podcast, you will learn the secret of fishing impulses of anger. Are you ready for the challenge?

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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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NEW TORCH Mailing Address POBox:

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PO BOX 310246
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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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