Category Archives: personal growth

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The Peerless Brilliance of Biblical Hebrew + TORCH Fundraiser

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TORCH Fundraiser — support the This Jewish Life Podcast

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The Bible is written in Hebrew. The language that God communicates with prophets is Hebrew. Hebrew was present the very beginning of the world – Genesis happened with Hebrew. Our Sages tell us that the letters of Hebrew are pregnant with meaning and insight and depth and profound secrets. The words in Hebrew are comprised of those special letters, and the meanings of the words are intricately connected with the secrets of the letters that comprise them. Biblical Hebrew is unique. It is utterly different than any other language. In this fun and interesting podcast, we explore the wonderful world of biblical Hebrew. Fasten up and listen carefully, which was this podcast will inspire you to deepen your knowledge and understanding of biblical Hebrew.

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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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Celebrating A New Wolbe Baby Boy

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Our family was blessed with a new baby boy this past Sunday evening. With the help of the almighty, he will be joining the covenant of Abraham and receive his Bris tomorrow morning, Monday the 15th of January, in the Young Israel of Houston. In this special, celebratory podcast, I share what I said on Friday night during the Shalom Zachor that we held in our home. As is customary, we got together on the Friday night after the baby was born for an evening of festivities, food, and of course words of Torah. I spoke about the concept of the Shalom Zachor, about the nature of this custom, and share several fascinating and profound takeaways.

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

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Discussing Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe on the Chinuch Today Podcast

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The Hebrew word for education is “Chinuch”. Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield is the Head of School of Yeshiva Torat Emet, the school in Houston, Texas that we send our children to, and is the host of the Chinuch Today podcast. In his podcasts, he interviews teachers and educators about Jewish education. He asked my brother and I if we would be willing to be interviewed to talk about our illustrious grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe and share some stories about his life, his educational philosophy, and what it was like to grow up with a famous last name. Rabbi Garfield was kind enough to allow me to post his podcast on mine. I hope you enjoy 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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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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On Parenting with the Podfather, Avi Wolbe

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Parents are sent home with newborn babies without an instruction manual. They are expected to raise their child(ren) to become productive, responsible, and successful adults. As Jews, we have an added responsibility to raise our children as good Jews. Parents face a monumental task. This was always nightmarishly difficult, but with the rapidly-changing world that we live in, this is becoming increasingly difficult. To help parents and educators navigate the minefield of parenting and pedagogy, I asked my dear father, Mr. Avi Wolbe (the “Podfather”), to join the podcast and share his insights and tips drawn from his vast experience raising nine children with great skill and success. It is my hope that this will become a recurring podcast. If you have a specific parenting and education question for the Podfather, please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

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

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Jonah: The Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)

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Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 2:05:32 — 57.5MB)

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On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the 48-verse Book of Jonah, which tells of a renegade prophet, Jonah, who defies the directive of God and refuses to castigate the people of Nineveh and instead escapes from God to Tarshish – with mixed results. A simple reading of the story reveals a tale of repentance, both of the protagonist, Jonah, and of the people of Nineveh. But our Sages let us in on a secret that the Book of Jonah contains a hidden, kabbalistic story embedded beneath the story – which also teaches us powerful, topical messages for the Day of Atonement.

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

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Repentance Conundrums

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The days spanning from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are known as the Ten Days of Repentance. Over the course of these days, we have extra prayers and supplications, and make an extra effort to improve and correct our ways, culminating of course, with the greatest day of them all, Yom Kippur. But repentance is a tricky subject. In this special podcast, we explore some of the confounding conundrums of repentance. Listening to this episode will surely enhance your experience of repentance.

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

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Elul for the Unprepared and the Undeserving

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The month of Elul is upon us. Over the course of the next few weeks, Jewish communities worldwide will prepare for the high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur with special prayers and with a daily blast of the shofar. We are preparing. We are getting ready for the awesome days upcoming. But what about those who are not preparing? What about those who are undeserving? Is there a shortcut to Elul? Is there a cheat sheet for someone who wants to tap into the awesome powers of this auspicious time? In this podcast, we learn how to connect with these propitious days – even if we’re not prepared, even if we’re not deserving.

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TORCH Podcasts Survey

To participate in the TORCH Podcasts Survey, please click here or visit TORCHsurvey.com

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

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What God Wants

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The Torah is an instruction manual from God. The word Torah, in fact, means instruction. The Torah contains many details; in fact, there is no conceivable situation that the Torah does not provide guidance for. But what is the ultimate goal of Torah? What does the finished product supposed to look like? In a surprising set of verses, Moshe offers an answer. His formulation, though, raises questions of its own.

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TORCH Podcasts Survey

To participate in the TORCH Podcasts Survey, please click here or visit TORCHsurvey.com

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

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Shavuos Special – Accepting the Torah: Ruth, Sinai, and the Heart of Shavuos

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:53 — 30.2MB)

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The Sinai Revelation is the most significant event in all of human history: God revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people, He spoke to them, He gave them the Torah, and they lived. This day is revisited every single year on the festival of Shavuos. Our objective on this day is to renew our vows with God and to re-accept His holy Torah. But how do you accept the Torah? What are the prerequisites and necessary criteria for accepting the Torah? To answer those questions we have to study the Sinai Revelation and the events that preceded and succeeded it. In this very special podcast we explore many different dimensions and elements of the festival and the days that it commemorates and discover the essential quality that was needed to accept the Torah initially and the primary way for us to tap into the vast, awesome, spiritual power of Shavuos.

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

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Ends Justifying Means: An Exploration of the Path of Pleasantness of the Torah

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The Jewish people were trapped. Only a week after they left Egypt, Pharaoh had chased them in hot pursuit, and now they had no place to go: with their backs up against the sea, and a heavily armed Egyptian army encircling them, the nation complained to Moshe, “are there insufficient graves in Egypt?”. For his part, Moshe was praying. God showed the way forward: into the water. There was one thing that no one proposed: waging war. The nation was armed, but did not turn their weapons against their Egyptian foes. This idea serves as a springboard for a wonderful concept of an elevated life that we find in several places in the Torah. This podcast will help you appreciate the beauty and the greatness of Torah and the type of righteous people that the Torah is trying to mold us into becoming.

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

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Chanukah Roundtable with the TORCH Podcasters

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In preparation for the upcoming festival of Chanukah, the TORCH Podcasters gathered together in the TORCH Centre to discuss the upcoming days of light. Each of us shared an idea about Chanukah and how to make the most of these days. If you want to experience a convivial, collegial, conversation about Chanukah with the Podcasters of TORCH, now is your chance.

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

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SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts