Category Archives: Podcasts

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Vayechi – Anti-Oxidance (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:14:48 — 34.2MB)

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Immediately prior to his passing, Jacob gathered his sons with the intention of revealing to them what will happen at the end of days. With his 12 sons coalesced around him, Jacob was forced to pivot: the Almighty withdrew His Shechinah from him, and he was no longer able to be able to convey to them what would happen at the end of days. Instead, he began saying other things. Going through his sons one at a time, he highlighted their qualities, flaws, and destinies. When Jacob concluded these deathbed blessings, he passed. In this podcast we explore the nature of these blessings and the profound and indispensable lessons that they provide for us.

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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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Priestly Decorum (#149-152)

Podcast (mitzvah): Download (Duration: 33:03 — 15.1MB)

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priests are held to a higher standard. Clergymen are not like everyone else. Especially while working in the Temple/ Tabernacle. They must be on a much more elevated and dignified plane.

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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 Vayechi (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 52:31 — 24.0MB)

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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 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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Vayigash – Joseph’s Magnanimity

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:26 — 27.2MB)

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Our Parsha sees the conclusion of the Saga of Joseph. The favorite son of Jacob is finally reunited with his father and his family as the fledgling nation of Israel descends to Egypt. When we study Joseph’s interactions with his brothers and his father, we discover something incredible. Joseph was magnanimous with them in a completely surprising and uncommon way. Joseph exhibited a novel assessment of the events that can radically transform the way we see the world and the things that happen in it.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated by my dear friend Shuan Hiller in honor of the Upsherin of Aryeh Borowsky, the son of our dear friends David and Chana Borowsky. May young Aryeh grow and flourish and become a wonderful person and a wonderful Jew; someone who brings Nachas and joy to his special parents and grandparents, and becomes a beacon for the whole Jewish nation.

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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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Vayigash – Definition of Life (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:24 — 26.7MB)

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Jacob relocates in our Parsha. Leaving Canaan once again, Jacob gathers his family and the possessions that he had acquired in Canaan and descends to Egypt to reunite with Joseph. In this Parsha Podcast we discover an unusual curiosity about Jacob’s dealings with his brother Esau. Over the course of their lifetimes, they made two transactions. The nature of these transactions and their timing presents a fascinating study.

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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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Chanukah Capstone with Rabbi Shmuel Botnick

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:21:17 — 37.2MB)

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There is no superficiality in Judaism. Everything is multi-layered, multifaceted, multidimensional. That seems to be particularly true with respect to the festival of Chanukah. Chanukah is a rabbinic holiday, and it is the very last mitzvah that we received. There are many oddities that separate this mitzvah from all others. The roots of this festival are very deep and span many areas of Torah and of life. In this very special podcast we welcome back the great Rabbi Shmuel Botnick. He shares a masterpiece that weaves together a wide array of sources and themes that will enhance and enrich our Chanukah, and give us an appreciation for the subtleties and nuances that we would have otherwise completely overlooked.

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This special Chanukah Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmat Victoria bat Khanbaba ve Bahereh, Victoria Toubia, who passed away recently. May her Soul be elevated in Heaven.

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 Vayigash (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 55:25 — 25.4MB)

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Twenty two years have passed since Jacob and Joseph were separated. Ever since Joseph was torn away from him, Jacob was bereft of prophecy and inconsolable. In Parshas Vayigash this long saga comes to an end and Jacob is finally reunited with his long-lost son.

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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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Mikeitz – Two and Twenty

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:00 — 29.8MB)

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Jacob was one of the greatest people of all time. He excelled in all areas of greatness. In this Parsha podcast we examine his superlative reliance upon God. Jacob was a standout in his exceptional reliance on God as evidenced by his very interesting behavior when it came to his dwindling stockpile of grain. We then broaden the discussion to address Jacob’s relationship with this attribute in other parts of his storyline.

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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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Mikeitz – Paining Grows (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:15 — 26.7MB)

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Joseph took a very unusual path to primacy: his brothers thought he was a good for nothing, and sold him as a slave. He was sold to Egypt, accused of a crime he did not commit, and thrown into prison for years. In a flash, he was elevated from prison and appointed as viceroy of Egypt. When his brothers came for food, they did not recognize that the viceroy was in fact Joseph. How do we understand the dissonance between what Joseph became and how the brothers viewed him? What is the secret of Joseph’s unusual ascent to greatness? In this very special Parsha Podcast, we present an answer that resolves the mystery of Joseph, and a host of other questions on his story.

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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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The Light of Chanukah

Podcast: Download (Duration: 53:45 — 24.6MB)

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Everyone loves the festival of Chanukah. There’s something so wonderful and enchanting about this festival and its iconic mitzvah, the lighting of the Menorah. But what is the menorah truly about? We all, of course, know the story of the miraculous oil that lasted for 8 days. But what is at the heart of the matter? What are we supposed to take away from this miracle, from this mitzvah, from this festival? In this wonderful podcast, we plumb the depths of the Hasmonean miracle, the Greek forces that they overcame, and the timeless lessons for us to learn.

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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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Parshas Mikeitz (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:03 — 29.8MB)

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Parshas Mikeitz continues the narrative of Joseph in Egypt. We pick up his story two years after his failed attempt at earning a reprieve via his cellmate, Pharaoh’s butler, who was about to be reinstated to his post as Pharaoh’s side. Joseph is languishing in a dungeon for a crime he did not commit; after being sold to a foreign land as a slave by his own brothers. By the end of the Parsha, Joseph is firmly ensconced as Pharaoh’s viceroy, and is amidst a long back and forth with his brothers who are in town to procure provisions during a fierce famine.

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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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