Category Archives: Podcasts

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Parshas Terumah (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 52:28 — 24.0MB)

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One of the fundamental principles of Jewish philosophy is the idea of “Kedushah”, holiness. Holiness, according to the Jewish definition, is when the physical and spiritual worlds meet. In no location in the world is holiness more present than the Temple, and its predecessor, the “Mishkan”, the Tabernacle. In this week’s parsha we read about the instructions to raise the materials and to construct the Tabernacle and most of its vessels.

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Mishpatim – Two Halves of One Soul

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:09:47 — 31.9MB)

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At the risk of being presumptuous, I can safely say that most members of the Parsha podcast community have never owned any slaves. I imagine that most of us never even had a servant. We certainly never employed a Jewish bondsman for six years. The law that opens our Parsha doesn’t seem to be very relevant to us today. But the first law that follows the Sinai Revelation is extremely pertinent to us. In fact, when you are finished listening to this Parsha podcast, you may credibly argue that this law – and the secrets it contains – is the most relevant and pertinent and powerful message of them all.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated by Sylvan Garfunkel in loving memory of both of his grandmothers Eve Goldmann צערלא בת יעקב and Tema Schwitzer טעמא בת דוד הלוי both of whose yahrtzeits are this week, the 21st and 27th of Shevat. May their souls be elevated in Heaven.

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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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Mishpatim – Blind Determination (5786)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:41 — 27.8MB)

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Immediately after the Sinai Revelation, the Torah begins telling us many of the laws. In this Parsha podcast we focus on two of the laws: the famous verse of “an eye for an eye”, and the requirement to aid your enemy when his donkey is struggling under its load. As is our mandate in year 8 of the Parsha Podcast, we go deep and deeper beneath the surface, trying to find insights and secrets beyond the text.

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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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#103: Fifth Order of Mishnah (Sacrifices)

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 43:31 — 19.9MB)

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Unfortunately, none of us have ever witnessed or participated in a sacrifice. Ever since the Temple was destroyed more than 1,950 years ago, our nation has been bereft of a central component of our religious life. Our nation, and truly the whole world, can only be in an optimal state when the presence of God resides in our midst. We hope and pray that the Temple will be restored and rebuilt on Temple Mount in Jerusalem very soon. Then we will merit to offer sacrifices: communal and personal, obligatory and optional, daily and episodic. In this edition of this podcast, we learn about the Fifth Order of the Mishnah: The Order of Sacrifices. Given that the subject may be quite foreign to us, the podcast begins with a brief survey of the various different explanations and rationales offered by our sages regarding why the Almighty instituted animal sacrifices as such a central component of the Torah. Listen and be informed.

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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 Mishpatim (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:05 — 27.0MB)

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Parshas Mishpatim marks a stark change in the rhythm and pace of the Torah narrative. The preceding 17 Parshas contained a total of 41 mitzvos; this week we begin learning the Torah laws en masse. In this single parsha alone we have 53 mitzvos (only three parshas have more mitzvos). Beyond the varied laws, this parsha contains a prophetic promise and guidance regarding the conquest of Canaan, and the completion of the Sinai narrative that began in last week’s parsha.

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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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Yisro – Beauty and the Priest

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:11 — 29.8MB)

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Parshas Yisro is a tale of two narratives. It begins with the dramatic arrival of Jethro, father-in-law of Moshe. He heard about all the miracles that the Almighty performed for the nation during the Exodus and decided to join the nation. The Parsha details his arrival together with Moshe’s wife and their two sons, the great honor lavished upon him by Moshe, and his definitive pronouncement that no pagan deity matches Almighty God. The next day, Jethro offered Moshe astute advice to institute a hierarchical, tiered system of judges, which Moshe adopted before Jethro departed back to his homeland. The second part details the most consequential and pivotal event in all of human history: The Sinai revelation, it’s run up and aftermath. At first glance, these narratives do not seem to be connected. But at the Parsha Podcast we never subsist with first glances. We go backstage.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory of David Ben David, the father of our dear friend Elise Kardos. May his soul be elevated in Heaven

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Parsha Podcast Jingle link – https://media.blubrry.com/rabbiwolbe/ins.blubrry.com/rabbiwolbe/pp_jingle.mp3

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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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#102: Fourth Order of Mishnah (Damages)

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 58:18 — 26.7MB)

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Human interactions can often times get messy. There are myriads of circumstances that require courts and judgements. The Fourth Order of Mishnah contains the books of law and judgement and, surprisingly, the authoritative work on ethics: Chapters of the Fathers (Pirkei Avos). This podcast will help you gain a brief overview on the Books of this Order, but never forget that this overview is barely scratching the surface. Very talented, intelligent, and diligent scholars in the yeshiva toil for years and years over a single one of these books. There is an infinite amount of wisdom in each one of these books. We are just getting the briefest of introductions.

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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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Yisro – Splitting the Heaven (5784)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 55:18 — 25.3MB)

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The arrival of Jethro, the preparation for Sinai, and the nature of the Sinai revelation – these are some of the subjects featured in our parsha. In this very special and atypically extemporaneous Parsha podcast, we offer four interesting ideas: one on the unique route that Jethro took to the truth; one on the particular form of pleasure that Torah bestows upon those who learn it; a supremely clever idea on the boundaries placed around Mount Sinai; and a fascinating observation on the splitting of the sea and the splitting of the heavens.

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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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Moshe’s Surprising Successor

Podcast: Download (Duration: 36:31 — 16.7MB)

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Mistakes are endemic to the human condition. All humans make mistakes. Even the titans of our history like Moshe, Aaron, and Joshua made mistakes. Only God is error-free. In this interesting – and maybe a tad controversial – podcast, we take a look at the unusual path of ascent of Moshe’s successor, Joshua. Joshua was not a flawless wunderkind who could do no wrong. In fact, in each one of the narratives surrounding Joshua in the Torah, we can find some sort of misstep that Joshua did. Evidently, Joshua’s path to ascent relied on those missteps, and his story shows us a different way to achieve transcendental greatness.

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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 Yisro (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:05:33 — 30.0MB)

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The most significant event in all of human history is the Revelation at Sinai, which occurs in Parshas Yisro. Prior to that monumental experience and the conveyance of the Ten Commandments, Moshe’s father in law, Jethro, arrived at the camp and makes an important suggestion for improving the efficiency of the judicial process.

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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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Beshalach – Horse and Rider

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:06:40 — 30.5MB)

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The nation emerged from Egypt triumphantly. Pharaoh was talking a big game. “Who is God that I should listen to him? I’m not going to release the Israelites!” But he was humbled before God one plague at a time. With the death of the firstborn at the stroke of midnight, Pharaoh buckled. He begged, he coaxed, he urged, he pleaded with the Israelites to leave. The coast is now clear. The enemies are behind us. Certainly, the entire nation expected smooth sailing. But Egypt reared its ugly head once again. The entire Parsha is a series of challenges that arose in the aftermath of the Exodus. Twice the nation was stranded without water, their food supply ran out as well, and they were attacked and ambushed by the nation of Amaleik. In this very special Parsha Podcast, we go backstage and learn several profound lessons about the nature and mechanism of transformative change, the process by which bitter is rendered sweet, and the unique and counterintuitive way that we can have cosmic influence.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Baruch Yochanan Ben Reb Ephraim Fischel, Dr. Bertram John Newman, dedicated by the Newman, Shapiro, Grossman, and Yudelson families. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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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