Category Archives: Podcasts

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#101: Third Order of Mishnah (Women)

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:00:06 — 27.5MB)

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A great corpus of Torah law governs the relationships between men and women. The Second Order of Mishnah contains books on the initiation of marriage, on marital responsibilities, on the annulment of marriage via divorce, on the suspected adulteress, and on levirate marriages. The Order also contains two seemingly unrelated books: a book on vows and oaths and a book on the laws of a Nazir. In this podcast we explore the nature of these books, and earn some basic literacy in this massive portion of Oral Torah.

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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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Parshas Ki Seitzei (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:01:03 — 27.9MB)

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In the parsha that contains the most mitzvos of any of the 54 Torah sections (a staggering 74 mitzvos), we read about the wayward and rebellious son, the requirement to build a fence around your roof to prevent tragedy, two episodes that we are mandated to remember, and many, many more interesting and insightful mitzvos.

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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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Shoftim – Crown Jewels

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 57:10 — 26.2MB)

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Many of us secretly harbor the belief the we would make a fine president. Leading a nation sounds like a cushy job: armies of aides at your beck and call, ready to execute your agenda and vision. Kings have truly unlimited power. They don’t have term limits. There are no checks and balances to weaken their power. Jewish Kings however are subject to God. The Torah limits their powers and checks their authority. They must be subservient to their Creator and must exemplify humility. In this wonderful and provocative Parsha podcast, we explore the fascinating subject of a Jewish King and share a very controversial and surprising insight on the attribute of humility.

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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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Shoftim – Crisper Genes (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 49:20 — 22.6MB)

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The nation is on the doorstep of Canaan. In our Parsha, the people are instructed in how they must treat the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. It’s not pleasant. The people are told that they must engage in total war against these nations. How do we understand the requirement to be so violent and aggressive towards the Canaanite nations? What about the Canaanites who opt to join the nation? What is their status? In this podcast, we first explore the general notion of how to understand the Torah’s instructions regarding the Canaanite policy, and then we explore a very interesting thread about the power of behavior and how it can get embedded in the spiritual DNA that we transmit to our descendants.

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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 Cheat Sheet

Podcast: Download (Duration: 47:48 — 21.9MB)

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Preparing for the High Holidays can be daunting. How can anyone adequately prepare for standing in judgment in front of the Heavenly tribunal? But prepare we must. The month of Elul is designated for preparing for the awesome days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Our Sages took these days very seriously and were completely immersed in preparation. But we are regular people, ordinary, common folk. Is there something that we can do to prepare? Is there a cheat sheet to simplify Elul? Is there a way to distill this month to its essence? In this wonderful podcast we share the three main pillars of this month and learn the ways how even us lay people can have an immensely productive and powerful Elul.

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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 Shoftim (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:20 — 27.6MB)

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This week we learn the laws governing all kinds of leaders: The parsha begins by detailing the laws of judges, the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court, and what happens to rebellious judges; we read about the unique laws related to kings; there are more laws pertaining to the Kohanim; and we find the means of vetting professed prophets and what happens to the six kinds of false prophets.

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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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Reeh – Path Independence

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:15 — 27.6MB)

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We like to maintain optionality and delay decisions if possible. The idea of being pigeonholed into one path irks us. But Moshe tells the nation that we must make a choice: “Behold I have placed before you today a blessing and curse.” The path of blessing is the total acceptance and adherence to God and His word. The path of curse is the repudiation of God and His Torah. In this very special edition of the Parsha podcast, we argue that the choice of which path to take exists on two fronts. There are two choices of which path to take. There are two forks in the road. Neither choice is easy, but one is decidedly less easy than the other.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in the merit of a successful surgery for Moshe Ben Dalya. We hope to hear only good news from him.

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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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Reeh – Making Dough (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 43:30 — 19.9MB)

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The Parsha ends with a delineation of the festivals. When discussing Passover, the verse notes that for 7 days we eat matzah because we left Egypt within great haste. The Exodus was so rapid and frantic, that the dough that we had been preparing was unable to rise and we did not have fluffy, puffy bread. Why is this trivial factoid so central to the Exodus and the festival that commemorates and relives it? What is so noteworthy about the dough having insufficient time to rise? Why did the accident happen during baking time? In this parsha podcast, we explore the Exodus on a deep level, and draw out a foundational lesson about living life alongside our Creator.

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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: Month of Personal Reinvention

Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:06 — 21.1MB)

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We are on the doorstep of the month of mercy, the month that precedes the high holidays, the month of Elul. The high holidays are very significant and auspicious days, and it is imperative that we prepare for them. How ought we prepare? What are the particular points of emphasis that we should stress during these days? In this podcast we are guided by a chapter in my grandfather Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe’s classic work, Alei Shur. This chapter is titled “month of mercy” and can be found in Volume 2, section 3, chapter 12, page 413.

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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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Parshas Reeh (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:30 — 27.7MB)

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This week’s parsha marks a transition in the Book of Deuteronomy: it is no longer primarily about admonishment and rebuke and warnings, instead we read a bevy of mitzvos – some repetitions and some new ones that have hitherto not been mentioned.

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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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Eikev – Tefillin’ Good

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:20:20 — 36.8MB)

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This is a very special episode of the Parsha podcast. Exactly 5 years ago, the Parsha podcast began a streak of producing a brand new episode each week. With the unending help of the Almighty, we haven’t missed in five years. To celebrate this momentous accomplishment, we tackled a very ambitious project: our Parsha contains the fourth and final paragraph included in the Tefillin. Both the Head-Tefillin and the Arm-Tefillin contain this paragraph. When we explore the subject of Tefillin, we find that it is unique in several unprecedented ways. In this wonderful podcast, we enumerate some of the very interesting features of this wonderful mitzvah, and suggest an approach to understand it and to make our performance of it more meaningful and productive.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in the merit of the complete and total recovery of Toba Rivka bas Chaya Miriam, a recently born baby who is in the NICU with multiple health issues and in need of our prayers. May Toba Rivka bas Chaya Miriam merit a complete and speedy Refuah Sheleima.

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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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