Reeh – Steak Your Claim (5782)

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Systematic Studying (6.6.47)

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The penultimate way to wisdom offered by our sages instructs us to be systematic in our studies. What exactly does this mean? In this very special Ethics Podcast, we offer three different interpretations. Listen carefully if you want to give a boost to your studies and your connection with your Creator.

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Parshas Reeh (Rebroadcast)

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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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Eikev – Shock and Awe

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:08:18 — 31.3MB)

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Flashy achievements make the news. Great triumphs, awesome deeds, transcendent moments grab our attention and seize our imagination. Humdrum acts fail to stir excitement. But when we are devising a strategy for how to prepare our ladder of ascension, it may be ill-advised to pursue quantum leaps of greatness. In fact the most effective process to transformative greatness is slow and gradual and dotted with seeming unremarkable, bite-sized micro movements up a very tall ladder. This idea is hinted to in Rashi’s first comment to our Parsha. When we analyze other parts of the Parsha, we see a variety of angles as to why the slow and unremarkable path is optimal. In this wonderful Parsha podcast, we also take deep and penetrating dive into the mysterious and esoteric world of the nature first set of tablets that Moshe and brought down from heaven, their shattering, and their pending reclamation.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor of a new baby – Mason Robert Seidman, the first grandchild of my dear friend Bruce Licht. May young Mason bring pride and joy to his family, community, and Creator.

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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 – Well-Heeled (5782)

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If the Almighty promises to give you a blessing, your ears should perk up. If God promises to give you abundance, health, prosperity, fertility, security, and all manner of blessing, your question should be – what must I do to be deserving of this? Our Parsha begins with such a promise. In the event that we steadfastly and here to a certain category of mitzvos, the Almighty promises to give us all these blessings. The precise identity of the mitzvos that engender those blessings is somewhat obscure. In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we explore what our Sages mean when they talk about “mitzvos that people tend to trample upon with their heels.” If we follow their guidance, we will emerge well-heeled in more ways than one.

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Sharpening Teachers (6.6.46)

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Teachers are usually pretty talented. They’re usually gifted, knowledgeable, intelligent, and well-studied. In way to wisdom # 46 we learn how a student should strive to make their teacher even sharper and wiser. By upgrading our teachers, we ourselves become wiser along the way.

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Parshas Eikev (Rebroadcast)

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We pick up where we left off last week amid Moshe’s speech to the nation before his passing, and as in the previous few weeks, Parshas Eikev is jam packed with insights and timeless lessons. Moshe pivots between looking back on the conduct of the nation in the preceding 40 years and admonishing them for their misdeeds, and gazing forward to the conquest of Canaan and the secrets to making their settlement peaceful, prosperous, and secure.

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Vaeschanan – Get a Life

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Moshe was Joshua’s teacher. By any measure, Moshe was a greater leader of the nation than Joshua was. Moshe was the sun to Joshua’s moon. But Moshe was unable to lead the nation across the Jordan; a feat that Joshua pulled off. How did Joshua the acolyte manage to outshine and upstage the master? That question is the first of two subjects addressed in this week’s Parsha podcast. To find out the other one you will have to listen for yourself.

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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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Vaeschanan – Linked to Sinai (5782)

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Although he was the paradigmatic leader of all time, Moshe was barred from crossing the Jordan River and entering the Land. Joshua his student was to succeed him and lead the Nation into the Promised Land. Why was Moshe not allowed to enter? For the sin of striking the rock instead of speaking to it. Our Parsha begins with Moshe retelling how he pleaded with God, without success, to have this decree revoked. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast we explore the intricacies of the question of Moshe entering the Land, learn the essence of our personal relationship with Torah, and discover the critical – life and death – importance of the relationship between Torah teacher and student.

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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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Studying with Intentionality (6.6.44-45)

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What are our intentions when we study? What are we trying to achieve? If we are studying the Almighty’s Torah simply as an exercise in theoretical, abstract learning, we are missing the essence of Torah. In these two ways to wisdom, we learned about the imperative to study with intentionality and the different types of motivation for Torah study. We can upgrade our wisdom simply by tweaking the goal of our studies.

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Parshas Vaeschanan (Rebroadcast)

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This week’s parsha continues Moshe’s monologue to the nation in the weeks preceding his passing. He begins by recounting his repeated efforts in trying to convince God to rescind His decree that Moshe not enter the Land; Moshe then begins the retelling of the Torah; and we read many warnings and predictions about proper behavior and the consequences of abandoning Torah and mitzvos. This is a parsha replete with iconic verses and big themes!

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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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Devarim – Citizen of Heaven

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A year after the Exodus Moshe dispatched a contingency of dignified men to scout the land of Canaan prior to the Nation’s invasion. It was a catastrophic debacle. The scouts returned with a devastating, slanderous report about the Land, prompting the nation to bewail needlessly all night, and condemning the nation to 40 years of wondering in the Wilderness. The day of the return of the scouts was designated for misfortune. On this day, the ninth day of the month of Av, both temples were destroyed. The Midrash tells us that there is a causal link: because the nation cried needlessly on this night, they were condemned to cry for a very good reason on this night. What is the connection between the sin of the spies and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple? In this this Parsha podcast., we explore the verses in our Parsha that hearken back to that calamitous, catastrophic reconnoitering of the land.

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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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