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Parshas Eikev (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:14 — 27.1MB)

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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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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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Defanged Demons (5:8)

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In the final installment of the series of Tens, our Mishnah reveals to us the ten things that were created at twilight of Friday during the week of Genesis. What is the deeper meaning of twilight? What is unique about these seemingly random mix of things that were created then? In this very interesting Mishnah we learn about an ironclad principle of what people today call, “The law of conservation of mass.”

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jun 23, 2021

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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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Vaeschanan – Two of Hearts

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:06:38 — 30.5MB)

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Even believers are incapable of understanding God. It’s supremely logical to observe that our wonderful world – our wonderful universe – certainly had a Creator, but how can we connect with God? How can we develop a relationship with Him? In our Parsha, we are commanded to develop emotions of love and fear towards God, emotions that ought to be expressed when performing mitzvos. But how can we love God when we mortal, finite humans are inherently precluded from even understanding the Infinite? In this wonderful, if text and source heavy, podcast, we learn about the secret of love (of God), sometimes known as the secret of two hearts.

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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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Vaeschanan – Jordan Rules (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:08 — 27.1MB)

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As a result of Moshe’s sin of striking the rock, he was barred from crossing over the Jordan River and entering the Land of Canaan. In Moshe’s speech to the nation, he recounts how he petitioned God to have this decree rescinded. When studying Moshe’s prayer to enter the Land, we discover several incredible insights about the nature of prayer, the efficacy of prayer, and what it takes to accomplish world-changing things.

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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 Vaeschanan (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:04:11 — 29.4MB)

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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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Biblical Longevity

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We all want to live long. But how long is a long life? Centenarians are still rare. Global life expectancy is around 70 years old. In healthier, richer countries, maybe 80. But when you open up Scripture, you find ages an order of magnitude larger. Adam lived to 930. Methuselah to 969. How do we understand the radical difference in the ages of the ancients? What changed from then till now? Why did God shrink the average life expectancy? This question intrigued many of our sages, and in this very fun and interesting podcast, we explore some of the ideas that they shared.

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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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Concentric Realms of Holiness (5:7)

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For 800+ years our nation had a Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was a special place. It contained the vessels described in Scripture, it was the site of annual, national pilgrimages, it is where the high priest did the Yom Kippur service each year, it was the epicenter of the nation and it’s rebuilding has been the national yearning of our people for the last 1950 years. The Mishnah tells us that the Temple was grounds for ever-present, ongoing miracles. 10 miracles to be precise. Why was the Temple the place where miracles happened? What is the lesson for us who have never seen the temple? In this Ethics podcast we ponder the essence of the Temple, what it stood for, and how it’s miracles pertain to us.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jun 7, 2021

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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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Devarim – Wellsprings of Beer

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:16 — 27.6MB)

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There are many levels of Torah. There are many ways to acquire Torah, 48 by the calculation of our Sages. The human with the greatest understanding of Torah was obviously Moshe, the one who received Torah directly from God. In our Parsha we get a stunning description of the profound depth of Moshe’s understanding of Torah. When we plumb the matter further, we discover all sorts of secrets. There are actually 50 dimensions of Torah. The 48 ways to acquire Torah are only for the first 48 levels. Moshe’s understanding went to the 49th level. Each level is a profound wellspring, be’er (באר) in Hebrew.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor of the person without whom there would never have been a Parsha Podcast. In honor of my mother, she should live and be well, on the occasion of her milestone birthday. May you have many more happy returns in good health. May Hashem send you a complete and total refuah Sheleimah, and may we gather for your next milestone birthday in happiness and harmony.

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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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Faith and Fear (5:6)

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Fear of God and Faith in God are both laudable qualities worthy of great people. Both, of course, are mitzvos as well. Which one is loftier? At first glance, fear of God can only be built upon an edifice of faith and thus it would be a loftier level. But when we examine the issue critically, we find something very surprising.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jun 1, 2021

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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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Devarim – Middling East (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 57:25 — 26.3MB)

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In his speech to the Nation, Moshe revisits the episode of the Spies that occurred 39 years prior. When the nation was on the verge of entering the Land, Moshe commissioned 12 distinguished men to reconnoiter the Land and to share their findings with the nation. It was a debacle and a fiasco. As a result of the report, the nation abandoned hopes to enter the land. They became defeatist and lapsed in their faith. As a result, the nation was condemned to remain in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, when the nation is on the verge of entering the land once again, Moshe revisits this story. In his retelling, he reveals some startling details that completely upend our understanding of this pivotal event. In this Parsha Podcast we study and probe the shocking accusation that the nation made as a consequence of the Spies’ report.

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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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Miracles at the Sea (5:5)

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Ten is a very significant number in Jewish numerology and philosophy. The previous teachings in this chapter revolve around tens and the present Mishnah teaches that the Exodus was marked by a series of ten miracles for the Jews and ten plagues for the Egyptians whilst in Egypt and ten additional miracles for the Jews and ten additional plagues for the Egyptians at the splitting of the sea. What are these miracles and what is the significance of them happening twice?

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Apr 26, 2021

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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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