Category Archives: Parsha

Shemos – True Kinship

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 31:58 — 14.6MB)

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In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we read through Ramban’s introduction to the Book of Exodus, and we examine the special fraternal relationship of Moses and Aaron by contrasting it with the relationships of siblings in Genesis and by demonstrating how their close could have imperiled the Exodus from Egypt.

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This parsha podcast is dedicated in honor of our cousins, Jason and Reesa Friedman. Thank you for your support, friendship, and encouragement!

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts

Vayechi – The Unexpected Hero

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 31:56 — 14.6MB)

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In this special edition of the Parsha podcast, we share several observations and insights on the parsha relating to pedagogical theory and the lengths to which the righteous conceal the misdeeds of others, we ask an interesting question on the episode of Jacob crossing over his hands when blessing his grandsons, and discuss a theme with valuable lessons that appears twice in the Parsha.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated In honor of Yehuda Savitsky’s 90th birthday. Yehuda is a dear personal friend and a longtime friend of TORCH, and we all wish him many happy returns!

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah: Apple Podcasts

Vayeishev – Earning Your Stripes

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 33:21 — 15.3MB)

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A reappearing theme of this week’s parsha is garments: Joseph’s brothers envy is engendered by a garment; the brothers deceive Jacob by presenting him with a garment; When mourning, Jacob and Reuben rip their garments; Tamar disguised herself by swapping her garment; Joseph is imprisoned when he loses his garment. In this podcast we suggest a way of stringing together these threads into a very useful and powerful insight. Is it true that clothes make the man?

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

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This Parsha Podcast is sponsored by Jeremy Love in loving memory of his mother, Myra Rousso, Miriam bat Chaim v’Sarah, whose first yahrzeit is the 21st of Kislev. May her soul merit an ascension in Heaven.

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Vayishlach – Getting A Divine Deposit

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 34:10 — 15.6MB)

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This week’s parsha podcast features three powerful ideas: One relating to God giving Jacob a very unusual nickname; one that follows the aftermath of the episode of Dinah; and one relating to the different names assigned to Esav’s wife.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Vayeitzei – Cornerstones of the Nation

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 33:31 — 15.3MB)

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Throughout the parsha, there are many references to a stone or stones. Jacob surrounds himself with stones for protection; he pours oil on a stones; he consecrates a stone for the Temple; a large stone is covering a well, and Jacob removes the stone; and at the parsha’s end, Jacob and Laban strike a deal and erect a stone monument and a stone mound. In this podcast, we try to decipher the meaning behind all these stone references and draw out the lessons that they contain.

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Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Vayeitzei (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:03:40 — 29.1MB)

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Parshas Vayeitzei follows Jacob as he is fleeing from his murderous brother Esau and travels to Charan to the house of Laban, his wily and deceptive uncle, and marries multiple wives and fathers 12 children.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor of Alan and Phyllis Kritz. Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and friendship.

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Toldos – Breaking Barriers

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 28:12 — 12.9MB)

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After nearly two decades of infertility, Isaac and Rebecca conceive, but something does not feel right. Whenever Rebecca passes a house of Torah, she feels her baby stir and get all excited as if he wants to be born. Seemingly, her child is drawn to holiness. Yet when Rebecca passes a temple of idolatry, the same thing happens. What is going on? To resolve her dilemma Rebecca visits the prophet who tells her that she is pregnant with twins, one who is drawn to Torah and one who is drawn to sin. This podcast discusses a very interesting philosophical problem with this narrative and what it implies.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory of Reyna Hiller who passed away a few months back at the untimely age of 33, leaving behind her husband and 8 yo son. May she merit an ascension in Heaven and may the Almighty provide comfort to her family

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Toldos (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:06:32 — 30.5MB)

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In Parshas Toldos we meet twin boys that are polar opposites: Esau, beloved by his father Isaac, is a man of the fields; while Jacob is loved by his mother Rebecca and prefers to dwell in the tents of scholarship. These two children will spawn nations and ideals that diverged from each other even before they were born.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Chayei Sara – The Four Ways to Die

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 26:53 — 12.3MB)

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This podcast contains two ideas on Parshas Chayei Sara. First, we examine the Torah’s unusual description of Sarah’s location of death. Then we probe the identity and nickname of Abraham’s second wife, Keturah.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Parshas Chayei Sara (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 56:23 — 25.8MB)

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Some of the highlights of this week’s parsha: Immediately after the Binding of Isaac, Sarah passed away at the age of 127, and soon afterward Abraham had to procure a burial spot for her. In addition, Abraham sent his trusted confidante, Eliezer, to his hometown to find a spouse for Isaac.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Vayeira – Abraham’s Failures?

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 33:41 — 15.4MB)

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A casual reading of our parsha would give the impression that Abraham fails at everything he tries: He tries to feed guests, yet we find out that they are angels who need no food; He tries valiantly to save Sodom and Gomorrah, yet God overturns the city nonetheless; He tries to find safety and sustenance; yet his wife taken by the local ruler; He tries to raise his son Ishmael well, yet has to banish him; He tries to sacrifice his son, yet he is not even allowed to make a small incision. In this podcast we offer an explanation for this bizarre phenomenon.

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This Parsha Podcast in sponsored in honor of David and Suzanne Gelb by their loving children, and we thank them for their support of TORCH!

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Lech Lecha – How Small Steps Yield Huge Results + New TORCH Initiative

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 27:53 — 12.8MB)

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This week’s Parsha orients around our patriarch, Abraham, and more specifically his 10 tests that formed his spiritual makeup, and more broadly the spiritual fabric of our nation. In this podcast, we dwell on the first of those tests – when Abraham is commanded to abandon his homeland and travel to Canaan/Israel.

To participate in the TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover Initiative, please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!