Category Archives: Parsha

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!

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

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.

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

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!

Noach – How to Become a Tzadik

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 29:01 — 13.3MB)

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Only one man is classified by the Torah as a “Tzadik”, the eponymous hero of our Parsha, Noah. “Tzadik” is generally translated as “righteous” or “upstanding”. Why doesn’t the Torah apply that appellation to other great figures, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Moses?

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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!

Bereishis – Ramban’s Introduction to the Torah

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 30:25 — 13.9MB)

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In his introduction to Torah, Ramban discusses some of the most critical questions about the Torah: He discusses the Torah’s authorship and its writing process; the nature of its content; and the various dimensions of the Torah.

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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 VeZos HaBeracha + Plans for Year 4 of the Parsha Podcast

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 53:23 — 24.4MB)

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The final parsha of the Torah details the blessings that Moshe conveyed to the tribes of Israel immediately prior to his passing, and the Torah ends with the description of the death, burial, and eulogy of Moshe. At the beginning of this episode, we also detail the plans for the fourth year of the Parsha podcast.

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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!