Category Archives: Podcasts

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The Six Impetuses for Repentance

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:42 — 28.7MB)

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Repentance draws a person out of darkness into eternal light. It transforms the penitent into a completely new person. But how exactly does repentance work? How do you repent? What are the various elements and facets of repentance? The authoritative book on these questions, Shaarei Teshuva, the Gates of Repentance, was written in the 13th century by Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona. In this special 10 days of repentance edition of the podcast, we explore the very profound and powerful section of this book that deals with the impetuses of repentance. Join us as we prepare for Yom Kippur and strive to improve ourselves with the power and the magic of repentance.

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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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Haazinu – Trees with 70 Branches

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 55:35 — 25.4MB)

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Parshas Hazinu is one of the most fascinating, poetic, and richly profound Parshas in the Torah. It is also arguably the most mysterious one. The majority of the Parsha is the Song of Haazinu, an intricate tapestry of prophecies that encapsulate the grand scope of Jewish history. The commentators on this Parsha strive to even understand the basic meaning of its words. In this penultimate episode of the 8th cycle of the Parsha podcast, focus on the commentary of the Ohr HaChaim. While we don’t go through the entirety of his magisterial commentary, we select five magnificent comments from this work. What we discover is an absolutely profound study of scope and depth and insight. I could think of know no finer way to end the Parsha podcast year of 5784 than to plumb into the depth of this song as explained by the legendary Ohr Hachaim.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in honor of our parents Drs. David and Susanne Gelb from the Gelb, Goldman and Shacknofsky families. Wishing them and all of Klal Yisrael a Shana Tova Umetuka, a good and sweet New Year. May this learning also be in merit of Meshulam ben David, Shayndel bat David, Avner ben Avraham HaCohen and Avraham ben Menachem Mendel HaKohen may their Neshamas have an Aliyah.

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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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The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day Two (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 54:36 — 25.0MB)

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On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the Torah section of Genesis chapter 22 that tells the very famous and quite troubling episode of the Binding of Isaac. Abraham – the same Abraham who railed against the ways of child sacrifice of the pagans – is instructed by God to take Isaac – the same Isaac who was declared as the one who will be Abraham’s true progeny – and offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. In this podcast we attempt to understand the many connections that this reading has with the themes and ideas of Rosh Hashana.

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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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The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day One (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:55 — 27.4MB)

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The Torah readings for the two days of Rosh Hashana were not arbitrarily chosen. There are very good reasons why on the first day of Rosh Hashana we read Genesis chapter 21, which tells of the conception and birth of Isaac, and the banishment of Ishmael, his brush with death, and his salvation. In this podcast we attempt to understand the many connections that this reading has with the themes and ideas of Rosh Hashana.

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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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Haazinu – Torrential Torah (5782)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 44:01 — 20.1MB)

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The Song of Haazinu, the third of three Songs on the Torah, tells the story of the Jewish people, past, present, and future. It speaks of high points and nadirs, this world and the next, devastation and reclamation. In this podcast we examined the Song’s beginning. Moshe compares his words and his speech to rain, dew, stormy, windy, showers, and soft droplets. Our Sages explained that Torah is comparable to the many varieties of rain and precipitation. What is Torah all about? How do we benefit from it? Why can’t we always see it’s impact? What is at stake as we approach Torah study? This sweeping episode we survey the many ways in which Torah is related to the many varieties of precipitation.

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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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The Gates of Repentance

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:27 — 23.1MB)

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The Ten Days of Repentance are upon us. In just a few days is the Day of Judgment, Rosh Hashanah. These powerful high holidays culminate with the climax of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. What exactly is repentance though? How are we supposed to think about repentance? In this very special podcast, we study a few sections of the most foundational book on repentance, the Gates of Repentance, authored in the 13th century by Rabbi Yonah of Girona. Although we only cover a tiny fraction of this magisterial book, we gain a flavor of this seminal work that will recast our understanding of repentance and will elevate the High Holidays. Though this book is not for the faint of heart, it is very powerful and transformational.

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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 Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:00 — 26.6MB)

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Still in the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys to the nation a 43-verse Song predicting the contours of Jewish history, both past, present, and future. The patterns are familiar to the readers of Deuteronomy and even casual observers and students of Jewish history: The nation is recipients of tremendous divine goodness, yet they become corpulent and rebel against God. Consequently, God allows the nations to feast upon the people, but despite the harsh and painful torment and suffering, we continue to exist. The Song ends with a vivid description of the Messianic reclamation.

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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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God’s Cherished Possessions (6:10)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 43:25 — 19.9MB)

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God owns everything. He created everything and owns it all. But there are some things that God cherishes above others. Our Mishnah describes five cherished possessions of God. These five are uniquely beloved by Him. They are what He “acquired.”

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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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Nitzavim Vayeilech – Like Clockwork

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 49:57 — 22.9MB)

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We are not machines. We are humans. And that’s messy. We have all sorts of struggles doing the right thing. We are influenced by a myriad of impulses, inclinations, and predispositions. We don’t operate like clockwork. There are other things that always follow a prescribed pattern: The sun always rises in the East and sets in the West. The sun’s reliability is unfailing. The Earth is also completely predictable: It sprouts what you plant. None of us would ever compare fickle humans to the Sun or the heavens or the Earth. But Moshe does. In this profound Parsha podcast, we explore a fascinating and apparently inexplicable demand that Moshe places before us prior to his passing.

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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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Vayeilech – Career Capstone (5782)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 45:31 — 20.8MB)

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On the last day of Moshe’s life, he accomplished a lot. He wrote 13 copies of the Torah, one per tribe and one to be permanently stationed in or near the Ark, he spoke words of comfort to the people, and he formally passed the baton of leadership of the nation to his disciple and successor, Joshua. When we study the Torah’s description of Moshe’s final die, we discover an interesting pattern that appears one other place in the Torah, a discovery that reveals a new insight into the lives and purpose of the great exemplars of our past.

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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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Nitzavim – The Penitent Manifesto (5782)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:10 — 27.5MB)

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Repentance is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. When we blunder; when we err; when we create distance and barriers between us and God, we are afforded the ability to rectify and restore our previous pristine state. But repentance, at first glance, seems nightmarishly hard. To change demands an admission that we are flawed; to change demands action which we are always biased against; to change demands that we overcome our instincts and ingrained habits. In this very special pre-Rosh Hashanah podcast, we explore the 40 verses of our Parsha and present them as a manifesto for the penitent. In the podcast we learn of a new way to view the entire subject of repentance, and by extension, a new approach to change.

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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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SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

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SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts