Category Archives: Podcasts

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Vayeishev – The Holy Hologram (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 50:47 — 23.2MB)

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Joseph is one of the greatest heroes of Jewish history. His greatest deed was when he resisted temptation and rebuffed the seductions of his master, Potiphar’s, wife. Our Sages tell us that thanks to this valorous deed, Joseph became the viceroy of Egypt and merited to sustain the entire world! The Midrash tells us that the Splitting of the Sea was due to Joseph’s gallantry. How did Joseph muster up the courage to resist the Yetzer Hara’s onslaught? The Talmud gives a very interesting answer.

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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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Chanukah Roundtable with the TORCH Podcasters

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:05:55 — 90.5MB)

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In preparation for the upcoming festival of Chanukah, the TORCH Podcasters gathered together in the TORCH Centre to discuss the upcoming days of light. Each of us shared an idea about Chanukah and how to make the most of these days. If you want to experience a convivial, collegial, conversation about Chanukah with the Podcasters of TORCH, now is your chance.

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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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Parshas Vayeishev (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:06:01 — 30.2MB)

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Parshas Vayeishev contains two intersecting, seemingly scandalous, storylines, that after all the dust has settled we can see are harbingers of the Messiah and Redemption: Joseph is hated by his brothers, and is eventually sold by them as a slave after they nearly killed him. By Parsha end, Joseph is languishing in an Egyptian prison after being falsely accused of attempted rape. Judah is also humbled in this week’s Parsha, after cohabiting with his daughter in law who masqueraded as a prostitute. In the moment, these scandals brought shame; but ultimately we can see the Divine Hand manipulating events to effectuate the salvation of the Jewish family and people.

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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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Vayishlach – Forefathers and Fouruncles

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:06:15 — 30.3MB)

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The story of the Forefathers is well known. The Fouruncles, less so. Intertwined in the story of our nation’s progenitors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis, is the story of our nation’s uncles, namely Lot, Ishmael, Laban, and Esau. These Fouruncles capture a large share of the narrative of Genesis. Why does the Torah expend so much attention to the Fouruncles? What is the avuncular message that we can draw from the repeated run-ins that the Forefathers have with the Fouruncles? In this interesting episode, we both invent a new word (Fouruncles) and discover a pattern that accompanied our Forefathers’ ascent to greatness, one that can be hugely beneficial for us too in our pursuit of greatness.

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TORCH Podcast testimonials

I am trying to assemble some testimonials to showcase the impact that the podcasts have on the listeners. I am asking everyone to send in a short audio or video clip, where they share how the podcasts impacted them. Would you be so kind as to send me a clip? Send me a Whatsapp or email it to me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

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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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Vayishlach – Unrequited Love (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 55:19 — 25.3MB)

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This a unique edition of The Parsha Podcast that you dont want to miss. Instead of the usual one big idea that we typically cover in a Parsha podcast, in this version there are FIVE groundbreaking insights that can change your life. We learn about a remarkable staff and its powers, about the pliability of sunshine hours, about the kabbalistic result of Dina’s encounter with Shechem, about the Torah’s view on prayer, and about the mysterious origin of Amaleik. This episode is a dandy.

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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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#63: Admission to the Afterlife

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:14:31 — 34.1MB)

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The term “Olam Haba” refers the world after the Resurrection, the world where there’s life with no death, where there is the dispensing of reward for those who adhere to the word of God. If we were to distill our life mission to one sentence it would be this sentence: our mission in this world is to earn admittance to Olam Haba. What does it take? What must we do to earn eligibility to the ultimate reward in Olam Haba? In this comprehensive podcast we offer the answer to that most critical question. Along the way we cover other related subjects, such as the relationship that we have with our spouses in Olam Haba, and the standing of Gentiles in Olam Haba, and the gradients of levels that we can achieve in Olam Haba, but the primary takeaway of this episode is to know exactly what you need to do to become a bearer of a Golden Ticket to Olam Haba.

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This TORAH 101 Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Aharon Ben Yosef, whose yahrzeit is today, the 11th of Kislev, the day that this podcast is released. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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 Vayishlach (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:57 — 27.9MB)

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After successfully escaping the clutches of his deceptive father in law, Laban, Jacob heads back west to the Land of Canaan, and back to his family. The journey back home was a lot more tumultuous and chaotic than anticipated.

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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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Vayeitzei – Holy Sheeple

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:04:09 — 29.4MB)

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A large section of our Parsha contains intricate descriptions of Jacob as a shepherd. Initially, he worked for Laban as a shepherd for 7 years for the rights to marry Laban’s younger daughter Rachel. When the 7 years concluded, Laban swindled him, giving Leah instead, only ceding Rachel after Jacob agreed to work as a shepherd for an additional 7 years. After 14 years, Jacob’s tenure as a shepherd continued: for six more years, Jacob served as Laban shepherd in exchange for pay, with all spotted and speckled sheep born to the flock being acquired by Jacob, and all monochromatic sheep remaining Laban’s.

What is the salience of the Torah’s protracted descriptions of Jacob as a shepherd? Why did Jacob seek the speckled and spotted sheep specifically and not the monochromatic sheep? Why does the Torah spend so much time discussing Jacob the shepherd? In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast we dive deep into the meaning and mystery of the sheep of Laban.

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The Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu, the head of the Bet Din in London and one of the most impactful and influential Rabbis in Europe over the last half century, who passed away last week. His passing is a huge loss for the Jewish communities of Europe and all the people who were fortunate enough to know him and have a relationship with him. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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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Vayeitzei – Laban’s Potion (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 41:23 — 18.9MB)

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As the father of all four of Jacob’s wives, Laban is in effect the father in law of the Jewish people. If we examine Laban’s story, he seems to have both qualities and shortcomings. He is constantly invoking God, he seems to be gracious and hospitable. But he also had a dark side. He is greedy and rapacious and deceptive, he is not exactly trustworthy. If we had to make an evaluation of Laban, he would get a mixed results. But the Torah’s verdict is much more stark: Laban is labeled as a super villain, worse than Pharaoh. In this podcast we speculate as to why Laban is so deadly.

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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 Vayeitzei (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:03:08 — 28.9MB)

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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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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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The Secret of the Month of Kislev with Rabbi Shmuly Botnick

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:16:58 — 35.2MB)

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The most noteworthy days of Month of Kislev are the days of Chanukah that begin on the 25th of Kislev and stretch into the following month of Teves. Chanukah celebrates the victory of the Jewish people over the Greeks and the restoration and the reinauguration of the Temple. But what is the secret of this month? On a deep, spiritual level, what exactly were the Greeks seeking and how did the Jews thwart them? In this exquisite podcast, Rabbi Shmuly Botnick weaves a masterful tapestry of Torah and Kabballah revealing the secret and the mystery of this month. He takes us on a riveting journey through some of the most consequential events of our history and shows how they all intersect and interconnect with the themes and energy of the month. If you want to plumb the depths of Kislev, join us for this thrilling, dizzying ride.

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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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