Category Archives: Podcasts

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Olah Sacrifice (#115)

Podcast (mitzvah): Download (Duration: 31:26 — 14.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Sacrifices constitute and important part of Jewish life and practice. Absent the Temple, we cannot offer sacrifices, but we can study them. In this episode we look at the Olah (Elevation) sacrifice.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Toldos – Esav’s Fatal Flaw (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 38:18 — 17.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Jacob’s twin brother Esav is one of the worst villains in Jewish history. He seems to be an unending litany of bad character. Our parsha ends with Esav dead set on committing fratricide by actually murdering his own brother. Esav is just one bad apple. But is it possible that things could have ended up differently for him? Is it possible that Esav could have become a great hero of Jewish history? In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast we suggest a counterfactual way that Esav could have become someone very great, and we isolate the reason why he failed.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Parshas Toldos (Rebroadcast)

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

Subscribe: RSS

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.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Chayei Sarah – Eulogizing A Giant

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 46:31 — 21.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas my dear friend and study partner David Gedaliah ben Efraim, Dr. David Genecov obm.

Dr. Genecov was a dear personal friend, a weekly study partner of mine, a stalwart supporter of TORCH, and a dedicated listener of the Parsha Podcast and all the other podcasts that we do, who sadly passed away – tragically and shockingly – in a car accident a few days ago.

Our Parsha begins with the death, eulogy, and burial of Sarah – Our parsha contains the first eulogy in the Torah – and I want to dedicate this Parsha Podcast episode to a Eulogy for David Genecov. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.

David and I in Dallas a few weeks before his untimely passing

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Chayei Sarah – Portal to Paradise (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 39:58 — 18.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Torah dedicates an unusually large amount of verses in the beginning of this week’s parsha to describe a real estate transaction between Abraham and a gentleman named Ephron. Sarah has passed and Abraham seeks to buy Ephron’s cave to inter her in. Initially, Ephron acts with supposed generosity and offers it to Abraham for free. But Abraham insists on paying for it, and ultimately pays an exorbitant fee for the cave. Why does the Torah spend so much time on this transaction? In this special episode we probe the meaning and mystery of the Cave of the Patriarchs.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Parshas Chayei Sara (Rebroadcast)

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

Subscribe: RSS

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.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Vayeira – The Struggle Is Real

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 57:38 — 26.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

How do we respond when we are faced with challenges? What are we supposed to think when the path before us seems unsteady and laden with dangers? Our Parsha contains some of the most memorable and iconic stories of the whole Torah. It begins with the single greatest documented episode of hospitality, and it ends with the greatest test ever foisted upon man, the Binding of Isaac. In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we draw an insight from each of these stories and develop them into a unified theory of life and the pursuit of greatness.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory of Emmanuel Osei. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Vayeira – Abraham’s Three Protégés (5781)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 44:09 — 20.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Abraham was the most influential person in human history. He changed the tides of history, he popularized Monotheism in the world, he is the father of many nations, and fittingly his story is told at considerable length in the Torah. In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast we study his relationship and interactions with his three closest students: Lot, Eliezer, and Isaac. When we study Abraham’s impact on these three, we discover three different type of disciples and three different type of tutelage.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Anointment Oil (#107-9)

Podcast (mitzvah): Download (Duration: 15:07 — 6.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Before the inauguration of the Tabernacle, Moshe was told to concoct a special anointment oil to be used for the anointment of Aaron and his priest sons and for all the Temple components, vessels, and accoutrements.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Parshas Vayeira (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:07:14 — 30.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This week’s parsha features several iconic episodes: Abraham was visited by God as he was recuperating from his circumcision, and concurrently engaged in superlative kindness with three angels masquerading as pagan travelers; Abraham was informed that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed and was unsuccessful in interceding on their behalf; and we also read the two Torah sections that are read on the two days of Rosh Hashana: The episode of the birth of Isaac and the subsequent banishment of Ishmael, and the story of the Binding of Isaac.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

Lech Lecha – A Lot of Testing

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:32 — 26.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Abraham was the most consequential human in all of history. He began the process of fixing the world and humanity. Amid a cesspool of idolatry, Abraham emerged as a beacon of faith. When the entire world had forgotten about its Creator, Abraham restored faith in God to the world. Our Parsha follows Abraham in his journey. How did the son of a idol wholesaler from the city of Ur become the father of many nations? What was the process by which Abraham became the greatest giant among people? Why didn’t any of Abraham’s relatives join him for this journey? In this very special podcast we accompany Abraham along his fateful Odyssey, noting the various stages of his journey, learning what it entailed and why others weren’t quite up to the task.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

This Parsha Podcast for Parshas Lech Lecha is dedicated in honor of my dear friend and dedicated listener of the Parsha Podcast, Dr. David Genecov, whose Torah portion for his bar Mitzvah was Parshas Lech Lecha. On behalf of the entire Parsha Podcast family, we wish him many happy, joyous, healthful and harmonious returns to Parshas Lech Lecha and may the Almighty bestow upon him endless blessings.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts