Category Archives: Podcasts

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#107: Created in the Image of God

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 41:45 — 19.1MB)

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“And God made man in His image. In the image of God (Elokim) He made him.” The majority of the secrets of the Kabbalistic esoterica are hidden in these cryptic words, but the magisterial work, Nefesh HaChaim, authored by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, begins by explaining a profound understanding of these words. There is indeed some overlap between man and God. God is the source of all power, the source of all vitality, and He endowed man with some of that power. We have the ability to move worlds. We have the ability to make cosmic transformation. In this very special episode, we begin our study of this fundamental work of Torah philosophy. What we learn radically reshapes our perspective of what man is and what impact man has.

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Vayikra – Cainitis and Abelitis (5784)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 37:21 — 17.1MB)

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Sacrifices. Who is excited?? We embark on the Book of Leviticus with a bang. We learn three marvelous lessons from our Parsha: The subtle summons of God; how to remedy a bad case of Cainitis and Abelitis; and the Secret of the Shelamim.

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How to Conquer the Anger Impulse

Podcast: Download (Duration: 36:21 — 16.6MB)

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None of us admire the people who lose it in a fit of rage. We like we look up to the people who are calm, cool and collected. The people who comport themselves with dignity and nobility and are always in control of themselves. Rage is not a productive attribute. People don’t accomplish things when they lose themselves. From a spiritual vantage point, with the worst of the worst: it’s adjacent to heresy, and many types of purgatory control those who are always angry. But what’s the solution? How does someone control their anger? Is it possible to control completely? Is it possible to eliminate it entirely? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. In this podcast, you will learn the secret of fishing impulses of anger. Are you ready for the challenge?

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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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Laver of Love

Podcast: Download (Duration: 38:15 — 17.5MB)

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The Laver was one of the vessels in the Tabernacle. It was a copper basin that housed water that was emitted from spouts. The priests would wash their hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle and before doing any service in the Tabernacle. Our sages reveal some very interesting things about the origin of this copper, the use of this vessel, and a very interesting disagreement that Moshe had with God about the Laver. What we discover can materially transform and improve our life.

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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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Loving Straightness (6.6.33) + 2026 TORCH Fundraiser

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 35:05 — 16.1MB)

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The 2026 annual TORCH fundraiser is happening right now at giveTORCH.org.

Every donation is doubled at giveTORCH.org.

Every donation is matched at giveTORCH.org

Please support TORCH and the Parsha Podcast with a generous contribution right now at giveTORCH.org.

Give what you can give at giveTORCH.org and ensure that the Parsha Podcast and the other great work of TORCH continues in 2026.

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Straightness is a virtue. Straightness means to be proper and upstanding in all of your conduct. It means doing what’s proper and just and good. It also references thinking. Straight, sensible, logical, clear, cogent thinking is better than crooked thinking. Way number 33 to wisdom is about this virtue.

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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 Vayikra (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 52:10 — 23.9MB)

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In Parshas Vayikra, the first Torah section in The Book of Leviticus, we learn about the processes and procedures of many different varieties of sacrifices: There are three different types of elevation offerings; three types of peace-offerings; six types of meal-offerings; and numerous sin and guilt offerings. Our exploration of the parsha begins with a survey of several of the classic explanations for the notion of animal sacrifices in general.

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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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Vayakhel Pekudei – Golden Talents

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 59:16 — 27.1MB)

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The latter half of the Book of Exodus is almost exclusively oriented around the Tabernacle. In this week’s double Parsha, the nation executes the plans given to Moshe. It begins with a fundraising drive. The nation is offer the opportunity to contribute the 15 different materials needed for the Tabernacle. Fourteen of the fifteen materials are indeed donated by the nation. The last one is a bit of a mystery that we try to unpack in this edition of the Parsha Podcast. That is only the beginning of the mystery-deciphering. This show ends with us taking a stab at the greatest mystery of them all.

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This Parsha podcast is dedicated to the honor and success of Noam Yitzhak ben Shlomi. May he succeed and flourish in all that he does.

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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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Vayakhel: The Third Path (5784)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 53:00 — 24.3MB)

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There are three ways to achieve transcendental greatness: There is the path of intense practice and training in your desired field of excellence; there is the path of Bezalel who was endowed with supernatural abilities and preordained to greatness; and there is a third path — the path of the ascension of heart. In our Parsha we learn about people who accomplished otherworldly things: Bezalel and his army of lieutenants built the Mishkan and its many vessels and accouterments. A deep study of the subject reveals that Bezalel and his volunteer helpers took different paths. In this Parsha Podcast we study the Third Path.

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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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#105: Post-Mishnaic Development of Oral Torah

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 48:08 — 22.0MB)

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The Mishnah was at the end of the canonization of the Oral Torah. The Tosefta, the Sifra and Sifri soon followed. 300 years after Rabbi Judah the Prince canonized the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud was canonized. In this penultimate episode on Rambam’s magisterial introduction to Mishnah, we learn all about the Talmud: how it was written, how it was canonized, and what it includes. We learn the four objectives of the Talmud and the secret as to why some of the teachings in the Talmud are very difficult to decipher.

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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 Vayakhel & Pekudei (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:10:06 — 32.1MB)

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After the Torah delineates the instructions to assemble the materials for the construction of the Tabernacle in Parshas Terumah and the creation of the vestments of the high priest in Parshas Tetzaveh, Parshas Vayakhel outlines the implementation those plans: The massive fundraising efforts, and the actual building of the Tabernacle and its vessels under the auspices of Bezalel, and Parshas Pekudei wraps up the account of the construction of the Tabernacle, and its vessels and vestments. Again and again we read the refrain that everything was done precisely how God commanded Moses.

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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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Ki Sisa – Magic Thermos

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:10 — 26.6MB)

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A nuclear bomb detonates in this week’s Parsha. The Nation selected by God to fulfill the most consequential role in the world, the Nation recently released from bondage with miracle signs and wonders, the Nation being fed a steady diet of manna and water from a rock, the Nation only 40 days after experiencing national revelation at Sinai, committed a grievous, inexplicable sin. The Nation made the Golden Calf. It’s really hard to understand how such a glorious people committed such an inglorious deed, but as always, there are lessons for us. In this interesting and upbeat Parsha podcast, we learned a lesson from this catastrophic, cataclysmic debacle that can enhance our understanding of many portions in the Torah and give us a road map for how to achieve greatness for ourselves and for the world.

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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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