Category Archives: Podcasts

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Haazinu – Torrential Torah

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 47:04 — 21.5MB)

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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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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Mindel bas Reb Tzvi Hersh, the mother of our dear friend, Dr. Paul Block. Mindel, known as Mili, was a remarkable woman who overcame a tremendously hard youth to build an incredible legacy, meriting to hold her great-great-grandchildren. Beloved by all who knew her, Mili will be sorely missed. May her 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 Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 58:16 — 26.7MB)

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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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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Miriam bat Avraham whose first yahrzeit will be this Shabbat. May her 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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The Alchemy of Yom Kippur

Podcast: Download (Duration: 45:33 — 20.9MB)

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Yom Kippur is the greatest day of the year. The name of book of Talmud that orients around Yom Kippur is Yoma, meaning “Day.” This is The Day when everything changes. On this day, the Almighty is close to us. On this day, He extends purification and forgiveness to us. On this day, God purifies us from all of our sins. This is the day when we can transform ourselves in an outsized, asymmetric manner. On this day, a small effort goes a very, very, long way. This day is like an elevator: with one push of the button we can ascend to heavenly heights! But it demands some work on our part. Yom Kippur is a magical, alchemical day, but it is conditional on us doing our part. In this special pre-Yom Kippur podcast, we lay out what are the costs that we need to pay to earn the alchemy of Yom Kippur. The price may be steep, but compared to what we get for it, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. This is not the day to squander. In this podcast, we learn what we need to do.

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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 Scapegoat

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:34 — 29.1MB)

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One of the most mysterious elements of the Yom Kippur ceremony is the scapegoat ceremony. The High priest took two identical male goats and made a lottery, one was offered as a sacrifice to God in the Temple, and the other one was a scapegoat, upon which the sins of the nation were conferred and whose destiny was to be chucked off a cliff in barren desert. this was a central part of the Yom Kippur services when the Temple was extant, and even today it is incorporated into the Mussaf prayer on this holiest of days. What is the meaning of the scapegoat? What is the secret of the scapegoat? What lessons can we glean from this process that will enhance our understanding of Yom Kippur and what we are supposed to be trying to do? In preparation for Yom Kippur, we explore and examine this strange – frankly baffling – ritual, and uncover insights that get to the heart of what Yom Kippur is and how we can make the most of it.

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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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Jonah: Studying the Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 2:05:32 — 57.5MB)

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On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the 48-verse Book of Jonah, which tells of a renegade prophet, Jonah, who defies the directive of God and refuses to castigate the people of Nineveh and instead escapes from God to Tarshish – with mixed results. A simple reading of the story reveals a tale of repentance, both of the protagonist, Jonah, and of the people of Nineveh. But our Sages let us in on a secret that the Book of Jonah contains a hidden, kabbalistic story embedded beneath the story – which also teaches us powerful, topical messages for the Day of Atonement.

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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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Vayeilech – Career Capstone

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 49:49 — 22.8MB)

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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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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated by Michael and Lana Kutsaya in loving memory of Michael’s mother, Tamila bat Moshe, who passed away a few weeks ago. She was a remarkable woman, with an indomitable spirit, and she will be sorely missed. May her 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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The Eight Wonders of Repentance

Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:50 — 27.4MB)

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Our Sages enumerates a list of seven things that preceded the world. Included in this list is repentance. Why was it necessary to create repentance before the creation of the world? In this podcast we speculate an answer: repentance is a supernatural miracle that thoroughly violates the rules of this world, and therefore once the world would have been created, repentance can no longer be created. It is such an outlier, it is such a miracle, it is so wondrous and unprecedented, that there is no way to have created it post creation of the world. In this podcast – as we experience the Ten Days of Repentance spanning Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur – we explore the eight wonders of repentance. When you finish listening you will emerge with a renewed understanding and appreciation for the value and the miraculous nature of repentance.

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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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#62: The Experience of the Afterlife

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 1:04:03 — 29.3MB)

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What is Olam Haba like? Our sages describe this future world as the world of ultimate reward. Paradise in the Afterlife is a very wonderful and pleasurable experience, but even Paradise is not the ultimate reward. That is reserved for Olam Haba. But what is it like? What does it feel like? In this podcast we explore the nature of spiritual pleasure, how we can get a taste of it, and we learn why the full experience of Olam Haba is impenetrable to all earthlings.

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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 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: 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 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: 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 Meaning and Mystery of the Rosh Hashana Foods and Fruits

Podcast: Download (Duration: 40:02 — 18.3MB)

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On the night of Rosh Hashana in Jewish homes the world over, a strange set of customs are observed. We take an apple, dip it into honey, and declare that we should have a sweet new year. We take a pomegranate, disgorge it’s seeds, consume them and pray that we be filled with merits like a pomegranate is replete with seeds. This ceremony continues with cabbage, squash, carrots, a head of fish for those who are brave enough, and many more ceremonial foods. What is the secret behind this very unusual custom? What is the meaning behind this strange ritual? What are some of the lessons that we can learn from the auspicious omens associated with foods? In this special pre-Rosh Hashana podcast we explored the meaning and the mystery of the ceremonial foods and fruits that we eat on the nights of Rosh Hashana., emerging armed with a keener understanding of the day and with tools to make the most of it.

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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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