More to the Story with Lea Rubashkin-Wolff

In this episode of More to the Story, I speak about the double Parsha of Behar-Bechukosai which tells of the mitzvah of Shemitah, the commandment to let the land rest. I talk about the force of productivity, survival, and financial striving, what I describe as “the river” that so many of us get pulled into, and how Shabbos, Shemitah, and the feminine energy all come to interrupt that flow and remi...

In this episode, I reflect on Parshas Emor and the laws of the Kohanim, the priests who were asked to live with a higher level of awareness, purity, and service. I speak about the Kohen who had a blemish and was not able to serve in the same way as the others, but was still given a holy role through eating from the offerings. For me, this opens a deeper question about the parts of us that feel dis...

In this episode, I discuss Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim, which name indicates the shift from “after death” into holiness. I speak about desire, how powerful it is, and what happens when it isn’t held with awareness. The Torah offers very clear boundaries, and I’m beginning to understand them not as punishment, but as protection - a way of preserving life and keeping us aligned with something highe...

In this episode of More to the Story, I reflect on the Parsha of Tazria–Metzora and the way the Torah describes a process where something internal begins to reveal itself externally in the body, in the home, and in the life a person is living. I speak about how we often respond to what surfaces by trying to manage or fix what is visible, without turning toward what is actually being revealed benea...

In this episode, I reflect on Parshas Tzav, Shabbos Hagadol, and the days leading into Pesach. I speak about the fire on the alter that could never go out, what it means in our own lives to stay alive and connected, and why numbness is often more dangerous than struggle. I explore the idea of the ashes we carry from what we’ve been through, and how even what feels burned or lost still holds someth...

In this episode, I reflect on Parshas Vayikra and the deeper meaning of Korbanos. The root of korban is karov: to draw close. What looks, on the surface, like sacrifice is really Torah’s language for return: the movement back into relationship with Hashem, with our own soul, and with the parts of ourselves we have learned to fear or reject. I speak about what it means to stop reading these offerin...

In this episode, I reflect on the powerful connection between the story of Purim and Parshas Ki Tisa. The Torah brings us to one of the most painful moments in Jewish history: the sin of the Golden Calf. Why would the Torah preserve this story so publicly, our greatest betrayal, recorded for generations? Through the courage of Esther and the leadership of Moshe, we explore a deeper truth: that eve...

In this episode, I explore Parshat Tetzave and what it means that the Kohen is clothed before he serves. The Torah details every thread, every stone, every garment, and through it, teaches us something about dignity, identity, and spiritual agency. I speak about 7 Adar and Moshe Rabbeinu as the archetype of redemption within us. I reflect on Amalek as the voice of doubt that weakens us from the in...

In this episode, I explore what it means to build a Mishkan, not only in the desert, but within ourselves. The Torah begins Terumah with the invitation: “Take for Me a contribution from every person whose heart moves them to give.” I reflect on the power of ratzon, our will, as the foundation of marriage, adulthood, and divine service. A sanctuary cannot be built from obligation alone. It must com...

In this episode, we return to Har Sinai, but not to the thunder and revelation, but to what came next. Parshas Mishpatim moves us from the ecstasy of receiving the Torah into the detailed laws that shape a holy society. I explore what it means that immediately after Sinai, we are given laws about slavery, dignity, financial responsibility, protecting the vulnerable, honoring parents, and guarding...

In this episode, I explore Parshas Yisro and what it truly means to receive the Torah. Not as an abstract moment in history, but as a binding marriage between God and the Jewish people. I speak about why this Parsha is named for Yisro, what his arrival makes possible, and how structure and boundaries are not limitations but the conditions that allow intimacy to survive. I explore Moshe’s leadershi...

In this episode, I sit with Parshat Beshalach and share what its stories are teaching me about fear, trust, and timing. I reflect on what happens when faith collapses under pressure, how silence can be either oppression or power, and why learning when not to react is a form of spiritual maturity. I speak about miracles that only arrive after movement, the difference between prayer and action, and...

In this episode of More to the Story, I learn Parshas Bo and reflect on what happens when redemption finally turns from concept into movement. We walk through the last of the plagues and the first of the mitzvos, especially sanctifying the moon and Korban Pesach - the moment we leave Egypt with our families and reclaim our voice. But Bo also reads like an inner map: redemption begins when we’re wi...

In this episode I reflect on the story of the plagues, not as history but as an inner map. Egypt is not only a place we once left, it is a state of constriction that lives inside us. Va’eira is the moment when redemption begins to touch what has been numb, defended, or frozen. I explore how the plagues are not random punishments, but precise corrections to a worldview that separates G-d from natur...

0:00 Part 1 – Overview of the Parsha 1:09:28 Part 2 – Deep Dive + Commentary In this episode, I explore why this Parsha is called “Names,” and what it means to hold onto your identity in a place that wants to reshape you. I talk about faith and scarcity, how money, food, and “security” can either strengthen trust in Hashem or feed exile-mindset. I reflect on how exile only has power when we intern...

In this episode, I explore Parshat Vayechi, the final Parsha of Sefer Bereishit, the moment where exile quietly begins. As Yaakov and Yosef prepare to leave this world, the Torah shifts us into a new phase: one where G-d is no longer revealed from above, but discovered from within. I reflect on Yosef’s descent into Mitzrayim as the original map for Jewish exile, and on the role of Rachel as the hi...

In this week’s episode, I explore the Torah’s first deep conversation about jealousy, fragmentation, and what happens when the challenge is no longer outside us but within our own family. The jealousy between brothers, the wounds inherited from their mothers, and what it means that Yaakov loses his prophecy for twenty-two years. We look closely at how Yehuda’s choice to go down as part of his sear...

In this episode, I walk with Yakov as he leaves Charan after twenty years of inner work in Lavan’s home. Everything he lived through becomes the preparation he needs to face Esav, not only the brother he once fled, but the part of himself he has not yet made room for. We look at Yakov’s threefold approach to danger, the crossing of the Yabok River, and why he refuses to leave behind even the small...

In this week’s episode, we follow Yaakov as he leaves the holiness of his parents’ home and enters the world of Lavan, a place of concealment, deception, and spiritual challenge. I explore Yaakov’s preparation, his years of learning, the dream at Har HaMoriah, and the spiritual descent that becomes the foundation of the Jewish future. I focus on Leah, the sister whose tears, prayers, and hidden wo...

In this week’s parsha, I explore the story not only as the birth of two brothers, but as the unveiling of two forces inside each of us, the godly soul and the animal soul. I speak about Rivka’s clarity, her courage, and the way her prophecy becomes a map for our own inner work. I look at Yitzchak through the lens of gevurah, not as passive, but as someone who mastered his instinct so completely th...

In this episode of More to the Story, I talk about how the energy of Vayeira flows into Chayei Sarah. These parshiyos are not separate stories but one current of guidance that keeps unfolding. I speak about Avraham’s open heart, his hospitality, his prayers for Sodom, and how they teach us what it means to love without agenda. I also look at Lot’s home and how the energy of a parent shapes the mor...

In this episode, I share a story about a book my husband handed me that cracked something open, and how discovering the legacy of Rebbetzin Devora Leah gave me language for a mission I’ve been living without knowing. The name I carry has introduced me to parts of my soul I’ve only recently come to understand. I also reflect on what it means to honor the "animal soul" within us and why it...

In this episode of More to the Story, I talk about what it really means that Avraham believed. Not only that he believed in Hashem, but that he believed in his own ability to hear truth. He trusted what he received. He didn’t make himself small. That kind of faith is what begins every healing journey. I also speak about why the first mitzvah Avraham is given is on the body. Hashem asks him to brin...

In this episode of More to the Story, I look back at last week’s Parsha and ahead to the one that’s coming, and I find myself standing right in between them. I talk about what it means to live with the Parsha, to feel that each week carries its own heartbeat, its own invitation to grow and return. For me, connecting to the Parsha is not about studying alone. It is about being part of a living, bre...

In this episode of More to the Story, I talk about the very first Rashi in the Torah and how it is also Rashi’s own introduction to himself. Rashi asks why the Torah begins with the creation of the world instead of with the first commandment. The answer, he says, is that Hashem started with creation so that when the world accuses us of taking what is not ours, we can remember who the true Creator...