Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe Podcast Collection

It is not exactly clear what the participants in the Tower of Babel wanted. We know they wanted to ascend to heaven and to make a name for themselves, but what precisely they wanted is more of a mystery. The Midrash talks about it, the Talmud does as well - and in this podcast we will offer some insight into this matter. The idea that we will be sharing will create several tectonic paradigm shifts...

In this week’s parsha, Abraham is instructed to move to Israel, is given divine promises that he will be the father of many nations; his children will be as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the heaven, a son Ishmael is born, and he is commanded to circumcise his foreskin and those of all males in his household. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – DONATE: Please consider s...

We started this week's Parsha Podcast by talking about the Tower of Babel episode. We gleaned from that story something absolutely transformational and deep. We then proceeded to talk about the unusual contribution that Noah gave to the people of his generation. In that second segment, we also derived something very profound. Deeper. The podcast ended with a third segment related to the sin that d...

Our Parsha marks a nadir in the story of mankind. Humanity sunk to such spiritual lows that the Almighty decided to destroy the world and start over with just Noah and his family as humanity's progenitors going forward. What were the conditions of the Flood's survivors after spending a year in the Ark? In this very special edition of The Parsha Podcast, we examine three fascinating elements about...

Parents are sent home with newborn babies without an instruction manual. They are expected to raise their child(ren) to become productive, responsible, and successful adults. As Jews, we have an added responsibility to raise our children as good Jews. Parents face a monumental task. This was always nightmarishly difficult, but with the rapidly-changing world that we live in, this is becoming incre...

In this week’s parsha: Noah and his family build an Ark as a refuge from an extinction-level Flood brought by God to destroy the world’s sinners. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 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! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –...

Today is a bittersweet day. Although we are very excited to embark on year 8 of the Parsha Podcast, we are only a few days after the terrible attacks in Israel, where hundreds of our brethren were massacred. In light of the terrible atrocities perpetrated against our people and the war that is sparked, we begin this season of the Parsha Podcast with addressing the situation from a Torah perspectiv...

As we begin year 8 of the Parsha Podcast, we are excited and overjoyed to share the plan for this year, with the help of the Almighty: each Sunday, we will release the rebroadcast episode that covers the entire Parsha in about an hour. On Tuesday, we will re-release the corresponding episode from the 6th cycle of the Parsha Podcast, from two years ago, 5782, that included the famed Exquisite Insig...

With praise and appreciation to the Almighty, we begin year 8 of the Parsha Podcast (5784). This year, we will re-upload the Parsha Rebroadcast episode which covers the entire Parsha each Sunday, re-release the 6th cycle's episode (5782) for each respective Parsha each Tuesday, and we will, please God, record and release a new weekly episode each Thursday. Thank you for downloading and please shar...

We have studied the subject of Messiah in its length and breadth. In the 16th and final installment of our study of the 12th of Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Faith, we briefly survey a potpourri of subjects that are tangential to the main subject of Messiah. We explore six different topics: Messiah Ben Joseph; the apocalyptic war of Gog and Magog; the role of Elijah the Prophet in Messiah; the R...

At the very end of Moshe's life, he, like Jacob before him, blesses the tribes. When Jacob was about to pass, he blessed his sons, now Moshe is blessing the tribes that those sons spawned. These blessings were nor random, but very targeted blessings for each tribe so that they know what their particular tribe needs to contribute. In this podcast - the final Parsha Podcast of the seventh cycle of t...

In the Torah's final Parsha, and indeed, in its final words, we say goodbye to the greatest human to have ever lived. With the passing of Moshe, the Torah ends, and on Simchas Torah- the day that we finish the yearly Torah cycle - we roll the scroll back to the very beginning and begin Genesis anew. In this very special edition of The Parsha Podcast, we explore the end of the Torah and its beginni...

The final parsha of the Torah details the blessings that Moshe conveyed to the tribes of Israel immediately prior to his passing, and the Torah ends with the description of the death, burial, and eulogy of Moshe. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.to...

The festival of Sukkos is called "the time of our joy." The entire festival is associated with joy. Sitting in the Sukkah is joyous, shaking the Lulav is joyous, the traditional celebratory festivities are known as the "Joy of the Drawing." Why are these days so intimately associated with joy? In this special podcast, we offer seven explanations that will enhance our Sukkos and suffuse it with joy...

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 secr...

On the final day of Moshe's life, he conveys the Song of Haazinu to the nation. In this masterful prophetic Song, the Torah overviews Jewish history, past, present, future, and Messiah. In this penultimate parsha podcast we focus on what happens afterwards. After the Song, Moshe shares a few pithy words about the nature of Torah. As we near the end of this cycle of Torah and prepare to embark on a...

The days spanning from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are known as the Ten Days of Repentance. Over the course of these days, we have extra prayers and supplications, and make an extra effort to improve and correct our ways, culminating of course, with the greatest day of them all, Yom Kippur. But repentance is a tricky subject. In this special podcast, we explore some of the confounding conundrums o...

The Song of Haazinu is a richly textured tapestry with layered meaning and subtleties. Our Sages tell us that it incorporates all of Jewish History. In its 613 words, it incorporates all of Torah as well. And it is arguably the most difficult Torah portion to decipher and unpack. In this special penultimate podcast of the fifth cycle of the Parsha Podcast, we examine a striking verse that compares...

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...

Rosh Hashana is a day of repentance. But unlike Yom Kippur, there is nary a mention of sin in all the ceremonies, prayers, and liturgies of Rosh Hashanah. What is the nature of repentance decoupled from acknowledgment of sin? When we study the sources related to Rosh Hashanah, we discover several fascinating opportunities that differentiate Rosh Hashanah from all other days. On Rosh Hashanah, we c...

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 o...

Rosh Hashanah is the beginning. It is the beginning of the High Holidays. It is the beginning of the 10 days of repentance. It marks the beginning of humanity. On this day, Adam was created. Rosh Hashana marks the beginning of God's Dominion and Kingship over the world, because a king absent a nation is no king. We mark these beginning with the festival of Rosh Hashanah. On this day, every human i...

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...

On the final day of Moshe's life, he gathers the entire nation for a parting message. After forging another covenant between the nation and God and explicating the consequences thereof, Moshe presents the nation with a choice: "Behold I have placed before you today: life and good vs. death and bad... Choose life." There are two options for us: life that amounts to good or death that amounts to bad...

With the entire nation gathered on his final day of life, Moshe warns the people against being seduced by idolatry. The nation, Moshe reveals, is particularly vulnerable to idolatry because of the people whose land through which we have traversed. We saw the Egyptian fascination with idolatry. We saw the various other nations obsession with paganism. Consequently, we are susceptible to mimicking t...