The Rabbi Noah Podcast

B"H Let’s talk about reincarnation and conversion to Judaism. I don’t pretend to fully understand it, but there’s a powerful idea here. In the Book of Ruth, it says that Ruth returned with Naomi. Returned to Beit Lechem. But Ruth was from Moav. So what does it mean that she “returned”? Chassidic teachings explain that her soul was returning. Not moving somewhere new, coming back to where it b...

B"H It’s time for Matzah in May 🫓 Pesach Sheni is all about second chances. Not just the idea, the action. A group of Jews couldn’t bring the Korban Pesach the first time. They asked. They wanted in. And they were given another opportunity. That’s the key. You don’t just wait for a second chance. You ask for it. You move toward it. Hashem always leaves the door open. But you have to walk thr...

B"H Jews, keep walking 💪 I’m a visible Jew walking in the street. And I’m walking with purpose. To do something good, to connect, to live with values. What happened this morning in Golders Green is horrific. Anti Semitism is beyond sick. But we don’t disappear. We keep walking. Physically and spiritually. We keep showing up, doing good, loving people, living our values in the open. Walk prou...

B"H Tefillin is an absolute superpower 💪 and here’s why. Most of the day we’re moving fast, not fully present, not fully aligned. It’s hard to live with intention and stay connected to our values. Tefillin pulls you back. You’re placing your values on your mind and your heart. You’re reminding yourself what actually matters and who you want to be. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, you ste...

B"H To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content! Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!

B"H What are you waiting for? For God to come down and tell you what to do? He already did. When you open the Torah, it’s not just history, it’s not just ideas. It’s something alive, speaking into your life right now. Choose life. That’s not a concept. It’s a decision. One or two small choices today that move you closer to a real, full life. With God. With the people you love. With yourself....

B"H Converts, stay focused 🙏 I’ve had the privilege to speak with so many of you around the world, and there’s one thing I want you to hold onto through the whole process. Keep the big picture in front of you. Yes, the details matter. The halacha, the practices, the day to day. That’s how we bring Judaism into real life. But don’t lose the center. Hillel said it simply. What is hateful to yo...

B"H Modern Israel is a messianic mitzvah 🇮🇱 Look at what’s happening. Jews from every corner of the world coming back together. Different backgrounds, different cultures, one people returning home. And at the same time, the land itself is coming alive. A place that was desolate is now blooming, producing, building, creating. Those two things together matter. A people returning, a land awakeni...

B"H What is the secret of Zionism 🇮🇱 It’s actually very simple. As long as God is alive, the Jewish people are alive. If God is the creator and sustainer of the world, then the people He brought into history, with a purpose, don’t disappear. Not through exile, not through persecution, not through anything. That’s the secret. This story isn’t random. It’s rooted in something eternal. So the na...

B"H There are a lot of tears in the Holy Land ❤️‍🩹🇮🇱 and they don’t just disappear. We carry them. For the soldiers, for the families, for every soul who gave their life for our people. There’s a line in Peninei Halacha that always stays with me. These are tears of greatness. Not because the pain isn’t real, but because of the mesirut nefesh behind them, the self sacrifice for the people and...

B"H Here is one thing anti-Zionists get right 🇮🇱 The Zionist story didn’t start in 1948. But here’s what they miss. Not 1948 on the Gregorian calendar. 1948 on the Jewish calendar. That’s the year Avraham was born. And that’s where the story really begins. A promise, a relationship, a direction for a people. So yes, there isn’t much “history” before 1948. It just depends which 1948 you’re tal...

B"H Do converts to Judaism have free will? On a practical level, of course. Every person chooses their path. But there’s a deeper layer that people who have gone through this recognize. When that pull is real, it doesn’t feel like a casual choice. It feels like something inside you is already moving. Chassidic teachings speak about a spark that burns within a soul, something that keeps drawin...

B"H Let’s talk about reincarnation and the Holocaust. Today is Yom HaShoah. I think about my family. People who never got to live a full life. And somehow, I’m here. There’s something very real about that. We carry them. In how we live, in what we build, in the fact that the story is still going. Every Jewish life today is part of that. Something that was meant to be erased is still alive. Ma...

B"H On Yom HaShoah we remember the 6 million. And at the same time, I keep thinking about the survivors. I’m a rabbi and a therapist, and their lives are the strongest message I bring into the room. They went through hell, and somehow, they built. Rabbi Sacks, in the name of Rabbi Jakobovits, said something powerful. Before they processed the past, they built forward. They made families, care...

B"H What is the deeper meaning of Moshe’s name? There’s a beautiful idea that Moshe hints to an acronym, מַה שֶּׁהָיָה הָיָה, what was, was. The Torah Moshe brings is not about getting stuck in the past. It’s about the power to begin again. If you’re not happy with how things have been, if you feel stuck in old patterns, the message is simple. What was, was. Start today. That’s the strength t...

B"H It’s time for some rest. We just came out of Pesach, freedom from slavery, not just from hard labor, but from the endless pressure to keep going without stopping. Egypt was a world without rest. Always producing, always pushing, never pausing. And then comes Shabbat. The reminder that you’re not just here to work. You’re here to live, to breathe, to reconnect to something deeper. You can’...

B"H It is time to take the first step 💙 On the 7th day of Pesach, we remember standing at the sea. No going back, only forward, and the path looked impossible. Nachshon walked in anyway. Step by step, until the water reached his neck, and only then did the sea split. That’s the moment. Not certainty, not clarity, just the courage to move. This is a day to take one step in your own life, espe...

B"H Who is the Messiah in Judaism 👑 The short answer is, it’s not really about who. There are clear criteria and signs, and that matters, but the focus isn’t the personality. The focus is redemption. Look at Pesach. Moshe is the human leader of the story, but in the Haggadah he’s barely mentioned. Because it’s not about Moshe, it’s about Hashem redeeming His people. Judaism is not centered o...

B"H Without converts, would we have left Egypt? Of course Hashem is the Redeemer. He runs the world and took us out of Mitzrayim. But look at how redemption unfolded. Two converts played a critical role in saving Moshe’s life. Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, defied everything and saved Moshe, gave him his name, and gave the world the one who would lead the redemption. And Yitro, who took Mosh...

B"H Our lives are finite. We hope for please God, 120 years in good health, but even that is fleeting. There’s a powerful practice right after Pesach leading up to Shavuot. Every day, we count. Day 1, day 2, all the way to 49. It trains you to feel time. To stop drifting. To realize this day matters. King David says, teach us to count our days so we can gain a heart of wisdom. Not abstract wi...

B"H Is enlightenment the goal in Judaism? It’s only half the story. There is a real idea of rising higher, of inner freedom, of connecting to something beyond yourself, especially around Pesach. But Judaism doesn’t stop there. It’s not about escaping the world. It’s about bringing something higher into the world. The Haggadah centers on teaching your children, caring for others, showing up in...

B"H What is the message of Pesach in 2026? Freedom isn’t just doing whatever you want. That’s the beginning, what Rabbi Sacks zt’l called freedom from coercion. Real freedom is deeper. It’s knowing what to do when no one is forcing you, how to use that space to serve Hashem. I see this in my work, and I feel it with Israel. We’re fighting for freedom from war, from people trying to destroy us...

B"H Dayeinu is an absolute banger 🎵🫓 and I mean that. It’s the catchiest song in the world, but it’s not just catchy, it’s training us how to live. Dayeinu teaches us that our lives are meant to be one long thank you to Hashem. Even this would have been enough, and still we keep going, we keep thanking, we keep noticing. That’s the song of the Haggadah, and it’s meant to become the song of...

B"H There are so many lonely souls right now ❤️‍🩹 and Pesach quietly asks something very simple from us. כָּל דִּכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, whoever is hungry, come and eat. Of course this is about physical nourishment, opening our homes and making sure people have what they need for the holiday. But there are also hungry souls, people who are starving for connection, for warmth, for someone to...

B"H The Haggadah is “guilty” of Zionism 🇮🇱 Because the Jewish story is a story of going from slavery to freedom, and from exile to Eretz Yisrael. We say it clearly. Hashata avdei, now we are slaves. Lashana haba’ah bnei chorin. Hashata hacha, now we are here. Lashana haba’ah b’Eretz Yisrael. This is not a side idea. It is the story. You can’t separate Judaism from the hope of returning home w...