The Rabbi Noah Podcast

B"H It is the greatest Shabbat of the year. Shabbat HaGadol. The Shabbat before Pesach. The Shabbat before geulah. And it asks one question. If this was the last Shabbat before Mashiach, how would you live? How would you love, sing, eat, pray, learn? Shabbat HaGadol is a reminder to live with that awareness now. To bring out the greatness of your neshama, as if redemption is right here. Bimhe...

B"H Converts are an incredible gift to the Jewish people. There’s a beautiful idea from the Sefat Emet on Pesach. When the Torah says we left Mitzrayim with rechush gadol, great wealth, it’s not just physical. It’s spiritual. Part of that “wealth” was the souls of future converts, hidden within Egypt, waiting to be revealed and to join Am Yisrael. Even the letters hint to it. ג ר — ger. Geula...

B"H Passover is here, and open miracles are returning. We are used to thinking that the miracles of Egypt were once in history. But Chazal teach that as we move closer to Geulah, the miracles come back. Not hidden. Open. Look at what is happening. Protection that doesn’t make sense. Precision that shouldn’t be possible. Outcomes that go beyond what we would expect. This is not just history re...

B"H Matzah isn’t just a mitzvah, it’s spiritual nourishment. The Zohar calls it lechem d’meheimanuta, the bread of faith. We retell the Exodus to remember that HaShem is active in our lives, always guiding and saving us. Arrogance makes us forget that, as the Torah says, וְרָם לְבָבֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ. Matzah brings us back to emunah and puts God back at the center of our lives. #Pesach #Matzah...

B"H Here’s a natural support for OCD that people underestimate: go outside and walk. When you’re stuck in rumination, tracking, and mental loops, your world shrinks to your thoughts. Walking helps you re-engage your body, your senses, and the actual world around you. This isn’t avoidance and it’s not a replacement for ERP or medication. Keep doing your real OCD work. But also give your mind s...

B"H Here’s a natural support for OCD that people underestimate: go outside and walk. When you’re stuck in rumination, tracking, and mental loops, your world shrinks to your thoughts. Walking helps you re-engage your body, your senses, and the actual world around you. This isn’t avoidance and it’s not a replacement for ERP or medication. Keep doing your real OCD work. But also give your mind s...

B"H What is the soul of social media? I think it’s this simple. I’m talking to a camera, but really I’m talking to Hashem. There’s an idea that Hashem hears every word, every tefillah, and social media lets us experience that in a real way. You can speak, share something from your neshama, and it’s captured, for others and forever. Not just for people, but as a moment between you and Hashem....

B"H OCD treatment needs great organization. If you’re struggling to follow through with exposures, or you’re a therapist trying to build accountability with clients, this matters. Exposures don’t happen “sometime today.” They need to be scheduled precisely and tied to real routines. Just like building any habit, this takes structure, reminders, and consistency. The harder the task, the more i...

B"H Rosh Hashana is right now. Not the one in Tishrei, the one in Nissan. According to the Torah, Nissan is the first of the months. Tishrei is about refining yourself. Your character, your relationships, teshuva. But Nissan is about something deeper. Identity. Who are you? You are Am Yisrael. Part of a people with a mission, a Torah, a connection to Eretz Yisrael, and a story that began with...

B"H What does God want most? The first mitzvah: הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם — the ability to begin again. Before anything else, God gave us renewal. Not perfection. Not “fix everything.” Just this: you can restart, right now. “Chodesh” comes from “chadash” — new. Every moment is a chance to turn, reset, and come back. You don’t need to fix your whole life. Just make one decision: I’m starting again...

B"H Israel is winning. But the deeper victory is something else entirely. In Hebrew, nitzachon (victory) comes from the root נצח Netzach means eternity. Foreverness. We are Am HaNetzach. The eternal people. Yes, we pray for victory in war. For protection. For real and lasting shalom. But our true victory is deeper. It is that we are still here. Still building. Still connected to Hashem. Still...

B"H Dear Hashem, Please send a refuah shleimah to our soldiers and to every family impacted in every way. A refuah haguf. Healing of the body. Strength and recovery for the wounded. And a refuah hanefesh. Healing of the soul. Healing from fear, trauma, and pain. Take 30 seconds today and say it in your own words. Hashem please send healing betoch she’ar cholei Yisrael and to anyone in the wor...

B"H Dear Hashem, Please send a refuah shleimah to our soldiers and to every family impacted in every way. A refuah haguf. Healing of the body. Strength and recovery for the wounded. And a refuah hanefesh. Healing of the soul. Healing from fear, trauma, and pain. Take 30 seconds today and say it in your own words. Hashem please send healing betoch she’ar cholei Yisrael and to anyone in the wor...

B"H Dear Israelis, Lo Dayeinu. It’s not enough. This is a message from diaspora Jewry. Yes we are praying. Yes we are adding Tehillim to our tefillot. We are donating and checking in. But Lo Dayeinu. You are living with mesirut nefesh in Eretz Yisrael while we watch from galut. Your very existence there is sacrifice and Jewish history unfolding in real time. We love you. We see you. Hashem pl...

B"H Jews wake up. The world is showing us something clearly. They don’t see a difference between Jews and Israel. We are עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל — the people of Israel. Thank you to the friends who speak up. But we ultimately rely on אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם. May He protect the Jewish people everywhere. עם ישראל חי #AmYisraelChai #Israel #Antisemitism #Judaism #JewishUnity To watch Torah Thoughts in v...

B"H Jews need to be together right now. With the synagogue attack in West Bloomfield, where a vehicle ramming and shooting targeted a Jewish space, and with other attacks on synagogues including in Toronto, it is clear what these people are trying to do. A synagogue is called a Beit Knesset, a house of gathering. The goal of these attacks is to make Jews feel that they don’t belong there. To...

B"H One of the most special Shabbatot of the year is coming. Shabbat HaChodesh. In Jewish life many people think the year begins with Rosh Hashanah in Tishrei. But according to the Torah, Tishrei is actually the seventh month. The first month of the year is Nissan, which is about to begin. Right before that, we read Parashat HaChodesh. The Torah teaches the mitzvah of counting the months, beg...

B"H There are two primary motivations for conversion to Judaism, and we can see them clearly in the story of Purim. AfteJewishconversion #Jewishconvert the Megillah says: “רַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים” — many of the people of the land became Jews. Rashi explains that this means they converted. And around that phrase the Megillah shows us two reasons. First is joy. “שִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשׂוֹ...

B"H Social media has a lot of problems. We all know that. It can distract us, fill our minds with noise, and pull us away from deeper goals. But I’ve been thinking about something else lately. At its best, social media can be gilui haneshama. The revelation of the soul. Sometimes an idea of Torah or a moment of clarity passes through the mind and heart and you just want to capture it. Not to...

B"H My heart is filled with gratitude right now. For the holy heroes serving in Tzahal, in the IDF, in the American army, and for their families who carry the weight of that service with them. Their courage and devotion protect lives and stand up for what is good in this world. In Judaism there is a concept called mesirat nefesh, the giving of the soul. When a person devotes themselves comple...

B"H Jewish life is on fire, and I want to share a bit of that positivity. This is a very difficult time to be Jewish. In Israel and in the diaspora there is fear, tension, and real danger. Nothing I say here minimizes that. I see it as a rabbi and in my work as a therapist supporting people in the Jewish community. Every attack, every threat, every moment of fear is real and painful. But ther...

B"H Two synagogues were shot at in the Jewish community of Toronto, the community I am a part of. SafeAmYisraelChait. Every Jew and every family must make the decisions that protect their lives and their communities. But there is one thing that must never change. Our neshama. If the outside world feels frightening, then the soul must burn even brighter. Kol haneshama tehalel Yah. Every soul m...

B"H We need Pesach more than ever right now. Our sages teach that we begin learning the laws of Pesach thirty days before the holiday. That means right after Purim we already start preparing. On the surface it’s practical. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do. But there is something deeper here. Right now we are all following the news constantly. Our hearts are in Eretz Yisrael. We are pra...

B"H Where’s the after-party in Judaism? There’s only one answer. Yerushalayim. Purim doesn’t end. In Jerusalem it continues. Shushan Purim. While the rest of the world starts to wind down, the holiest city keeps dancing. Esther means hidden. Megillat Esther is the unveiling of what looked like chaos but was really Hashem all along. And the secret of Purim is this: the joy isn’t supposed to di...

B"H Why blue and white? Because long before modern politics, those were our colors. Techelet and white. The thread of purpose. The garment of dignity. The levush malchut that Mordechai wore when he walked through Persia not in hiding, but in honor. Blue is tachlit, purpose. White is clarity. And the third color of that moment was gold. The ateret zahav gedolah. Yerushalayim. The heart. The cr...