The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed

I have done many episodes on the subject of how to serve Hashem in the business world and other situations that pertain to my life experiences. However, I realized that we all have different situations that we find ourselves in. One situation that I thought was imperative to address is the situations our fellow Jews face serving in the military. I asked Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, the Rambo of Yiddishkeit,...

We are all now in the process of preparing ourselves through the Counting of the Omer so we can receive our Torah at Shavuos.  In this episode I asked my dear friend Scott Kammerman, the Spiritual Athlete, to join us and share his insights on what he has been learning and working on, to progress in his ongoing pursuit to grow in his service to the Almighty.   I not only learned a great deal but wa...

It is now the Counting of the Omer. These 49 days between Pesach and Shavous create a bridge that allows one to leave their mental restrictions and move towards a more expanded consciousness. In this episode, Rabbi Chaim Buscko breaks down for us how to tap into the spiritual energies now present. By doing so, we will forge ourselves into vessels that will allow us to absorb the wisdom of Torah an...

The weeks that lead up to Pesach/Passover, is the time to prepare ourselves to become a vessel to receive the influx of energy that G-d brings to the Jewish people.   This is the energy that will propel us to greater heights of spirituality and provides us the opportunity to unleash ourselves from limited thought and connect more to our infinite Creator.  In this amazing discussion with Rabbi Wohl...

In this episode my Rabbis and fellow TORCH Podcasters, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe and Rabbi Chaim Bucsko, have a engaging conversation around the upcoming holiday of Pesach.

Pesach is rapidly approaching.  It is the origin and foundation of the Jewish people. We have much symbolism we encounter at the Pesach Seder and while Matzah on one level is also symbolic, on a deeper level it is much more.  Matzah eaten on Pesach, while avoiding Chametz (leavened bread), has inherent in its physical construct the ability to provide our bodies with the antidote to tear away the i...

One of the challenges in adapting Torah observance is learning how to be in and advance one’s career in the corporate world without comprising our service to Hashem.  The outside world’s definition of a holiday is not remotely the same as what we call a holiday and our business colleagues, managers and clients have a difficult time understanding why we can’t come into the office or return a phone...

The Hebrew letters are the building blocks of creation.  The Torah in Bereishis/Genesis describes G-d creating the world by speaking and those ten emanations from the Creator are continuing throughout time to recreate the worlds and everything in them, in every moment.  However there is more to the Hebrew letters than just the sounds they represent as their shapes have tremendous spiritual energie...

In this episode my Rabbis and fellow TORCH Podcasters, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe and Rabbi Chaim Bucsko, have a engaging conversation around the upcoming holiday of Purim.

Every morning and every night we are commanded to say the Shema prayer in order to internalize that Hashem created the world and is intimately involved with everything in our lives and that everything He does is for our good. This is the idea that He is One.  But when tragedy hits, how does one continue to maintain and strengthen their Emunah and Bitachon?  In this episode we are joined by Rabbi G...

In this discussion we delve into the amazing opportunities that our business endeavors provide to us in developing our understanding of Torah, strengthening our Emunah, and then using our Torah to unleash endless creativity and fearlessness in the marketplace.

In this episode I take my cherished friend and teacher, Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe, to task through a barrage of questions challenging him on Torah beliefs and philosophy. With his titan intellect, that was forged through a life dedicated to Torah study, he swatted away my arguments with eloquence, wisdom and humor, leaving me and the listener with a deeper appreciation and understanding of our Torah and...

As the President of the Board of TORCH, one of my core responsibilities is to be the representative of the TORCH shareholders, aka the donors.  This year instead of conducting my due diligence on my own I decided to go a different route.   I not only brought in a team of stock analyst from YDH Investment Management to conduct the due diligence meeting but I recorded the meeting for our listeners a...

This important topic is for men only.  Gentlemen, we have a sacred and eternal covenant with the Almighty, the Bris Milah. This contractual arrangement comes with ongoing responsibilities, that if violated will cause a breach of this Holy contract and make our Bris null and void. It is essential for us and the entire Jewish nation to keep our covenant. Tune in and learn from Rabbi Cohen as he disc...

Every Jew who was raised in the secular world can identify either grandparents, great grandparents or great-great grandparents that were Torah observant Jews.   Somewhere along the way one generation taught to their children how to live as a Jew but not why we live as a Jew and why we know evidentially the divinity of our Torah.   That generation then grows up and either in their lifetimes or thei...

The Jewish people inherited the spiritual DNA of kindness from our forefather Avraham. It is in the moments when we are giving tzedakah, volunteering our time to help another or fulfilling the mitzvah of saving a life that we feel most aligned with our true selves. However with the subject of organ donations there are many halachic details that we need to be aware of in order to fulfill this mitzv...

As we transitioned from the two thousand years of Torah and into the two thousand years of Moshiach, prophecy for the Jewish people waned away. We as a people had to adapt to a world where we could no longer ask our Creator via His prophets for guidance in our daily lives. However, the Almighty did leave in a place a means for Him to convey to us messages when he needs too, in order to keep us all...

This was an impromptu episode.  Rabbi Aryeh was in my office to record a podcast and before we began, I sought his council on a personal matter.  It is a concern I have been struggling with for quite some time.   I realized in that moment that the purpose of this podcast is to share my struggles and questions with you, so that we can all learn together.  I hit the record button before I asked my q...

I had the great honor and privilege of participating in a roundtable discussion on Chanukah, at the TORCH Center with my Rabbis and fellow Torch Podcasters, Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Rabbi Yaakov Nagel and Rabbi Chaim Bucsko.  The upcoming holiday of Chanukah will be so much richer for me as a result of learning from my beloved Rabbis and I know you will feel the same.

Chanukah is a very special time of year for the Jewish people, so I wanted to bring on to the podcast 4 very special guest to share with us their wisdom on our holiday of Chanukah and the message the Almighty wants us to absorb and take with us throughout the year.

Tearing Through the Illusion Part II The Almighty calls Shabbos a gift for the Jew. However, it is the most difficult mitzvah for a Jew to take upon themselves for the first time as one’s Yetzer Hara will use every tactic possible to dissuade them from doing so. In Part II of this episode I setup a panel discussion with Rabbi Bucsko and his students and we discuss the motivations for them wanting...

When B’nai Yisrael left Egypt, they were not alone.  Pharoah had also sent out his people, the Erev Rav, the Mixed Multitude.  Moshe Rabbeinu converts them to be part of the Jewish people and they became the instigators of the sin of the golden calf, complaining about lack of meat, water and more.  The Erev Rav has since been interwoven into the fabric of Klal Yisrael in every generation since.  I...

The problem with the secular world is that the behaviors that are considered “normal” have been in a constant state of fluctuation throughout human history. The reason for the constant state of change of which behaviors are “normal” is that they are determined by popularity rather than reason. In Torah Judaism, the behaviors we aspire to were dictated by our Creator and therefore what we consider...

A life centered around Torah is a life dedicated to perpetual transformation and with that comes struggles and challenges.  Nissim Black is American-Israeli rapper who has achieved international stardom through his beautiful and inspiring music.   His transformation to an Orthodox Jew and likewise the transformation of his music through this process is equally inspiring.   He is a Tzadik and a rol...

The greatest mitzvah for a Jew to connect with their Creator is by keeping Shabbos. However, it is the most difficult mitzvah for a Jew to take upon themselves. The reason for its difficulty has nothing to do with the complexities of the halacha but with the fact that the Jew’s Yetzer Hara does not want to give up this beachhead. It will use every measure and tactic possible to keep a Jew from obs...