TORAH 101 - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

The Talmud is comprised of two general formats: The Halachic portions (known in Talmudic parlance as, “shemaytza“), and the non-Halachic portions which are called “Aggadah”, or “Aggadata” or “Hagada”. These two parts of the Talmud cannot be more different: whereas in the Halachic portions the objective of the authors was to reveal their true meaning, in […]

The Talmud, or how it is often called, “Gemara”, is an ancient set of books written as commentary and elaboration of Mishnah. Despite being 1500 years old, the Talmud is still studied today by millions of people worldwide. In this podcast we get educated in what exactly the Talmud is? Why are there two versions […]

For 1500 years, Oral Torah was just that: Oral. It was not committed to canonized writing. Circa 200 CE, that changed. Under the leadership of Rabbi Judah the Prince, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin, and the greatest Sage of his day, the laws of Oral Torah were codified and canonized in a series of 63 […]

Of all the episodes that I have recorded over the years, this will be perhaps the most unique one. For one, it will be released simultaneously on all 6 channels that I am fortunate enough to host: The Parsha Podcast, The Jewish History Podcast, The Mitzvah Podcast , This Jewish Life, The Ethics Podcast, and […]

The final century of the Second Temple and the one that followed its destruction were pivotal ones of Jewish history. It was an era replete with absolute Torah giants – Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh and his colleagues, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva and his students, among […]

The Second Temple Era was an eventful time for the Jewish People and the perpetuation of Torah. Over the course of the Second Commonwealth our nation was blessed with great legends, such as Ezra, Shimon Ben Shetach, and Hillel, but the Nation faced unprecedented tests too: We were forced to contend with hostile foreign nations; […]

Although the process to formally codify the Oral Torah did not begin for more than 1500 years after Sinai, there were many advancements in organizing and systematizing Oral Torah that began in earnest soon after Moses’ passing. In this special edition of the TORAH 101 podcast, we discuss the various developments in Oral Torah from […]

In the narrow sense, Oral Torah refers to the interpretation and understanding of the Written Torah. The Written Torah is written cryptically, and the Oral Torah demystifies and explains it. But the truth is that Oral Torah includes much more than that. Oral Torah includes all of Torah that is not included in the Written […]

When Rambam lays out the Eighth Principle of his Thirteen Principles of Faith, that the Torah is divine, he includes believing in not only the Written Torah but also the Oral Torah as a necessary belief for Jews. But what exactly is Oral Torah? What is the relationship between the Written and Oral Torahs? In […]

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The Eighth Principle, that the Torah is Divine, is the central principle upon which all the Thirteen Principles lean. Our entire religion hinges upon the fact that the Almighty gave us His Torah. But what exactly does that mean? In this podcast we discover that the Eighth Principle is much deeper than a question of […]

The prophecy of Moses differs from all other prophecies. In fact, Rambam tells us that they are only nominally similar – in truth, they are two totally different experiences. When we break down the subject we find that the differences fall into several categories: Mosaic prophecy contains a different level of understanding than all other prophecies; […]

The Seventh Principle of Faith orients around the greatest man and the greatest prophet of them all, Moses. Moses towered above all members of the human species, and indeed over angels too. As a result of his supreme stature, Moses became the sole prophet who could bridge the two words and convey Torah to humanity. […]

In this sweeping retrospective of prophecy from Adam until the extinction of prophecy at the onset of the Second Temple Era, we address many fundamental questions: What is the critical difference between the prophecy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all other prophets? How did an entire nation merit prophecy at Sinai? How did a wicked man […]

Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith can be divided into three general concepts: God, Torah, and Reward and Punishment. The first five principles oriented around the Jewish understanding of God. The four Principles from six through nine revolve around Torah. The first of those Principles in the concept of prophecy in general. In this podcast, we […]

A central tenet of Jewish theology is that the same Creator who created the Heavens and the Earth also supervises His creation on an ongoing basis. Moreover, that supervision, that oversight is personal and down to the most minute detail. As such, it would seem that everything that happens to us is the product of […]

In the fifth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies that God alone is worthy of our worship and that we ought not worship anything else, nor worship God via intermediaries. What is the general concept of worshipping God and why it is such a central pillar of our religion that it merits a […]

There are many areas where Torah and the consensus of modern scientists seem to irreconcilably differ. The Torah indicates that the first man, Adam, lived around 6,000 years ago, and the universe is roughly that age. The consensus of the scientists is that the universe is multiple billions of years old. Can that gulf be […]

In the Fourth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies the distinction between God and everything else and the manner through which God effectuated Creation Ex Nihilo. In doing so, Rambam departs from the positions of Plato and Aristotle and explains the critical flaw in their thinking that made them incapable of distinguishing between […]

The Third Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith states that God is incorporeal: He has no body, nor does He behave in a bodily way, and all indications in Scripture and other Torah literature to the contrary must be understood as analogies and metaphors. – – – – – – – – – […]

The question of theodicy is one that all people of faith grapple with. The Talmud records multiple conversations between Moses and the Almighty on this subject, and even the ministering angels, and Adam before his Sin weighed in on it. It is a very difficult subject to understand, and doubly hard to find answers that […]

Our nation is no stranger to suffering. Jewish history is a litany of pogroms, holocausts, expulsions, blood libels, and all manners of persecution and oppression. We believe that the Almighty is in full control of everything that transpires in the world. Nothing can happen against His Will. We also believe that the Almighty is good, […]

In the previous podcast we discussed the Second Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, that God is the sole Singular Power. How can that precept be reconciled with another pillar of Jewish faith – that man is in control of his own destiny and choices via his free will. Is man in charge or […]

The Second Principle of Jewish Faith declares that God is One. But not like one of a pair; and not like one of a group; and not like one person that can be divided into many [smaller] units; and not like a thing which is numerically one but can be infinitely divided, rather He – God, may […]

The Thirteen Principles of Faith are the foundations of our religion. Just as the foundation of a structure is indispensable for ensuring the integrity of the building; these principles are necessary prerequisites for Jewish faith. But just as is the case in a building, the foundations are in the background – no one resides in […]