Holidays – Torah Podcasts by Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the triumph of the Maccabean Revolt over the oppressive regime of Antiochus IV and the Seleucid Empire. In this podcast we tell the story of this miraculous victory of the weak over the mighty; the few over the many; the pure over the impure; and the righteous over the wicked. Please SUBSCRIBE to […]

We are instructed to sit in a Sukkah for the seven days of the holiday of Sukkos. What is the meaning behind this strange mitzvah? Why must we leave our climate-controlled homes and move into a sukkah that resembles huts in third world countries? Why is this mitzvah so powerful that it is used as a […]

Yom Kippur is a challenging day. It is associated with prayer and liturgy that we may not understand, very long services and, of course, fasting. As a result, most people are unaware of the power, meaning and opportunity of the day. In this podcast we go back to the very first Yom Kippur. What happened on […]

Rosh Hashana means the beginning of the year. This day was selected because it is the anniversary of the creation of Adam. The day is also called the day of judgement because all people are judged on this day as well. What is the connection between these two and how can we make the most […]

Shavous is the date when the Jews stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard the Ten Commandments. Ten mitzvahs out of the 613 that they would ultimately receive is only 3% of the total. Why would this day be enshrined as the day of receiving the Torah when they actually received only a small fraction […]

Yom Kippur is a day unlike any other. Every other day of the year our spiritual growth is limited to small steps; like climbing a ladder – we cannot skip any rungs. Yom Kippur is a spiritual cornucopia – 24 hours to make meteoric spiritual ascensions before this golden opportunity expires. In this class we learn how […]

The deeper meaning and insight into the various holidays and festivals in the Jewish calendar.

Join Rabbi Wolbe and his trustful comrades as they attempt to unlock the wonderful meaning and insight of the Jewish calendar. This presentation will succeed in shattering the childish and simplistic understandings of the Jewish holidays that most of us have harbored since our youth, and infuse the holidays and rituals of the Jewish year […]

Join Rabbi Wolbe and his trustful comrades as they attempt to unlock the wonderful meaning and insight of the Jewish calendar. This presentation will succeed in shattering the childish and simplistic understandings of the Jewish holidays that most of us have harbored since our youth, and infuse the holidays and rituals of the Jewish year […]

Learn about the Jewish perspective in time, and how we can tap into the same spiritual entities that existed in yesteryear. This fascinating idea joins another: the coexistence of a Lunar month and a solar year in the Jewish calendar. Lastly, learn the meaning of the various Jewish holidays and significant times in the calendar […]

The answer to the most important question of all: How do we know we are right? Religions are mutually exclusive; The Jews, Christians and Moslems cannot all be right. It’s a zero sum game: If we are right, they all must be wrong! As Jews, we have to ask ourselves the question: are we merely […]

Rabbi Wolbe explains why Jews have traditionally stayed up the entire night of Shavuos studying.

On Purim we are instructed to intoxicate ourselves with wine till we do not know the difference between “Haman is cursed” and “Mordechai is blessed”. What could possibly be the rationale behind such a strange mitzvah?