The Parsha Podcast · Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

601

Toldos – Esav’s Fatal Flaw (5781)

Nov 22, 2022

38:18

Jacob’s twin brother Esav is one of the worst villains in Jewish history. He seems to be an unending litany of bad character. Our parsha ends with Esav dead set on committing fratricide by actually murdering his own brother. Esav is just one bad apple. But is it possible that things could have ended up […]

602

Parshas Toldos (Rebroadcast)

Nov 20, 2022

1:06:32

In Parshas Toldos we meet twin boys that are polar opposites: Esau, beloved by his father Isaac, is a man of the fields; while Jacob is loved by his mother Rebecca and prefers to dwell in the tents of scholarship. These two children will spawn nations and ideals that diverged from each other even before […]

603

Chayei Sarah – Eulogizing A Giant

Nov 17, 2022

46:31

This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas my dear friend and study partner David Gedaliah ben Efraim, Dr. David Genecov obm. Dr. Genecov was a dear personal friend, a weekly study partner of mine, a stalwart supporter of TORCH, and a dedicated listener of the Parsha Podcast and all the other […]

604

Chayei Sarah – Portal to Paradise (5781)

Nov 15, 2022

39:58

The Torah dedicates an unusually large amount of verses in the beginning of this week’s parsha to describe a real estate transaction between Abraham and a gentleman named Ephron. Sarah has passed and Abraham seeks to buy Ephron’s cave to inter her in. Initially, Ephron acts with supposed generosity and offers it to Abraham for […]

605

Parshas Chayei Sara (Rebroadcast)

Nov 13, 2022

56:23

Some of the highlights of this week’s parsha: Immediately after the Binding of Isaac, Sarah passed away at the age of 127, and soon afterward Abraham had to procure a burial spot for her. In addition, Abraham sent his trusted confidante, Eliezer, to his hometown to find a spouse for Isaac. – – – – […]

606

Vayeira – The Struggle Is Real

Nov 10, 2022

57:38

How do we respond when we are faced with challenges? What are we supposed to think when the path before us seems unsteady and laden with dangers? Our Parsha contains some of the most memorable and iconic stories of the whole Torah. It begins with the single greatest documented episode of hospitality, and it ends […]

607

Vayeira – Abraham’s Three Protégés (5781)

Nov 8, 2022

44:10

Abraham was the most influential person in human history. He changed the tides of history, he popularized Monotheism in the world, he is the father of many nations, and fittingly his story is told at considerable length in the Torah. In this very special edition of the Parsha Podcast we study his relationship and interactions […]

608

Parshas Vayeira (Rebroadcast)

Nov 6, 2022

1:07:14

This week’s parsha features several iconic episodes: Abraham was visited by God as he was recuperating from his circumcision, and concurrently engaged in superlative kindness with three angels masquerading as pagan travelers; Abraham was informed that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed and was unsuccessful in interceding on their behalf; […]

609

Lech Lecha – A Lot of Testing

Nov 3, 2022

58:32

Abraham was the most consequential human in all of history. He began the process of fixing the world and humanity. Amid a cesspool of idolatry, Abraham emerged as a beacon of faith. When the entire world had forgotten about its Creator, Abraham restored faith in God to the world. Our Parsha follows Abraham in his […]

610

Lech Lecha – Go West, Young Man (5781)

Nov 1, 2022

50:44

Abraham is the Torah’s first protagonist. The entirety of this parsha and the subsequent one are following the forefather of our nation. Why does the Torah spend so much time telling the story of this ancient figure? In this life-changing episode, we study Abraham’s odyssey to find the precise guidelines to fulfill our latent potential. […]

611

Parshas Lech Lecha (Rebroadcast)

Oct 30, 2022

1:02:06

In this week’s parsha, Abraham is instructed to move to Israel, is given divine promises that he will be the father of many nations; his children will be as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the heaven, a son Ishmael is born, and he is commanded to circumcise his foreskin […]

612

Noach – The Flood and The Fish

Oct 27, 2022

1:02:00

Please take the short one-question Parsha Podcast Survey https://forms.gle/LkCDUJhCYCnnYasS6 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – The Flood was a disaster for all the Earth’s inhabitants, humans and animals alike. With the exception of Noah and his family and the […]

613

Noach – Spiritual Adaptation (5781)

Oct 25, 2022

45:23

Noah is arguably the most enigmatic figure in the Torah. The Torah is lavish in his praise: He was a prophet who found favor in Hashem’s eyes and selected to survive the Flood and repopulate the world afterwards. Noach is also the only person that the Torah characterized as a Tzadik. Yet Rashi and the […]

614

Parshas Noach (Rebroadcast)

Oct 23, 2022

56:55

In this week’s parsha: Noah and his family build an Ark as a refuge from an extinction-level Flood brought by God to destroy the world’s sinners. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making […]

615

Bereishis – Cain’s Discovery

Oct 20, 2022

49:49

Welcome to Year Seven (!) of The Parsha Podcast. Each week will feature, with the help of the Almighty, three episodes, two ones from previous years and a new one: On Sunday, the Parsha Rebroadcast that covers the whole Parsha in about an hour will be released. On Tuesday, we will release the episode from […]

616

Bereishis – You are Adam (5781)

Oct 19, 2022

43:05

As we begin year 7 of the Parsha Podcast, we are excited and overjoyed to share the plan for this year, with the help of the Almighty: each Sunday, we will release the rebroadcast episode that covers the entire Parsha in about an hour. On Tuesday, we will re-release the corresponding episode from the 5th […]

617

Parshas Bereishis (Rebroadcast)

Oct 16, 2022

1:12:33

With praise and appreciation to the Almighty, we begin year 7 of the Parsha Podcast. This year, we will reupload the Parsha Rebroadcast episode which covers the entire Parsha each Sunday, re-release the 5th cycles episode from 5781 each Tuesday, and we will, please God, record and release a new weekly episode each Thursday. Thank […]

618

Vezos Haberacha – An Offer You Can Refuse

Oct 14, 2022

48:08

The final Parsha of the Torah contains the blessing of Moshe to the nation, his death, burial, and eulogy. Rashi tells us that his blessing began with a recounting of the offer of the Torah to the Nations and to Israel. Before the Sinai Revelation, God offered the Torah to every other Nation, and they […]

619

Parshas Vezos Haberacha (Rebroadcast)

Oct 9, 2022

51:22

The final parsha of the Torah details the blessings that Moshe conveyed to the tribes of Israel immediately prior to his passing, and the Torah ends with the description of the death, burial, and eulogy of Moshe. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

620

Haazinu – Torrential Torah

Oct 6, 2022

47:04

The Song of Haazinu, the third of three Songs on the Torah, tells the story of the Jewish people, past, present, and future. It speaks of high points and nadirs, this world and the next, devastation and reclamation. In this podcast we examined the Song’s beginning. Moshe compares his words and his speech to rain, […]

621

Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

Oct 6, 2022

58:16

Still in the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys to the nation a 43-verse Song predicting the contours of Jewish history, both past, present, and future. The patterns are familiar to the readers of Deuteronomy and even casual observers and students of Jewish history: The nation is recipients of tremendous divine goodness, yet they […]

622

Jonah: Studying the Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)

Oct 2, 2022

2:05:32

On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the 48-verse Book of Jonah, which tells of a renegade prophet, Jonah, who defies the directive of God and refuses to castigate the people of Nineveh and instead escapes from God to Tarshish – with mixed results. A simple reading of the story reveals a tale of repentance, both of […]

623

Vayeilech – Career Capstone

Sep 30, 2022

49:49

On the last day of Moshe’s life, he accomplished a lot. He wrote 13 copies of the Torah, one per tribe and one to be permanently stationed in or near the Ark, he spoke words of comfort to the people, and he formally passed the baton of leadership of the nation to his disciple and […]

624

Parshas Vayeilech (Rebroadcast)

Sep 28, 2022

50:41

Moshe is 120 years old to the day. He was born on the seventh of Adar and now it is the seven of Adar 120 years later. Today is his last day before his passing and he is taking leave from the nation and handing over the reins to Joshua. – – – – – […]

625

The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day Two (Rebroadcast)

Sep 25, 2022

54:36

On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the Torah section of Genesis chapter 22 that tells the very famous and quite troubling episode of the Binding of Isaac. Abraham – the same Abraham who railed against the ways of child sacrifice of the pagans – is instructed by God to take Isaac – the same Isaac […]

626

The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day One (Rebroadcast)

Sep 25, 2022

59:55

The Torah readings for the two days of Rosh Hashana were not arbitrarily chosen. There are very good reasons why on the first day of Rosh Hashana we read Genesis chapter 21, which tells of the conception and birth of Isaac, and the banishment of Ishmael, his brush with death, and his salvation. In this […]

627

Nitzavim – The Penitent Manifesto

Sep 21, 2022

1:04:26

Repentance is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. When we blunder; when we err; when we create distance and barriers between us and God, we are afforded the ability to rectify and restore our previous pristine state. But repentance, at first glance, seems nightmarishly hard. To change demands an admission that we are flawed; […]

628

Parshas Nitzavim (Rebroadcast)

Sep 18, 2022

52:07

On the final day of Moshe’s life, he gathered the entire nation – men, women, children, and according to the Talmud, all souls of future Jews – to pass them through a final covenant with God. The parsha also contains the prophetic predictions of the Messianic times, and it ends with a simple, binary choice: […]

629

Ki Savo – Clinging to Gold

Sep 14, 2022

55:13

On the surface, Bikkurim appears to be an ordinary, tithe-like Mitzvah. When the first fruits of a season’s crop begin to sprout, you designate them as Bikkurim, and eventually bring them to Jerusalem with much pomp and ceremony. Upon closer examination, this mitzvah is associated with all kinds of surprising people: When we bring the […]

630

Parshas Ki Savo (Rebroadcast)

Sep 11, 2022

55:33

As the Book of Deuteronomy draws to its conclusion, the narrative makes a transition: Moshe finishes conveying the mitzvos to the nation, and sets up his final parting message to the people. First, he commands the nation to perform several elaborate ceremonies on the very first day that they cross the Jordan River; then he […]

631

Ki Seitzei – The Payoff Pitch

Sep 7, 2022

43:18

What is the nature of the conflict of life? How, indeed, are we suspended between good and bad, between mitzvos and sin, between the evil and good inclinations? The Almighty designed the world based upon the principle of free will, meaning that we all have the choice of how to live our lives and what […]

632

Parshas Ki Seitzei (Rebroadcast)

Sep 4, 2022

1:01:03

In the parsha that contains the most mitzvos of any of the 54 Torah sections (a staggering 74 mitzvos), we read about the wayward and rebellious son, the requirement to build a fence around your roof to prevent tragedy, two episodes that we are mandated to remember, and many, many more interesting and insightful mitzvos. […]

633

Shoftim – Hill To Die On

Aug 30, 2022

50:07

Our Parsha contains the instructions for how to conduct war. We are told that we must extend peace overtures before launching an attack, we are told about the special nature of the Canaanite wars, and we are prohibited from felling fruit-bearing trees in order to make siege works. This podcast discusses the very unusual way […]

634

Parshas Shoftim (Rebroadcast)

Aug 28, 2022

1:00:20

This week we learn the laws governing all kinds of leaders: The parsha begins by detailing the laws of judges, the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court, and what happens to rebellious judges; we read about the unique laws related to kings; there are more laws pertaining to the Kohanim; and we find the […]

635

Reeh – Steak Your Claim to Eternity

Aug 26, 2022

55:43

The criminal treated most severely under Torah law is the Meisis, a personal tries to entice others to do idolatry. Attempting to persuade people to repudiate God is more severe than any other crime in Torah law. This discovery is the basis of a stunning observation followed by a critical call to action. And this […]

636

Parshas Reeh (Rebroadcast)

Aug 21, 2022

1:00:30

This week’s parsha marks a transition in the Book of Deuteronomy: it is no longer primarily about admonishment and rebuke and warnings, instead we read a bevy of mitzvos – some repetitions and some new ones that have hitherto not been mentioned. – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

637

Eikev – Well-Heeled

Aug 18, 2022

1:05:32

If the Almighty promises to give you a blessing, your ears should perk up. If God promises to give you abundance, health, prosperity, fertility, security, and all manner of blessing, your question should be – what must I do to be deserving of this? Our Parsha begins with such a promise. In the event that […]

638

Parshas Eikev (Rebroadcast)

Aug 14, 2022

59:14

We pick up where we left off last week amid Moshe’s speech to the nation before his passing, and as in the previous few weeks, Parshas Eikev is jam packed with insights and timeless lessons. Moshe pivots between looking back on the conduct of the nation in the preceding 40 years and admonishing them for […]

639

Vaeschanan – Linked to Sinai

Aug 10, 2022

55:24

Although he was the paradigmatic leader of all time, Moshe was barred from crossing the Jordan River and entering the Land. Joshua his student was to succeed him and lead the Nation into the Promised Land. Why was Moshe not allowed to enter? For the sin of striking the rock instead of speaking to it. […]

640

Parshas Va’eschanan (Rebroadcast)

Aug 8, 2022

1:04:11

This week’s parsha continues Moshe’s monologue to the nation in the weeks preceding his passing. He begins by recounting his repeated efforts in trying to convince God to rescind His decree that Moshe not enter the Land; Moshe then begins the retelling of the Torah; and we read many warnings and predictions about proper behavior […]

641

Devarim – Human Fallibility and What to Do About it

Aug 3, 2022

50:39

Parshas Devarim begins the Book of Deuteronomy, the final installment of the Pentateuch. Moshe is destined to pass and he gathers the nation to prepare them for the day after. How will the nation endure after they lose the greatest leader the world has ever known? How will their survive and flourish after Moshe is […]

642

Parshas Devarim (Rebroadcast)

Jul 31, 2022

49:44

5 weeks before his passing, Moses gives a three-parsha-long speech to the nation, which constitutes his last will and testament. He begins with a retrospective of the history of the nation over the past 40 years since the Exodus – subtly rebuking the nation, guiding them, admonishing them, ensuring that they don’t repeat their mistakes […]

643

Mattos & Masei – Contrarian Guide

Jul 28, 2022

51:50

This week we conclude the Book of Numbers with a double-Parsha, the sole double-Parsha of this calendar year. Of the myriad of interesting subjects found in our Parsha is the long and detailed negotiations between Moshe and the tribes of Reuben and Gad. These tribes sought to permanently settle on the East Bank of the […]

644

Parshas Mattos & Masei (Rebroadcast)

Jul 24, 2022

1:00:55

This year, the Book of Numbers ends with a double parsha – Mattos and Masei. We learn about the laws of vows and oaths; the miraculous war with Midian; the unusual request of the tribes of Gad and Reuben; the Torah delineates the 42 different places that the Nation encamped for their 40 year sojourn; […]

645

Pinchas – Staying Hungry

Jul 19, 2022

42:17

Although a paternal grandson of Aaron the Kohein, Pinchas was not initially – prior to his heroic act of martyrdom – a Kohein. The law stated that only Aaron and his sons were to be anointed as Kohanim. All sons born to Kohanim subsequently were to be Kohanim, but Pinchas who was alive at the […]

646

Parshas Pinchas (Rebroadcast)

Jul 17, 2022

51:44

Pinchas was a man of action, a zealot who avenged God’s vengeance and was handsomely rewarded for it. In this parsha we read about his reward, Moses’ succession plan, the methods through which the Land will be divided, and another census is done. – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

647

Balak – A Single Point

Jul 14, 2022

53:32

Our nation has no shortage of enemies. This is not new. Even in antiquity, our nation was always a target. Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law, try to smothered the Jewish Nation in its infancy. I’m this week’s Parsha, to fearsome, shadowy figures try to do the same. Balak, king of Moab, commissions Bilaam, master sorcerer and prophet, […]

648

Parshas Balak (Rebroadcast)

Jul 10, 2022

1:00:57

After the Jewish nation trounced the mighty kingdoms of Sichon and Og in last week’s parsha, the comparatively smaller and weaker kingdom of Moab resorted to unconventional warfare to attack the nation by hiring the prophet of the nations, a wily and devious character named Bilaam, to curse the Jews. It did not work out […]

649

Chukas – Between a Rock and a Watery Place

Jul 6, 2022

53:22

Parshas Chukas contains some of the most interesting and iconic sections of the Torah. It begins with the mysterious red cow, a blush bovine whose burnt ashes are part of the cleansing cocktail needed to purify the impure. Afterwards, we read about the death of Miriam and its aftermath, including the cessation of the well […]

650

Parshas Chukas (Rebroadcast)

Jul 3, 2022

1:00:57

In this week’s parsha, we read about a highly unusual mitzvah: The Red Heifer, when an entirely red cow is burned together with a motley concoction of ingredients, and the resultant ashes are used to sprinkle on people that came into contact with dead people in order to purify them from their spiritual contamination. We […]

The Parsha Podcast · Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

The Parsha Podcast Â - הרב יעקב וולבה

More by TORCH