Shows / The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Parsha Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe was started in 2016 with the goal of making the weekly Parsha accessible and useful. Every Sunday, the Parsha Podcast will feature an hour-long podcast outlining the story, narratives and major themes of that week’s Parsha and offer a selection of valuable and interesting insights from it. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, two more episodes that focuses on one idea, theme, or comment on the Parsha will be released. Please send comments or questions to…
Episodes
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Savo – The Joystick
Sadness and hopelessness are modern societal epidemics. Notwithstanding the fact that our time has seen more material abundance than ever before, the share of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Savo – Gaze from Heaven (5784)
Blessings and curses. That is the dominant theme of our Parsha. We read the admonition of Deuteronomy – 98 bone-chilling curses that will befall our people in…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Ki Savo (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Seitzei – Moabite the Hand that Fed You
Our number one goal in life is to achieve perfection. Perfection of character, perfection of behavior, profession of speech, profession of thought, perfection…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Seitzei – Conscience Cleanser (5784)
Of the motley potpourri of subjects featured in Parshas Ki Seitzei are several fascinating mitzvos that we address in this week’s Parsha podcast. We begin with…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Ki Seitzei (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shoftim – Selfless, Fearless, Flawless, Scholars
Our Parsha features laws relating to all types of leaders: Judges must not corrupt judgment, must not accept bribery, must hearken to the rulings of the Grand…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shoftim – Government-in-Exile (5784)
In this Parsha Podcast we share two fascinating and deep insights from our Parsha. The first relates to the method by which capital punishment must be meted…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Shoftim (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Reeh – Root Force
Idolatry is anathema. Idolatry in the Holy Land is totally intolerable. Multiple times in the book of Devarim, we are exhorted to thoroughly and utterly…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Reeh – Idle Tree, Idle Warship, and Falls Profits (5784)
The Torah spends a lot of time cautioning us against idolatry. As the nation is about to cross over the Jordan and enter Canaan, they are repeatedly warned to…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Reeh (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Eikev – Hidden Mechanisms
Several themes seem to be repeating themselves again and again throughout the Book of Devarim. For example, the nation is repeatedly encouraged to not be…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Eikev – Shock and Awe (5784)
Flashy achievements make the news. Great triumphs, awesome deeds, transcendent moments grab our attention and seize our imagination. Humdrum acts fail to stir…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Eikev (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vaeschanan – Denied Entry
Prayer always makes an impact. Moshe’s prayer was exceedingly powerful and made a supercharged impact. But all of Moshe’s prayer, and all of his pleading, and…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vaeschanan – Get a Life (5784)
Moshe was Joshua’s teacher. By any measure, Moshe was a greater leader of the nation than Joshua was. Moshe was the sun to Joshua’s moon. But Moshe was unable…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vaeschanan (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Devarim – Og, the Places You’ll Go
A month before his passing, Moshe gathers the nation for a final message. He begins with a two-verse critique of the nation, not excoriating them for their…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Devarim – Citizen of Heaven (5784)
A year after the Exodus Moshe dispatched a contingency of dignified men to scout the land of Canaan prior to the Nation’s invasion. It was a catastrophic…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Devarim (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Mattos & Masei – Talk is Expensive
Freedom of speech is enshrined in the First Amendment. Our society allows people to say whatever they want so long as they’re not perjuring themselves or…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Mattos & Masei – Order of Sisters (5784)
The Book of Bamidbar ends on a bit of a surprising note. The final chapter of our book revisits the somewhat technical narrative relating to the inheritance of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Mattos & Masei (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Pinchas – Dual Tracks
Certain legends are irreplaceable. There was never a man like Moshe who spoke to God face to face. Aaron, the first high priest, set an incredibly high bar for…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Pinchas – Eggs Not Cheese (5784)
Pinchas, Aaron’s grandson, did a valorous and zealous act of bravery when he skewered the prince of the tribe of Shimon and stopped the plague from wiping out…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Pinchas (Rebroadcast)
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’…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parsha: Chukas & Balak – The Flintystones
This week’s double Parsha is chock-full of fascinating narratives, story lines, and mitzvos. We begin with the great mystery of the red heifer. We then read…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Balak – Donkey Gait Keeper (5784)
In every generation there are malevolent forces seeking to destroy the Jewish people. They have never been successful, nor will they ever be. The Almighty…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Chukas – Mourning Clouds (5784)
Two giants passed away in this week’s Parsha: Moshe two elder siblings, his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron – two of the great leaders and benefactors of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Chukas & Balak (Rebroadcast)
In Parshas Chukas, we read about a highly unusual mitzvah: The Red Heifer, when an entirely red cow is burned together with a motley concoction of ingredients…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Korach – Debate and Switch
Cousins don’t always agree on everything. Korach and Moshe had a disagreement, a debate. Moshe was instructed by God that the nation is limited to one high…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Korach – The Jewish Kryptonite (5784)
We all have weaknesses. Nations, as well, have witnesses. When the Almighty sought to give the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai, He first offered it to all…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Korach (Rebroadcast)
In this week’s parsha, Moshe and Aaron’s first cousin, a man named Korach, launches a rebellion claiming that Moshe is guilty of nepotism in appointing his…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shelach – Founding Grandfathers
The twelve men who Moshe sent to scout the Land were all righteous leaders of the tribes. There were not lightweights. In fact, Joshua, who would succeed Moshe…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shelach – Prophylactic Phylacteries (5784)
Prior to initiating the war of conquest of the land of Canaan, the nation did the prudent thing: they undertook a reconnaissance mission to scout out the enemy…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Shelach (Rebroadcast)
The Jewish people were on the cusp of entering the Land of Canaan, and made a prudent, but ultimately tragic, decision: To send a contingent of scouts to…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Behaaloscha – Shrieking Wilderness
Parshas Behaaloscha contains a smorgasbord of fascinating narratives and storylines. In this interesting and fun edition of the Parsha podcast, we propose a…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Behaaloscha – Honeymoon Phases (5784)
After nearly a year at Sinai, the nation is on the move: in perfect formation, each tribe perfectly positioned and oriented, the nation finally departed the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Behaaloscha (Rebroadcast)
The Jewish nation has been encamped at Mount Sinai for nearly a year; in this week’s parsha they finally depart from the Mountain of God, and sadly leave…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Nasso – Four Paces
The longest Parsha in the Torah (Nasso) contains a seemingly unconnected string of subjects. It begins by detailing the responsibilities of adult working-age…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Nasso – Gordian Knot (5784)
Parshas Nasso is the longest Parsha in the Torah by verses. In this very special Parsha podcast we explore three different elements of the Parsha: We offer a…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Nasso (Rebroadcast)
In the longest parsha in the Torah by verses, we continue to read about the Levite families and their responsibilities, we learn about the three tiers of the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
*Shavuos Special* Ruth, Sinai, and the Heart of Shavuos
The Sinai Revelation is the most significant event in all of human history: God revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people, He spoke to them, He gave them…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bamidbar – Honorary Levites
Not everyone loves math and numbers. I’ve heard disturbing rumors that there are some people who even claim to hate math and get irritated when they see…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bamidbar – Legion of God (5784)
At first glance, the subject matter of Parshas Bamidbar is quite bland and technical. It talks of a census, and the orientation of the tribes in the camp, and…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Bamidbar (Rebroadcast)
We kickstart the Book of Numbers with a census of the twelve tribes of Israel – not including the tribe of Levi who is counted independently – conducted by…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Behar Bechukosai – The Seven Secrets
I don’t know many farmers. This country used to be an agrarian society, but today fewer than 2% of Americans are farmers. This was not the case in antiquity…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Behar – Intractable Land (5784)
The Land of Israel is special: It is the land of God. All other lands were given by God to humanity. The land of Israel He reserved for himself. The Torah…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Behar & Bechukosai (Rebroadcast)
This week’s double-Parsha closes out the Book of Leviticus. Parshas Behar begins at Mount Sinai, where the Almighty instructed Moshe to convey a series of laws…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Emor – Matching Man and Mission
The Priests are the noblest amongst us, direct descendants of Aaron, the legendary first priest. They have a very important role to play amongst their people…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Emor – Simulated Martyrdom (5784)
Humans have a very important role to play in God’s world. The Almighty created a world in which He is obfuscated. It is possible to live a whole life without…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Emor (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Emor contains a staggering 56 mitzvos, nearly all of them relating to either to the Kohanim, the priests, or to the Festivals, and the parsha ends with…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Acharei Mos/Kedoshim – Acting the Goat
Yom Kippur is a different day than every other day of the year. It is the holiest day, the day of atonement, a day of fasting and prayer and repentance. When…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Acharei Mos – Fleshy Onesie (5784)
The first verse of our Parsha revisits a tragic event from the past. The Torah tells us that after the death of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, Moshe was…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Acharei & Kedoshim (Rebroadcast)
This week’s double-parsha contains a smorgasbord of mitzvos. The three chapters of Parshas Acharei cover three general categories. First we read about the Yom…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Tazria Metzora – Better Animals of our Nature
The subject of purity and impurity is not the most exciting one. The hallmark of these subjects is their intricacies and complexities, but our parsha has…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Tazria Metzora – Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires (5784)
Like much of Leviticus hitherto, tzaraas – the skin malady that is a physical manifestation of a spiritual flaw – is a concept distant from our consciousness…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Tazria & Metzora (Rebroadcast)
A very large percentage of Torah is dedicated to the laws of purity and impurity. This week’s double Parshas of Tazria and Metzora largely deal with these…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shemini – A Time For Boldness
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