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
Parshas Yisro (Rebroadcast)
The most significant event in all of human history is the Revelation at Sinai, which occurs in Parshas Yisro. Prior to that monumental experience and the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Beshalach – First Mover Advantage
After the Exodus, the Jewish people left Egypt, with no plans to return. But the Egyptians followed them in hot pursuit, and seven days later the nation was…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Beshalach – Bread of Angels (5781)
Parshas Beshalach is arguable the most action-packed Parsha in the Torah. It starts with the Jews hightailing out of Egypt – only to have Pharaoh follow in hot…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Beshalach (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Beshalach may be the most action-packed parsha in the Torah. After the Exodus, God directed the people to not take the shortest route to the Land in…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bo – The Bloods and The Crisp
The dramatic events of the Exodus reach a crescendo with the nation’s Exodus from Egypt. After 210 years of servitude and subjugation, the Almighty people…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bo – The Ember of Abraham (5781)
The Jewish nation was in the dumps. They had spent hundreds of years in Egypt, and the possibility of ever leaving and reconstituting as an independent nation…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Bo (Rebroadcast)
After the first seven Plagues of Egypt related in last week’s parsha, Pharaoh and his people were still unwilling to release the Children of Israel. In Parshas…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vaeira – Manufactured Adversity
Prior to Moshe and Aaron making progress in their mission to extract the Jewish people from Egypt – their first efforts yielded no success, at least not in…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vaeira – Pharaoh’s Education (5781)
The Jewish people undergo a stunning transformation in our Parsha: It begins with the nation walling in misery; when Moshe offers a plan for salvation, they…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vaeira (Rebroadcast)
Our Parsha begins in the middle of the dialogue between Moses and God. Moses’ initial foray into saving the nation has gone horribly awry. Instead of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shemos – Panache in King
The story of the Jewish people in the book of Exodus gets off to a difficult start. The nation is firmly ensconced in Egypt, but their experience there is…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shemos – Grooming Greatness (5781)
Moses is the greatest leader of our history and the archetype of a great, transformative leader. Why was he chosen for the role? What was his training to…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Shemos (Rebroadcast)
The Book of Exodus begins with the Egyptians cunningly enslaving their Hebrew subjects: mandating that they work in backbreaking labor, killing their male…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayechi – Anti-Oxidance
Immediately prior to his passing, Jacob gathered his sons with the intention of revealing to them what will happen at the end of days. With his 12 sons…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayechi – The Five Stages of Transformation (5781)
The Book of Genesis is replete with interesting stories. We follow the narrative about Adam and Noah and their families, Abraham and his odyssey and trials…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayechi (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Vayechi is the final portion of the Book of Genesis. Jacob is about to die and he tends to his affairs: He assures that he will not be buried in Egypt…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayigash – Definition of Life
Jacob relocates in our Parsha. Leaving Canaan once again, Jacob gathers his family and the possessions that he had acquired in Canaan and descends to Egypt to…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayigash – Fruitful Famine (5781)
In Parshas Vayigash, the Joseph trilogy comes to a close. The saga that began when Joseph was 17 ends when Jacob is reunited with his favorite son, now viceroy…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayigash (Rebroadcast)
Twenty two years have passed since Jacob and Joseph were separated. Ever since Joseph was torn away from him, Jacob was bereft of prophecy and inconsolable. In…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Mikeitz – Growing Pains & Paining Grows
Joseph took a very unusual path to primacy: his brothers thought he was a good for nothing, and sold him as a slave. He was sold to Egypt, accused of a crime…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Mikeitz – Talent Evaluation (5781)
Joseph is one of the most impressive figures in Jewish history. His accomplishments are vast: His holiness under spiritually treacherous conditions are…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Mikeitz (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Mikeitz continues the narrative of Joseph in Egypt. We pick up his story two years after his failed attempt at earning a reprieve via his cellmate…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeishev – If You Hear Something, Do Something
One of the most shocking events in the whole Torah occurs in our Parsha: Joseph’s brothers sell him as a slave to a caravan of traveling Ishmaelites. Two of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeishev – The Holy Hologram (5781)
Joseph is one of the greatest heroes of Jewish history. His greatest deed was when he resisted temptation and rebuffed the seductions of his master…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayeishev (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Vayeishev contains two intersecting, seemingly scandalous, storylines, that after all the dust has settled we can see are harbingers of the Messiah and…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayishlach – Forefathers and Fouruncles
The story of the Forefathers is well known. The Fouruncles, less so. Intertwined in the story of our nation’s progenitors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayishlach – Unrequited Love (5781)
This a unique edition of The Parsha Podcast that you dont want to miss. Instead of the usual one big idea that we typically cover in a Parsha podcast, in this…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayishlach (Rebroadcast)
After successfully escaping the clutches of his deceptive father in law, Laban, Jacob heads back west to the Land of Canaan, and back to his family. The…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeitzei – Holy Sheeple
A large section of our Parsha contains intricate descriptions of Jacob as a shepherd. Initially, he worked for Laban as a shepherd for 7 years for the rights…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeitzei – Laban’s Potion (5781)
As the father of all four of Jacob’s wives, Laban is in effect the father in law of the Jewish people. If we examine Laban’s story, he seems to have both…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayeitzei (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Vayeitzei follows Jacob as he is fleeing from his murderous brother Esau and travels to Charan to the house of Laban, his wily and deceptive uncle, and…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Toldos – Twin Powers
Our Parsha features two very different twins. After decades of infertility, Isaac and Rebecca are blessed with twins, identical twins the Sages emphasize, who…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Toldos – Esav’s Fatal Flaw (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Toldos (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Chayei Sarah – Eulogizing A Giant
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Chayei Sarah – Portal to Paradise (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Chayei Sara (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeira – The Struggle Is Real
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeira – Abraham’s Three Protégés (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayeira (Rebroadcast)
This week’s parsha features several iconic episodes: Abraham was visited by God as he was recuperating from his circumcision, and concurrently engaged in…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Lech Lecha – A Lot of Testing
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Lech Lecha – Go West, Young Man (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Lech Lecha (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Noach – The Flood and The Fish
Please take the short one-question Parsha Podcast Survey https://forms.gle/LkCDUJhCYCnnYasS6 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – The Flood was a…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Noach – Spiritual Adaptation (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Noach (Rebroadcast)
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. – – – – – – –…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bereishis – Cain’s Discovery
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bereishis – You are Adam (5781)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Bereishis (Rebroadcast)
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 Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vezos Haberacha – An Offer You Can Refuse
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vezos Haberacha (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Haazinu – Torrential Torah
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Jonah: Studying the Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)
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 Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeilech – Career Capstone
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Vayeilech (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day Two (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day One (Rebroadcast)
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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Nitzavim – The Penitent Manifesto
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 Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Nitzavim (Rebroadcast)
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…