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 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 – Rock and Roll
Jacob undergoes a meteoric transformation in our Parsha. At the onset, Jacob is a 77-year-old penniless bachelor fleeing from his brother Esau’s wrath. When…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeitzei – Fortune Favors the Bold (5782)
Jacob’s accomplishments in our Parsha are remarkable. At the onset of our parsha, Jacob is a 77 year old bachelor without a penny to his name. Having been…
- 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 – Smoking Camels
Two very different boys are born in this week’s Parsha. Esau, the older one, is ruddy and hairy and looking for trouble. Jacob, the younger one, is wholesome…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Toldos – Abraham’s Torah (5782)
Was Abraham the first Jew? Did Abraham observe the laws of the Torah? The Torah dedicates a huge amount of attention to Abraham and his family. The laws of…
- 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 – Buried Alive
Sarah died at the age of 127. Abraham negotiated with the Hittites for the purchase of a burial plot, the Cave of Machpelah. The objective of the purchase of…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Chayei Sarah – The Transformation of Eliezer (5782)
Eliezer was Abraham’s right hand man. He was in charge of all of Abraham’s affairs. According to the Talmud, Eliezer was the consummate student of Abraham…
- 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 – Abraham Abraham
On the second day of Rosh Hashanah each year we read chapter 22 of Genesis, the Binding of Isaac episode. Abraham is instructed to take his beloved son Isaac…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vayeira – Exodus From Sodom (5782)
For the third time in the Torah, we read about destruction. Previously, the Flood destroyed the world save Noah and family, and the Dispersal ended the…
- 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 – The Generational Secret
Join us for an exquisite Parsha Podcast as we go deep and deeper into Lech Lecha. The deep idea relates to Lot’s fateful decision to choose to move to the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Lech Lecha – Applying for a Name Change (5782)
Abraham and Sarah undergo seismic changes in our Parsha. Their names get changed as does their destiny. Originally, they were barren, but in our Parsha, the…
- 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 – Secret Of Invincibility
We started this week’s Parsha Podcast by talking about the Tower of Babel episode. We gleaned from that story something absolutely transformational and deep…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Noach – Company Loves Misery (5782)
Our Parsha marks a nadir in the story of mankind. Humanity sunk to such spiritual lows that the Almighty decided to destroy the world and start over with just…
- 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 – Microcosm of History
Today is a bittersweet day. Although we are very excited to embark on year 8 of the Parsha Podcast, we are only a few days after the terrible attacks in…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bereishis – Making Partner (5782)
As we begin year 8 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 8 of the Parsha Podcast (5784). This year, we will re-upload the Parsha Rebroadcast episode which…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vezos Haberacha – A Mission For Everyone
At the very end of Moshe’s life, he, like Jacob before him, blesses the tribes. When Jacob was about to pass, he blessed his sons, now Moshe is blessing the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Vezos Habracha – Antidotes to Mediocrity (5781)
In the Torah’s final Parsha, and indeed, in its final words, we say goodbye to the greatest human to have ever lived. With the passing of Moshe, the Torah…
- 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
Jonah: 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
Haazinu – Antidote to Vacuousness
On the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys the Song of Haazinu to the nation. In this masterful prophetic Song, the Torah overviews Jewish history, past…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ha’azinu – Small Step for Eaglet (5781)
The Song of Haazinu is a richly textured tapestry with layered meaning and subtleties. Our Sages tell us that it incorporates all of Jewish History. In its 613…
- 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
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 Vayeilech – Pro Choice
On the final day of Moshe’s life, he gathers the entire nation for a parting message. After forging another covenant between the nation and God and explicating…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Nitzavim – Drawbridge Of The Soul (5781)
With the entire nation gathered on his final day of life, Moshe warns the people against being seduced by idolatry. The nation, Moshe reveals, is particularly…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Nitzavim & Vayeilech (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…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Savo – Dial of Joy
The Torah has a surprising view on joy and how to attain it. The prevailing attitude in our society is that a person’s state of joy is contingent upon…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Savo – Maniacal Determination (5781)
Our parsha contains perhaps the most difficult Torah portion to read and digest: The Tochacha (Admonition). In it we are told the consequences of our deeds. If…
- 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 – The Upside of Laziness
Our parsha begins with the unusual law of the marriage of a Jewish warrior and an enemy captive woman. When a Jewish warrior spots a prisoner of war that he…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ki Seitzei – A Lifetime A Day (5781)
The Midrash in our parsha calculates that the Torah contains 613 mitzvos, 248 positive mitzvos, where the Torah commands us to do something proactive, and 365…
- 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 – Crisper Genes
The nation is on the doorstep of Canaan. In our Parsha, the people are instructed in how they must treat the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. It’s not…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Shoftim – Gateways to Great Pursuits (5781)
Justice is a virtue that we must vigorously pursue. Our Parsha begins by instructing us to establish a court system with judges and bailiffs throughout our…
- 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 – Making Dough
The Parsha ends with a delineation of the festivals. When discussing Passover, the verse notes that for 7 days we eat matzah because we left Egypt within great…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Re’eh – Look at Me (5781)
Moshe begins our parsha by presenting the Nation with a choice: See, I have placed before you today blessing and curse. And he continues to state that the…
- 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 – Longevity Pill
A ubiquitous feature in Jewish homes, the Mezuzah contains a scroll with two paragraphs from the Torah, one from this week’s Parsha and one from last week’s…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Eikev – Cheat Code for Life (5781)
The Torah contains a lot of details regarding what the Almighty expects of us. A verse in our parsha purports to get to the bottom line of what – in one…
- 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 – Jordan Rules
As a result of Moshe’s sin of striking the rock, he was barred from crossing over the Jordan River and entering the Land of Canaan. In Moshe’s speech to the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Va’eschanan – Entry Denied (5781)
Moshe was very desirous of entering the Land. The Midrash reveals that he prayed 515 separate prayers to petition God to revoke His ban on Moshe entering the…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Parshas Va’eschanan (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 – Middling East
In his speech to the Nation, Moshe revisits the episode of the Spies that occurred 39 years prior. When the nation was on the verge of entering the Land, Moshe…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Devarim – Man of Words (5781)
At the end of Moshe’s life, he gathers the entire nation for his parting message to the nation. The Midrash makes a remarkable contrast between Moshe’s…
- 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 – 49-Step Program
What did the nation do over the course of the 40 years in the wilderness? What was their objective? In our parsha we read that the nation stopped in 42…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Mattos & Masei – Talent Incubator (5781)
Our parsha contains the laws regarding a person who murders someone accidentally. We are told that the accidental murderer must flee to the city of refuge and…
- 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 – Sons of Anarchist
Korach’s rebellion claimed many victims: Some of the perpetrators were swallowed up in a miraculous sinkhole; some were consumed by a divine fire; and some…
- The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Pinchas – Eternal Promotion (5781)
Over the course of the 40 years since the Exodus, the Nation was lead by Moshe and Aaron, the King and High Priest respectively. In our Parsha, successors are…