Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Seventh Principle of Faith orients around the greatest man and the greatest prophet of them all, Moses. Moses towered above all members of the human species, and indeed over angels too. As a result of his supreme stature, Moses became the sole prophet who could bridge the two words and convey Torah to humanity. In this podcast we share some of our Sages teachings regarding the unparalleled, transcendent stature of Moses 

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This unique podcast was recorded live at the Aish Thornhill Community Shul on the third day of Chanukah 5780. In the talk we suggest a cogent and unified explanation of the festival of Chanukah, and specifically, of the menorah candles. We begin by noting the many differences between the Chanukah candles and the other rabbinic mitzvah related to candles, the Shabbos candles. We then observe some interesting and surprising citations in the Torah literature relating to Chanukah and the menorah. And finally, we propose a novel explanation that reconciles all the questions and provides illumination to the festival in general. 

– – – – – – – – – – –

This podcast is sponsored by Michael and Galit Friedmann, in loving memory of George Friedmann, Shlomo Ben Aryeh

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

About 2,200 years ago, the Jewish Nation faced an existential threat: The Assyrian Greek Empire led by Antiochus and his Hellenist henchmen undertook a concerted campaign to systematically eradicate the Jewish religion. They sought to make the Jews forget the Torah and depart from the mitzvos; they defiled the Temple; they harassed the Jewish daughters; and they banned the observance of many mitzvos on pain of death. But the Almighty did not forsake His people. He stood up for them in their time of sorrow; He waged their wars; He judged the judgment; He avenged their vengeance, and aided the Jews to total victory over their Greek overlords. To remember that miracle, and the miracle of the oil that lasted 8x its intended length, the Sages established the 8-day holiday of Chanukah. In this podcast we survey the history, laws, and customs of Chanukah.

– – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

A reappearing theme of this week’s parsha is garments: Joseph’s brothers envy is engendered by a garment; the brothers deceive Jacob by presenting him with a garment; When mourning, Jacob and Reuben rip their garments; Tamar disguised herself by swapping her garment; Joseph is imprisoned when he loses his garment. In this podcast we suggest a way of stringing together these threads into a very useful and powerful insight. Is it true that clothes make the man?

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

This Parsha Podcast is sponsored by Jeremy Love in loving memory of his mother, Myra Rousso, Miriam bat Chaim v’Sarah, whose first yahrzeit is the 21st of Kislev. May her soul merit an ascension in Heaven.

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

If our life’s mission would be distilled down to one idea it would be Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of God’s Name). The opposite of Kiddush Hashem is Chilul Hashem (Desecration of God’s Name). Due to the gravity of these concepts, they are treated differently. 

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week’s parsha podcast features three powerful ideas: One relating to God giving Jacob a very unusual nickname; one that follows the aftermath of the episode of Dinah; and one relating to the different names assigned to Esav’s wife. 

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In this sweeping retrospective of prophecy from Adam until the extinction of prophecy at the onset of the Second Temple Era, we address many fundamental questions: What is the critical difference between the prophecy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all other prophets? How did an entire nation merit prophecy at Sinai? How did a wicked man like Balaam merit prophecy? What are the various types of prophecies through which the 24 Books of the Tanach were written and what are the differences between these experiences? What led to the decline and extinction of prophecy at the beginning of the Second Temple Era, and what was the very dramatic event that effectively ended prophecy? We also discuss what types of prophetic experiences continued even after full-blown prophecy ended.

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Throughout the parsha, there are many references to a stone or stones. Jacob surrounds himself with stones for protection; he pours oil on a stones; he consecrates a stone for the Temple; a large stone is covering a well, and Jacob removes the stone; and at the parsha’s end, Jacob and Laban strike a deal and erect a stone monument and a stone mound. In this podcast, we try to decipher the meaning behind all these stone references and draw out the lessons that they contain.

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Gratitude is a character trait that is universally lauded. In Torah Literature it is, of course, a central characteristic of the righteous, and even the secular world has adopted it as an admirable virtue. But when we examine the Torah sources we discover that gratitude is not only about being nice and pleasant, it lies at the very heart of our life’s mission.

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

Please visit our website torchweb.org to get your FREE TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.