Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Is Judaism a religion or a nation? That is a tricky question to answer because the correct answer is a bit of both. We are a nation and therefore if your pedigree is Jewish you are Jewish whether you like it or not. You can be baptized 100 times – you may get wet but you are still Jewish. On the other hand we are a religion in that people can join our nation via conversion. In this special edition of the Mitzvah Podcast we discuss the process of conversion and the three special mitzvos regarding how converts must be treated.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

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

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

This podcast is dedicated in the merit of the speedy and total recovery of a dear friend Avraham Ben Faiga, who recently contracted the coronavirus. May the Almighty heal him completely and may he suffer no lingering or lasting effects.

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, known the world over as “Chacham Ovadia” or simply “Maran”, was one of the most important rabbinical personalities of the 20th Century. His career accomplishments were staggering: He was a Torah scholar of absolute unmatched greatness. He was a transformational Rabbi – with rabbinic posts both in Israel and abroad – who served as the Chief Rabbi of Israel. He was a voluminous Halachist – having answered hundreds of thousands of Halachic queries in his lifetime and authored 50 books on Halacha in his lifetime. His accomplishments also extend beyond the rabbinate: In the 1980s, he founded the largest and most powerful religious political party in Israel. He was also the Patriarch of a prestigious rabbinic dynasty. In part one of our series of this giant of Jewish history, we tell the story of his remarkable Torah prowess that undergirded all his career accomplishments.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

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

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

This Jewish History Podcast is dedicated in honor of Shimmy and Joely Bernstein, new podcast listeners but old friends of ours – thank you for your friendship over the years

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

We all recognize that we will eventually die. Each of us know that there will come a point in time where our body and Soul separate and go their own way. The body will return to its origin, the dust, and the Soul will return to its Heavenly roots. What happens to our Soul in Heaven is certainly a tantalizing question. In this Mishnah we learn about Olam Haba, the Next world, commonly called the Afterlife. What is the Afterlife? Why is it worth preparing for? What can I do to ensure that I am included in the invite-list for this eternal bliss? In this very critical podcast we attempt to penetrate the great mystery of Olam Haba.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

TORCH Shabbat Light Switch Cover

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

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

This special edition of the podcast is dedicated in the merit of the speedy and total recovery of Yehudit bat Sara who recently contracted the coronavirus. We hope and pray that she beats the virus completely and quickly with no lingering effects

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The final century of the Second Temple and the one that followed its destruction were pivotal ones of Jewish history. It was an era replete with absolute Torah giants – Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh and his colleagues, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva and his students, among many other giants – but it was also a time of unprecedented challenges. Several times over these centuries, the Nation was hanging on a thread. The great Rabbis were targeted, the Great Sanhedrin was threatened, the Nation was attacked and dispersed. Over the course of this time, the conditions of the Nation deteriorated to the point that it was clear to our leaders that unless something drastic was done, the Nation as we know it would cease to exist. In this podcast we talk about the conditions that led to the fateful decision to write down the Mishna and to codify the Oral Torah.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Second Temple Era was an eventful time for the Jewish People and the perpetuation of Torah. Over the course of the Second Commonwealth our nation was blessed with great legends, such as Ezra, Shimon Ben Shetach, and Hillel, but the Nation faced unprecedented tests too: We were forced to contend with hostile foreign nations; internally, we suffered from discord and sectarianism; and at various times the Rabbis were targeted with assassinations and purges. To understand the imperative for the codification of Oral Torah, we must study the treacherous and perilous conditions of Torah in the Second Temple Era.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Tisha B’Av (The Ninth of Av) is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. On this day, the Spies returned from scouting the Land and spooked the Nation with their evil report prompting the Nation to needlessly bewail their fate the entire night. As retribution, God pledged: “You cried on this night for no reason, I will give you a legitimate reason to cry on this night.” And indeed, over the millennia, scores of unfortunate events happened to our nation on this inauspicious day. Why is this day so totally designated for bad things, what is the significance of the Temples for us today living in modern times, and what are we supposed to feel during the time of Tisha Bav?

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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!