The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

At Mount Sinai, the Almighty instructed Moshe to convey a series of laws to the Jewish people. The first is the mitzvah of Shemittah, the prohibition of engaging in any agricultural work every seven years. What is the lesson inherent in this mitzvah and what are the consequences of transgressing it? – – – – […]

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 acknowledging the one, singular reality of existence: God. The world was designed with the capacity for that reality being ignored. But we are here to […]

The Kohanic family is the most prestigious and sanctified family in our nation. Direct descendants of the legendary Aaron, this family was consecrated as the priests of our nation. They oversee the temple and its operations, they do the service of the Temple, they process the sacrifices – they are the spiritual leaders of our […]

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 a very unusual episode that happened at Sinai. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

Some people are easy to love. They are good people. They have a good character. They are righteous and noble and pleasant. People like that are very lovable. But there are other people. The second group of people are very hard to love. They may have a very execrable character. They may have very unlikable […]

Our Parsha begins with an unusual ceremony: Moshe gathers the entire Jewish Nation, men, women, and children, to convey to them the mitzvos of our Parsha. Unlike the rest of the Torah where the nation is conveyed the Law in shifts, in this week’s Parsha everyone has to be together. When we examine the reasons […]

This week’s parsha has the highest mitzvah density of any parsha: In its 64 verses we learn 51 separate mitzvos covering many different areas of Jewish practice, including arguably the most famous mitzvah in the whole Torah. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

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 instructed to command Aaron about the prohibition against entering the Holy of Holies unauthorized. What is the significance of the tragic demise of Aaron’s two sons […]

The verse in our Parsha makes a big promise: if you adhere to the Mitzvos and statutes and laws of the Torah you will be granted life. Life is what we all so deeply covet. Torah and Mitzvos are the ways to get it. But it doesn’t seem to bear out in the real world. […]

The three chapters of our parsha cover three general categories. First we read about the Yom Kippur sacrifices and procedures; then we learn about the prohibitions against consumption of blood among other ritualistic and sacrificial laws; and the final chapter is oriented around the many prohibited sexual relationships. – – – – – – – […]

The Metzora (one stricken with tzaraas) is unwelcome in polite society. Even impolite society doesn’t want anything to do with him. They must leave the camp. They must be alone, in seclusion, in isolation outside of the camp. They may not have close interaction with others. Others don’t even want to have any interaction with […]

How involved is God in the day-to-day lives of humanity? What is the nature of divine communication to humanity? The central subject of our Parsha offers a fascinating window into this question. In antiquity – when our people were very close to the Almighty and very elevated spiritually – every sin would register as a […]

A metzora is someone who is stricken with the tangible illness of tzaraas caused by a variety of sins, most notably the sin of lashon hara, evil talk and slander. Last week we read about two varieties of this illness: when it strikes a person’s garment or body; the bulk of our parsha orients around […]

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 Torah tells us that when a person commits one of several sins, they can be stricken with a wide range of skin afflictions that qualify as tzaraas. […]

The bulk of our Parsha deals with the inapplicable laws of purity and impurity, but we also told about a Mitzvah that is very much applicable today: circumcision. When a baby boy is 8 days old, they are circumcised and thereby entered into the Covenant of Abraham. What is the meaning behind this Mitzvah? Why, […]

A very large percentage of Torah is dedicated to the laws of purity and impurity. Parshas Tazria deals exclusively with these laws, first with respect to the impurity of a new mother, and second with the impurity of tzaraas a skin disease that comes as a result of sin. What is purity and impurity and […]

Kosher food is good for you. Non-kosher food is bad. That much we learned in our parsha. But why? Why is kosher food good? In this exquisite podcast, we Go deep and deeper in trying to understand. We discover how non kosher food serves as a form of spiritual cholesterol that creates blockages imperiling our […]

In our Parsha Aaron is promoted to become the high priest. Previously, Moshe served as high priest in an interim role, henceforth Aaron and his descendants will serve as the nation’s emissaries before God. Why was Aaron chosen? What were his qualifications? What were the events in his life that rendered him worthy of such […]

After months of preparation and building, and a week of inauguration, the nation was anticipating the climax of the Tabernacle experience: When God finally rested His Presence upon the people’s handiwork. On the eighth day the Tabernacle was erected for good, and a Heavenly fire consumed the various sacrifices offered upon the Altar and the […]

The subject matter of Parshas Tzav is – like Parshas Vayikra – sacrifices. Before today you may have thought that sacrifices are a boring snooze fest. In this Parsha Podcast your perception of Parshas Tzav and sacrifices will be permanently transformed. In the podcast we share three deep and powerful insights: How to sheath the […]

A lot of things are needed for the Temple and the Tabernacle to function properly. There are all kinds of prerequisites, protocols, procedures, and rituals that must be followed. One of the most surprising ones is the requirement to always have a fire atop the altar. Although the fire is needed for the processing of […]

In continuation of the themes of last week, Parshas Tzav details the procedures of processing many of the sacrifices enumerated in Parshas Vayikra, teaches us about new sacrifices, and we read about the seven days of inauguration of the Tabernacle. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

TORCH Fundraiser Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in 2024 We need your […]

TORCH Fundraiser Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in 2024 We need your […]

TORCH Fundraiser Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in 2024 We need your […]

TORCH Fundraiser Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in 2024 We need your […]

TORCH Fundraiser Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in […]

Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Parsha Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Parsha Podcast in 2024 We […]

There are three ways to achieve transcendental greatness: There is the path of intense practice and training in your desired field of excellence; there is the path of Bezalel who was endowed with supernatural abilities and preordained to greatness; and there is a third path — the path of the ascension of heart. In our […]

The Torah’s narrative surrounding the Tabernacle is not one-and-done an cut-and-dried. The Torah does not simply tell us that a Tabernacle was built with the requisite materials. Instead of a succinct detailing of the Tabernacle, the Torah tells the Tabernacle narrative in a sprawling and often repetitive fashion over the course of five Parsha sections. […]

After the Torah delineates the instructions to assemble the materials for the construction of the Tabernacle in Parshas Terumah and the creation of the vestments of the high priest in Parshas Tetzaveh, Parshas Vayakhel outlines the implementation those plans: The massive fundraising efforts, and the actual building of the Tabernacle and its vessels under the […]

The final instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle are conveyed at the beginning of this week’s parsha. After Moshe is told to appoint Bezalel as the head overseer of this enormous project, the Torah cautions us against constructing the tabernacle on Shabbos. Although we are required to build the Tabernacle, and we are inclined […]

The golden calf is one of the most inexplicable events in the Torah. What went wrong? Who is to blame? In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast we propose a novel idea that threads throughout the entire Parsha. We emerge from this episode with a greater appreciation of the indivisibility of our nation. – – […]

This week’s parsha contains several instructions related to the Tabernacle, but the majority of the parsha is dedicated to arguably the most shocking and troubling episode in the whole Torah, the Golden Calf. Forty days after the nation reached the pinnacle of human accomplishment – a national revelation at Sinai – the same nation committed what […]

This week’s Parsha is dedicated to the priestly class: It begins with the oil that the High Priest kindles; it describes in great detail the special vestments that the priests wore; and it proceeds in outlining the process of inauguration of the priests. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast we go deep and […]

Our Sages tell us that each one of us is unique and has a unique mission to fulfill. Humans are not fungible, moist, robots that can be swapped for each other. Each one of us is our own world. We must each say: “the world was created for me.” But how do we discover our […]

In a natural continuation to Parshas Terumah, in Parshas Tetzaveh we learn about the instructions to build the Tabernacle. Whereas last week the focus was on the edifice itself and its vessels, this week we will orient primarily on the special garments that the priests wore in the Tabernacle, and of course subsequently in the […]

The Tabernacle was a portable Temple in which the presence of God dwelled. Our Parsha begins with the fundraising effort to be conducted in the Wilderness where the nation was asked to donate the required materials for the construction of the Tabernacle, it’s vessels, and the vestments of the high priest. In this enjoyable Parsha […]

This week’s Parsha marks the beginning of the Torah’s detailing of the Tabernacle and its vessels and operations. This subject makes up the bulk of the remaining narrative of Exodus, and Leviticus contains much of the laws related to the Tabernacle. We have never witnessed the Tabernacle, nor it’s successor, the Temple in Jerusalem. The […]

One of the fundamental principles of Jewish philosophy is the idea of “Kedushah”, holiness. Holiness, according to the Jewish definition, is when the physical and spiritual worlds meet. In no location in the world is holiness more present than the Temple, and its predecessor, the “Mishkan”, the Tabernacle. In this week’s parsha we read about […]

Immediately after the Sinai Revelation, the Torah begins telling us many of the laws. In this Parsha podcast we focus on two of the laws: the famous verse of “an eye for an eye”, and the requirement to aid your enemy when his donkey is struggling under its load. As is our mandate in year […]

The Sinai Revelation was the most significant event in all of human history, certainly in all of Jewish history. Our nation experienced what no other people has experienced: we heard God speaking the Ten Commandments from amidst the fire and thick cloud on the mountain, and survived to tell the tale. This event – as […]

Parshas Mishpatim marks a stark change in the rhythm and pace of the Torah narrative. The preceding 17 Parshas contained a total of 41 mitzvos; this week we begin learning the Torah laws en masse. In this single parsha alone we have 53 mitzvos (only three parshas have more mitzvos). Beyond the varied laws, this […]

The arrival of Jethro, the preparation for Sinai, and the nature of the Sinai revelation – these are some of the subjects featured in our parsha. In this very special and atypically extemporaneous Parsha podcast, we offer four interesting ideas: one on the unique route that Jethro took to the truth; one on the particular […]

The eponymous protagonist of our Parsha – Moshe’s father-in-law, Jethro – makes three appearances in the Torah. His story, at first glance, seems wholly unremarkable. His greatest claim to fame was the fact that Moshe married his daughter. But the Torah revisits this interesting and compelling character again and again, and his narrative is positioned […]

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 conveyance of the Ten Commandments, Moshe’s father in law, Jethro, arrived at the camp and makes an important suggestion for improving the efficiency of the judicial process. – – […]

The Exodus is finally here. After 210 years in Egypt – enslaved, tormented, and oppressed – the nation is leaving with great pomp and ceremony. There is an apparently curious factoid about the Exodus: in the third verse of our Parsha, the Torah tells us that Moshe secured the bones of Joseph, and transported them […]

The Exodus marked the severing of the Jewish people from their former masters, the Egyptians. With plagues and miracles, the Almighty extracted the Israelites from bondage. That all happened in last week’s Parsha. You would expect that our nation would move on to other pursuits and challenges, but our Parsha begins with the Egyptians again. […]

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 order to facilitate the great miracle of the Splitting of the Sea and the final destruction of the Egyptians. After those unprecedented miracles, the trouble began: Twice […]

The Jewish people spent several centuries in Egypt, but now it is time to leave – and the nation is leaving with flair, with miracles, signs, and wonders. In this very special, celebratory, Parsha podcast, I share two incredible ideas that I shared over the past couple of days during the festivities surrounding the birth […]