This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
539 episodes — Page 8 of 11
Core Beliefs of Judaism Part 1
with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Blessings in Jewish Literature and Thought
Count Your Blessing 100X Daily: A Primer On Vibrant Jewish Living
The Ten Commandments in Jewish Thought and Philosophy
Are We Truly Better Off?
What is Torah?
Sukkah (Life): A Temporary Residence
The Themes, Meanings, Liturgies and Rituals of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur In Modern Times: How to Have The Most Meaningful Yom Kippur Ever
Who Will Live and Who Will Die: Why Jews Are Obsessed With Death
High Holiday: The Themes, Meanings, Liturgies and Rituals of Rosh Hashana
A Fiery Poolside BBQ-Talk Pre-Rosh Hashana 2015
Wake Up From Your Slumber!!!
Oral & Written Torah, The Talmud and Their Interrelationship
The Shema Part 2
The Shema Part 1
How is this Religion different from all other Religions: How Judaism is an Evidence-based Faith (Part 2)
The Talmud declares that someone who rejects the legitimacy of the Written Torah as being written by Moses as per the dictation of the Almighty has no portion in the World to Come. If someone accepts the Torah at large but argues that a single verse is not Divine – they have no portion in the […]
Olam Haba in Jewish Sources
Shema Yisrael: The Clarion Call for Greatness
Life as the Child of a Billionaire
The Magical Jewish Potion
Charity and Tithing: The Jewish Perspective on Compounding Wealth
Straddling the Line Between Reliance on God and Personal Responsibility
If God decides and knows everything, what do I have to lose by walking through a highway blindfolded? God makes people sick. If so, should we try to undo that via prayer? Perhaps he should only pray and not seek medical attention? Can someone be obese and guzzle steaks and say “if the Almighty wants me to die then […]
31 Sins of the Tongue: The Critical Importance of Guarding one’s Mouth from Evil Talk
The History Of Israel Part 2: From the Babylonians to Bibi
Why We Study Torah Part 3
The History of Israel Part 1: Abraham to the Downfall of the Kingdom of Israel
Resurrection of the Dead in Jewish Thought and Literature
Tikkun Olam in Jewish Thought and Literature
The National and Personal Mission of the Jews
Why Jews Circumcise?
Why We Study Torah Part 2
Why We Study Torah Part 1
Messiah, Resurrection and Olam Haba: Judaism’s End Game
A Religious and Philosophical Analysis of Free Will and G-d’s Providence
The History of Jewish Settlement in Israel
It has been more than 3,800 years since God promised Abraham that his children would inherit the Land of Israel, then called Canaan. Ever since that fateful declaration the Land of Israel has not departed the hearts, minds and consciousnesses of Jews worldwide. We have settled, been expelled and resettled the Land multiple times. What […]
Tikkun Olam: The Mission Statement of the Jewish People
Tikkun Olam is Hebrew for fixing the world. Implied is that we live in a broken world. What about our world is broken? How do we go about fixing it? Why are the Jewish people uniquely suited to accomplish this vital task? What tools are we entrusted with to help us achieve this supreme goal?
Mother’s Day Special: Lessons in Gratitude and Appreciation
Unfortunately and ironically, we often appreciate the least the people to whom we owe the most. If a total stranger gave you $235,000 – the amount it costs parents to raise a child to the age of 18 – you would be eternally indebted to him/her. But our parents contribution to us extends far beyond […]
Q&A: Execution for Shabbos Desecration?
The Torah rules that a Jew who desecrates the Shabbat by performing one of the 39 prohibited categories of work is executed. Should we really round up and detain all the Jews driving to shul on Shabbos, try them and execute them? The punishment seems excessive for the crime.
Q&A: Angels and Feminism
A discussion that began by examining what exactly an angel is gracefully meandered into a different topic.
Q&A: Evolution and Age of the Universe
A simplistic reading of Genesis, interpolated from Adam to present day, results in a universe that is less than 6,000 years old. Scientific methods date the universe as being 13.8 billion years old, a discrepancy that is decidedly beyond the margin of error. How do we reconcile our faith with what science has empirically concluded? Perhaps a simplistic […]
Israel: Bible to Bibi
What makes the Holy Land holy and it’s history from 3,800 years ago to modern Israel. *TORCH Bar and Bat Mitzvah Series 2015, Meyerland Minyan 4/27/2015
Reflections of Genesis Part 3: Jacob
*TORCH Breakneck through the Bible, BJC Houston 4/28/2015
The Ugliest Guy Ever
Talmud Taanis 20: A Person should always be soft like a reed and not stiff like a cedar. There was a story with Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Shimon who was coming from Migdal Gedor from the house of his Rabbi, and he was riding on a donkey and traveling on the edge of […]
Yom HaAtzmaut Special: How Israel Unites Jews of all kinds
Patterns in Jewish History, like cliches, repeat themselves. We are told that disunity, discord and disassociation brought down the Second Commonwealth of Israel nearly 2000 years ago. Implied is that unity will be the quality that is necessary to reestablish Jewish sovereignty and stability in Israel. The story of Zionism is one of disparate Jews […]
Purity, Spiritual Contamination and Leprosy: Understanding Tazria and Metzora
*Congregation Beth Yeshurun 4/23/2015
The Afterlife in Jewish Thought, Tradition and Literature
We find many references scattered throughout Jewish writings regarding Olam Haba, the next world. What exactly this place is, why we ought to strive to get there and how we go about achieving that goal are matters of immense intrigue and importance. This discussion centers around one of the more peculiar and mysterious Talmudic statements regarding Olam […]
Reflections of Genesis: Isaac’s Eternal Contribution to Jewish Life
Why, Pray Tell? The Centrality of Prayer in Jewish Practice and Harnessing it’s Unlimited Power
Moses prayed 515 times to God that He rescind His decree of banning Moses from entering Israel. After this relentless prayer assault Moses ceased praying. Why would Moses stop after 515 and not continue and what does that teach us about the effectiveness of prayer? *Shalom Cypress, April 15, 2015
The Golden Calf: A Scriptural Analysis
The Jewish attitude to Torah study has always been to not accept the words on a simplistic and superficial level. We view the text of the Torah as having infinite depth and subtle nuances and meanings. In this class we will attempt to dissect and unravel perhaps the most challenging episodes in the Torah: the […]
Reflections of Genesis: How the Forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Built the Spiritual Profile of Our Nation
The narratives of Genesis mustn’t be read and understood as important stories or historical context; The Torah in it’s entirety is instructive. The manner in which the Forefathers are presented in the Torah and the content of those narratives and dialogues are reflective of the lessons that they exemplified and perfected that the Torah wants us […]