The Parsha Podcast

Shiurim

• Yisro – Splitting the Heaven

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 i

• Parshas Tazria (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 t

• Ki Sisa – Coronavirus: Three Lessons from the Torah

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The deadly coronavirus (COVID- 19) is dominating the world’s attention. Our Sages teach us that when danger strikes, we must ponder our behavior and search for lessons. We believe that this virus is a message from God. What is the message?

• Vayechi – Fish Amidst the Land

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Jacob’s life has been extremely chaotic. Forced to tussle with his twin. Jacob’s life got off to a rocky start. Compelled to usurp the blessings, Jacob had to flee. Laban’s house was hardly a refuge – it was 20 years of non-stop contention

• Reeh – Idle Tree, Idle Warship, and Falls Profits (5784)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Torah spends a lot of time cautioning us against idolatry. As the nation is about to cross over the Jordan and enter Canaan, they are repeatedly warned to not fall prey to the idolatrous practices of the indigenous population. Instead,

• Metzora – 21st Century Prophecy (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 clos

• Tetzaveh – The Golden Bovine (5784)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 o

• Mattos & Masei – Talent Incubator

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 remain there until the passing of the High Priest. Although we have neither a Hig

• Chukas -Repentance of the Red Heifer

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Parshas Chukas tells of the red heifer as an atonement from contamination of the dead. What is the meaning behind it and how does it relate to the Golden Calf? – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Please consider making a donation to

• Vayigash – Come-to-Joseph Moment

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our parsha is one of unexpected reunions. After 20 plus years of separation, Joseph reunited with his brothers and his father. In this Parsha Podcast we focus on two elements of the reunification: firstly, we ponder the interesting question

• Nasso – Four Paces

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The longest Parsha in the Torah (Nasso) contains a seemingly unconnected string of subjects. It begins by detailing the responsibilities of adult working-age Levites from three Levite families, followed by a census of those Levites. In the

• Nitzavim – Drawbridge Of The Soul

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 vulnerable to idolatry because of the people whose land through which we have tra

• Pinchas – Staying Hungry (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Although a paternal grandson of Aaron the Kohein, Pinchas was not initially – prior to his heroic act of martyrdom – a Kohein. The law stated that only Aaron and his sons were to be anointed as Kohanim. All sons born to Kohanim subsequently

• Yisro – Deathrow and Jethro (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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.

• Mattos Masei – Greatness and Anti-Greatness

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Accidents are unfortunate. Accidents that lead to death are a catastrophe. Among the myriad of subjects discussed in this week’s double Parsha is the law of the accidental murderer. When someone kills accidentally, they are punished by bein

• Parshas Vayeishev (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Parshas Vayeishev contains two intersecting, seemingly scandalous, storylines, that after all the dust has settled we can see are harbingers of the Messiah and Redemption: Joseph is hated by his brothers, and is eventually sold by them as a

• Balak – Greatness Gone Awry

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Bilaam was a gifted prophet on par with Moshe. Sadly, he chose to direct his powers towards a life of evil. In Parshas Balak, Bilaam is hired to curse the Jewish people, but it does not go as planned. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

• Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 patterns are familiar to the readers of Deuteronomy and even casual observers an

• Mattos & Masei – Order of Sisters (5784)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Book of Bamidbar ends on a bit of a surprising note. The final chapter of our book revisits the somewhat technical narrative relating to the inheritance of the ancestral lands of a man named Tzelafchad. This man from the tribe of Menash

• Vayeira – Exodus From Sodom (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 universal civilization, and in our parsha we read about the overturning of Sodom and Gom

• Lech Lecha – How Small Steps Yield Huge Results + New TORCH Initiative

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  This week’s Parsha orients around our patriarch, Abraham, and more specifically his 10 tests that formed his spiritual makeup, and more broadly the spiritual fabric of our nation. In this podcast, we dwell on the first of those tests – when

• Bamidbar – Flag-Bearers

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  At first glance, Parshas Bamidbar seems like a snoozefest: it’s very technical, counting the people, assigning the tribes to their encampments, counting the Levites separately, designating the responsibilities of the Levites in the transpor

• Vayakhel & Pekudei – Sequestered with God

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  This week’s double-Parsha begins with a stern warning against desecrating the Shabbos in order to build the Tabernacle. Absent the verse, I would have thought that you must even work on Shabbos to erect the Tabernacle. Why would I think so?

• Vaeira – Manufactured Adversity

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Prior to Moshe and Aaron making progress in their mission to extract the Jewish people from Egypt – their first efforts yielded no success, at least not in that realm – the Torah once again introduces Moshe and Aaron and delineates their pe

• Nasso – How to Find Your Life-Mission

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  A central tenet of Jewish philosophy is that every individual is unique – a world onto their own – and is entrusted by God with a unique, tailored mission. That principle is found several times in our parsha. But how do we discover what our

• Acharei Mos/Kedoshim – It’s a Small World

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our double Parsha contains many different mitzvos. In this podcast we study a set of mitzvos and a very interesting dispute about their nature. We discover a valuable and profound insight that can help us develop and cultivate our potential

• Bamidbar – Common Census

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The United States Constitution mandates that a nationwide census is conducted every decade. Other nations also conduct censuses. Censuses are common. Our parsha begins with a nation-wide census, the third census since the Exodus. But this c

• Acharei Mos – Fleshy Onesie (5784)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 un

• Ki Savo – Maniacal Determination

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 obey the Almighty and hearken to His commandments, He will reward us with bounti

• Ki Seitzei – The Payoff Pitch

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  What is the nature of the conflict of life? How, indeed, are we suspended between good and bad, between mitzvos and sin, between the evil and good inclinations? The Almighty designed the world based upon the principle of free will, meaning

• Devarim – Man of Words (5781)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 beginning and end of his tenure: When God initially commanded Moshe to save his brethren

• Acharei Mos/Kedoshim – Acting the Goat

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Yom Kippur is a different day than every other day of the year. It is the holiest day, the day of atonement, a day of fasting and prayer and repentance. When the Temple was extant, the Nations’ attention was oriented around the high priest’

• Tazria – Torah In A Box

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Vayakhel Pekudei – Laver of Love (5783)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our double Parsha delineates the implementation phases of the building of the Tabernacle. All the materials are assembled, all the artisans are ready, and the building begins. In this podcast we focus on the construction of one of the vesse

• Special Pre-Pesach-Podcast: Explaining Exodus via Genesis and Deuteronomy

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Exodus is the most oft-referenced event in Jewish life. Twice daily we invoke it in the Shema, and every Shabbos holiday is characterized as “a remembrance for the exodus of Egypt”. Why is the exodus so central to Jewish life? In this p

• Shelach – Daydreams, Nightmares, and Reveries (5781)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The final five verses of our Parsha contain the third paragraph of the Shema. In it, we are instructed to place tzitzis strings wrapped with a string of blue techeiles wool on the corner of our garments. Why? “And you shall see them and rem

• Behaaloscha – Trouble in Paradise

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  After nearly a year encamped at Sinai, the Jews begin their journey to Canaan in Parshas Behaaloscha. With the Tabernacle completed, the Levites consecrated and readied, the road was paved for their swift entry into the Promised Land. Unfor

• Behar Bechukosai – The Seven Secrets

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  I don’t know many farmers. This country used to be an agrarian society, but today fewer than 2% of Americans are farmers. This was not the case in antiquity. In antiquity, making a living effectively meant growing crops. The Almighty makes

• Acharei Mos – Fleshy Onesie

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 un

• Vayigash – Fruitful Famine

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In Parshas Vayigash, the Joseph trilogy comes to a close. The saga that began when Joseph was 17 ends when Jacob is reunited with his favorite son, now viceroy of Egypt. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we offer three interest

• Parshas Noach (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any q

• Re’eh – Influencing People

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  A wise woman once said: “Judaism is terrible at marketing.” It seems like we are doing a terrible job at influencing others to adopt Torah. It is not only Gentiles that we are not a great job of attracting – and perhaps that is by design –

• Mishpatim – Hearing Sinai (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 an

• Parshas Vayishlach

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 journey back home was a lot more tumultuous and chaotic than anticipated. – – – – – – –

• Vayikra – From Each According to His Ability (5782) + TORCH Campaign

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 giv

• Vaeira – Educational Plagues

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In Parshas Vaeira we see the humbling of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. We learn about the first seven of the Ten Plagues and their purpose and significance. More broadly, we delve into the objective of the Exodus at large. The topics discussed

• Vayeira – Five Languages of Laughter

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Isaac is the most mysterious of the forefathers. His storyline does not have the same rich and dramatic narrative as Abraham and Jacob. What lessons we are supposed to learn from Isaac is an equally confounding mystery. In this very special

• Vayeishev – Earning Your Stripes

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 herse

• Vaeschanan – Jordan Rules (5783)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 nation, he recounts how he petitioned God to have this decree rescinded. When study

• Tzav – Pure-Bread

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  On the first day of a Kohein’s tenure doing service in the Temple, they bring a once-in-a-lifetime offering: a meal-offering that is almost identical to the daily meal-offering offered by the High Priest. This offering is classified by the

• Vezos HaBeracha – Betrothed to Torah

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  What is the most important verse that we need to convey to our children? Perhaps that is a difficult question for us to speculate upon. Thankfully, the Talmud gives a definitive answer: In an interesting citation in Sukkah 42a, we are told

• Parshas Haazinu (The Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 patterns are familiar to the readers of Deuteronomy and even casual observers an

• Parshas Vayeishev (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Parshas Vayeishev contains two intersecting, seemingly scandalous, storylines, that after all the dust has settled we can see are harbingers of the Messiah and Redemption: Joseph is hated by his brothers, and is eventually sold by them as a

• Vayechi – The Unexpected Hero

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In this special edition of the Parsha podcast, we share several observations and insights on the parsha relating to pedagogical theory and the lengths to which the righteous conceal the misdeeds of others, we ask an interesting question on

• Parshas Chukas (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In this week’s parsha, we read about a highly unusual mitzvah: The Red Heifer, when an entirely red cow is burned together with a motley concoction of ingredients, and the resultant ashes are used to sprinkle on people that came into contac

• Vezos Habracha – Antidotes to Mediocrity

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 ends, and on Simchas Torah- the day that we finish the yearly Torah cycle – we roll t

• Behaaloscha – Shrieking Wilderness

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Parshas Behaaloscha contains a smorgasbord of fascinating narratives and storylines. In this interesting and fun edition of the Parsha podcast, we propose a theme that connects many of the intersecting storylines together. What does Aaron’s

• Vayigash – Definition of Life

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Jacob relocates in our Parsha. Leaving Canaan once again, Jacob gathers his family and the possessions that he had acquired in Canaan and descends to Egypt to reunite with Joseph. In this Parsha Podcast we discover an unusual curiosity abou

• Bo – Ramban’s Critical Comment

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In Parshas Bo the Exodus reaches its climax with the final 3 of the Ten Plagues. The Exodus is much more than being freed from slavery, it is the founding of the nation and the building of the spiritual makeup of the people. In this podcast

• Haazinu – Torrential Torah (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Song of Haazinu, the third of three Songs on the Torah, tells the story of the Jewish people, past, present, and future. It speaks of high points and nadirs, this world and the next, devastation and reclamation. In this podcast we exami