Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Shiurim

• Behaaloscha – The Eyes of the People

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our parsha contains an unusual sequence: The nation is about to leave Sinai, and Moshe makes a prolonged, and unsuccessful, appeal to his father in law, Jethro, to remain with him. Then there is the strange episode of the backwards-facing N

• Korach – Debate and Switch

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Cousins don’t always agree on everything. Korach and Moshe had a disagreement, a debate. Moshe was instructed by God that the nation is limited to one high priest, Aaron. Korach argued that the entire nation is entirely holy, and why can’t

• Sukkos Roundtable with the TORCH Podcasters

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In honor of the festival of Sukkot, I gathered together with some of my TORCH podcaster colleagues to chat about the festival, it’s meaning, and lessons. Each one of us got an opportunity to share an idea on the festival, and to promote our

• Parshas Mikeitz (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Parshas Mikeitz continues the narrative of Joseph in Egypt. We pick up his story two years after his failed attempt at earning a reprieve via his cellmate, Pharaoh’s butler, who was about to be reinstated to his post as Pharaoh’s side. Jose

• Ha’azinu – Small Step for Eaglet (5781)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Song of Haazinu is a richly textured tapestry with layered meaning and subtleties. Our Sages tell us that it incorporates all of Jewish History. In its 613 words, it incorporates all of Torah as well. And it is arguably the most difficu

• Tetzaveh – Holy Vestaments (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In Parshas Tetzaveh the Torah outlines the various garments needed for the Kohein Gadol, the instruction to raise the funds for the oil for the Menorah, and the incense Altar. What are some practical lessons we can draw from these special c

• Reeh – Steak Your Claim (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The criminal treated most severely under Torah law is the Meisis , a personal tries to entice others to do idolatry. Attempting to persuade people to repudiate God is more severe than any other crime in Torah law. This discovery is the basi

• Special: An Interview About My New Book, Upon A Ten-Stringed Harp

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In conjunction with our annual fundraiser this week at giveTORCH.org (every donation is tripled), we are releasing a special interview conducted by the TORCH Board President, Dan Kullman, about my new book, Upon A Ten-Stringed Harp. Please

• On the Pulse of Wartime Israel with Blake Cohen

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the terror organization that has governed Gaza since 2007, there is a very big divide between Jews living in the land of Israel and those of us in the Diaspora. While Jews worldwide may empathize

• Peasant to Prince (6:2)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Studying Torah is the greatest Mitzvah. That is well-known. In this Mishnah, we learn about the perils of neglecting Torah study. Along the way we discover the polarity Jews since Sinai, we discover the secret of Jewish continuity, and we l

• Noach – Secret Of Invincibility

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  We started this week’s Parsha Podcast by talking about the Tower of Babel episode. We gleaned from that story something absolutely transformational and deep. We then proceeded to talk about the unusual contribution that Noah gave to the peo

• Why We Study Torah Part 3

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Listen to Why We Study Torah Part 3 by Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe, from This Jewish Life.

• Spiritual Cost-Benefit Analysis (2:1)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In the first mishna of the second chapter of Pirkei Avos, the great Rabbi Judah the Prince offers indispensable life guidance. Who was this transformative Torah giant and what are his invaluable eternal lessons? – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

• Shemos – Moshe’s Moxie (5783)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The story of the Jewish people in the book of Exodus gets off to a difficult start. The nation is firmly ensconced in Egypt, but their experience there is decidedly unpleasant. They are enslaved, tormented, and systematically oppressed. Thi

• Ep. 52: The History of the Sanhedrin (Part Two: From Yavneh Onward)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  After the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed, the Sanhedrin at Yavneh became the epicenter of Jewish life. Though the pride of the nation – The Holy Temple in Jerusalem which was standing for 420 years – was destroyed, and tens or perhaps

• Parshas Behaaloscha

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Jewish nation has been encamped at Mount Sinai for nearly a year; in this week’s parsha they finally depart from the Mountain of God, and sadly leave gleefully as a child escaping school. This kick starts a series of missteps that carry

• Accepting the Torah: Ruth, Sinai, and the Heart of Shavuos

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Sinai Revelation is the most significant event in all of human history: God revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people, He spoke to them, He gave them the Torah, and they lived. This day is revisited every single year on the festival

• Thou Shall Not Covet (#38, 416)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The last of the Ten Commandments makes a big – and on the surface quite infeasible – demand that we don’t desire or covet the nice things that belong to others. How can we reasonably fulfill that and what is the underlying lesson? – – – – –

• #91: The Purpose of Torah

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Why did God give us such a precious and holy and profound Torah? Wouldn’t it be enough to give us some simple rules to live by? Why is our nation chosen above all other nations? Shouldn’t all humans be the same? These are some very advanced

• Shoftim – Hill To Die On (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our Parsha contains the instructions for how to conduct war. We are told that we must extend peace overtures before launching an attack, we are told about the special nature of the Canaanite wars, and we are prohibited from felling fruit-be

• Vayeishev – Pebbles and Diamonds (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  A pebble and a diamond are similar in one way: they are both rocks. That’s where the similarities end. A diamond is precious and valuable. Diamonds are things that we recite the poems over, and name, and write Wikipedia pages about, and ado

• #21: Torah and Science: Can they be Reconciled?

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  There are many areas where Torah and the consensus of modern scientists seem to irreconcilably differ. The Torah indicates that the first man, Adam, lived around 6,000 years ago, and the universe is roughly that age. The consensus of the sc

• Vaeira – Tangible Fear of God

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Before the seventh and final plague of the parsha, Moshe warns the Egyptians about the forthcoming hail of fire-and-ice. Some of the Egyptians prudently move all their possessions to safety, while others leave them out. The Torah’s labeling

• Salt in Sacrifices (#118-9)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  One of the many processes and rituals done with sacrifices in the Temple is the mandatory salting of all sacrifices. Both animal sacrifices and meal offerings must be salted before brought upon the altar. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

• Tikkun Olam or what it means to be Jewish

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Tikkun Olam, fixing the world, has been the rallying cry of the Jewish national mission for millenia. We live in a flawed and broken world and our people were entrusted with the sacrosanct and vital responsibility of fixing it. In this pres

• The Novelty Principle

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  What is the secret to novelty? How can we inject a feeling of newness and freshness into our life, our relationships, and our Torah? In this podcast we combine a series of Talmudic teachings to outline a path to living with newness in every

• Yom Kippur: A Path to Internal Renaissance

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Yom Kippur is a day unlike any other. Every other day of the year our spiritual growth is limited to small steps; like climbing a ladder – we cannot skip any rungs. Yom Kippur is a spiritual cornucopia – 24 hours to make meteoric spiritual

• Maximizing Yom Kippur

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Yom Kippur is associated with prayer and liturgy that we may not understand, very long services and, of course, fasting. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the power, meaning and opportunity of the day. In this podcast we go back to

• The Nuanced Judgment of Rosh Hashana

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Rush Hashanah is a day of judgment. On this day, God sits, as it were, on His Throne of Judgment. The intensity and scrutiny of divine judgment is unfathomable. Even the angels quake and quiver with trepidation. For some, the results of the

• Tzav – Conceal the Deal

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  A top of the altar were fires that were never extinguished for hundreds of years. What was the nature of these fires? What were they made up of? How are they different than other fires? When we examine the sources, we discovered that there

• A Traditional Jewish Response to Higher Bible Criticism Part 2

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  We continue in our efforts to expose the fallacies of the claims of the Bible Critics. It indeed is preposterous to be intellectually honest and well informed on the issues and believe that their conclusions hold water. Part One: http://rab

• Yisro – Splitting the Heaven (5784)

  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

• Bereishis – Microcosm of History (5784)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In this podcast we attempt to read not just the text but also the subtext of the parsha – to go deep and deeper on three subjects in the first Parsha in the Torah: the Genesis narrative and it’s overarching message, the unusual source for t

• A Biographical Sketch and A Character Analysis of Jacob and his Wives

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Jacob is termed in Jewish literature as the “choicest of the forefathers”. What were his defining character traits? What were the dominant episodes and themes of his life? What does his journey teach us about Jewish history? We answer these

• Did David Sin?

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  How do we understand Biblical stories that seem to indicate that great men made grave mistakes? In this Q&A episode, Rabbi Wolbe discusses the story of Cain and Ebel, Reuben and Bilhah, David and Bathsheba and more.

• Shavuot: A Primer

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Shavuot is described as “The time of the giving of our Torah” in the Festival liturgy; in the Torah and the Talmud, four other names are attributed to the holiday that falls out on the 6th of Sivan. What are the five names of the Festival a

• Vaeira – Pharaoh’s Education

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Jewish people undergo a stunning transformation in our Parsha: It begins with the nation walling in misery; when Moshe offers a plan for salvation, they cannot even hear his comforting message. Yet very quickly they merit a miraculous E

• Noach – Lessons from an Enigma

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  For last year’s podcast on Parshas Noach click HERE . In this podcast we draw three lessons from the Torah’s chracter assesments of Noah. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Please consider making a donation to help fund our Jewish

• Men of the Great Assembly: How a Group of Great Visionaries Built a Thriving Judaism out of the Ashes of a Broken Nation

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  It is probably impossible for us to truly recognize the enormity of the existential challenges confronting the Jewish people during the beginning of the Second Commonwealth, circa 350 BCE. The nation was still reeling from the trauma of the

• Preconditions to Torah (3:21-22)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Torah is unlike any other discipline. Every other discipline can be acquired without preconditions; Torah can only be unlocked by someone who has successfully primed himself for that lofty status. In this Mishnah, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah i

• What God Actually Wants

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Torah is God’s revelation and directives to mankind. In it, He commands, instructs, and guides us in how to behave and what to do in our lives. But what does God really want from us? What’s the bottom line? In an intriguing and provocat

• Ep. 2: Homeland, Hegemony and Hostility: Jewish History from Joshua to the (Second) Downfall of Jerusalem

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Torah end with the death of Moshe. The greatest human and leader of all time is no longer there to lead them. How will the Jews fare in his absence? In this expansive episode of The Jewish History Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe we tell

• Special: An Interview About My New Book, Upon A Ten-Stringed Harp

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In conjunction with our annual fundraiser this week at giveTORCH.org (every donation is tripled), we are releasing a special interview conducted by the TORCH Board President, Dan Kullman, about my new book, Upon A Ten-Stringed Harp. Please

• Vezos Haberacha 5785 – The Heavenly Verses

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  There was no joy that matches the joy of Torah study, and that Joy is amplified yet further when we have the great privilege of finishing the entire Torah and once again beginning it anew. The final Parsha, though, has a poignant theme to i

• Ep. 14: Dialogue, Discourse and Disputation: When Rabbis and Romans Debate

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The multi-century Roman occupation of Judah spurred much intercourse between the Jews and their overlords. One particular arena of interactions was in the realm of theological and philosophical discourse. The Romans were enamored with the J

• Shoftim – Gateways to Great Pursuits

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Justice is a virtue that we must vigorously pursue. Our Parsha begins by instructing us to establish a court system with judges and bailiffs throughout our gates and tribes. The judge is tasked with determining the merits of every case and

• Ep. 80: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Historical Background

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Arab-Israeli conflict is front and center on the world stage today. The barbaric October 7th terrorist attacks – where more than a thousand innocent Jewish civilians were slaughtered, thousands more wounded, and hundreds were taken host

• Loving Rebuke (6.6.34)+ 2026 TORCH Fundraiser Pitch

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The 2026 annual TORCH fundraiser is happening right now at giveTORCH.org . Every donation is doubled at giveTORCH.org . Every donation is matched at giveTORCH.org Please support TORCH and the Ethics Podcast with a generous contribution righ

• National Revelation: An experience unlike any other

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The answer to the most important question of all: How do we know we are right? Religions are mutually exclusive; The Jews, Christians and Moslems cannot all be right. It’s a zero sum game: If we are right, they all must be wrong! As Jews, w

• Tzav – Ashes, Ashes, We all Rise Up

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The beginning of our parsha details the intricate processing of the Olah offerings. The animal is slaughtered, its blood is sprinkled on the Altar walls, it is divided into parts, the parts are elevated to the top of the altar and placed on

• Beshalach – Songworthy Sequels (5782)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Tetzaveh – What’s In A Name

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Parshas Pinchas

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Pinchas was a man of action, a zealot who avenged God’s vengeance and was handsomely rewarded for it. In this parsha we read about his reward, Moses’ succession plan, the methods through which the Land will be divided, and another census is

• The History Of Jewish Central Authority and the Sacred Mission to Transmit the Torah

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The tool used by the Jewish people to fulfill their vital mission of Tikkun Olam is the Almighty’s holy Torah. The Torah alone enables us to be successful at the responsibility that only we can and must achieve. This is why preserving and a

• Answering the Heretics (2:19)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach was the prized student of Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, but he chose to chart his own path in life and not to join the rest of his colleagues in Yavneh. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Sponsorship: Please co

• Pekudei – Zero to Won

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  After four Parshas, the Tabernacle is finally finished this week. Before the Tabernacle is erected though, Moshe provides an audit for all the gold, silver, and copper that was raised for the Tabernacle and identifies where they were used i

• Elul: Month of Personal Reinvention

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  We are on the doorstep of the month of mercy, the month that precedes the high holidays, the month of Elul. The high holidays are very significant and auspicious days, and it is imperative that we prepare for them. How ought we prepare? Wha

• We Have Been Blessed With a Baby Boy

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  With deep appreciation to the Almighty for all the goodness that He has bestowed upon us, I’m happy to share that my wife, Chaya, and I were blessed with a beautiful baby boy on Monday, March 14. Thank God, both Mom and baby are doing fabul

• Vayeitzei – Holy Sheeple (5783)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  A large section of our Parsha contains intricate descriptions of Jacob as a shepherd. Initially, he worked for Laban as a shepherd for 7 years for the rights to marry Laban’s younger daughter Rachel. When the 7 years concluded, Laban swindl

• Parshas Bamidbar (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  We kickstart the Book of Numbers with a census of the twelve tribes of Israel – not including the tribe of Levi who is counted independently – conducted by Moses, Aaron, and the most distinguished leaders of said tribes. Subsequently, we re