Jerusalem Lights

PARASHAT MISHPATIM

This week’s Torah portion of Mishpatim (Ordinances) is firmly anchored in this very physical world…but yet, it is a perfect continuation of the  thunderous, Divine Sinai Revelation. Torah was given for people to keep in this world! These commandments are an expression of G-d’s will for  Israel to establish a just, caring society, and they infuse our everyday  lives with the light of G-d’s presence.

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone    

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:    Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc...  

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490   

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel    

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Parashat Yitro

As the newly freed nation of Israel prepares to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai, enter our portion’s namesake…Yitro, the father in law of Moshe. Yitro, a man with seven names, was once the world’s most accomplished idolatrous priest…but his true sincerity, humility and integrity lead him to embrace the One G-d of Israel, and the inspiring tale of his life is the timeless story of a true iconoclast and hero…a role model for all those non-Jews who seek to cling to the G-d of Israel. A perfect focus to celebrate this week’s 100th episode of the Jerusalem Lights podcast!  

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone    

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:    Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc...  

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490   

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel    

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Parashat Beshalach

What was it about the Splitting of the Red Sea that caused Moshe and the Children of Israel to burst into song, for the first time? And why doesn’t G-d perform miracles for us today? Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman share thoughts and exchange views about Hollywood movies, the challenge of making a living…and faith in G-d! Especially when it comes to belief in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead!  ___ 

Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:    Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc...  

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490   

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel    

Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.rabbirichman.com

Parashat Bo

The final three of the ten plagues, locusts, darkness and the slaying of the firstborn, are visited upon Egypt....leading directly to the Exodus. What is the significance and meaning that these Divinely-orchestrated wonders have for us today? Pharaoh is not just an ancient Egyptian king, but an archetype that still seeks to control us through fear and doubt. Our portion teaches us that Rosh Chodesh, the sanctification of the New Moon, represents the Torah’s deepest secrets of the true nature of time. Hashem challenges us to be masters over time, beckoning to us to rise above the debilitating despair that Egyptian exile represents, and to become truly free. Jim Long continues to elucidate us with his amazing knowledge of ancient Egyptian texts that plainly corroborate details of the Exodus experience, including fascinating historical testimony of the ten plagues. 

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

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Parashat Va'era

The Torah portion of Va’era features seven of the ‘Ten Plagues’ that the Creator brought upon Egypt. Pharaoh, called by the prophet Ezekiel ‘the great alligator of the Nile,’ was the King of Denial – he denied G-d’s existence altogether. In this week’s episode of Jerusalem Lights, Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman illuminate that the primary purpose of these plagues was to demonstrate G-d’s unparalleled power…it was about knowledge of G-d, not about punishment. Rabbi Chaim Richman explains why the Egyptian exile and redemption is a such an important Torah concept, and Jim Long provides stunning testimony from the annals of classic Egyptology that describe the plagues and their aftermath – from the unique perspective of the Egyptians themselves.    

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

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Parashat Shemot

This week’s Torah portion of parashat Shemot (‘Names’) begins the Book of Exodus. In a flash, the generation of Joseph and his brothers have passed, and a new king arises in the land of Egypt ‘who did not know Joseph.’ The children of Israel ‘were fruitful, teemed, increased….and the land became filled with them,’ much to the chagrin of Pharaoh, who began to devise a solution to his Jewish problem – and thus began the servitude of Israel in Egypt. This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast examines the Egyptian exile, and Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman fast-forward to today, and draw uncanny parallels between the deep, dark exile of ancient Egypt, and today’s lethal new normal of cancel culture.  

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

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Parashat Va'Yechi

The book of B’reishith reaches its conclusion this week in the Torah portion of Parashat Va’yechi. The time draws near for the patriarch Yaakov to depart from this world, and he seeks to bless his children and prepare them for their upcoming exile and future Redemption. The era of Yosef is coming to an end. In this week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast, our hosts share some plain and frank Torah talk about ‘Sins of the Flesh’ and the Torah’s attitude about sexuality. Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman focus on what we can learn from Yosef’s power of purity, and how his righteousness, especially in the area of sexual purity, conveys a crucial message to our own generation. Jim Long also presents a fascinating summary of the historical record of Yosef in Egypt according to ancient Egyptian records and archeology. 

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.rabbirichman.com

Parashat Va'yigash

The dramatic, destiny-driven ‘close encounter’ of Yosef and his brothers in the Torah portion of Va’yigash coincides with three ‘days of darkness’ coming up next week: the 8th, 9th, and the Fast Day of the 10th of this Hebrew month of Tevet. This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast ponders the significance of the historical events recalled by these days: The forced translation of the Torah into Greek; the death of Ezra the Scribe; and the start of the Babylonian siege against Jerusalem, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Holy Temple. Yet Tevet, having begun with the light of the waning days of Chanukah, continues to shine forth a light that illuminates Torah’s universal message: finding Hashem in a world of concealment. Plus: the inimitable scholarship of Jim Long once again finds harmony between the Biblical narrative of Yosef, and ancient Egyptian historical and archeological records. 

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

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Episode # 93

The Torah portion of Parashat Miketz focuses on Joseph’s meteoric rise to power. Joseph’s dreams earned him the enmity of his brothers, and the special garment that his father Jacob presented to him was a major source of their ill-will towards him. But the Torah’s secrets reveal that this was no ordinary coat, and the amazing backstory of Joseph’s famed ‘coat of many colors’ is the key to a deeper understanding of what Joseph’s descent into Egypt and his separation from Jacob was really all about…  

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Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.rabbirichman.com

Parashat Va'yeshev

The beloved holiday of Chanukah, the ‘Festival of Lights,’ always coincides with the reading of the weekly Torah portions that focus on Yosef, the ‘Master of Dreams,’ favorite son of the patriarch Jacob. This week’s Torah portion of Va’yeshev introduces the young Yosef and we witness the treachery inflicted upon him by his own brothers, and his descent into the idolatrous, licentious darkness of Egypt. Yet throughout his ordeals, Yosef never for an instant lost sight of G-d’s constant, intimate providence. What is the connection between Yosef and Chanukah? How did this handsome young man, in the fullness of his youth, withstand the temptation of his master’s wife's attempts to seduce him? Why is Yosef identified with a messianic force of redemption? Tune in this week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast for a pre-Chanukah Yosef special! Plus: Archeological Discoveries in the Land of Israel: The Eternal Truth of Chanuka

___ Rabbi Chaim Richman  Jerusalem Lights | Torah for Everyone   

Please support the work of Jerusalem Lights, a USA recognized 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization to enable these productions to continue and grow:   

Paypal: [email protected]   or:  https://paypal.me/JerusalemLights?loc... 

In the USA:  Jerusalem Lights Inc.  Post Office Box 16886 Lubbock Texas 79490  

In Israel: Tel. 972 54 7000395  Mail: PO Box 23808, Jerusalem Israel   

Subscribe to our newsletter at https://www.rabbirichman.com