Personal Parshah Podcast from Yad Binyamin, Israel

Especially in Israel, religious coercion is automatically considered something negative, destructive and harmful. Yet, almost no one grows on their own. Their upbringing clearly included some level of coercion. By examining the story of the giving of the Torah, we'll look at the way God coerced the Jewish people, and how that might instruct the way we raise our own children.

We often think of our own frumkeit in terms of the relationship we have with God, giving little thought to how our spirituality affects those around us, and those that we're closest with. The story of Kayin and Hevel has a great deal to teach us not only about brotherly love, but about our yearning for spirituality, competitiveness in religiosity, and the need for repentance and improvement.

Moshe seems to imply that making the right choices is easy as pie. But experience tells us that it's not so simple - far from it. Using the power of the Midrash, we discuss challenges in life, a convicted felon, and the how these bring us closer to Teshuvah.

From the Mitzvah of Mikra Bikkurim we move to a powerful piece from Rav Kook about the purpose and meaning behind the recitation of Brachot

The strange section of the Yefat To'ar raises numerous questions about both the text, and the subject matter. Why does the Torah allow a soldier to "succumb" to his urges? Three approaches to the section teach us about war, about the soul (and converts), and finally, about ourselves.

How we view "our" money says a great deal about our world view...

After a short diversion into an amazingly Zionistic Rashi found in the second chapter of Shema, we return to the first chapter of Shema to ask: How can God command us to Love Him? It's a classic question, and we discuss several of the classic answers and how we can impart them into our daily lives.

While Va'etchanan teaches us a great deal about the causes of and reasons for calamities that befall the Jewish people, it also conveys critical parenting lessons in the process.

We examine the textual challenge of how the story of the Meraglim is described differently in Devarim and in Bamidbar. Using these distinctions, we try and draw lessons both about the tragedy in the desert and the lessons that we can derive from it for our daily lives.

The requests of the tribes of Reuven and Gad to remain on the East Bank of the Jordan River elicits a powerful and negative reaction from Moshe. We discuss the problems related to their request, which leads us into communal and personal issues, shtiebelization, Israel politics, and even the challenge of Aliyah.