As the Book of Deuteronomy draws to its conclusion, the narrative makes a transition: Moshe finishes conveying the mitzvos to the nation, and sets up his final parting message to the people. First, he commands the nation to perform several elaborate ceremonies on the very first day that they cross the Jordan River; then he conveys a scathing, terrifying list of curses that will befall the people in the event that we deviate from the Torah.

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The death of one's spouse is always a tragedy, but there's something particularly sad about someone who dies without children. Leaving no living progeny behind leaves a person without continuity, without a legacy in this world. When a man dies childless, the Torah instructs his wife to seek to marry her deceased husband's brother in fulfillment of a law called Yibbum, known as levirate marriage. When this couple bears their firstborn child -- the Baby Yi-Boomer -- he will be named after the deceased husband/brother, and thereby provide a continuity to his soul. But if the brother refuses to marry his sister-in-law, if he eschews taking responsibility for his brother's soul, then a process called Chalitzah is done: the widow removes her brother-in-law's shoe, spits on the ground next to him, and derisively proclaims, "So shall be done to the man who refuses to build his brother's house." What could possibly be the meaning of these very strange laws? In this wonderful Parsha podcast, we discover the answers that illuminate this law, but also provide us with a newfound understanding of messiah and the imperative for selfless dedication on behalf of us.

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Our parsha begins with the unusual law of the marriage of a Jewish warrior and an enemy captive woman. When a Jewish warrior spots a prisoner of war that he desires to marry, there is a process and a protocol for how he may marry her. The Talmud (also featured by Rashi) offers a very unusual classification of why the Torah permits this union. On its surface, this reason compounds the difficulties of this law. In this very special edition of the Parsha podcast, we share a novel and instructive approach to this very unusual law.

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A great corpus of Torah law governs the relationships between men and women. The Second Order of Mishnah contains books on the initiation of marriage, on marital responsibilities, on the annulment of marriage via divorce, on the suspected adulteress, and on levirate marriages. The Order also contains two seemingly unrelated books: a book on vows and oaths and a book on the laws of a Nazir. In this podcast we explore the nature of these books, and earn some basic literacy in this massive portion of Oral Torah.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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In the parsha that contains the most mitzvos of any of the 54 Torah sections (a staggering 74 mitzvos), we read about the wayward and rebellious son, the requirement to build a fence around your roof to prevent tragedy, two episodes that we are mandated to remember, and many, many more interesting and insightful mitzvos.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Many of us secretly harbor the belief the we would make a fine president. Leading a nation sounds like a cushy job: armies of aides at your beck and call, ready to execute your agenda and vision. Kings have truly unlimited power. They don't have term limits. There are no checks and balances to weaken their power. Jewish Kings however are subject to God. The Torah limits their powers and checks their authority. They must be subservient to their Creator and must exemplify humility. In this wonderful and provocative Parsha podcast, we explore the fascinating subject of a Jewish King and share a very controversial and surprising insight on the attribute of humility.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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The nation is on the doorstep of Canaan. In our Parsha, the people are instructed in how they must treat the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. It's not pleasant. The people are told that they must engage in total war against these nations. How do we understand the requirement to be so violent and aggressive towards the Canaanite nations? What about the Canaanites who opt to join the nation? What is their status? In this podcast, we first explore the general notion of how to understand the Torah's instructions regarding the Canaanite policy, and then we explore a very interesting thread about the power of behavior and how it can get embedded in the spiritual DNA that we transmit to our descendants.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Preparing for the High Holidays can be daunting. How can anyone adequately prepare for standing in judgment in front of the Heavenly tribunal? But prepare we must. The month of Elul is designated for preparing for the awesome days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Our Sages took these days very seriously and were completely immersed in preparation. But we are regular people, ordinary, common folk. Is there something that we can do to prepare? Is there a cheat sheet to simplify Elul? Is there a way to distill this month to its essence? In this wonderful podcast we share the three main pillars of this month and learn the ways how even us lay people can have an immensely productive and powerful Elul.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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This week we learn the laws governing all kinds of leaders: The parsha begins by detailing the laws of judges, the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court, and what happens to rebellious judges; we read about the unique laws related to kings; there are more laws pertaining to the Kohanim; and we find the means of vetting professed prophets and what happens to the six kinds of false prophets.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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We like to maintain optionality and delay decisions if possible. The idea of being pigeonholed into one path irks us. But Moshe tells the nation that we must make a choice: "Behold I have placed before you today a blessing and curse." The path of blessing is the total acceptance and adherence to God and His word. The path of curse is the repudiation of God and His Torah. In this very special edition of the Parsha podcast, we argue that the choice of which path to take exists on two fronts. There are two choices of which path to take. There are two forks in the road. Neither choice is easy, but one is decidedly less easy than the other.

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This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in the merit of a successful surgery for Moshe Ben Dalya. We hope to hear only good news from him.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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TORAH 101