The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Lot, Abraham’s brother-in-law and nephew, has one of the most interesting and unique story arcs in the Torah. He is the son of Abraham’s brother Haran, who joins Abraham for much of Abraham’s journey: When Abraham travels from Ur to Haran, Lot comes along. When Abraham travels from Haran to Canaan, Lot joins. When Abraham traverses the Holy Land, flees it due to the famine, and returns to it following a brief stay in Egypt – at every stage of Abraham’s journey Lot is at his side. But Lot departs from Abraham’s side and chooses instead to cast his lot with the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah. From there Lot’s journey and Abraham’s journey diverge and very quickly Lot’s story unravels. In this fourth edition of Parsha Personages we explore the fascinating and enigmatic story of Lot.

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This Parsha podcast is dedicated in loving memory of my grandmother, of blessed memory, Rivka Bas Abraham, Rivka Wolbe. She passed away 8 years ago today, the 16th of Cheshvan. May her soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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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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 podcast, we explore a fascinating motif that recurs throughout the Parsha: laughter, and suggest that there are actually five different types of laughter. We highlight the one that Isaac symbolizes and a cascading series of lessons ensue.

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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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TORAH 101

This week’s parsha features several iconic episodes: Abraham was visited by God as he was recuperating from his circumcision, and concurrently engaged in superlative kindness with three angels masquerading as pagan travelers; Abraham was informed that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed and was unsuccessful in interceding on their behalf; and we also read the two Torah sections that are read on the two days of Rosh Hashana: The episode of the birth of Isaac and the subsequent banishment of Ishmael, and the story of the Binding of Isaac.

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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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Abraham was the most consequential person of all time. In our classic literature, Abraham is graced with superlatives given to no one else: Abraham was the “beloved one of God.” Abraham was “chosen by God.” Abraham was a “partner with God in Genesis.” Abraham “discovered faith without a teacher, and without a guide.” Abraham became “the father of many nations.” After generations of humanity pushing God’s presence further and further away, Abraham reversed that trend and began to draw the presence of God back to this world. Before the advent of Abraham, God could only be described as the “God of the heavens.” Here in this world, God was unknown to his creations. Abraham, together with his wife Sarah, single-handedly reversed the trajectory of humanity and put humanity on a path to fulfill the objective of Genesis. Following Abraham, God can aptly be described as the “God of the heavens and of the earth.” In this very special Parsha podcast, we learn the story of our forefather, the first of the patriarchs, Abraham.

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This Parsha podcast is dedicated in honor of a brand-new couple, Gilaad and Esther Levy, Who got married on Sunday in Florida. May they build a beautiful Jewish home together, a home that brings joy and pride to their family, to the Jewish nation, and to our Father in Heaven.

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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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TORAH 101

Abraham seems to always be journeying. In last week’s Parsha he traveled from his birthplace of Ur to Charan. This week the Parsha begins with Abraham’s journey to Canaan. He traveled there with his family, he traversed the land in every direction; and when famine strikes, he went down to Egypt and returns. Abraham’s journey is more than being about sightseeing. This is the saga of the transformation of Abraham and the building of the Jewish Nation. What can we learn from Abraham’s journey? What Abrahamic qualities shine forth in his narrative? In this very special edition of the Parsha podcast, we explore Abraham dramatic transformation and when he departed from his sidekicks and fellow travelers. We also take a very careful look at a remarkable interaction between Abraham’s concubine Hagar and the angel.

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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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TORAH 101

In this week’s parsha, Abraham is instructed to move to Israel, is given divine promises that he will be the father of many nations; his children will be as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the heaven, a son Ishmael is born, and he is commanded to circumcise his foreskin and those of all males in his household.

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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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TORAH 101

Noah was perfectly righteous. He was pristine. He was flawless. In fact, Noach is the only person labeled as a tzaddik in the Torah, and he receives that honorific twice. He lived a very long life (950 years) and had the great distinction of being perfectly righteous when the entire rest of the world seeped into corruption, robbery, thievery, and selfishness. Noach was a truly remarkable person, yet it was not enough. Our sages find all sorts of ways to poke holes in the personage of Noach. He was righteous, all right, but he wasn’t Abraham. He wasn’t Moshe. He was personally righteous, but that did not extend to his children nor to any of his contemporaries. In this very interesting podcast, we answer the question: Who was the great personage of Noach? 

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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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TORAH 101

After spending a year in the ark, Noah and his family exited it to find an empty and desolate world. The sinners who dominated the world before the flood were gone as were basically everything else. The animals, not including token representatives of each species, were gone. The trees, the grass, the plants – everything was gone. Noah and his family began to rebuild the world a new world. In this Parsha podcast we study several events that happened in the aftermath of the flood: We learn about the symbolism and essence of the covenant of the rainbow; we study in detail the lessons of the tragic event that happened when Noah got drunk and was violated by his son, Ham, and we probe the legacy of Ham and his descendants.

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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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TORAH 101

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.

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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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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: [email protected]

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TORAH 101

Most people don’t know the first man from Adam. Who was this mysterious being created on day 6 of Genesis? What is the meaning of the hybrid nature of Adam’s formation? What is the significance of him being created from the earth? What does it mean to be created in the image of God? What changed when Adam ate the forbidden fruit? In this inaugural edition of year 11 of the Parsha podcast, we study the great personage of Adam.

As in previous years, we intend to re-release the Parsha Rebroadcast that covers the entire parsha on Sunday, the episode from two years ago (5785) on Tuesday, and a new episode with the theme of a Parsha Personage on Thursday. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

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This Parsha podcast is dedicated by my dear friend Brian Maechler as an investment in the continuation of the Parsha Podcast and for the magnification of HASHEM. We thank him for his friendship and support.

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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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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: [email protected]

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SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts

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This Jewish Life

The Ethics Podcast

TORAH 101