The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

By Torch

Religion & Spirituality Judaism

What's The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe about?

The Parsha Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe was started in 2016 with the goal of making the weekly Parsha accessible and useful. Every Sunday, the Parsha Podcast will feature an hour-long podcast outlining the story, narratives and major themes of that week’s Parsha and offer a selection of valuable and interesting insights from it. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, two more episodes that focuses on one idea, theme, or comment on the Parsha will be released. Please send comments or questions to [email protected]

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Tzav – Ashes, Ashes, We all...

03.28.2023

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 ...

The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe episodes:

03.28.2023 Tzav – Ashes, Ashes, We all Rise Up (5781) 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 ...
03.26.2023 Parshas Tzav (Rebroadcast) In continuation of the themes of last week, Parshas Tzav details the procedures of processing many of the sacrifices enumerated in Parshas Vayikra, teaches us about new sacrifices, and we read about the seven days of inauguration of the Tabernacle. ...
03.23.2023 Vayikra: Five-Course Meal Offering with Rabbi Dovid Biron We begin the Book of Leviticus with a Parsha Podcast treat: I invited my friend and study partner Rabbi Dovid Biron to guest host this week’s episode. He did not disappoint. In this podcast we learn about the meal offering, ...
03.21.2023 Vayikra – Vicarious Sacrifice (5781) Sacrifices sound like a cheat code: You sin and you rebelled against God and your soul gets tarnished. By the strict letter of the law, sin ought to be an executable offense. But God has mercy: Bring a sacrifice and ...
03.19.2023 Parshas Vayikra (Rebroadcast) In Parshas Vayikra, the first Torah section in The Book of Leviticus, we learn about the processes and procedures of many different varieties of sacrifices: There are three different types of elevation offerings; three types of peace-offerings; six types of ...
03.16.2023 Vayakhel Pekudei – Laver of Love Our double Parsha delineates the implementation phases of the building of the Tabernacle. All the materials are assembled, all the artisans are ready, and the building begins. In this podcast we focus on the construction of one of the vessels ...
03.14.2023 Vayakhel Pekudei – On Giants’ Shoulders feat. Akiva Wolbe (5781) Bezalel was the architect of the most consequential building project of all time. He was tasked with the responsibility of building the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, the dwelling place for God on this earth. What special skills did Bezalel have that ...
03.12.2023 Parshas Vayakhel & Pekudei (Rebroadcast) After the Torah delineates the instructions to assemble the materials for the construction of the Tabernacle in Parshas Terumah and the creation of the vestments of the high priest in Parshas Tetzaveh, Parshas Vayakhel outlines the implementation those plans: The ...
03.09.2023 Ki Sisa – Aaron’s Calculus The most calamitous, catastrophic, disastrous event in Jewish history – and arguably the most devastating event in all of human history – happens in our Parsha. A mere 40 days after the exultant, euphoric, transcendental Revelation at Sinai, the nation ...
03.07.2023 Ki Sisa – Hold Your Fire (5781) Our nation commits the most grievous sin of our history in this week’s parsha. A mere 40 days after we experienced the national revelation at Sinai, the nation made the Golden Calf and began to worship it. How did such ...
03.05.2023 Parshas Ki Sisa (Rebroadcast) This week’s parsha contains several instructions related to the Tabernacle, but the majority of the parsha is dedicated to arguably the most shocking and troubling episode in the whole Torah, the Golden Calf. Forty days after the nation reached the ...
03.02.2023 Tetzaveh – The Choshen People The High Priest was bedecked with garments of royalty. Our Parsha details the 8 special garments (vestments) of Splendor and Glory that the Kohen Gadol wore, and the Talmud delineates the various forms of atonement that each garment bestowed upon ...
02.28.2023 Tetzaveh – The Great Collaboration (5781) Besides being brothers, Moshe and Aaron were both leaders of the Jewish people: Moshe was the king and Aaron was the high priest. These brothers had different, but complimentary, skills and characteristics, that were each independently necessary for the nation. ...
02.26.2023 Parshas Tetzaveh (Rebroadcast) In a natural continuation to Parshas Terumah, in Parshas Tetzaveh we learn about the instructions to build the Tabernacle. Whereas last week the focus was on the edifice itself and its vessels, this week we will orient primarily on the ...
02.23.2023 Terumah – Etched in Stone Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation is DOUBLED. Our organization, TORCH, runs one annual fundraiser, and it is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. We need your support – – – – – – – – – ...
02.21.2023 Terumah – 3 Points Behind the Ark (5781) + TORCH Fundraiser Week! Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation is DOUBLED. Our organization, TORCH, runs one annual fundraiser, and it is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. We need your support – – – – – – – – – ...
02.19.2023 Parshas Terumah (Rebroadcast) + Annual TORCH Appeal Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation is DOUBLED. Our organization, TORCH, runs one annual fundraiser, and it is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. We need your support – – – – – – – – – ...
02.16.2023 Mishpatim – System of Sinai + Annual TORCH Appeal @ giveTORCH.org Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation is DOUBLED. Our organization, TORCH, runs one annual fundraiser, and it is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. We need your support – – – – – – – – – ...
02.14.2023 The Secret of Parshas Shekalim With Rabbi Shmuly Botnick Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation is DOUBLED. Our organization, TORCH, runs one annual fundraiser, and it is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. We need your support – – – – – – – – – ...
02.14.2023 Mishpatim – Crowning Achievement (5781) + TORCH Fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org by clicking HERE Please support The Parsha Podcast at giveTORCH.org by clicking HERE Every donation is DOUBLED This is our only annual fundraiser and we need your support! giveTORCH.org Please support the ...
02.12.2023 Parshas Mishpatim (Rebroadcast) + Annual TORCH Fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Please support the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org by clicking HERE Please support The Parsha Podcast at giveTORCH.org by clicking HERE Every donation is DOUBLED This is our only annual fundraiser and we need your support! giveTORCH.org Please support the ...
02.09.2023 Yisro – Sinai Sales Pitch Our Parsha contains the most significant event in all of human history: the Revelation at Sinai. An entire nation comprised of millions of people heard the Almighty directly. The nation heard the Ten Commandments and lived to tell the tale. ...
02.07.2023 Yisro – Jethro’s Epiphany (5781) The protagonist of our parsha, Jethro, underwent a long and fruitful spiritual journey. When the journey began, Jethro was a idolater who worshipped every pagan deity in the world. At its conclusion, Jethro was give great distinction as a believer ...
02.05.2023 Parshas Yisro (Rebroadcast) The most significant event in all of human history is the Revelation at Sinai, which occurs in Parshas Yisro. Prior to that monumental experience and the conveyance of the Ten Commandments, Moshe’s father in law, Jethro, arrived at the camp ...
02.02.2023 Beshalach – First Mover Advantage After the Exodus, the Jewish people left Egypt, with no plans to return. But the Egyptians followed them in hot pursuit, and seven days later the nation was surrounded, encircled by their enemies, with their backs against the sea. God ...
01.31.2023 Beshalach – Bread of Angels (5781) Parshas Beshalach is arguable the most action-packed Parsha in the Torah. It starts with the Jews hightailing out of Egypt – only to have Pharaoh follow in hot pursuit, and it ends with the nation’s first war. In between these ...
01.29.2023 Parshas Beshalach (Rebroadcast) Parshas Beshalach may be the most action-packed parsha in the Torah. After the Exodus, God directed the people to not take the shortest route to the Land in order to facilitate the great miracle of the Splitting of the Sea ...
01.26.2023 Bo – The Bloods and The Crisp The dramatic events of the Exodus reach a crescendo with the nation’s Exodus from Egypt. After 210 years of servitude and subjugation, the Almighty people leave Egypt with great miracles and fanfare. A very specific set of things had to ...
01.24.2023 Bo – The Ember of Abraham (5781) The Jewish nation was in the dumps. They had spent hundreds of years in Egypt, and the possibility of ever leaving and reconstituting as an independent nation, the dream of Abraham, was long abandoned. But something dramatic happened. The Almighty ...
01.22.2023 Parshas Bo (Rebroadcast) After the first seven Plagues of Egypt related in last week’s parsha, Pharaoh and his people were still unwilling to release the Children of Israel. In Parshas Bo, the miracles and wonders of the Almighty intensified, culminating in the Death ...
01.19.2023 Vaeira – Manufactured Adversity Prior to Moshe and Aaron making progress in their mission to extract the Jewish people from Egypt – their first efforts yielded no success, at least not in that realm – the Torah once again introduces Moshe and Aaron and ...
01.17.2023 Vaeira – Pharaoh’s Education (5781) 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 Exodus, ...
01.15.2023 Parshas Vaeira (Rebroadcast) Our Parsha begins in the middle of the dialogue between Moses and God. Moses’ initial foray into saving the nation has gone horribly awry. Instead of alleviating the pain of the Jewish nation; his intervention exacerbated it, and he returned ...
01.12.2023 Shemos – Panache in King 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. Things go ...
01.10.2023 Shemos – Grooming Greatness (5781) Moses is the greatest leader of our history and the archetype of a great, transformative leader. Why was he chosen for the role? What was his training to become the leader he became? What are the Torah’s guidelines for leaders ...
01.08.2023 Parshas Shemos (Rebroadcast) The Book of Exodus begins with the Egyptians cunningly enslaving their Hebrew subjects: mandating that they work in backbreaking labor, killing their male sons, and trying to stamp out their spirit and curb their population. But God heard their cries ...
01.05.2023 Vayechi – Anti-Oxidance Immediately prior to his passing, Jacob gathered his sons with the intention of revealing to them what will happen at the end of days. With his 12 sons coalesced around him, Jacob was forced to pivot: the Almighty withdrew His ...
01.03.2023 Vayechi – The Five Stages of Transformation (5781) The Book of Genesis is replete with interesting stories. We follow the narrative about Adam and Noah and their families, Abraham and his odyssey and trials, Isaac and his family’s challenges and triumphs, and of course Jacob and Joseph and ...
01.01.2023 Parshas Vayechi (Rebroadcast) Parshas Vayechi is the final portion of the Book of Genesis. Jacob is about to die and he tends to his affairs: He assures that he will not be buried in Egypt and will instead be interred in the Cave ...
12.29.2022 Vayigash – Definition of Life Jacob relocates in our Parsha. Leaving Canaan once again, Jacob gathers his family and the possessions that he had acquired in Canaan and descends to Egypt to reunite with Joseph. In this Parsha Podcast we discover an unusual curiosity about ...
12.27.2022 Vayigash – Fruitful Famine (5781) In Parshas Vayigash, the Joseph trilogy comes to a close. The saga that began when Joseph was 17 ends when Jacob is reunited with his favorite son, now viceroy of Egypt. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we ...
12.25.2022 Parshas Vayigash (Rebroadcast) Twenty two years have passed since Jacob and Joseph were separated. Ever since Joseph was torn away from him, Jacob was bereft of prophecy and inconsolable. In Parshas Vayigash this long saga comes to an end and Jacob is finally ...
12.22.2022 Mikeitz – Growing Pains & Paining Grows Joseph took a very unusual path to primacy: his brothers thought he was a good for nothing, and sold him as a slave. He was sold to Egypt, accused of a crime he did not commit, and thrown into prison ...
12.20.2022 Mikeitz – Talent Evaluation (5781) Joseph is one of the most impressive figures in Jewish history. His accomplishments are vast: His holiness under spiritually treacherous conditions are legendary, his faith in God remained unwavering, he is the paragon of seeing God’s Handiwork in the bad ...
12.18.2022 Parshas Mikeitz (Rebroadcast) 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 ...
12.15.2022 Vayeishev – If You Hear Something, Do Something One of the most shocking events in the whole Torah occurs in our Parsha: Joseph’s brothers sell him as a slave to a caravan of traveling Ishmaelites. Two of his brothers helped ensure that he wasn’t killed. Reuben argued that ...
12.13.2022 Vayeishev – The Holy Hologram (5781) Joseph is one of the greatest heroes of Jewish history. His greatest deed was when he resisted temptation and rebuffed the seductions of his master, Potiphar’s, wife. Our Sages tell us that thanks to this valorous deed, Joseph became the ...
12.11.2022 Parshas Vayeishev (Rebroadcast) Parshas Vayeishev contains two intersecting, seemingly scandalous, storylines, that after all the dust has settled we can see are harbingers of the Messiah and Redemption: Joseph is hated by his brothers, and is eventually sold by them as a slave ...
12.08.2022 Vayishlach – Forefathers and Fouruncles The story of the Forefathers is well known. The Fouruncles, less so. Intertwined in the story of our nation’s progenitors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis, is the story of our nation’s uncles, namely Lot, Ishmael, Laban, and Esau. These ...
12.06.2022 Vayishlach – Unrequited Love (5781) This a unique edition of The Parsha Podcast that you dont want to miss. Instead of the usual one big idea that we typically cover in a Parsha podcast, in this version there are FIVE groundbreaking insights that can change ...

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