There is no superficiality in Judaism. Everything is multi-layered, multifaceted, multidimensional. That seems to be particularly true with respect to the festival of Chanukah. Chanukah is a rabbinic holiday, and it is the very last mitzvah that we received. There are many oddities that separate this mitzvah from all others. The roots of this festival are very deep and span many areas of Torah and of life. In this very special podcast we welcome back the great Rabbi Shmuel Botnick. He shares a masterpiece that weaves together a wide array of sources and themes that will enhance and enrich our Chanukah, and give us an appreciation for the subtleties and nuances that we would have otherwise completely overlooked.

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This special Chanukah Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmat Victoria bat Khanbaba  ve Bahereh, Victoria Toubia, who passed away recently. May her Soul be elevated in Heaven.

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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Everyone loves the festival of Chanukah. There’s something so wonderful and enchanting about this festival and its iconic mitzvah, the lighting of the Menorah. But what is the menorah truly about? We all, of course, know the story of the miraculous oil that lasted for 8 days. But what is at the heart of the matter? What are we supposed to take away from this miracle, from this mitzvah, from this festival? In this wonderful podcast, we plumb the depths of the Hasmonean miracle, the Greek forces that they overcame, and the timeless lessons for us to learn.

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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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Not all twins are identical in every way. Jacob and Esau were as different from each other as two humans can possibly get. When Rebecca got wind of Esau’s plans to murder Jacob, she sent them away. After being apart from his twin for more than 30 years, Jacob and Esau had a fateful reunion. Jacob had a dilemma: what to do with his very desirable daughter Dina? He was worried that Esau would lay his eyes on her and take her for a wife. Jacob was not interested in being Esau’s father-in-law and having his daughter be taken by this monster, so he made a decision. This in this podcast we explore Jacob’s dilemma and his decision and the many cascading consequences thereof.

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What is your elevator pitch for the existence of God? That is a question that was posed to dozens of successful and accomplished people. They were asked to write a short, concise, elevator-trip-length essays on why they believed. These essays were compiled into a wonderful book titled “Elevator pitches for God.” The creators of this project, Ron Kardos and Bruce Licht, are dear friends of mine and they asked me to write my elevator pitch too. Authors were asked to limit their essays to a single page of text or fewer than 500 words to be able to be conveyed in an elevator ride, but I was asked to write the elevator pitch for a malfunctioning elevator. If you are in the elevator that breaks down and you’re going to be there for a while and you want to strike up a conversation with your fellow travelers about God, you may have some more time than a typical elevator ride. In this podcast, I share my essay on this very crucial topic.

I would highly recommend that you got a copy of this book for yourself . Until the end of the year 2024, this book is 45% off on Amazon at this LINK with the promo code “torchdeal”. This is the deal of a lifetime that will provide you with a torch illuminating your path to Faith and to God.

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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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Students of the Almighty’s holy Torah are familiar with the term midrash. It refers to a series of books that serve as commentaries on the Torah and on other holy writings. But where does the Midrash come from? What authority does it have? What about the comments in the Midrash that seem outlandish and totally unreasonable. Are we supposed to understand them as being true? Are we supposed to understand them as being literal? What about conflicting citations in the Midrash? In this sweeping podcast, we explore the origin and the the standing of Midrashic literature.

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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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Gratitude is one of the most, if not the most, important values in our religion. In fact, our sources tell us that the reason why God created His creation was to enable us to express our gratitude. But what if what we receive is a mixed bag of good and bad? Must we also express gratitude in that case? In this special Thanksgiving edition of the podcast, we explore the important subject of gratitude.

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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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Today’s podcast is a wild card. This past Shabbos  I was invited to join a panel of rabbis to answer a series of interesting questions submitted by high school students from the all-girls high school in Houston. In this special episode I share some of the fascinating questions and some of what I said – and some of what I I was unable to say – at that panel.

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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’s storyline in the Torah is curiously: There are some parts of his life that are told in detail, while other seemingly important events are omitted entirely. What we discover is that the storyline of Abraham serves as a prototype for how to actualize our potential. In this very special podcast, we dissect Abraham’s story and discover a comprehensive system for how to unlock our vast potential.

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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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It’s election season in America. Your vote matters. Even if you don’t live in the swing state, it is recommended that you vote and exercise your civic right and duty. There is another area where you need to vote. The other area is much more consequential. The effects of how you vote in that area will reverberate the world over.

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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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Serious people face a serious problem: once you understand that the Almighty created you for a purpose, and that purpose is completely unique to you – there is no one else who can fulfill whatever it is that you must fulfill-  you recognize the imperative to discover your personal mission. But how do you find your own path in life? How do you discover your purpose, the task, the mission, the job that you were created to fulfill? In this very special podcast we consult the book that has all the answers: The Chronicles of Adam. This most powerful and mysterious book foretells all future generations of Adam and their particular mission. Herein we learn how to catch a glimpse, how to sneak a peek into our own entry in this vaunted and hallowed book.

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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