All Episodes
Displaying 391 - 420 of 834 in total
Parshas Vezos Haberacha (Rebroadcast)
The final parsha of the Torah details the blessings that Moshe conveyed to the tribes of Israel immediately prior to his passing, and the Torah ends with the descripti...
The Joy of Sukkos
The festival of Sukkos is called "the time of our joy." The entire festival is associated with joy. Sitting in the Sukkah is joyous, shaking the Lulav is joyous, the t...
Jonah: The Yom Kippur Reading on a Deeper Level (Rebroadcast)
On Yom Kippur afternoon, we read the 48-verse Book of Jonah, which tells of a renegade prophet, Jonah, who defies the directive of God and refuses to castigate the peo...
Parsha: Haazinu - Antidote to Vacuousness
On the final day of Moshe's life, he conveys the Song of Haazinu to the nation. In this masterful prophetic Song, the Torah overviews Jewish history, past, present, fu...
Repentance Conundrums
The days spanning from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are known as the Ten Days of Repentance. Over the course of these days, we have extra prayers and supplications, and...
Parsha: Haazinu - Small Step for Eaglet (5781)
The Song of Haazinu is a richly textured tapestry with layered meaning and subtleties. Our Sages tell us that it incorporates all of Jewish History. In its 613 words, ...
Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)
Still in the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys to the nation a 43-verse Song predicting the contours of Jewish history, both past, present, and future. The pattern...
Rosh Hashana Opportunities
Rosh Hashana is a day of repentance. But unlike Yom Kippur, there is nary a mention of sin in all the ceremonies, prayers, and liturgies of Rosh Hashanah. What is the ...
The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day Two (Rebroadcast)
On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the Torah section of Genesis chapter 22 that tells the very famous and quite troubling episode of the Binding of Isaac. Abra...
Rosh Hashana Roundtable with the TORCH Podcasters
Rosh Hashanah is the beginning. It is the beginning of the High Holidays. It is the beginning of the 10 days of repentance. It marks the beginning of humanity. On this...
The Rosh Hashana Torah Reading – Day One (Rebroadcast)
The Torah readings for the two days of Rosh Hashana were not arbitrarily chosen. There are very good reasons why on the first day of Rosh Hashana we read Genesis chapt...
Parsha: Nitzavim Vayeilech - Pro Choice
On the final day of Moshe's life, he gathers the entire nation for a parting message. After forging another covenant between the nation and God and explicating the con...
Nitzavim - Drawbridge Of The Soul (5781)
With the entire nation gathered on his final day of life, Moshe warns the people against being seduced by idolatry. The nation, Moshe reveals, is particularly vulnerab...
TORAH 101: Preparing for Messiah
Messiah is something that we anticipate and yearn for and await, but it is also something that we must prepare for. The consequences of being unprepared for Messiah ar...
Parshas Nitzavim & Vayeilech (Rebroadcast)
On the final day of Moshe’s life, he gathered the entire nation – men, women, children, and according to the Talmud, all souls of future Jews – to pass them through a ...
Parsha: Ki Savo - Dial of Joy
The Torah has a surprising view on joy and how to attain it. The prevailing attitude in our society is that a person's state of joy is contingent upon circumstance: In...
Parsha: Ki Savo - Maniacal Determination (5781)
Our parsha contains perhaps the most difficult Torah portion to read and digest: The Tochacha (Admonition). In it we are told the consequences of our deeds. If obey th...
Elul for the Unprepared and the Undeserving
The month of Elul is upon us. Over the course of the next few weeks, Jewish communities worldwide will prepare for the high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur wit...
Parshas Ki Savo (Rebroadcast)
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...
Parsha: Ki Seitzei - The Upside of Laziness
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...
Parsha: Ki Seitzei - A Lifetime A Day (5781)
The Midrash in our parsha calculates that the Torah contains 613 mitzvos, 248 positive mitzvos, where the Torah commands us to do something proactive, and 365 negative...
Ethics: Accepting Affliction (6.6.25)
Life is full of nuisances. For many - maybe all - life inevitably contains some pain, suffering, and affliction. How we approach these situations is a central element ...
Parshas Ki Seitzei (Rebroadcast)
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 t...
Parsha: Shoftim - Crisper Genes
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 ...
Parsha: Shoftim - Gateways to Great Pursuits (5781)
Justice is a virtue that we must vigorously pursue. Our Parsha begins by instructing us to establish a court system with judges and bailiffs throughout our gates and t...
TORAH 101: False and Unrealized Messiahs
Our Nation has been yearning for Messiah for a very long time. And for good cause: Messiah is associated with wonderful things. Messiah is the state of the world when ...
Parshas Shoftim (Rebroadcast)
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, an...
Parsha: Reeh - Making Dough
The Parsha ends with a delineation of the festivals. When discussing Passover, the verse notes that for 7 days we eat matzah because we left Egypt within great haste. ...
Parsha: Re'eh - Look at Me (5781)
Moshe begins our parsha by presenting the Nation with a choice: See, I have placed before you today blessing and curse. And he continues to state that the blessing is ...
Ethics: Trust Sages (6.6.24)
Our primary responsibility as humans and as Jews is to develop and deepen our faith in the Creator. Can we have faith in man? Can we have faith in a mortal? In the 24t...