All Episodes
Displaying 421 - 450 of 784 in total
Parsha: Bamidbar - Common Census
The United States Constitution mandates that a nationwide census is conducted every decade. Other nations also conduct censuses. Censuses are common. Our parsha begins...
Parsha: Bamidbar - Flag-Bearers (5781)
At first glance, Parshas Bamidbar seems like a snoozefest: it's very technical, counting the people, assigning the tribes to their encampments, counting the Levites se...
Mitzvah: Misappropriation of the Sacred (#127, 447)
Misappropriating Temple property is a very bad idea. The sacrifices, the animals, the vessels, the property, the money used for update and maintenance - all items that...
Parshas Bamidbar (Rebroadcast)
We kickstart the Book of Numbers with a census of the twelve tribes of Israel – not including the tribe of Levi who is counted independently – conducted by Moses, Aaro...
Parsha: Behar Bechukosai - Hostage Letter
Our Parsha contains some of the most difficult portions in the Torah, the Admonition. Our nation is told of the consequences of failing to adhere to the rules of God. ...
Ethics: Pleasure (6.6.18)
Pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are hardwired impulses . We all want to feel good and to avoid feeling bad. Perhaps surprisingly, the Torah fully embraces th...
Parsha: Behar & Bechukosai - Divine Nudge (5781)
Two years ago, our nation underwent an unprecedented calamity. At our people's largest annual festival, the celebration of Lag ba'Omer in Meron, a crowd crush resulted...
TORAH 101: The Variability of Messiah
We have been awaiting and anticipating Messiah for millennia. Messianic yearning has been a hallmark of Jewish life ever since we were exiled from our land with the de...
Parshas Behar & Bechukosai (Rebroadcast)
This week's double-Parsha closes out the Book of Leviticus. Parshas Behar begins at Mount Sinai, where the Almighty instructed Moshe to convey a series of laws to the ...
Parsha: Emor - Snowball's Chance in Heaven
The story of the first person to ever be executed in a Jewish court of law is featured at the end of this week's Parsha. An unnamed man, the son of an Israelite woman ...
Parsha: Emor - Sense of Belonging (5781)
Our parsha contains the first recorded instance of capital punishment in Jewish history. A disgruntled man, the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man blaspheme...
Ethics: Moderation (6:6:17)
Our resources are finite. We must engage in trade-offs, deciding what pursuits to prioritize over others. This, of course, is all well known. But it's more complicated...
Parshas Emor (Rebroadcast)
Parshas Emor contains a staggering 56 mitzvos, nearly all of them relating to either to the Kohanim, the priests, or to the Festivals, and the parsha ends with a very ...
Parsha: Acharei Mos/Kedoshim - It's a Small World
Our double Parsha contains many different mitzvos. In this podcast we study a set of mitzvos and a very interesting dispute about their nature. We discover a valuable ...
Parsha: Acharei Mos/Kedoshim - Challenge Accepted (5781)
Our Nation has always had bad neighbors. The Midrash in our Parsha states that the Egyptians and the Canaanites, both nations that our people lived in close proximity ...
Conversion in Jewish Philosophy and Law
Our forefather Abraham forged a covenant with God: God shows him to be the forefather of the Jewish people, which includes all sorts of Rights and responsibilities. Fo...
Parshas Acharei & Kedoshim (Rebroadcast)
This week's double-parsha contains a smorgasbord of mitzvos. The three chapters of Parshas Acharei cover three general categories. First we read about the Yom Kippur s...
Parsha: Tazria Metzora - Heaven on the Cheap
This week's double Parsha contains some of the most intricate and complex laws in the Torah, the laws of purity and impurity. This subject remains an enigmatic mystery...
TORAH 101: The Inevitability of Messiah
The sources all agree: Messiah is not a possibility that we can potentially achieve; it is an inevitability. It will definitely happen. Under no circumstances will Mes...
Parsha: Tazria/Metzora - Blessings in Disguises (5781)
Tzaraas, the spiritual leprosy whose laws are detailed in our Parsha, appeared in three different areas: the befell sinners' skin, clothing, and house. How common was ...
Ethics: Worldliness (6.6.16)
The central conflict of our lives orients around our relationship with the physical world in which we currently inhabit: the Torah teaches us that the objective of lif...
Parshas Tazria & Metzora (Rebroadcast)
A very large percentage of Torah is dedicated to the laws of purity and impurity. This week's double Parshas of Tazria and Metzora largely deal with these laws. One va...
Parsha: Shemini - Fires, Foreign and Domestic
Nadav and Avihu were the crown princes of the Jewish nation. These two sons were slated to succeed Moshe and Aaron. Moshe declared, without hyperbole, that his two nep...
Parsha: Shemini - Find Your Breach (5781)
The 8th day of the Tabernacle's Inauguration was supposed to be a day of total, exuberant jubilation. The laborious months of preparation were complete, and now God wi...
The Secret of the Haggadah with Rabbi Shmuly Botnick
The Pesach Haggadah guides us through the Seder night and the story of the Exodus. But as is always true in our religion, there are secrets and mysteries lurking benea...
Parshas Shemini (Rebroadcast)
After months of preparation and building, and a week of inauguration, the nation was anticipating the climax of the Tabernacle experience: When God finally rested His ...
Parsha: Tzav - Pure-Bread
On the first day of a Kohein's tenure doing service in the Temple, they bring a once-in-a-lifetime offering: a meal-offering that is almost identical to the daily meal...
Ethics: Mishnah (6:6:15)
The oral Torah is vast, comprehensive, and multi-layered. One of its layers is known as Mishnah. What is Mishnah, how was it organized and codified, and why does it pr...
Parsha: 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...
Mitzvah: Oil and Frankincense in a Sinner's Meal Offering (#125-6)
A sinner's meal offering is a bit different from a typical meal offering: Oil and Frankincense, integral ingredients in most meal offerings, are omitted. – – – – – – –...