All Episodes
Displaying 31 - 60 of 830 in total
TORAH 101: Venues of Reward and Punishment
Spiritual pleasure is vastly, infinitely greater than physical pleasures, and are completely imperceivable by bodies. Only if you work assiduously to develop a sensory...
Parsha: Emor - Snowball's Chance in Heaven (5783)
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 ...
Mechanisms of Free Will
Is free will limited or unlimited? What is the scope of free will? How much of our decisions must filter through that system of choice? How much can we actually accomp...
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 - Sparring Mates
If you chanced upon sparring mates going at it, you may come to the mistaken impression that these two are enemies who want each other's throats. But the truth is, a s...
TORAH 101: The (Near Total) Inaccessibility of Spiritual Pleasure
There is great confusion about what the ultimate reward for righteousness and the ultimate punishment for wickedness are. Rambam's magisterial essay is designed to pro...
Parsha: Acharei Mos/Kedoshim - It's a Small World (5783)
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 ...
Free Will: An Exploration of Fundamental Concepts (Part 1)
Free Will is a fundamental concept in our philosophy. People are endowed by God with the ability to determine the direction that they take in life. People are allowed ...
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 Metzorah - Scalps and Scalpels
The process of diagnosing and purifying a person afflicted with tzaraas is long and arduous. But there was no avoiding it. It is prohibited to excise a tzaraas afflict...
Parsha: Tazria Metzora - Heaven on the Cheap (5783)
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...
From Beast to Man
Starting from the second day of Passover, we count the Omer. For 7 weeks of 7 days a piece -- 49 days -- we count. Once the count is completed, the festival of Shavuos...
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 - Eighth Time's The Charm
Assembling and disassembling the Tabernacle was a difficult task that Moshe repeated for seven days. Each morning he placed the vertical beams into their silver socket...
Parsha: Shemini - Fires, Foreign and Domestic (5783)
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...
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 ...
Guard The Matzos: A Yahrzeit Tribute to Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe
Matzah is a tricky food. It is made with the same ingredients as bread ; the only difference is the speed of how they are processed. The Torah tells us that we must gu...
Parsha: Tzav - Conceal the Deal
A top of the altar were fires that were never extinguished for hundreds of years. What was the nature of these fires? What were they made up of? How are they different...
Parsha: Tzav - Pure-Bread (5783)
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...
Five Questions for Pesach
Pesach (Passover) marks the founding event of our nation. We had been enslaved in Egypt for centuries, and in one night the Almighty extracted a nation from amidst a n...
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 ne...
Parsha: Vayikra - Mind of a Thousand Men
The Book of Leviticus begins with sacrifices. We read about the multiple types of elevation sacrifices, meal offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, etc. None of us...
Parsha: Vayikra: Five-Course Meal Offering with Rabbi Dovid Biron (5783)
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 disap...
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 ...
Parsha: Pekudei - Zero to Won
After four Parshas, the Tabernacle is finally finished this week. Before the Tabernacle is erected though, Moshe provides an audit for all the gold, silver, and copper...
Parsha: Pekudei - Autopilot Disengaged (5784)
The narrative of the Tabernacle spans many chapters at the end of the book of Exodus. The nation is told to build a sanctuary for God in which He will dwell. The Torah...
Parshas Pekudei (Rebroadcast)
The final parsha in the Book of Exodus wraps up the account of the construction of the Tabernacle, and its vessels and vestments. Again and again we read the refrain t...
Parsha: Vayakhel - Ambition Impossible
Please support the Parsha Podcast by donating to our annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.orgThis is our only annual fundraiser.Every donation is DOUBLED!Support the TORCH C...
TORAH 101: Ultimate Reward and Punishment: Rambam's Magisterial Essay Part 1
Please support the TORAH 101 Podcasts by donating to our annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.orgThis is our only annual fundraiser.Every donation is DOUBLED!Support the TOR...
Parsha: Vayakhel Pekudei - Laver of Love (5783)
Please support the Parsha Podcast by donating to our annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.orgThis is our only annual fundraiser.Every donation is DOUBLED!Support the TORCH C...