All Episodes
Displaying 121 - 150 of 783 in total
Ethics: Place of Torah (6.9)
There are only three rules of real estate: location, location, location. When it comes to choosing a place to live, the same principle applies. But what determines a g...
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 - Gaze from Heaven
Blessings and curses. That is the dominant theme of our Parsha. We read the admonition of Deuteronomy - 98 bone-chilling curses that will befall our people in the even...
Parsha: Ki Savo - Clinging to Gold (5782)
On the surface, Bikkurim appears to be an ordinary, tithe-like Mitzvah. When the first fruits of a season's crop begin to sprout, you designate them as Bikkurim, and e...
Ethics: Double-Edged Swords (6.8)
Not everything that we covet in life necessarily redounds to our benefit. There are great many things that are double-edge swords: they can be used for good; they can ...
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 - Conscience Cleanser
Of the motley potpourri of subjects featured in Parshas Ki Seitzei are several fascinating mitzvos that we address in this week's Parsha podcast. We begin with a fasci...
Parsha: Ki Seitzei - The Payoff Pitch (5782)
What is the nature of the conflict of life? How, indeed, are we suspended between good and bad, between mitzvos and sin, between the evil and good inclinations? The Al...
The Root Cause of Anti-Semitism and How to Solve it: The Torah's Surprising View
Jew hatred is not a new phenomenon. Ever since our people were founded -- and truthfully even beforehand -- we have been the recipients of unprecedented, enmity and ho...
Ethics: The Life-Giving Property of Torah (6:7)
The thing that we crave more than anything else is life. We all want life. We all flee from curtailing of - or danger to - our life. How do we indeed get life? In this...
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 - Government-in-Exile
We begin the month of Elul on the Parsha Podcast with style, flair, and panache. It starts with some sweet, sweet vindication as we share a citation that legitimizes t...
Parsha: Shoftim - Hill To Die On (5782)
Our Parsha contains the instructions for how to conduct war. We are told that we must extend peace overtures before launching an attack, we are told about the special ...
Ethics: Proper Attribution (6.6.48)
When we hear something beautiful, something genius, something powerful, we may be tempted to pass it off as our own. In the final installment of the 48 ways to wisdom ...
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 - Idle Tree, Idle Warship, and Falls Profits
The Torah spends a lot of time cautioning us against idolatry. As the nation is about to cross over the Jordan and enter Canaan, they are repeatedly warned to not fall...
Parsha: Reeh - Steak Your Claim (5782)
The criminal treated most severely under Torah law is the Meisis, a personal tries to entice others to do idolatry. Attempting to persuade people to repudiate God is m...
Ethics: Systematic Studying (6.6.47)
The penultimate way to wisdom offered by our sages instructs us to be systematic in our studies. What exactly does this mean? In this very special Ethics Podcast, we o...
Parshas Reeh (Rebroadcast)
This week’s parsha marks a transition in the Book of Deuteronomy: it is no longer primarily about admonishment and rebuke and warnings, instead we read a bevy of mitzv...
Parsha: Eikev - Shock and Awe
Flashy achievements make the news. Great triumphs, awesome deeds, transcendent moments grab our attention and seize our imagination. Humdrum acts fail to stir exciteme...
Parsha: Eikev - Well-Heeled (5782)
If the Almighty promises to give you a blessing, your ears should perk up. If God promises to give you abundance, health, prosperity, fertility, security, and all mann...
Ethics: Sharpening Teachers (6.6.46)
Teachers are usually pretty talented. They're usually gifted, knowledgeable, intelligent, and well-studied. In way to wisdom # 46 we learn how a student should strive ...
Parshas Eikev (Rebroadcast)
We pick up where we left off last week amid Moshe’s speech to the nation before his passing, and as in the previous few weeks, Parshas Eikev is jam packed with insight...
Parsha: Vaeschanan - Get a Life
Moshe was Joshua's teacher. By any measure, Moshe was a greater leader of the nation than Joshua was. Moshe was the sun to Joshua's moon. But Moshe was unable to lead ...
Parsha: Vaeschanan - Linked to Sinai (5782)
Although he was the paradigmatic leader of all time, Moshe was barred from crossing the Jordan River and entering the Land. Joshua his student was to succeed him and l...
Ethics: Studying with Intentionality (6.6.44-45)
What are our intentions when we study? What are we trying to achieve? If we are studying the Almighty's Torah simply as an exercise in theoretical, abstract learning, ...
Parshas Vaeschanan (Rebroadcast)
This week’s parsha continues Moshe’s monologue to the nation in the weeks preceding his passing. He begins by recounting his repeated efforts in trying to convince God...
Parsha: Devarim - Citizen of Heaven
A year after the Exodus Moshe dispatched a contingency of dignified men to scout the land of Canaan prior to the Nation's invasion. It was a catastrophic debacle. The ...
The Name of Messiah
Seven things were created before the world was created. That much we are told in the Talmud. What is the significance of this collection of things that preceded the wo...
Parsha: Devarim - Withholding Judgment (5782)
Parshas Devarim begins the Book of Deuteronomy, the final installment of the Pentateuch. Moshe is destined to pass and he gathers the nation to prepare them for the da...