TORAH 101 - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Recent Episodes
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TORAH 101 is aptly described as “An Intellectual’s Introduction to Torah”. If you are a person who wants to understand the foundations of Torah in a logical and cogent fashion, if you don’t want to subsist with the juvenile perception of Torah of your youth, if you want to wrestle with the deeper questions of theology, eschatology, theodicy, and Jewish philosophy, TORAH 101 is the podcast for you. We will delve into the weighty topics in Jewish philosophy: the divinity of Torah: the interrelationship of Written and Oral Torah, the multidimensionality of Torah, a critical examination of Bible criticism, Torah and Science, why bad things happen to good people, and we will thoroughly explore Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith. Please email all questions, comments, and feedback to rabbiwolbe@gmail.com
Cherubs made many appearances in the Tabernacle and the Temple. Hewn onto the Cover of the Ark off the Covenant were two golden cherubs facing each other. But there were more cherubs. Of the Tabernacle’s multiple fabric covers was one called the “Mishkan” upon which two cherubs were embroidered. In the partition that separated the sanctuary from the Holy of Holies, the image of a cherub was embroidered. In the temple that Solomon built, there were more cherubs, including an additional set of enormous ten-cubit-tall cherubs in the Holy of Holies that towered above the Ark of the Covenant. The cherubs have important symbolism. One of them represents God Almighty, and the second represents His cherished nation, Israel. In the next installment of our study of the magisterial work Nefesh HaChaim, we learned about the cherubs: what they represent, how they were oriented, and what that teaches us about how we direct the trajectory of the world. In the next installment of our study of the magisterial work Nefesh HaChaim, we learned about the cherubs: what they represent, how they were oriented, and what that teaches us about how we direct the trajectory of the world.
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TORAH 101
How exactly can man influence all the worlds, all the spheres, all the dimensions, and all the realms? Our Sages compare the human to the soul of the world. We have the levers that determine what happens to all of created existence. But what is the mechanism of that? How precisely does man actualize his mission of being created in the image of God? What is the interrelationship between the soul of the world (us) and the world? In the fourth installment of the study of the magisterial work Nefesh HaChaim, we learn the mechanism of man’s influence over the world. Man is the microcosm.
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TORAH 101
The more important someone is the greater the impact of their actions. The maneuver of a general changes the course of a campaign; a mistake of the general can imperil the entire army; a brilliant stroke of the general can achieve unexpected victory. A simple foot soldier has a much smaller impact. Adam was created in the image of Elokim. His capacity to impact is enormous. In the third installment of our study of the magisterial work, Nefesh HaChaim, we learn about the frightening and astounding consequences of the outsized leverage bestowed upon Adam and those who spiritually resemble Adam.
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Adam was created in the image of God. He was given vast influence over God’s creations. What is the mechanism of this power? What is the mechanism of Adam’s ability to influence God’s creations? How is Adam able to move worlds? The answer gets to some of the deepest secrets of them all. Not all of God’s creations are created equal. Some are spiritually loftier than others. What is the relationship though of all of God’s creations? How are they connected? In this podcast, we learned the secret of the concatenation of God’s creations and discover the lofty nature of Adam with its enormous ramifications.
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TORAH 101
“And God made man in His image. In the image of God (Elokim) He made him.” The majority of the secrets of the Kabbalistic esoterica are hidden in these cryptic words, but the magisterial work, Nefesh HaChaim, authored by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, begins by explaining a profound understanding of these words. There is indeed some overlap between man and God. God is the source of all power, the source of all vitality, and He endowed man with some of that power. We have the ability to move worlds. We have the ability to make cosmic transformation. In this very special episode, we begin our study of this fundamental work of Torah philosophy. What we learn radically reshapes our perspective of what man is and what impact man has.
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TORAH 101
As a very young man, Rambam wrote a commentary on the entire Mishnah. He prefaces his commentary with a sprawling and magisterial introduction which covers vast subjects related to Torah, oral and written, the history of the transmission, and the mechanism of Mishnah and Talmud. He ends his introduction with an explanation of the rationale behind his commentary and a fascinating set of appendices and heuristics.
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TORAH 101
The Mishnah was at the end of the canonization of the Oral Torah. The Tosefta, the Sifra and Sifri soon followed. 300 years after Rabbi Judah the Prince canonized the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud was canonized. In this penultimate episode on Rambam’s magisterial introduction to Mishnah, we learn all about the Talmud: how it was written, how it was canonized, and what it includes. We learn the four objectives of the Talmud and the secret as to why some of the teachings in the Talmud are very difficult to decipher.
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The Order of Purity is the longest of the Six Orders of Mishnah and by far the most foreign to us. The overwhelming majority of the laws of this order of Mishnah are only applicable in Temple times. different sources of impurity although our overview will be very brief, we will learn about the various different degrees of impurity, the various different means of conveying that impurity, the various different ramifications of each level of impurity, and the various different ways to remedy the impurity. We will not be fully educated about all the different laws of purity and impurity. But we will definitely be a little bit less ignorant.
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Unfortunately, none of us have ever witnessed or participated in a sacrifice. Ever since the Temple was destroyed more than 1,950 years ago, our nation has been bereft of a central component of our religious life. Our nation, and truly the whole world, can only be in an optimal state when the presence of God resides in our midst. We hope and pray that the Temple will be restored and rebuilt on Temple Mount in Jerusalem very soon. Then we will merit to offer sacrifices: communal and personal, obligatory and optional, daily and episodic. In this edition of this podcast, we learn about the Fifth Order of the Mishnah: The Order of Sacrifices. Given that the subject may be quite foreign to us, the podcast begins with a brief survey of the various different explanations and rationales offered by our sages regarding why the Almighty instituted animal sacrifices as such a central component of the Torah. Listen and be informed.
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Human interactions can often times get messy. There are myriads of circumstances that require courts and judgements. The Fourth Order of Mishnah contains the books of law and judgement and, surprisingly, the authoritative work on ethics: Chapters of the Fathers (Pirkei Avos). This podcast will help you gain a brief overview on the Books of this Order, but never forget that this overview is barely scratching the surface. Very talented, intelligent, and diligent scholars in the yeshiva toil for years and years over a single one of these books. There is an infinite amount of wisdom in each one of these books. We are just getting the briefest of introductions.
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A great corpus of Torah law governs the relationships between men and women. The Second Order of Mishnah contains books on the initiation of marriage, on marital responsibilities, on the annulment of marriage via divorce, on the suspected adulteress, and on levirate marriages. The Order also contains two seemingly unrelated books: a book on vows and oaths and a book on the laws of a Nazir. In this podcast we explore the nature of these books, and earn some basic literacy in this massive portion of Oral Torah.
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TORAH 101
The Jewish calendar is studded with days of great importance. Each week we relive Genesis by celebrating the holy Shabbos. At half-year intervals are the mega festivals of Sukkos and Pesach (Passover). There’s also Shavuos, Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The second Order of Mishnah orients around all these days of importance. In this podcast we learn about the content of the 12 books of this Order, and also sample a teaching from each book.
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TORAH 101
The Mishnah is a massive, sprawling, and utterly comprehensive canon of Torah law. Spanning 60+ books over 6 Orders, the Mishnah includes all the laws of the Torah. To study it all would take a very long time. To know it all, takes a lifetime. In this podcast, we try to gain an appreciation for the general concepts of Mishnah, beginning in the Order of Planting (Agriculture).
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TORAH 101
What makes up Oral Torah? What are the different types of information included in the Mishnah? In part 3 of the authoritative, magisterial, and comprehensive introduction to Mishnah offered by Rambam, we learn about the five different components of oral Torah, two that come all the way back from the times of Moshe, and three components developed by the Sages over the centuries since. Since. We also learn about the origin and the nature of disputes, and how those disputes do not indicate gaps in tradition or forgetfulness. We learn about the nature of laws deemed “laws from Moshe at Sinai”, and how they differ from the accepted explanations from Moshe at Sinai. We also learn why dissenting opinions that are overruled are still included in in the Mishnah. In short, a delightful and profound exploration of the Oral Law included in the Mishnah.
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TORAH 101
The veracity of prophecy is a critical component of our philosophy. But how do we know if a prophecy claimant is legit? How do we differentiate between real prophets and fraudulent ones? In our second installment on Rambam’s introduction to his commentary on Mishnah, we explore the four different categories of prophecy, the limitations of allowable prophecy, how prophets are vetted, and why prophecy cannot resolve Torah disputes.
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TORAH 101
The Torah was given to us by God with absolute perfection. A unique feature of that is the dual formats of Torah: written and oral. In this interesting and informative podcast, we begin the study of Maimonides’ magisterial introduction to his commentary on Mishnah. He begins by tracing the history of oral Torah all the way back to Moshe, he outlines the methods by which Moshe conveyed the Torah to the nation, and addresses the inadmissibility of prophecy in adjudicating Torah dilemmas. Torah is no longer in the heavens. We have other ways of settling uncertainties.
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TORAH 101
Spiritual pleasure is vastly, infinitely greater than physical pleasures, and are completely imperceivable by bodies. Only if you work assiduously to develop a sensory connection with your soul, can you begin to taste it. The ultimate venue of spiritual pleasure is known as Olam Haba, the world to come. What about other venues of reward? What about Paradise, Resurrection, and the days of Messiah? How do those rewards featured in the Literature fit into the system of reward and pleasure of Jewish eschatology? In the third and final installment of Rambam’s magisterial essay, we explore the other venues of reward and punishment.
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TORAH 101
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 provide clarity in these lofty matters of eschatology. In part 2, we learn all about the concept of spiritual pleasure. Our bodies are very finely attuned to experiences of pain and pleasure. We discover that our souls are equally sensitive to pain and pleasure, though our default distance from the soul makes us fail to perceive it in a sensory way. Spiritual pleasure is inaccessible by default, but there is a way to experience it. It will require very hard work, but just one tiny taste of it changes your life forever.
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In his commentary to Mishnah, Rambam (Maimonides) offers a fascinating overview of the subjects of the Afterlife, Resurrection, Messiah, Paradise, and Olam Haba (the world to come). This is arguably the single greatest essay on these exotic, esoteric, and arcane subjects. In this podcast, we address the first section of this magisterial essay. We read about the many different and varied opinions as to what the ultimate reward for righteousness is. We read about the whole notion of seeking ulterior motives for mitzvos and whether that is good or not. The third part of this section of the essay addresses the three different ways to interpret the words of our sages. To gain a deeper understanding of this fundamental part of our philosophy, there is no better place to look than this magnificent essay.
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Why do bad things happen to good people? What role does Oral Torah play in Jewish life? Why did the Almighty create two worlds, the world of the bodies and the world of the souls? What is the difference between today and the days of Messiah? These are just some of the questions that are raised in the third and final installment on the introduction of the Sefer HaChinuch in this edition of the TORAH 101 Podcast.
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Why did God give us such a precious and holy and profound Torah? Wouldn’t it be enough to give us some simple rules to live by? Why is our nation chosen above all other nations? Shouldn’t all humans be the same? These are some very advanced question and one that our sages reveal deep insights about. In this Torah 101 podcast, we continue our exploration of the classic sources to talk about Torah philosophy and ideology and we continue with the magisterial introduction to Sefer HaChinuch.
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The Sinai Revelation was a mass testimony of faith. The only event of its kind saw God revealing Himself to a nation comprised of millions, who heard and experienced prophecy and lived to tell their children about it. The founding event of our religion is historically unchallengeable and completely unprecedented: There is no other religion that even claims to have a National Revelation at its founding. In this TORAH 101 podcast, we study the introduction of Sefer HaChinuch to learn about the mechanism of believing history, the primacy of tradition over scientific and empirical analysis, and how we can have confidence that our religion – unlike other religions – is based on an airtight historical – verified and incontrovertible – Nation Revelation.
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Some atheists are quite intelligent. Some atheists score highly on IQ tests. How can they be so wrong on matters of faith? Where exactly do the atheists go wrong? In this interesting TORAH 101 podcast, we pinpoint the precise area that causes atheists to err. It turns out, a perfectly functioning and competent and capable brain is not enough to arrive at faith. The true cause of faith lies in the heart. If the heart is corrupted, all bets are off.
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We have made enormous strides in our pursuit of a deep, and comprehensive study of Rambam’s 13 principles of faith. We have plumbed the depths of these 13 tenets of our religion to the best of our ability. This podcast marks the final installment of this series. In it we explore some of the various quandaries and uncertainties regarding Resurrection. While our exploration of the 13 principles has been completed, we hope to, with the help of the almighty, continue studying and parsing out various subjects related to our philosophy and religion on this podcast channel. We hope you enjoyed the ride and continue with us as we proceed onward.
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It is hard enough for us to keep track of what happens to us in our lifetime; what happens after we die is truly a mystery. But there are timelines that are even murkier: what happens after Messiah? How does the Resurrection unfold? Is Resurrection a one-time thing or are there many different resurrections? What happens to this world when the clock hits the year 6000? Our Sages just tell us that this world can only endure for 6,000 years. That is the endpoint. What happens next? In this very interesting podcast we explore the timeline of Resurrection: we learn about how the era of Messiah leads to the era of Resurrection, we discover the idea of the Great and Awesome day of judgment, and we venture a little bit into the mysterious notion of the seventh millennium, and the 8th, and the 9th, and the 10th.
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In the previous episode, we established that resurrection for the purposes of eternal life in Olam Haba is a process of restoring humanity to the sort of life that matches that of Adam and Eve before their sin. In this podcast episode, we further explore the nature of this resurrection: We identify the primary distinction between Adam and Eve before and after their sin, and lay out what it takes to be included in the rarified fraternity of those who are re-animated back to life – in the format of Adam and Eve before their sin – for eternal living and basking in the pleasure of the divine.
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What is the point of resurrection? This question has dual meanings: what is the goal of resurrection and what is the point from which resurrection begins? In this very important podcast we answer both questions. What we learn greatly enhances our understanding of resurrection and gives us the faint outlines of the road map that we must follow if we want to be meritorious to be included in the good type of resurrection.
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The great medieval sage my Maimonides – Rambam – has been guiding us throughout our studies of the 13th principles of faith. This transcendental scholar, who’s magisterial writings are authoritatively accepted amongst the entirety of the Jewish people, was one of our people’s greatest personalities. His writings are enormously influential and authoritative in matters of philosophy and the foundations of our faith. In this episode we go through Rambam’s epistle on Resurrection. In his lifetime, there were many questions and doubts and uncertainties about Rambam’s position on several matters of resurrection. To dispel misconceptions misunderstandings, and misrepresentations, Rambam penned a lengthy epistle on the matter. This letter is sprawling and uncharacteristically wordy, but it is a very helpful source for us to gain a deeper and broader understanding of the subject of a resurrection.
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In our pursuit of understanding of the subject of resurrection, many questions remain. In the previous episode we talked about the two types of resurrection, there is still a lack of clarity in the similarities and the differences between the two types of resurrection. Furthermore, the Talmud says that the righteous are alive even when they are dead. If they are alive when they are dead, how can they be resurrected? In addition, Rambam – our guide to studying the 13 principles – says some statements that seem to contradict each other and the Talmud. In this very interesting podcast episode, we suggest a new framing for how to understand the initial resurrection in the times of Messiah. The listener is forewarned that what you are about to hear is a bit more speculative than most episodes, and also one that requires active listening. The podcast is called Torah 101 in part because the Talmud teaches us that we must study our Torah 101 times. I don’t know if this episode requires 101 listens, but certainly more than one would be necessary to fully understand every part of the framework.
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One of me hallmarks of the Messianic times is the resurrection of the righteous. With Messiah comes the reemergence of the righteous. Those buried in the land will precede those buried outside of it, but all the righteous will come back. This is well established in the Literature. In this podcast we discussed the two types of resurrection and the nature of each.
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The subject of resurrection was hotly debated in times of yore. The Talmud records a series of debates between great rabbis and their Roman contemporaries about the this subject. When we probe the matter more deeply, we discover that the Roman disbelievers of resurrection have a very good argument. Reasonable people can come to the conclusion that resurrection indeed violates the laws of physics; it violates the rules of nature. The sages accepted that. Their position is that resurrection is supernatural. It comes from the Torah – from a higher realm of existence than nature. In this special edition of the podcast, we explore the transcendental and supernatural nature of the resurrection of the dead.
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We stridently disagree with the oft-repeated statement: “You only live once.” #YOLO is a sentiment that violates our beliefs. A central principle of our religion is the concept of resurrection. Death is not permanent. The dead will rise again. Life will be extended to the bodies of the deceased. Abraham will once again grace this world. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moshe, Aaron — all of them will come back, will be resurrected. But what exactly is the nature of resurrection? That is a bit more complicated to answer. We are at the end of a very long and exhilarating journey. We are at the 13th of the 13 principles of our faith. Hitherto, we have covered vast elements of our faith. The first five of the 13 principles talked about God, the subsequent four about Torah, and the final four are all about reward and punishment. The final element that we must cover is the reunification of body and soul. What does this mean? Our exploration begins.
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We have studied the subject of Messiah in its length and breadth. In the 16th and final installment of our study of the 12th of Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith, we briefly survey a potpourri of subjects that are tangential to the main subject of Messiah. We explore six different topics: Messiah Ben Joseph; the apocalyptic war of Gog and Magog; the role of Elijah the Prophet in Messiah; the Resurrection of the dead that occurs in Messiah; the restoration of the institutions of Semicha and the Sanhedrin; and the question of the how we view the State of Israel in the context of Messiah.
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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 are grave. How can we prepare for Messiah? What, specifically, do the sources focus on when it comes to getting in shape for Messiah? In this podcast we learn about how to prepare for Messiah.
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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 the mission that Abraham began gets actualized. Messiah is when the knowledge that our nation personified for millennia finally becomes ubiquitous. Messiah is a time […]
King Messiah will spearhead the spiritual movement that will reverberate the world over. This King will bear a grand and lofty stature exceeding that of the greatest exemplars of our history. In this podcast we explore King Messiah further: what are the indicators of the real messiah? What are the means by which we can […]
The world will undergo immense changes in the times of Messiah. Those changes will be so transformative and so comprehensive that our current world and our current values are scarcely similar to those of the world of Messiah. When Messiah will come is a question that we cannot answer. Trying to do so is prohibited, […]
When will Messiah come? We are all curious to know the answer. What if we can find evidence or proof in Scripture to know when the redemption will happen? Isn’t that a tantalizing notion? In this podcast we survey the prohibition, futility, and peril of Messianic prognostication. – – – – – – – – […]
What will happen in the times of Messiah? For us, that is an unanswerable question. Our Sages tell us that unless you are a prophet, it is not possible for you to know ahead of time how the Messianic transformation will unfold. That said, our Sages do provide us with descriptions and accounts and hints and allusions that can give us some insight into what we have to look forward to. In this podcast we focus on the concept that Messiah may be part of a sequence of events that string together to create the Messianic era.
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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 destruction of the Second Temple. Messiah, we have learned, will definitely happen. It is inevitable. But the type of Messiah depends upon the path that we choose to get there. Messiah is variable in many different ways. In this podcast episode we explore the various areas in which the variability of Messiah is manifested.
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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 Messiah and not come before the year 6,000 since Adam. The inevitability of Messiah raises a fundamental question, though: if something is inevitable, it cannot be linked to frail, fallible, and fickle human free will. Yet the sources also maintain that the arrival of Messiah is in fact contingent on our choices and behavior. This paradox opens up for us new vistas of understanding of Messiah, it’s inevitability, and it’s variability. In this podcast we forge ahead in our studies seeking to understand Messiah and the Messianic era.
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This TORAH 101 Podcast is dedicated in the merit of the complete and speedy recovery of Ariel ben Yosef HaKohen.
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The Messianic era will unleash seismic changes to our nation and to all of humanity. In this podcast we talk about the ultimate catalyst of Messiah: Repentance. The sources agree that it is only via repentance that Messiah can arrive. When our nation returns to the Almighty, the world is ready to transition to the next epoch of history.
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Messiah is not an isolated, discrete, transformation that occurs in a vacuum. Messiah is the ultimate redemption. Our nation has experienced redemption before. The pattern of exile and redemption has been constant feature of our nation’s history. It began in Egypt. Our nation enslaved, tormented, and oppressed in Egypt for centuries until the Almighty redeemed us with the Exodus. After 850 years of hegemony, exile came again, this time in the form of the Babylonian exile: the Babylonians destroyed the Temple and sent the nation in chains to Babylon. The Persian exile and redemption is featured in the Purim story and the Greek in the Chanukah story. Currently, our nation is in the 4th and final exile, known as the exile of Edom. Messiah marks the redemption from this 4th and final exile. In this podcast we talked about Messiah in the context of the other exiles, and outline the miracles that we expect in the Messianic age.
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Messiah will not be an ordinary person. He will be a towering figure who’s impact reverberates the world over. In this podcast we study what our Sages tell us about who Messiah is and what his stature will be, and talk about the wide-ranging and far reaching implications that he will have.
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DONATE: 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
Messiah will be an era of seismic changes for the Jewish people and for the world. Knowledge of God will be ubiquitous. The primacy of the Jewish people as God’s chosen Nation will be universally accepted. The pursuit of wisdom will supersede all other pursuits. The world will begin it’s a rapid progress towards perfection. How does this all happen? How do these changes unfold? In this podcast we explore one angle to this question, namely the eradication of the evil inclination in the Messianic era.
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DONATE: 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
The sources depicting Messiah and the Messianic Era paint a very different picture of the world than the one we are accustomed to. Knowledge of God will be universal, on that day God will be One and His Name will be One. The pursuit of knowledge will dominate. The Jewish Nation will be heralded. King Messiah will be universally renowned. A spiritual Renaissance will sweep over the entire world. That is what will happen. But how will it all happen? What are the mechanisms by which these transformations occur? What are the means through which the entire world changes? In this very special podcast we outline the four major mechanisms of Messiah.
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DONATE: 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
The subject of the Messiah is notoriously confusing. What is Messiah? How will Messiah change our lives? What will be different in the Messianic era? The answers to these questions are not ubiquitously known. In this podcast we proceed in our studies of the Twelfth Principle of Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith by addressing the core essence of Messiah: What is the goal of Messiah? How does Messiah fit into the context of the objective of Creation? We ground our discussion with two citations: A comment from Rambam’s Treatise on Reward and Punishment, and one from Ramchal’s Maamar HaIkarim. We conclude the podcast with an observation that thoroughly transforms the subject.
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TORAH 101
Our nation has been anticipating and longing for the Messiah, Moshiach (משיח) in Hebrew, for millennia. We are awaiting his arrival, which can come any day. The Messianic era is a utopian world that we yearn for. But what exactly is the Messiah? What are the qualifications to be Messiah? What is the Messianic era all about? In this podcast episode we embark on a thorough and rigorous study of the subject of Moshiach. Believing in it and anticipating it constitutes the 12th of the 13 principles of Faith as codified by Rambam. We hope, with the help of the Almighty, to cover this subject extensively and comprehensively. In this episode we begin by studying Rambam’s own words, both in his commentary to Mishnah and in his Mishneh Torah.
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DONATE: 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
The term “Olam Haba” refers the world after the Resurrection, the world where there’s life with no death, where there is the dispensing of reward for those who adhere to the word of God. If we were to distill our life mission to one sentence it would be this sentence: our mission in this world is to earn admittance to Olam Haba. What does it take? What must we do to earn eligibility to the ultimate reward in Olam Haba? In this comprehensive podcast we offer the answer to that most critical question. Along the way we cover other related subjects, such as the relationship that we have with our spouses in Olam Haba, and the standing of Gentiles in Olam Haba, and the gradients of levels that we can achieve in Olam Haba, but the primary takeaway of this episode is to know exactly what you need to do to become a bearer of a Golden Ticket to Olam Haba.
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This TORAH 101 Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Aharon Ben Yosef, whose yahrzeit is today, the 11th of Kislev, the day that this podcast is released. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven.
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DONATE: 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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This Jewish Life
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TORAH 101
What is Olam Haba like? Our sages describe this future world as the world of ultimate reward. Paradise in the Afterlife is a very wonderful and pleasurable experience, but even Paradise is not the ultimate reward. That is reserved for Olam Haba. But what is it like? What does it feel like? In this podcast […]
After a person dies, the Heavenly tribunal determines the fate of their Soul. If the Soul is pristinely pure, the person having accomplished everything that was expected of them and they are also lacking any blemishes borne about by sin, the Soul is ushered to Paradise. If the Soul needs some cleansing, it can be […]
What happens after we die is an endlessly fascinating – or terrifying – topic. In our exploration of the Afterlife we have covered vast grounds: We’ve spoken about death and the various types of death; we’ve spoken about the reckoning and accounting that a person must submit before the Heavenly tribunal; we have been made […]
Paradise and Purgatory, “Gehenom” and “Gan Eden” in Hebrew, are two potential destinations of the soul after a person dies. The righteous ones who have lived their lives in complete compliance with the rules, instructions, and guidance of the Torah are brought to Paradise, a venue of sublime, spiritual pleasure. The wicked who have sullied […]
Death is a inescapable part of human life. It was not always like that. Prior to Adam’s sin in the Garden, man was destined to live forever. As a result of his consumption from the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil, Adam condemned humanity to undergo a necessary purification and cleansing process achieved with death. […]
A central pillar of our belief is that when we adhere to the word of God, He will reward us in the Afterlife. Conversely, if we disobey God, we will suffer the consequences of our rebellion in the Afterlife as well. In this podcast we ponder an interesting question: the Torah discusses reward and punishment […]
Our nation purports to be the chosen people. What does that mean? Why were we chosen? What were we chosen for? The notion of being a chosen people is a very interesting and mysterious idea. In this special podcast, we focus on an element of the uniqueness of the Jewish nation: the Jewish Soul. Are […]
How did the soul end up here? What transpired to the soul before it got here? These are fascinating questions that on the surface seem to be quite theoretical. What difference does studying the history and the backstory of the Soul make for us who are already living? A lot, it turns out. By understanding […]
The Soul is perhaps the loftiest creation of God. Our Sages tell us that the Soul is even loftier than Angels. What does that mean? What is the nature of the relationship of the Soul to its Creator? What are the properties of the Soul? In this fundamental podcast you will learn about the origin […]
With deep appreciation to the Almighty for all the goodness that He has bestowed upon us, I’m happy to share that my wife, Chaya, and I were blessed with a beautiful baby boy on Monday, March 14. Thank God, both Mom and baby are doing fabulous! In this special edition of the podcast, I share […]
The human Soul is the most ethereal of God’s creations. Our Sages tell us that it is spiritually loftier than Angels. Before we continue our discussions related to what happens to the Soul in the Afterlife, it is important to gain a basic understanding of the nature of the Soul: What is it? Where does […]
In conjunction with our annual fundraiser this week at giveTORCH.org (every donation is tripled), we are releasing a special interview conducted by the TORCH Board President, Dan Kullman, about my new book, Upon A Ten-Stringed Harp. Please consider contributing to our annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.org.
Please support The TORAH 101 Podcast and the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation will be TRIPLED Show your support for TORCH and The TORAH 101 Podcast and donate to the annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.org – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
In our previous episode we established the basic principle that God dispenses reward to those who hearken to Him, and metes out punishment to those who disobey Him. In this episode we get down to specifics: What is the nature of the Divine system of reward and punishment? How is God’s methods of reward and […]
The 11th of the 13 principles of Faith states that God dispenses reward to those who obey His will and punishes those who violate it. What is the nature of this reward and punishment is a vast and complex subject that we will yet navigate, with the help of the Almighty. In this podcast we […]
We hold two beliefs that seem to be mutually exclusive. The 10th principle of the 13 principles of faith declares that God knows everything – including the thoughts, deeds, and speech of people – even before it happens. There is nothing that is hidden from Him. We also believe in free will. The principle of […]
How exactly does the Almighty determine what are the circumstances that people are placed in in this world? That is an impossible question for humans to answer with exactitude. Unless the Almighty reveals the answer via one of His prophets, we are in the dark. Nevertheless, our Sages outlines for us a bevy of frameworks […]
Why are some people rich and others poor? Why do some people have a pleasant life, while others live in grinding, miserable, poverty and privation? Why is there so much inequality in the world? These questions are hard to answer. Rambam tells us that there is a certain kind of heretics that concludes from the […]
The Tenth Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith states that God is aware of the actions of mankind and acts accordingly. This kickstarts the third section of the Principles which broadly deal with reward and punishment. Divine reward and punishment is only feasible if the Almighty has complete knowledge of all the behavior and […]
In Principle #8 of the 13 Principles of faith, we learned that the Torah is divine. In our exploration of that Principle, we probed many aspects of the idea of the Divinity of Torah, ranging from the history of Torah, to the components of Torah, to Oral Torah, to Rabbinic law, and culminating with the […]
Why is our nation so obsessed with Torah? Why do we make such an emphasis on it? What benefits do we as individuals and does society at large accrue with Torah study? In this sweeping episode we explore this fundamental question. We begin with the big picture by outlining some of the critical benefits that […]
Torah study in not just another discipline; it’s a relationship. Our Sages compare the relationship of the Jew to Torah as that of a husband and wife. It’s deep, intimate, and special. Just as husband and wife can unite to create something new, the objective of Torah study is to transform the person and create […]
For the Jewish people. Torah is not just a corpus of law, of an accounting of our past, or even the ancient heritage of our people. Torah and an obsession with Torah study have been the defining characteristics of our nation since its inception. Torah is what we stand for; it’s what we do; it’s […]
Please support The TORCH Podcasts and the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation will be TRIPLED Show your support for TORCH and the TORCH Podcasts and donate to the annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.org – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
Please support TORAH 101 Podcast and the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation will be TRIPLED Show your support for TORCH and TORAH 101 Podcast and donate to the annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.org – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
The most important question we must ask is, “who wrote the Torah?” The consequences of this question are vast: If the Torah is divine, then its laws are obligatory and immutable; if the Torah is a hoax, then studying it and obeying its laws are ultimately a waste of time. If the Torah is legit, […]
Kabbalah, the hidden, mystical parts of the Torah, is arguably the most misunderstood area of Torah. It is a subject rife with misconceptions and misinterpretations; it is also a subject that is bursting with charlatans seeking to take advantage of the gullible masses. In this sweeping episode, we try to understand what, exactly, Kabbalah is, […]
With all the development and codification of Oral Torah that went into the Talmud, one areas was still incomplete: Halacha. Halacha refers to the practical application of Torah law, and despite the tremendous efforts invested in the Talmud in clarifying all the Torah laws, only an accomplished scholar would be able to extract the practical […]
The Talmud is comprised of two general formats: The Halachic portions (known in Talmudic parlance as, “shemaytza“), and the non-Halachic portions which are called “Aggadah”, or “Aggadata” or “Hagada”. These two parts of the Talmud cannot be more different: whereas in the Halachic portions the objective of the authors was to reveal their true meaning, in […]
The Talmud, or how it is often called, “Gemara”, is an ancient set of books written as commentary and elaboration of Mishnah. Despite being 1500 years old, the Talmud is still studied today by millions of people worldwide. In this podcast we get educated in what exactly the Talmud is? Why are there two versions […]
For 1500 years, Oral Torah was just that: Oral. It was not committed to canonized writing. Circa 200 CE, that changed. Under the leadership of Rabbi Judah the Prince, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin, and the greatest Sage of his day, the laws of Oral Torah were codified and canonized in a series of 63 […]
Of all the episodes that I have recorded over the years, this will be perhaps the most unique one. For one, it will be released simultaneously on all 6 channels that I am fortunate enough to host: The Parsha Podcast, The Jewish History Podcast, The Mitzvah Podcast , This Jewish Life, The Ethics Podcast, and […]
The final century of the Second Temple and the one that followed its destruction were pivotal ones of Jewish history. It was an era replete with absolute Torah giants – Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh and his colleagues, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva and his students, among […]
The Second Temple Era was an eventful time for the Jewish People and the perpetuation of Torah. Over the course of the Second Commonwealth our nation was blessed with great legends, such as Ezra, Shimon Ben Shetach, and Hillel, but the Nation faced unprecedented tests too: We were forced to contend with hostile foreign nations; […]
Although the process to formally codify the Oral Torah did not begin for more than 1500 years after Sinai, there were many advancements in organizing and systematizing Oral Torah that began in earnest soon after Moses’ passing. In this special edition of the TORAH 101 podcast, we discuss the various developments in Oral Torah from […]
In the narrow sense, Oral Torah refers to the interpretation and understanding of the Written Torah. The Written Torah is written cryptically, and the Oral Torah demystifies and explains it. But the truth is that Oral Torah includes much more than that. Oral Torah includes all of Torah that is not included in the Written […]
When Rambam lays out the Eighth Principle of his Thirteen Principles of Faith, that the Torah is divine, he includes believing in not only the Written Torah but also the Oral Torah as a necessary belief for Jews. But what exactly is Oral Torah? What is the relationship between the Written and Oral Torahs? In […]
Please support TORCH and The TORAH 101 Podcast TODAY during our only annual fundraiser giveTORCH.org Support the TORAH 101 Podcast – https://www.charidy.com/torch/101 EVERY DONATION IS QUADRUPLED Today, TORCH needs your help!! Today YOU can partner with us in the largest and most downloaded Jewish Podcast Network (The Jewish History Podcast, This Jewish Life, The Parsha […]
The Eighth Principle, that the Torah is Divine, is the central principle upon which all the Thirteen Principles lean. Our entire religion hinges upon the fact that the Almighty gave us His Torah. But what exactly does that mean? In this podcast we discover that the Eighth Principle is much deeper than a question of […]
The prophecy of Moses differs from all other prophecies. In fact, Rambam tells us that they are only nominally similar – in truth, they are two totally different experiences. When we break down the subject we find that the differences fall into several categories: Mosaic prophecy contains a different level of understanding than all other prophecies; […]
The Seventh Principle of Faith orients around the greatest man and the greatest prophet of them all, Moses. Moses towered above all members of the human species, and indeed over angels too. As a result of his supreme stature, Moses became the sole prophet who could bridge the two words and convey Torah to humanity. […]
In this sweeping retrospective of prophecy from Adam until the extinction of prophecy at the onset of the Second Temple Era, we address many fundamental questions: What is the critical difference between the prophecy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all other prophets? How did an entire nation merit prophecy at Sinai? How did a wicked man […]
Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith can be divided into three general concepts: God, Torah, and Reward and Punishment. The first five principles oriented around the Jewish understanding of God. The four Principles from six through nine revolve around Torah. The first of those Principles in the concept of prophecy in general. In this podcast, we […]
A central tenet of Jewish theology is that the same Creator who created the Heavens and the Earth also supervises His creation on an ongoing basis. Moreover, that supervision, that oversight is personal and down to the most minute detail. As such, it would seem that everything that happens to us is the product of […]
In the fifth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies that God alone is worthy of our worship and that we ought not worship anything else, nor worship God via intermediaries. What is the general concept of worshipping God and why it is such a central pillar of our religion that it merits a […]
There are many areas where Torah and the consensus of modern scientists seem to irreconcilably differ. The Torah indicates that the first man, Adam, lived around 6,000 years ago, and the universe is roughly that age. The consensus of the scientists is that the universe is multiple billions of years old. Can that gulf be […]
In the Fourth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, Rambam codifies the distinction between God and everything else and the manner through which God effectuated Creation Ex Nihilo. In doing so, Rambam departs from the positions of Plato and Aristotle and explains the critical flaw in their thinking that made them incapable of distinguishing between […]
The Third Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith states that God is incorporeal: He has no body, nor does He behave in a bodily way, and all indications in Scripture and other Torah literature to the contrary must be understood as analogies and metaphors. – – – – – – – – – […]
The question of theodicy is one that all people of faith grapple with. The Talmud records multiple conversations between Moses and the Almighty on this subject, and even the ministering angels, and Adam before his Sin weighed in on it. It is a very difficult subject to understand, and doubly hard to find answers that […]
Our nation is no stranger to suffering. Jewish history is a litany of pogroms, holocausts, expulsions, blood libels, and all manners of persecution and oppression. We believe that the Almighty is in full control of everything that transpires in the world. Nothing can happen against His Will. We also believe that the Almighty is good, […]
In the previous podcast we discussed the Second Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith, that God is the sole Singular Power. How can that precept be reconciled with another pillar of Jewish faith – that man is in control of his own destiny and choices via his free will. Is man in charge or […]
The Second Principle of Jewish Faith declares that God is One. But not like one of a pair; and not like one of a group; and not like one person that can be divided into many [smaller] units; and not like a thing which is numerically one but can be infinitely divided, rather He – God, may […]
The Thirteen Principles of Faith are the foundations of our religion. Just as the foundation of a structure is indispensable for ensuring the integrity of the building; these principles are necessary prerequisites for Jewish faith. But just as is the case in a building, the foundations are in the background – no one resides in […]
This podcast attempts to reconcile a knotty philosophical dilemma: The First Principle of the Thirteen Principles of Faith teaches us that God, Creator of heaven and earth, is Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Perfect. If God is Perfect and lacks nothing, then why did He create the universe? Intellect only acts when seeking a certain outcome. There […]
The clearest, most universally accepted articulation of the Principles of Jewish Belief are the Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith. This list of Thirteen Principles were codified in his commentary on Mishnah in the introduction to Chapter 10 of the book of Sanhedrin; they were also added into Jewish Liturgy in the Ani Maamin and Yigdal […]
The Jewish nation is entrusted with the task of preserving and perpetuating the Torah mistake-free. We have previously seen the vast ordinances in place to prevent errors. Yet humans are fallible and mistakes happen. What happens if/when things go awry? Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This Jewish […]
At the end of the second century of the common era a fateful decision was made to commit the Jewish Law, known as Mishna, to writing. What prompted this dramatic change? What are the unique methodologies employed in this project? Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.
The integrity of Jewish law, and by extension the dream of a great Jewish destiny, hinged upon the accurate transmission of an enormous body of law orally for 1400 years. Indeed, a fundamental principle of Jewish faith is that the same Torah given to Moses has been passed down to us mistake-free. How is the transmission of […]
For nearly a millennia and a half, the entire corpus of Oral Torah was transmitted orally from generation to generation; parents to their children and teachers to their students. Moreover, a fierce prohibition was established to prevent its writing and codification in a finalized canonized format. What are the benefits for maintaining it in that […]
What are the four components of Oral Torah? What are the four elements of the Oral Torah that are not sourced in the Written Torah? What are some of the classical pieces of evidence proving the existence of the Oral Torah? This is the place to begin if you want to understand Oral Torah. —— […]
We explore the intricate interrelationship between written and oral Torah and determine that the creation of such a labyrinthine tapestry is beyond the capacity to man. ——– This podcast was recorded live at the TORCH Centre in Houston, TX. Please visit torchweb.org for program details and to make a donation. If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe […]
We explore some predictions in the Torah that have come true and ponder how a human author could have known the future. ——– This podcast was recorded live at the TORCH Centre in Houston, TX. Please visit torchweb.org for program details and to make a donation. If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my […]
We face internal resistance to the notion of a God-given Torah because that can create a divide between our beliefs and behaviors. How do we respond to the tumult caused by this revelation? ——- This podcast was recorded live at the TORCH Centre in Houston, TX. Please visit torcweb.org for program details and to make a […]
Why it matters who wrote the Torah. ——- This podcast was recorded live at the TORCH Centre in Houston, TX. Please visit torcweb.org for program details and to make a donation. If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form deep dives into critical Torah topics and The […]
We continue our dissection of the various options regarding the authorship of the Torah. ——- This podcast was recorded live at the TORCH Centre in Houston, TX. Please visit torcweb.org for program details and to make a donation. If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and check out my other podcasts: This Jewish Life – long form […]
The authorship of the Torah is a highly consequential matter to clarify. If it is – as Jews have traditionally believed – the word of God, then it holds eternal absolute value for all. If it is not the word of God then it is no different than any other ancient document. What are the positions […]