Judges, Prophets, Monarchs, Sovereignty, Secession, Downfall and Reclamation: The Waxing and Waning Story of Utopia and Maelstrom from Joshua to Ezra

Omer: Seven Themes for the Seven Weeks of Seven Days: The days spanning the Festivals of Pesach and Shavuos, of Exodus and Sinai, are called the days of the Omer. During these 49 days, during these 7 weeks of 7 days, we are commanded to count the days by mentioning each day’s number and the corresponding ... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

58 min listen

The Pesach Seder: How to Maximize the Year’s Most Powerful Night: The first night of Pesach – the second night as well is the Diaspora – is arguably the most important nights of the year. On this night we were redeemed from Egypt, this is the night of the Exodus, this is the night of the death of the firstborn; tonig... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

60 min listen

Purim: A Primer: The festival of Purim commemorates the story of salvation that our nation experienced in Persia more than two thousand years ago. Haman the heir of Amaleik schemed a plot to eradicate the entire Jewish people in one randomly selected day, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

72 min listen

Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah: The Meaning of Sukkot’s Climax: The Festival of Sukkot ends with a three-day constellation of significant days: The seventh day is Hoshana Rabbah, the eighth is Shemini Atzeres, and the ninth is Simchas Torah. These days have unique customs not found in any other day in the Jewish ca... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

56 min listen

Yom Kippur Reading: The Book of Jonah on a Deeper Level: 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 people of Nineveh and instead escapes from God to Tarshish – with mixed results. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

126 min listen

Rosh Hashana: Customs, Rituals, Ceremonies, and Practices: The two days of Rosh Hashana are two of the most important days in the year. These festival days are celebratory and joyous, but are also dedicated to prayer, to introspection, and repentance. Rosh Hashana is a time when we try to strike a delicate bal... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

66 min listen

The Essence of Elul: These 40 days from the beginning of the month of Elul, the final month in the Jewish calendar, and Yom Kippur are the most powerful days of the year. These 40 days coincide with the 40 days that Moshe was in Heaven for the third 40 day stint when he re... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

30 min listen

The Three Weeks: A Primer: For the three weeks spanning from the fast of the 17th of Tammuz until the fast of Tisha B’av (9th of Av), the Jewish nation practices collective mourning. This mourning is the result of a collection of calamitous things that has happened to our ancest... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

52 min listen

Ruth: The Enduring Lesson of Shavuos: The Book of Ruth – and its eponymous heroine – are true enigmas. The Book contains no new laws and its story, while inspirational and poignant, bears no easily discernible connection to the Festival of Shavuos, when it is read. The Book’s protagonist, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

62 min listen

Shavuos: The Time to Become Extraordinary: Shavuos is the day that marks the most significant event in the history of humankind: A nation coalesced around Mount Sinai to temporarily catapult into a state of prophecy, to hear God say the Ten Commandments, and to live to tell the tale. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

39 min listen

Who was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and why does Lag Ba’Omer matter?: Lag BaOmer is the day that marks the Yahrtzeit/Hillula of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, one of the great Sages of the Mishnaic Era. In celebration and recognition of Rabbi Shimon’s accomplishments and stature, the custom is to make it a mini-holiday. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

31 min listen

Tu B’Shevat: The Essence of the Rosh Hashana for Trees: The fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shevat – known as Tu B’Shevat – is the New Year for trees and fruits. All the fruits that sprout before this cutoff are associated with the previous year’s yield and the ones that come afterwards are attributed ... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

58 min listen

Chanukah and Joseph: Every year, Chanukah falls out during the weeks in which we read about Joseph and his exploits in Egypt. Our Sages tell us that there is a deep connection between Joseph’s and the Maccabean heroism. Many connections have been proposed, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

29 min listen

The Shabbat Dinner: Customs, Rituals, and Practices: Shabbat is the beating heart of the Jewish family and the Jewish week. It is the portal through which the spiritual vitality for the entire week flows. This podcast idea was proposed in my email newsletter (visit rabbiwolbe. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

59 min listen

The Sukkah and The Lulav: The two mitzvos of the Festival of Sukkos (Sukkot) are the shaking of the Lulav and the Four Species and the dwelling in the Sukkah. What is the deeper meaning behind these mitzvos? In this special pre-Festival episode, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

59 min listen

The Repentance Continuum: The Ten Days of Repentance, beginning with the two days of Rosh Hashana and culminating in Yom Kippur, are the season of repentance in the Jewish calendar. On these days, the Almighty is close to us. Our prayers are more efficacious. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

42 min listen

Rosh Hashana Reading (2nd day – Genesis Chapter 22: The Binding of Isaac): 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. Abraham – the same Abraham who railed against the ways of child sacrifice of the pagans –... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

55 min listen

Rosh Hashana Reading (1st day – Genesis Chapter 21): 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 chapter 21, which tells of the conception and birth of Isaac, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

60 min listen

Thanks a Million!: 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, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

33 min listen

The Shabbat Gift: The laws of Shabbat are vast and seemingly draconian. A study of its laws reveal a comprehensive governance of every aspect of our lives on Shabbat. The Talmud even declares that greetings one’s fellow on Shabbat is “barely permitted. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

47 min listen

An Invitation to The Afterlife (4:21-2): We all recognize that we will eventually die. Each of us know that there will come a point in time where our body and Soul separate and go their own way. The body will return to its origin, the dust, and the Soul will return to its Heavenly roots. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

70 min listen

The Essence of Tisha B’Av: Tisha B’Av (The Ninth of Av) is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. On this day, the Spies returned from scouting the Land and spooked the Nation with their evil report prompting the Nation to needlessly bewail their fate the entire night. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

32 min listen

Bamidbar and Shavuos: The Indispensability of each Jew: Parshas Bamidbar is the Torah portion that we read immediately prior to Shavuos, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, each year. In this special episode, we offer a mind-bending idea to ponder the connection between Shavuos and Parshas Bamidbar. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

56 min listen

Spiritual Opportunism: A Special Shiur for Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe’s Yahrtzeit: It has been 15 years since my illustrious grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, passed away, on the first day of Chol HaMoed Pesach 2005. In this special shiur to mark his yahrtzeit, we speculate the ways that he became great and take a very valuable lesson... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

26 min listen

The Four Sons of the Seder: Strategies to Motivate all types of Children: The Torah provides four verses that describe the appropriate conversations fathers should have with their sons on Pesach Eve. The Haggadah explains that each conversation refers to a different type of son. There is a distinct dialogue with the wise son... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

49 min listen

The Essence of Pesach: The Festival of Pesach is described as, “The time of our Freedom”, and “The Festival of Matzos.” What is the essence of these days? What is the distinct power that we can tap into over the course of this 8-day Festival? by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

72 min listen

Plagues, Epidemics, and Quarantines in Jewish Philosophy: We are living in extraordinary times and facing unprecedented challenges: The coronavirus is upending everyday life in a way that we have never seen in our lifetime. People are scared, people are quarantined, markets are plummeting, schools are off, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

89 min listen

A Grandson Remembers: Reflections, Stories, and Lessons of Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe + Annual Appeal at giveTORCH.org: Please support TORCH and the This Jewish Life Podcast TODAY during our only annual fundraiser giveTORCH.org Support the This Jewish Life Podcast – https://www.charidy.com/torch/tjl EVERY DONATION IS QUADRUPLED Today, TORCH needs your help!! by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

69 min listen

Age of the Universe: Can Torah and Science be Reconciled?: According to Jewish tradition, 2020 is the year 5780. Science estimates the age of the universe to be somewhere between 13.8-15.4 billion years. In this podcast, we will share a brilliant reconciliation sourced from centuries-old Kabbalistic books. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

43 min listen

Kindling the Jewish Soul: Understanding the Deeper Meaning of the Menorah: (Recorded Live in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada): This unique podcast was recorded live at the Aish Thornhill Community Shul on the third day of Chanukah 5780. In the talk we suggest a cogent and unified explanation of the festival of Chanukah, and specifically, of the menorah candles. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

54 min listen

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Judges, Prophets, Monarchs, Sovereignty, Secession, Downfall and Reclamation: The Waxing and Waning Story of Utopia and Maelstrom from Joshua to Ezra

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