This Jewish Life - By Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Jews are required to love God. How can we love an entity that we have a hard time defining? Rambam addresses this question and informs us of a solution that will change our relationship with God and Torah. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

Torah study is the greatest mitzvah. The sources write that it is equivalent to the other 612 combined. The Talmud notes that the study of Torah is greater than saving lives. In the hierarchy of mitzvos, Torah study stands alone. In this podcast we probe why. This Torah class is dedicated .לעילוי נשמת אטא רבקה בת ישעיהו […]

The Exodus is the most oft-referenced event in Jewish life. Twice daily we invoke it in the Shema, and every Shabbos holiday is characterized as “a remembrance for the exodus of Egypt”. Why is the exodus so central to Jewish life? In this podcast we explore that question and many others regarding the Exodus story and […]

ANNUAL APPEAL: We are right now running our annual campaign at giveTORCH.com. If you enjoy the podcasts and want to support our work – please go to giveTORCH.com and donate to the cause. SHOW NOTES: Prayer is a comprehensive part of the Jewish day. We pray for amaterial, spiritual, physical, and health matters, we pray for the […]

Our sages note that many different levels of Emunah exist. In this podcast we delineate the acheivable levels of Emunah, and examine several teachings from the Talmud in the prism of the Emunah of its authors. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

The sources are in agreement that cognitive and intellectual faith alone is insufficient. To properly fulfill his requirements, man must find a way to have the Emunah penetrate into his behavior and perspective. Why is this so critical and how it is done? – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

The first of the Ten Commandments instructs us to gain basic faith. The last one, “Thou Shall No Covet”, is a reflection of a much more advanced variety of Emunah. In this episode, we stress the importance to not rely solely on emotional or societal basis for our basic Emunah, and instead to pursue a […]

In previous episodes we have established that Emunah is the core objective of life. In this episode we explore some of the Jewish perspectives on the matter. We delve into our role in this world, our inhibitors to greatness, and what we have in store for us after death. – – – – – – […]

Regarding three people we are told in the Talmud that they are people of limited faith: Noah, who entered the Ark as a result of the water; a person who prays loudly; and a person who has food for today and not for tomorrow and says ‘what will I eat tomorrow?’. Further, the Talmud declares […]

Emunah, faith, is a critical mitzvah that headlines the Ten Commandments. But truthfully, Emunah is more than an isolated mitzvah; it is the objective of all the mitzvos. – – – – – – – – – – – – – Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This […]

The Ten Plagues reach their crescendo in Parshas Bo. After Pharaoh’s repeated intransigence, he undergoes a series of humbling miraculous plagues that prompt him to evict the Jews from his land. Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics; The Jewish […]

We are told by our Sages that reciting the Shema and contemplating our own demise are powerful tools to defeat the powers of the Yetzer ra. How does this all work? Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This Jewish Life – In-Depth Analysis into Critical Torah Topics; The […]

Moshe was the humblest man ever, the greatest prophet of all time, and the only documented person to time-travel. In this episode, we gather many teachings regarding Moshe and construct a comprehensive framework to understand his character, greatness and accoomplishments. Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This […]

The Talmud (Brachos 5a) delineates 4 methods to eliminate the greatest threat to our life, the Yetzer Ra. In this podcast, we examine and explore the second approach, that Torah study protects and shields from sin. Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This Jewish Life – In-Depth […]

We have previously seen (HERE and HERE) what the Yetzer Ra is and how to combat it. In this podcast, we will learn about the four methods to not only combat it but to defeat it entirely. Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; Twitter: @RabbiWolbe; Facebook: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com. Podcasts Links iOS: This Jewish Life – […]

Unlike what most imagine, the Sages of the Talmud wrote very little regarding Christianity and JC. The little that was included was censored by the Christian authorities in the Middle Ages. Thankfully, copies of those parts of the Talmud remain. In this podcast, we explore with a fine toothed comb these statements. Contact: Website: RabbiWolbe.com; […]

The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the triumph of the Maccabean Revolt over the oppressive regime of Antiochus IV and the Seleucid Empire. In this podcast we tell the story of this miraculous victory of the weak over the mighty; the few over the many; the pure over the impure; and the righteous over the wicked. Please SUBSCRIBE to […]

We have previously established in the podcast titled Know Your Enemy that the Yetzer Ra (evil inclination) created illusionary, fake pleasures. This allows for many unexpected methods in combatting it. In this podcast, we outline nine different approaches in battling our nefarious foe culled from sources in the Talmud and associated literature. SOURCE SHEET: sources-ammunitionagainstadversaries – – – […]

Jewish sources focus extensive energies on the battle man must undertake with their Yetzer Ra (evil inclination). In several sources we learn that this battle is the crucial determinant of success or failure in this world. In this podcast we explore the various sources depicting the nature of the Yetzer ra and the manners by […]

In Mesilat Yesharim Chapter 1, Ramchal outlines a general principle that humanity is created for their state in Olam Haba (the next world) and not for their state here. We analyze, clarify and try to make sense of this idea in this podcast. Note: The class participants were particularly engaged in asking questions and in contributing […]