The Parsha Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Lech Lecha – Who was Abraham?

Abraham was the most consequential person of all time. In our classic literature, Abraham is graced with superlatives given to no one else: Abraham was the “beloved one o

Lech Lecha – Abraham’s Fellow Travelers (5785)

Abraham seems to always be journeying. In last week’s Parsha he traveled from his birthplace of Ur to Charan. This week the Parsha begins with Abraham’s journey to Canaan

Parshas Lech Lecha (Rebroadcast)

In this week’s parsha, Abraham is instructed to move to Israel, is given divine promises that he will be the father of many nations; his children will be as numerous as t

Noach – Who was Noah?

Noah was perfectly righteous. He was pristine. He was flawless. In fact, Noach is the only person labeled as a tzaddik in the Torah, and he receives that honorific twice.

Noach – Cured Ham (5785)

After spending a year in the ark, Noah and his family exited it to find an empty and desolate world. The sinners who dominated the world before the flood were gone as wer

Parshas Noach (Rebroadcast)

In this week’s parsha: Noah and his family build an Ark as a refuge from an extinction-level Flood brought by God to destroy the world’s sinners. – – – – – – – – – – – –

Bereishis – Who was Adam?

Most people don’t know the first man from Adam. Who was this mysterious being created on day 6 of Genesis? What is the meaning of the hybrid nature of Adam’s formation? W

Bereishis – Genealogies of Genesis (5785)

The end of our Parsha delineates the many families and generations spanning from Adam to Noah. There are all sorts of fascinating factoids, nuggets and vignettes  include

Parshas Bereishis (Rebroadcast)

With praise and appreciation to the Almighty, we begin year 11 of the Parsha Podcast (5787). This year, we will re-upload the Parsha Rebroadcast episode which covers the

Vezos Haberacha – Black on White

The Torah preceded the world. In fact, the Almighty used the Torah as a blueprint for the creation of the world. But the primordial Torah was formatted differently than t

Vezos Haberacha – Family Above (Almost) Everything (5784)

The final Parsha of the Torah tells of Moshe’s deathbed blessing to the tribes. For the duration of the Torah, Moshe has been constantly criticizing and reprimanding the

Parshas Vezos Haberacha (Rebroadcast)

The final parsha of the Torah details the blessings that Moshe conveyed to the tribes of Israel immediately prior to his passing, and the Torah ends with the description

Haazinu – Surprisingly Joyous Song

The last day of Moshe’s reign, coincided with the first day of Joshua’s reign. For one day, Moshe and Joshua led the nation together as co-heads. On that day, Moshe and J

Haazinu – Trees with 70 Branches (5784)

Parshas Hazinu is one of the most fascinating, poetic, and richly profound Parshas in the Torah. It is also arguably the most mysterious one. The majority of the Parsha i

Parshas Haazinu (Rebroadcast)

Still in the final day of Moshe’s life, he conveys to the nation a 43-verse Song predicting the contours of Jewish history, both past, present, and future. The patterns a

The Binding of Isaac (Second Day of Rosh Hashana Torah Reading)

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 Origin of Isaac (First Day of Rosh Hashana Torah Reading)

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

Nitzavim & Vayeilech – Mavericks vs. Heat

The entire book of Devarim occurs over the span of 36 days, the final 36 days of Moshe’s life. The final four Parshas are an account of the last day of Moshe’s life. As h

Nitzavim Vayeilech – Like Clockwork (5784)

We are not machines. We are humans. And that’s messy. We have all sorts of struggles doing the right thing. We are influenced by a myriad of impulses, inclinations, and p

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 fin