Smorgasbord of Jewish Philosophy

FromThis Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

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Smorgasbord of Jewish Philosophy

FromThis Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

ratings:

Length:

85 minutes

Released:

Dec 15, 2013

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

If you are interested in a wide ranging discussion on many relevant topics in Jewish thought and wisdom with a healthy sprinkling of decidedly irrelevant yet fascinating tidbits of Jewish knowledge, this is the class for you!

Released:

Dec 15, 2013

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Torah Lectures

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Social pressure vs. Social Influence: In this episode we discuss the positive and negative effects of our society, our community and our friends by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
69 min listen
The malleability of Halacha and the integrity of it’s transmitters: Is Halacha immutable? Does Halacha adapt to modernity? Did the executioners of the Law have the integrity to stay true and not bend in the face of controversy? by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
9 min listen
Why didn’t God create the world in one instant?: Rabbi Wolbe addresses this interesting question, and also dabbles with the philosophical problems of an infinite existence and a finite world coexisting, and the paradox of Free Will in the face of an All Knowing God. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
9 min listen
How to meet your sweet: In this episode we address the idea of “Bashert” or destined one, the Talmudic sources for it, and outline the plan to find that special one by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
63 min listen
Intellectual Prowess: How to mobilize your most important gift: Our intellect is our most potent of assets. It is what distinguishes us from animals and what enables us to overcome our challenges. Learn the how what and why of maximizing your intellectual power in this episode by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
66 min listen
Introduction to Mussar: What is Mussar and how did it come about? Those questions, coupled with anecdotes and lessons, are the content of this episode. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
101 min listen
Why Jews Don’t believe in Jesus: All Jews know that we do not believe in Jesus, but not many know why. In this episode, Rabbi Wolbe outlines the reasons why Jew do not believe in Jesus, have not done so in the past and will not in the future. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
67 min listen
Honoring Parents: Learn about the responsibilities of children to honor and respect their parents. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
53 min listen
The Five C’s of every Happy Harmonious and Stable Marriage: If we are to believe the statistics, the majority of marriages today end up in divorce. The Torah outlines the five components to a Happy, Harmonious and Stable Marriage , each beginning with the letter “C”. In this episode, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
65 min listen
What are angels: Lessons in relationships: Can we really learn real life lessons in our relationships from angels. Indeed we can, and Rabbi Wolbe shows us how. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
63 min listen
Why we get Drunk on Purim: On Purim we are instructed to intoxicate ourselves with wine till we do not know the difference between “Haman is cursed” and “Mordechai is blessed”. What could possibly be the rationale behind such a strange mitzvah? by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
13 min listen
Capital Punishment in Jewish Law: Rabbi Wolbe explains the seemingly strange phenomenon where a defendant cannot be executed if the Judges unanimously call for his guilt, and other interesting laws relating to capital punishment. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
12 min listen
How to get your prayers answered: In this episode, Rabbi Wolbe explains the theory and the practice of prayer and addresses all the philosophical problems with prayer, and gives us the key to getting our prayers answered. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
53 min listen
Inspiration to Perspiration: How to implement a great idea: We all have those moments in life where we are galvanized to change ourselves, our community or the entire world. However, only a select few people actually take the inspiration to the finish line. In this episode, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
64 min listen
Moses: The greatest prophet: Rabbi Wolbe explains the meaning of Moses being the “father of all prophets”, and delineates the profound differences in the veracity of our Revelations vs. all other religions. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
20 min listen
Inspiration for Yom Kippur 2013 II by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
43 min listen
Ethics of the Fathers: A Truism about Altruism (1:3): Discussing the various philosophical angles and aspects of Altruism invariably generates vigorous debate. In this class, Rabbi Wolbe attempts to unravel the very complex Jewish position on the issue. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
57 min listen
Understanding the Jewish Calendar: Learn about the Jewish perspective in time, and how we can tap into the same spiritual entities that existed in yesteryear. This fascinating idea joins another: the coexistence of a Lunar month and a solar year in the Jewish calendar. Lastly, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
67 min listen
Grounds for Marriage: Combating Selfishness: A small child rarely wakes up to tend to her crying mother. From the beginning of our lives we are self-centered and care about ourselves only; in our quest to build better relationships, we must learn the tools to rid ourselves of this vile characteri... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 min listen
Shavuos Snippets: Rabbi Wolbe explains why Jews have traditionally stayed up the entire night of Shavuos studying. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
12 min listen
Did David Sin?: How do we understand Biblical stories that seem to indicate that great men made grave mistakes? In this Q&A episode, Rabbi Wolbe discusses the story of Cain and Ebel, Reuben and Bilhah, David and Bathsheba and more. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
7 min listen
Why Adam and Eve did not have Torah: Rabbi Wolbe tackles a puzzling point to ponder relating to Adam and Eve and discusses various elements of Free Will. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
11 min listen
Is Judaism still Relevant?: Rabbi Wolbe outlines the three reasons why Judaism is exceedingly important. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
37 min listen
Ethics of the Fathers: Introduction (1.1): Pirkei Avos, or Ethics of the Fathers is a compilation of Rabbinic ethical teachings spanning 500 years of Jewish vibrancy, circa 300 BCE to 200 CE, that, amazingly, retain their relevance to contemporary times. In this class, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
88 min listen
National Revelation: An experience unlike any other: The answer to the most important question of all: How do we know we are right? Religions are mutually exclusive; The Jews, Christians and Moslems cannot all be right. It’s a zero sum game: If we are right, they all must be wrong! As Jews, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
57 min listen
The Individual in a community. Ethics 2.4: Starting with a riveting history lesson for background, Rabbi Wolbe and his team of collaborators attempt to unravel and decipher a particularly complex Mishna. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
72 min listen
Tackling Temptation: Can we possibly succeed against life’s most formidable foe?: In this class Rabbi Wolbe sets out to demystify and unlock the secrets of one of mankind’s greatest challenges and struggles: temptation. Culling from an array of ancient Judaic texts we will begin with defining, by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
65 min listen
How can God command us to have an emotion?: Three times in the Torah we are commanded to love someone or something. How is that reasonable? by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
51 min listen
What does Judaism really say about Moshiach (Messiah): Curious to know when Moshiach is coming? Can we – and should we – calculate his arrival? Think you’ve got what it takes to be Moshiach? Rabbi Wolbe answers these questions and outlines the qualifications needed for one to be crowned Moshiach and the ac... by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
62 min listen
Ethics of the Fathers: Spiritual Pipes (1.2): In this class we learn what distinguishes Man from all other species, about the fascinating Jewish idea of the convergence of the spiritual and the physical and, in a first, Rabbi Wolbe calls out one of the participants as being “flaky”. by This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
75 min listen

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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Smorgasbord of Jewish Philosophy

Smorgasbord of Jewish Philosophy

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from This Jewish Life - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe