This Jewish Life - By Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Sheets with holes, shaved heads, arranges marriages and tattooed Jews excluded from Jewish cemeteries are but some of the misconceptions Jews have about Judaism. In this discussion, Rabbi Wolbe outlines and disproves the following four core and central misconceptions: Judaism is old, ancient, arcane, irrelevant and not contemporary to modern times. Mitzvas are ritualistic, repetitive and […]

“שמח תשמח רעים האהובים כשמחך יצירך בגן עדן מקדם” This statement, part of the Sheva Brachos (Seven Blessings), is recited under the Chuppah ( wedding canopy) of traditional Jewish marriages. Translated into English, we pray: “Gladden the loving couple, like you gladdened your creations (Adam and Eve) in the Garden of Eden years ago.” This […]

Three fascinating and enlightening stories from the Talmud shed light on the two roadmaps to spiritual growth: the typical slow and steady grind, and the expedited way. Are you going to dip your toe in the pool or are you gonna take the plunge?

Learn about the responsibilities of children to honor and respect their parents.

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, we have to ask ourselves the question: are we merely […]

Rabbi Wolbe explains why Jews have traditionally stayed up the entire night of Shavuos studying.

Starting with a riveting history lesson for background, Rabbi Wolbe and his team of collaborators attempt to unravel and decipher a particularly complex Mishna.

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.

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”.

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, Rabbi Wolbe outlines the historical background to this fascinating work, explains the structure of the book, and digs […]

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 characteristic.

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?

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.

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.

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?

Rabbi Wolbe tackles a puzzling point to ponder relating to Adam and Eve and discusses various elements of Free Will.

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.

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.

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

In this episode we discuss the positive and negative effects of our society, our community and our friends