Episodes

  • More Secrets of the Month of Shevat with Rabbi Shmuel Botnick

    More Secrets of the Month of Shevat with Rabbi Shmuel Botnick
    Feb 10 2025
    The month of Shevat is associated with a tribe of Asher and corresponds to the letter Tzadik (צ) and its zodiac sign is a bucket. So much is told to us by the Kabbalists. But what is the secret of this month? What is the energy that permeates this month? What are the particular ways […]
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    59 mins
  • How to Raise Good Children Part 2

    How to Raise Good Children Part 2
    Jan 27 2025
    We all want to raise good children. We want our children to be healthy and balanced and good and righteous. The Torah is full of powerful lessons on how to raise good children. In part two of our series on parenting, we explore the unique relationship of Isaac and Esau, how Jacob admonished his children, […]
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • How to Raise Good Children

    How to Raise Good Children
    Jan 20 2025
    It is incumbent upon parents to raise their children well, but how exactly do you do that? Babies are not born clutching parenting manuals. This is especially problematic for us Jews. We must raise our children to be upstanding, productive, stable, and healthy adults like all other parents. However, we have an additional responsibility: we […]
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    55 mins
  • Chanukah Capstone with Rabbi Shmuel Botnick

    Chanukah Capstone with Rabbi Shmuel Botnick
    Dec 30 2024
    There is no superficiality in Judaism. Everything is multi-layered, multifaceted, multidimensional. That seems to be particularly true with respect to the festival of Chanukah. Chanukah is a rabbinic holiday, and it is the very last mitzvah that we received. There are many oddities that separate this mitzvah from all others. The roots of this festival […]
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • The Light of Chanukah

    The Light of Chanukah
    Dec 23 2024
    Everyone loves the festival of Chanukah. There’s something so wonderful and enchanting about this festival and its iconic mitzvah, the lighting of the Menorah. But what is the menorah truly about? We all, of course, know the story of the miraculous oil that lasted for 8 days. But what is at the heart of the […]
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    54 mins
  • The Dina Dilemma

    The Dina Dilemma
    Dec 16 2024
    Not all twins are identical in every way. Jacob and Esau were as different from each other as two humans can possibly get. When Rebecca got wind of Esau’s plans to murder Jacob, she sent them away. After being apart from his twin for more than 30 years, Jacob and Esau had a fateful reunion. […]
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    55 mins
  • Simple Reasons to Believe

    Simple Reasons to Believe
    Dec 9 2024
    What is your elevator pitch for the existence of God? That is a question that was posed to dozens of successful and accomplished people. They were asked to write a short, concise, elevator-trip-length essays on why they believed. These essays were compiled into a wonderful book titled “Elevator pitches for God.” The creators of this […]
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    30 mins
  • Midrash: An Introduction

    Midrash: An Introduction
    Dec 2 2024
    Students of the Almighty’s holy Torah are familiar with the term midrash. It refers to a series of books that serve as commentaries on the Torah and on other holy writings. But where does the Midrash come from? What authority does it have? What about the comments in the Midrash that seem outlandish and totally […]
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    1 hr and 3 mins