
Parsha: Ki Savo – Clinging to Gold
09/14/22 • 55 min
On the surface, Bikkurim appears to be an ordinary, tithe-like Mitzvah. When the first fruits of a season’s crop begin to sprout, you designate them as Bikkurim, and eventually bring them to Jerusalem with much pomp and ceremony. Upon closer examination, this mitzvah is associated with all kinds of surprising people: When we bring the Bikkurim we invoke Pharaoh and the Egyptian experience and Jacob’s father-in-law Laban, of all people. In addition, the Midrash makes a stunning statement that Bikkurim is emblematic of the reason why God created the world. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we propose a novel explanation of the Mitzvah of Bikkurim that reveals it’s association with Pharaoh and Laban, and offer a new rationale for why it represents the goal of creation.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Yidit Esther bas Yonah, the mother of our dear friend and longtime TORCH Board member, Josh Blackman. Yidit Esther passed away this morning in NY. May her Soul be elevated in Heaven.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Please email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts
★ Support this podcast ★On the surface, Bikkurim appears to be an ordinary, tithe-like Mitzvah. When the first fruits of a season’s crop begin to sprout, you designate them as Bikkurim, and eventually bring them to Jerusalem with much pomp and ceremony. Upon closer examination, this mitzvah is associated with all kinds of surprising people: When we bring the Bikkurim we invoke Pharaoh and the Egyptian experience and Jacob’s father-in-law Laban, of all people. In addition, the Midrash makes a stunning statement that Bikkurim is emblematic of the reason why God created the world. In this special edition of the Parsha Podcast, we propose a novel explanation of the Mitzvah of Bikkurim that reveals it’s association with Pharaoh and Laban, and offer a new rationale for why it represents the goal of creation.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
This Parsha Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leilui nishmas Yidit Esther bas Yonah, the mother of our dear friend and longtime TORCH Board member, Josh Blackman. Yidit Esther passed away this morning in NY. May her Soul be elevated in Heaven.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Please email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts
★ Support this podcast ★Previous Episode

TORAH 101: The Mechanics of the Afterlife
What happens after we die is an endlessly fascinating – or terrifying – topic. In our exploration of the Afterlife we have covered vast grounds: We’ve spoken about death and the various types of death; we’ve spoken about the reckoning and accounting that a person must submit before the Heavenly tribunal; we have been made aware of some of the travails that the body undergoes in the grave; we’ve learned about two different venues that a person can end up in – paradise and purgatory; we’ve spent a great deal of effort trying to understand the nature of the soul.
In this podcast we take the next step: We explore the mechanics of the purging of the soul from its contaminants and what actually happens in purgatory. We also introduce another potential destiny for the soul, one that is decidedly unfortunate. In our elaboration and explication of these ideas we also discover the fundamental link between a person’s behavior and that person’s status in the afterlife. If you are interested in demystifying the great and fascinating subjects of the Afterlife, this podcast will offer a lot of clarification.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Please email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts
★ Support this podcast ★Next Episode

Rabbi Nosson Dubin on the Recent Kosher Restaurant Scandal
Tastewise, kosher chicken and non-kosher chicken are indistinguishable. When it comes to the price tag, these two fowls are drastically different. The discrepancy in price creates an incentive for unscrupulous restaurateurs. If you can buy chicken at the non-kosher price, and sell it at the kosher price, you can juice your profits by a large amount. This potential for illicit arbitrage is one of the reasons why kosher restaurants must be certified by a kosher agency.
But what happens when things go wrong? What happens when an ostensibly kosher establishment is shown to have deceived its patrons and passed off non-kosher food as kosher?
In light of a recent kosher restaurant scandal in New Jersey, we talked to an expert to find out. Rabbi Nosson Dubin is the rabbinic administrator of HKA, the Houston Kashrus Association, and a renowned expert in all matters kosher. In this wide-ranging discussion, he takes us behind the scenes of a kosher restaurant and reveals to us how the sausage is made (and overseen). We learn about the various safety measures in place to prevent such debacles from happening, about the vulnerabilities and weak points in the system, and we offer some proposals for how to improve measures to lower the risk of another such scandal.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Please email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
SUBSCRIBE to my Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE to Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe’s Podcasts
★ Support this podcast ★If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rabbi-yaakov-wolbe-podcast-collection-310805/parsha-ki-savo-clinging-to-gold-44854674"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to parsha: ki savo – clinging to gold on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy