The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed – Details, episodes & analysis

To understand the current state of Israel and the Jewish people, we must first explore our history, beginning with the formation of the Jewish people through Abraham. Significant events in history set the stage for future developments, and the conflicts between Isaac and Ishmael—stemming from Isaac’s birthright as the progenitor of the Jewish people—and between Jacob and Esau over the birthright have echoed through the ages. In this episode, Rabbi Ken Spiro helps us gain insight into our past, present, and future as we strive to resolve this long-standing sibling rivalry.

To understand the Jewish people's current situation in history, it's important to recognize the three exiles we've endured and the fourth exile of Edom we face today. This exile of Edom has been the longest and most challenging because it lacks a specific ideology, unlike the exiles of Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Instead, Edom represents a mental exile, influencing us through remnants of those past nations and, most importantly, discouraging Jews from asking questions. Discover how to free your mind and break free from the exile of Edom.

During our Pesach Seder, we recounted the story of our redemption, starting with our suffering in Egypt, leading to our cries to Hashem, and ultimately to Him guiding us to freedom. However, we must ask ourselves why He placed us in Egypt to begin with. What was it about our time in Egypt that was a necessary prerequisite to achieve freedom? What does freedom really mean? In this episode, I am absolutely delighted to welcome my new dear friend and Rabbi, Morty Roth, so he can share his deep insights into the answers to these questions.

Morty Roth references several books during our conversation.   If you are interested in obtaining these books I have provided links to where you can buy.

Covenant & Conversation by Jonathan Sacks
Pebbles of Wisdom From Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

What does String Theory and the Observer Effect in quantum mechanics have to do with a Jew saying a Bracha?  Tune into this episode as Rabbi Yaghobian reconciles the two and goes deep into the meaning and purpose to saying a Bracha before deriving pleasure from this world.

Warning:  Potential side effects of listening to this episode may result in your mind being blown away, becoming more mindful of your speech, and desiring to learn our Brachas and say with perfect enunciation.

Mt. Sinai was our wedding canopy where the Almighty, as our groom and we the Jewish people, as His bride, made an eternal commitment that we would be forever bound to one another.   Shavous is arriving soon.   It is our anniversary with the Almighty, where we renew our mutual commitment.   Hashem has just one request from us and that is that we leave our work behind and focus simply on one another.  Listen in and learn from Rabbi Yaakov Wohlgelernter on how to make the most of this very sacred time.

The Almighty did not design us to compartmentalize our minds, where we apply facts and reason to draw conclusions with our secular life and then just rely on blind faith and the culture we grew up in, to draw conclusions on our Jewish life.   The purpose of the opportunity of our lifetime, is to avoid navigating the world on autopilot and instead live with congruency between our intellect and emotions.   This is how we unleash our potential in serving the Almighty and fulfilling our purpose in this world.  In this episode, Ahron Wohlgelernter, the host of the Think Torah Podcast and the IntentionalJew.com website, an aggregation platform for Jewish learning, joins us to talk about living with intention.

It is now the Counting of the Omer.    These 49 days between Pesach and Shavous create a bridge that allows one to leave their mental restrictions and move towards a more expanded consciousness.   In this episode, Rabbi Chaim Buscko breaks down for us how to tap into the spiritual energies now present.   By doing so, we will forge ourselves into vessels that will allow us to absorb the wisdom of Torah and catapult us to a higher level of closeness to our Creator.

The weeks that lead up to Pesach/Passover, is the time to prepare ourselves to become a vessel to receive the influx of energy that G-d brings to the Jewish people.   This is the energy that will propel us to greater heights of spirituality and provides us the opportunity to unleash ourselves from limited thought and connect more to our infinite Creator.  In this amazing discussion with Rabbi Wohlgelernter he shares the techniques to prepare ourselves to connect to the power of Pesach and the ultimate time of renewal.

Growing up secular, greatly limited my understanding of the capacity of mankind’s greatness. The secular world is so pre-occupied with making their heroes people who are talented musicians, actors, athletes, or businesspeople, but whose private life lacks much to be admired.  As Jews we have Tzadikim to look up to and admire and strive to emulate.   These are people that have truly optimized themselves to become angles in this world.  In this episode Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Executive Director of TORCH and host of the Jewish Inspiration Podcast, joins us to share some mind blowing and inspiring stories of these Tzadikim that will open your mind to your true potential.

There is a concept in Torah that for many of us creates confusion, especially as we begin our exploration of Torah wisdom.  It is the subject of the Satan.  The reason for the confusion is that this is a similar term that we regularly hear used by the Christians.   However, while similar terms, definitionally they are totally opposing concepts.  The Christians believe that the Satan is a separate opposing power to Hashem, an idea that is idolatrous and heretical as G-d is the only power and source of existence.   The Torah teaches us that the Satan is a servant to Hashem, playing a vital role in His creation, to provide us with the free will opportunity to grow closer to our Creator.  The devil is in the details.  In this episode Rabbi Cohen provides enlightening clarity on this subject to the both the beginner and advanced student.