Shows
Holy Bagel TheoryDesignate and ElevateAn analysis of two key verses in this week's Parsha - Terumah:1. "Take for Me" = For My Sake2. "Make for Me" = For My SakeA close look at Rashi's commentary on these verses gives us insight into two stages in the process of building the tabernacle. 1. "Take for Me": Designate your possessions to the building of a House for Hashem.2. "Make for Me": Elevate the materials, transforming them into holiness.The inspiring lesson takeaway, calling us to incorporate both stages, of Designate and Elevate, in the building...
2026-02-1932 minHoly Bagel TheoryRadical Passion Makes Perfect SenseWe can and should make perfect logical sense of intensely lofty ideals.A wonderfully inspiring insight from a Farbrengen of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. (27 Shevat 1975)
2026-02-1242 minHoly Bagel TheoryChabad aren't (just) Creative ExtrovertsIn this special Yud Shevat Farbrengen Episode, we explore the deeper philosophical idea behind Chabad's outward looking agenda.
2026-01-2935 minHoly Bagel TheoryToday's Mindset. Tomorrow's Mindset."When your child asks you Machar".While the literal meaning of Machar means 'tomorrow', Rashi tells us that tomorrow is a relative term, that should better be read as 'in future times'.A closer look at Rashi's comment reveals a deeper dimension in the 'child of tomorrow', highlighting the necessity to ensure we engage the child of a different era.
2026-01-2236 minHoly Bagel TheoryJews IntactYaakov (Jacob) returns home intact, in 3 unique and distinct areas.And so will we.
2025-12-0337 minHoly Bagel TheoryHow to be a Bold SheepYaakov's primary occupation was in raising sheep. In fact, the Torah itself, as well as comments in Rashi, seem to push the 'sheep business' even beyond the basic reading of the text.Why so sheepish?Inspiring lessons in how to be a bold, confident sheep, as we follow the Divine Purpose that Hashem gives us.
2025-11-2635 minHoly Bagel TheoryExtrovert or Introvert?Avraham influenced the world with an outward approach, inspiring as he traveled.Yitzchok stayed put in the Holy Land. A closer glance shows that he had an equally important impact in his influence on the world. And perhaps even more so that his father.In this session, based on Likutei Sichot Vol. 25, we learn how to be both introvert and extrovert in our quest to realise our purpose.
2025-11-2037 minHoly Bagel TheoryKey Qualities of a Jewish HomemakerIn the autumn of 1974, the Rebbe launched the 5th of his 10 Point Mitzvah Campaign - Pre-Shabbat Candle Lighting.The campaign focused on inspiring every Jewish women to embrace this Mitzvah, and to perform it at the correct time, before sunset on Friday afternoon. The Rebbe passionately argued that this Mitzva doesn't just belong to married women, a wife, mother and/or primary homemaker, but of every single Jewish girl, already from when they begin their informal Jewish education at aged 3.One of the key talks in which the Rebbe made his case, was built on...
2025-11-1246 minHoly Bagel TheoryG-d Help Them!"Pray for mercy for another..."In this lesson - based on a talk from the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1982 - the Rebbe urges us to be (a little) more like Avraham Avinu, and develop genuine concern and love for another.Can we reach a point where we'd prioritise another's needs over our own needs? Torah believes we can.
2025-11-0555 minHoly Bagel TheoryRain Check & the Long-Distance TravelerOur concern for another person's discomfort cancels any personal distress we might have had.A fascinating lesson on Ahavat Yisrael, with deeper insight into why in Israel the prayer for rain is postponed 15 days, until 7 Cheshvan. (Mishna Taanit 1:3)Based on a talk from the Rebbe, 7th Cheshvan 1985/5746
2025-10-3048 minHoly Bagel TheoryExclusion RedefinedThe process of Tzoraat - Leprosy, including the pain, discomfort and isolation, is a key feature in the re-making of the whole person.Just as the laborious toil and the isolationism of exile is a key feature in the redemptive process of Moshiach.
2025-05-0131 minHoly Bagel TheoryMoshiach DemystifiedThe 8th Day of Pesach is "Moshiach Day".This episode, delivered as a talk at the Brighton & Hove Hebrew Cong. Pesach learning programme, explores how to make this concept relatable and meaningful
2025-04-1826 min2025-04-1035 minHoly Bagel TheoryBeing Truly CreativeThis Pizza n Parsha session begins with a comprehensive technical analyses on the nature of witness testimony in Jewish Law.
Could Moshe and Aharon act as witnesses for the New Moon, if they were brothers?
Why is the Mitzvah of calculating the New Moon the first Mitzvah in the Torah?
2025-01-3044 min
Holy Bagel TheoryMeaningful Wrestling MatchesOur patriarch Yaakov's life is our story.
Yaakov is descriptive term for the intense battle, while Yisrael represents the post-battle triumph.
Be uplifted with another meaningful perspective of Jewish life lessons.
2024-12-1232 min
Holy Bagel TheoryFrom Mystical to MeaningfulMystical classics in Chabad philosophy offer deeper insight into a curious verse in the Parsha, that illuminate our understanding of the fundamentals of life's purpose, in connecting Heaven and Earth.
2024-11-2035 min
Holy Bagel TheoryJumpstart!Inspiring lessons from this week's Parsha Vayeira, and the story of Avraham Avinu, on how shock tactics can draw a person out of their deep slumber, and reveal their true desire to find purposeful meaning in their relationship with Hashem
2024-11-1536 min
Holy Bagel TheoryIs it appropriate to celebrate Simchat Torah 2024?Extract:
"In the ‘court’ of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Simchat Torah was a magical day. If the Rebbe dedicated his life each and every day to uplifting world Jewry and the post-Holocaust generation, Simchat Torah was Uplift 2.0!"
Here's the link I mention at the end.
https://www.meaningfullife.com/simchat-torah-through-water-and-fire/
2024-10-2307 minHoly Bagel TheoryAt-One-MentBeyond Repentance.
In this Pizza n Parsha session, we explore the depth of Yom Kippur's inner meaning, as we seek to make the profundity of this Holy Day relatable and meaningful.
2024-10-1037 min
New DimensionsThe Original Wisdom of Jesus as Spoken in His Native Aramaic - Neil Douglas-Klotz, Ph.D. - ND3775This deep dialogue enlivens the works and words of Jesus to higher levels of inspiration and understanding so needed in these threshold times. Klotz helps us to see the moving nature and luminosity of the teachings of Jesus that are present within us, within our very breath, every day through the Aramaic translations. Neil Douglas-Klotz, Ph.D. is a teacher, scholar, author, and musician, specializing in the native traditions and the translation and interpretation of the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. His scholarship connects religious studies and psychology. He’s past chair of the...
2023-01-1857 min
Beyond the Margins: The University of California Press PodcastCarolina Bank Muñoz and Penny Lewis, "A People's Guide to New York City" (U California Press, 2022)New York City is a preeminent global city, serving as the headquarters for hundreds of multinational firms and a world-renowned cultural hub for fashion, art, and music. It is among the most multicultural cities in the world and also one of the most segregated cities in the United States. The people that make this global city function—immigrants, people of color, and the working classes—reside largely in the so-called outer boroughs, outside the corporations, neon, and skyscrapers of Manhattan. In A People’s Guide to New York City, published by University of California Press in 2022, Carolina Bank Muñoz, Penn...
2022-05-241h 00
New Books in GeographyCarolina Bank Muñoz and Penny Lewis, "A People's Guide to New York City" (U California Press, 2022)New York City is a preeminent global city, serving as the headquarters for hundreds of multinational firms and a world-renowned cultural hub for fashion, art, and music. It is among the most multicultural cities in the world and also one of the most segregated cities in the United States. The people that make this global city function—immigrants, people of color, and the working classes—reside largely in the so-called outer boroughs, outside the corporations, neon, and skyscrapers of Manhattan. In A People’s Guide to New York City, published by University of California Press in 2022, Carolina Bank Muñoz, Penn...
2022-05-2458 min
New Books in Urban StudiesCarolina Bank Muñoz and Penny Lewis, "A People's Guide to New York City" (U California Press, 2022)New York City is a preeminent global city, serving as the headquarters for hundreds of multinational firms and a world-renowned cultural hub for fashion, art, and music. It is among the most multicultural cities in the world and also one of the most segregated cities in the United States. The people that make this global city function—immigrants, people of color, and the working classes—reside largely in the so-called outer boroughs, outside the corporations, neon, and skyscrapers of Manhattan. In A People’s Guide to New York City, published by University of California Press in 2022, Carolina Bank Muñoz, Penn...
2022-05-2458 min
Inner Truth with David NewellMirabai Starr: The Wisdom Of Feminine MysticismMirabai Starr is a Professor of Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos and a best-selling spiritual author known particularly for contemporary translations of sacred literature. As a teenager, she lived at the Lama Foundation, an intentional spiritual community in New Mexico, USA. It was at Lama that Mirabai encountered many of the leading teachers and timeless wisdom of diverse spiritual paths: Hindu; Buddhist; Sufi; Jewish; Christian, and Native American and was especially influenced by Ram Dass, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and the teachings of Murshid Samuel Lewis. Mirabai lives in the mountains...
2019-07-1654 min