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PODCAST

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed

Focused on practical spiritual growth, this podcast explores Jewish wisdom through real-life experience and thoughtful conversations, helping listeners build clarity, resilience, and deeper meaning in their lives.

religion & spirituality judaism

All Episodes

37:29

The Pesach Seder: Understanding the System of Redemption

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/03/27

This episode draws on a profound teaching from the Baal HaSulam and reveals how its framework for spiritual growth aligns with the deeper purpose of the Pesach Seder. While the essay itself does not explicitly discuss the Seder, it provides a clear system for moving from understanding to true knowing—offering listeners a practical way to bridge the gap between what they believe and how they actually live. By learning to recognize the structure through which Hashem operates, this episode

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34:57

Episode 8: Revealing Your True Self

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/03/22

In this conversation with Rabbi Cohen, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of why even intelligent, well-intentioned people often struggle to see the truth—and what to do about it. You’ll walk away with practical tools to recognize hidden biases, shift from a mindset of taking to giving, and begin untangling the layers that distort your decisions, relationships, and sense of self. Most importantly, this episode will help you access the deeper clarity already within you, so you can make

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53:53

Nisan: Growth Through the Tension of Tohu and Tikkun

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/03/19

In this episode, I’m joined by Rabbi Pill for a powerful conversation as we explore how to stop fighting the tension in your life and start using it as a tool for real growth. By understanding the dynamic of Tohu and Tikkun, you’ll begin to see how moments of chaos, frustration, and breakdown are not setbacks, but the very mechanism through which Hashem moves you forward. This will give you a clearer framework for personal growth, help you align your actions with what you already know to be

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26:25

Episode 7: Recalibrating the Mind

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/03/01

In this episode of Strive for Truth, Rabbi Michael Cohen guides us through a powerful recalibration of how we think. Together, we explore how hidden biases quietly shape our decisions and how easily our minds distort reality without us even realizing it. By listening, you’ll begin to separate yourself from your automatic reactions, gain tools for more honest self-reflection, and develop greater clarity in your decision-making. Rabbi Cohen shows us how humility, Torah learning, and sincere

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37:58

Episode 6: The Real Metric of a Successful Life

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/02/22

Most people measure their lives by income, achievement, influence, or knowledge. But what if the real metric of success is something far simpler and far more confronting? In this episode, you’ll gain a powerful lens to evaluate your day, your relationships, your ambition, and even your spiritual growth through one transformative question: am I giving or am I taking? This conversation will help you reframe marriage, work, parenting, learning, and personal growth, so you can stop chasing

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54:17

Adar: Concealment is Revelation

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/02/13

In this episode, Rabbi Pill and I explore how the month of Adar trains us to recognize Hashem specifically when nothing feels clear, inspiring, or “spiritual.” If you’ve ever felt your motivation cool off, your enthusiasm fade, or your mind start telling you that life is just coincidence and routine, this conversation will give you a practical way to regain perspective and steadiness. You’ll come away with a stronger sense of how to hold emunah and bitachon when there is no feedback, how to

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41:48

Two Paths, One Destination

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/02/11

In this episode, Rabbi Cohen and I, explore a powerful framework for understanding spiritual growth when effort feels slow, incentives disappear, or life stops following the system we thought we understood. If you’ve ever wondered why progress sometimes feels incremental and other times requires a complete inner shift, this conversation offers clarity and reassurance. You’ll gain perspective on how humility, persistence, and asking for help each play a role in becoming who you’re meant to

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58:59

Redeeming the Imagination through Shabbos with Rabbi...

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/02/06

Imagination is the most destructive power of the human mind—and also its greatest. In this episode, you’ll discover how Shabbos is Hashem’s system for redeeming the imagination, turning it from a source of anxiety, illusion, and control into a force for trust, clarity, and spiritual alignment. If you struggle with future-focused thinking, uncertainty, or the gap between what you know is true and how you actually live, this conversation offers a practical way forward. You’ll gain a new way

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35:49

Episode 5: Your Challenges Are Your Kiddush Hashem

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/02/03

In this episode, we explore how the very challenges you wish you didn’t have may actually be the place where your greatest purpose lives. Instead of asking why life feels unfair or uneven, this conversation reframes difficulty as something intentional, personal, and meaningful. Listening will help you see your struggles with more clarity, dignity, and responsibility—and walk away with a calmer, stronger perspective on what Hashem may be asking of you, specifically, through the life you’re

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49:15

Activating Our Inherited Spiritual Strengths

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/28

In this episode, we explore how life’s challenges are not setbacks or punishments, but invitations to activate strengths already embedded within us. Together with Rabbi Michael Cohen, we examine Rav Dessler’s understanding of mercy, testing, and inherited spiritual capacity, and how these ideas can change the way you experience difficulty. You’ll gain a clearer way to face pressure without feeling broken or defeated, learn how to recognize when inner resistance is not “who you are,” and

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42:26

The Structured Path of Deveikus

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/26

In this episode, I give you a simple, repeatable roadmap for real deveikus, how to use your mind in the right order so you stop spiraling into anxiety, overthinking, and fantasy futures. You’ll learn how to recognize when your imagination is hijacking you, how to take the next clean step even while you feel fear, and how to turn Torah into lived, embodied trust that rewires your nervous system. By the end, you’ll have a practical decision-making checklist you can use in business, family,

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39:51

Episode 3: Operating Capital, Not Reward

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/21

In this episode, Rabbi Michael Cohen and I explore a radical idea from Rav Dessler that reframes how we think about success, reward, and mitzvah observance. This world is not where mitzvot are paid back. It is where we are provisioned. What looks like reward is often just operating capital providing the resources necessary to fulfill our mission. We examine how imagination and experiential learning turn Torah from something we merely understand into something we actually live. You’ll walk

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58:12

Rabbi Akiva: Relentless Perseverance in Torah

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/19

In this episode of Sages of the Talmud, I’m joined by Morty Roth to explore the life of Rabbi Akiva, one of the most influential figures in Jewish history.My goal in this conversation is not to retell a familiar story, but to extract the lessons that matter for real life. We explore what it means to begin without certainty, how to respond when years of effort are suddenly lost, and how to keep growing when starting over feels overwhelming. Rabbi Akiva’s life offers a powerful framework for

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30:21

Episode 2: Redefining Happiness

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/13

In this episode of Strive for Truth, I explore Rav Eliyahu Dessler’s opening teaching on happiness together with Rabbi Michael Cohen, challenging one of the most deeply held assumptions about what makes life fulfilling. Rather than offering techniques or motivation, this conversation helps listeners recognize the hidden drivers that quietly undermine happiness and learn how to relate differently to ambition, success, and desire. By reframing happiness as something rooted in inner alignment

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60:34

Shevat: Growth Beneath the Surface

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/12

Just as the zodiac of Shevat, the D’li (bucket), has no value on its own and only matters when it is filled with water and carried to those who need it, this month invites us to quietly work on becoming clear, humble vessels for Hashem’s Torah in the world. In this episode of The Power of the Hebrew Months, Rabbi Pill and I explore how Shevat shifts our focus away from external performance and toward what lies beneath—our kavannah (intent), emunah, and bitachon. Like trees in winter, the

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41:40

Episode 1: Rebuilding the Inner Operating System

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2026/01/01

In this opening episode of Strive for Truth, I’m joined by Rabbi Michael Cohen to introduce the work of Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler and to explain why this text requires a fundamentally different kind of learning. Rather than approaching it as philosophy or behavior modification, we frame Strive for Truth as a disciplined study of how a person thinks, chooses, and relates to reality itself. Rabbi Cohen shares his own background with this work, having studied it through Rabbi Aryeh Carmell—the

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19:52

What This Podcast Is Really About: Six Seasons In

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2025/12/31

After six seasons of conversations, questions, and learning, this episode steps back to clarify what The Shema Podcast has always been about. Torah is not meant to be interesting information or cultural storytelling. It is instruction. Instruction for refining ourselves, moving from selfishness to selflessness, and aligning our lives with our Creator. In this season-closing reflection, I explain why precision matters, why being “almost right” is not enough, and why real Torah learning is

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21:39

Night Vision in the Darkness of Teves

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2025/12/26

Teves is not a month of spiritual absence but a test of perception, and this episode is about learning how to meet that test. I explore why Chanukkah intentionally flows into Teves, what “hidden light” really means — the concealment of clarity, not Hashem’s presence — and how meaning is lost when vision goes untrained. By revisiting the 8th and 10th of Teves, the role of Torah She’baal Peh, and the idea that holiness is embedded within physical reality, this episode invites you to develop

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56:42

Forged in Exile: Babylon and the Birth of the Talmud

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2025/12/25

In this episode of The Sages of the Talmud, I’m joined by Morty Roth to step into the world where the Babylonian Talmud was formed. Before we profile individual sages, we zoom out and look at why the historical setting matters, how Jewish life in Babylonia developed after the destruction of the First Temple, and the timeline from the Mishnah to the redaction of the Bavli.We talk geography, politics, the rise and shifts of empires, and why Babylonia became the center of Torah scholarship. We

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52:47

The Physics of Creation with Dr. Berel Epstein

The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed ·

2025/12/15

In this episode, we explore a big idea at the intersection of Torah and modern physics: Torah is the blueprint of creation, and as science advances, it often ends up catching up to truths Torah has pointed to all along. Joined by physicist Dr. Berel Epstein, we work through listener-submitted questions from the Shema Podcast WhatsApp community on the universe having a beginning, fine-tuning, the limits of what physics can explain, and what concepts like quantum entanglement and observation

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233 results

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