The Shema Podcast for the Perplexed

In this episode we are joined by Rabbi Gershon Meisel to explore how Moshe Rabbeinu embodies the sefirah of Netzach—endurance, victory, and eternity. We discuss why Moshe, the greatest of all leaders, is rooted in Netzach, how Netzach channels mind, heart, and action into lasting habits, and how it must be balanced with Hod’s humility and gratitude. Through Moshe’s role in bringing Torah into the world, we learn that true victory is not about conquest or success alone, but about transforming ourselves, elevating our struggles, and carrying Hashem’s presence into every step of our lives.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up. Explore The Art of Prayer  Download a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here. Explore Revealing the Hidden with Rabbi Gershon Meisel Uncover the depth behind Torah, life, and the spiritual reality beneath it all.       🎧 Listen on Spotify | 📺 Watch on YouTube

In this first episode of The Hebrew Months Series with Rabbi Pill, we explore the unique energy of Elul, a month of teshuvah and alignment. Our sages teach that the months of the Jewish year are not just markers of time, but windows of opportunity, each with its own avodah and pathway for growth. Elul’s symbols, the mazal of the Betulah (Maiden), the letter Yud, the tribe of Gad, the left hand, and the daily shofar blasts, each reveal how to realign with Hashem and our truest selves. But rather than seeing Elul as a season of guilt and repentance, Rabbi Pill reframes teshuvah as a return to alignment: uniting thought and action, living in the present moment, and even the surprising idea of “doing teshuvah on your teshuvah.” If you’ve heard the standard Elul messages before, this conversation will give you a fresh perspective, and practical ways to channel the energy of the month into lasting transformation.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Explore The Art of PrayerDownload a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here.Get the Companion Guide: The Power of the MonthsThis free resource outlines the spiritual focus of each Hebrew month — including its mazal (zodiac sign), tribe, Hebrew letter, body part, and unique avodah. It also includes suggested actions you can take to align yourself with the energy of the time. Click here to download and keep this month-by-month guide as a tool for your own growth and reflection.

In this episode we continue our seven-part series on the Merkavah, the Divine Chariot, with Rabbi Gershon Meisel. Together we explore Yaakov Avinu, the Merkavah of Tiferes (harmony, beauty, and truth). Rabbi Meisel explains how Yaakov’s life of struggle, resilience, and faith shaped him into the embodiment of balance and truth, and how his experiences mirror the challenges every Jew faces. We discuss the meaning of Tiferes, the role of truth (Emes) in contrast with falsehood, and how Yaakov’s journey guides us in becoming a chariot for Hashem in our own lives.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback,  discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Want to keep going deeper? Explore Revealing the Hidden with Rabbi Gershon Meisel—uncovering the depth behind Torah, life, and the spiritual reality beneath it all.      🎧 Listen on Spotify | 📺 Watch on YouTubeExplore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here. 

In this episode Rabbi Yaghobian returns to explore the timeless struggle that began in Gan Eden and continues in every Jew’s life today. Together we examine the true meaning of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, how Adam and Chava’s choice reshaped the human condition, and why our challenge is not just knowing truth but aligning our will with Hashem’s. Rabbi Yaghobian explains how intellect, emotion, and desire interact, why temptation masks itself as logic, and how our daily struggles—large and small—are all rooted in that first test. Far from abstract philosophy, the lessons here are profoundly practical for navigating decisions, battling rationalizations, and strengthening our connection to Hashem.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Explore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here.

In this debut episode of “Sages of the Talmud” with Morty Roth, we explore the life and legacy of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the redactor of the Mishnah. Morty brings to life the turbulent historical backdrop of Roman oppression, the threat to Torah transmission, and the courageous decision to commit the Oral Law to writing. Through stories of Yehuda HaNasi’s teachers, his wealth and leadership, his relationship with Roman emperors, and the personal traits that shaped him, we uncover timeless lessons in courage, responsibility, and preserving Jewish heritage.This engaging discussion blends history, biography, and spiritual insight, showing how the choices of one leader nearly 2,000 years ago continue to shape Jewish life and learning today.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Explore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here. 

In this transformative episode, part two of our seven-part Merkavah series, Rabbi Meisel explores Yitzchak as the embodiment of Gevurah, the divine quality of discipline, restraint, and the power to transform potential into reality. Building on the foundation of Avraham's Chesed, we uncover how Yitzchak’s very existence, and especially the Akeidah, reveals a spiritual blueprint for personal growth, resilience, and the miracle of becoming. Through deep Torah insights, metaphors of birth and laughter, and the cosmic resonance of the shofar, this conversation draws a powerful connection between Gevurah and the hidden strength in navigating life’s challenges.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Want to keep going deeper? Explore Revealing the Hidden with Rabbi Gershon Meisel—uncovering the depth behind Torah, life, and the spiritual reality beneath it all. 🎧 Listen on Spotify | 📺 Watch on YouTubeExplore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here.

In this episode we explore the life of Avraham Avinu as the embodiment of Chesed (loving-kindness) and the first to crown Hashem as King. Joined by Rabbi Meisel, we discuss how Avraham’s spiritual journey, marked by courage, isolation, and unwavering faith, serves as a model for those navigating their own path back to truth, often feeling alone or disconnected from their past communities. Through his story, we gain insight into the deeper meaning of divine kingship, personal transformation, and the sacred role each individual plays in bringing holiness into the world. This episode is an invitation to recognize the Avraham within, and to embrace the unique purpose Hashem has placed in each of us.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback,  discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Want to keep going deeper? Explore Revealing the Hidden with Rabbi Gershon Meisel—uncovering the depth behind Torah, life, and the spiritual reality beneath it all. 🎧 Listen on Spotify | 📺 Watch on YouTubeExplore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home by clicking here. 

What if the Torah isn’t just a guide to life—but the very blueprint that shapes reality itself? In this thought-provoking conversation, Rabbi Meisel unpacks the concept of Torah as the projector that casts the physical world like light onto a screen. From segulos and spiritual action to the power of tzaddikim and heartfelt tefillah, we explore how our inner world and Divine reality are deeply intertwined.Through stories, gematria, and deep Torah sources, Rabbi Meisel brings clarity to ideas often misunderstood—showing how true spiritual practice isn’t about bypassing growth, but engaging with Hashem’s world on its deepest terms.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Listen to Rabbi Gershon Meisel  teachings at Reveal the Hidden by clicking here.

How do we distinguish between immutable Torah truths and areas open to interpretation? In this episode, I sit down with Rabbi Pill, a Torah scholar and constitutional law professor, to explore the sacred yet complex process of halachic decision-making. We examine whether halacha is a divine system with fixed answers or a human endeavor grounded in humility, judgment, and tradition. From the Talmud to the Shulchan Aruch, we trace how halachic authority is defined and how differing practices are understood. Rabbi Pill brings clarity and reverence to this deep conversation, helping us better understand how halacha is built, sustained, and lived and where we draw the line between the immutable and the debatable.  Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Explore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home or classroom by clicking here.

In this episode, I open up about a personal journey—why I’ve been quiet lately, the health challenges I’ve faced, and how pushing too hard led me into a cycle of burnout. I share what I’ve learned about the body, the soul, and the importance of listening to both.Then, I revisit one of the most impactful conversations I’ve had on the podcast: my 2020 discussion with Rabbi Bucsko on the fractal nature of masculinity and femininity. It’s a topic that remains deeply relevant—and often misunderstood.Rabbi Bucsko and I explore how these energies aren’t just about gender, but are fundamental forces that show up in every relationship and corner of existence. Drawing from Torah, Chazal, and even our own biology, we delve into how masculine energy initiates with boundless potential, and feminine energy receives, nurtures, and brings to life. This framework sheds light on everything from mitzvah obligations to marital roles, from spiritual growth to our relationship with Hashem Himself.This episode is for anyone who wants to understand Torah’s timeless wisdom on gender—not through the lens of modern politics, but through the clarity and depth that only Torah can provide.Join the Conversation! Be part of our growing community—join the Shema Podcast for the Perplexed WhatsApp group to share feedback, discuss episodes, and suggest future topics. Click here to sign up.Explore The Art of Prayer – a collection of beautifully designed blessings (brachos) including Modeh Ani, Asher Yatzar, Netilas Yadayim and more.  Free to download and perfect for your home or classroom by clicking here.