Podcast Episode Details

Ep. 79 - 🎤 Ask Away! #25: Google Reviews, Modern Rabbis & Jews Win Impossible Wars [The Q&A Series]

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Season 2

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In this engaging Ask Away episode, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe tackles listener questions on everyday halacha and deeper Jewish concepts. Key topics include:

• Leaving negative Google reviews: Permissible only if consistently poor (to protect others), not for one-off bad experiences, to avoid lashon hara.
• Converts reciting Kaddish for non-Jewish parents: Not forbidden, and may merit their souls (as Avraham elevated his father Terach), though its full effect is unclear; honoring parents remains relevant.
• Modern rabbinic ordination (semicha): The biblical Sanhedrin chain ended with the Second Temple, but the unbroken rabbi-to-student transmission continues today, granting authority through rigorous testing—distinct from mere professional licensing.
• Blessings on processed foods (juices, oat milk, Pringles, soups): When original form changes significantly, default to Shehakol; priorities and mixtures follow complex rules (e.g., separate blessings for distinct components in soup).
• Continuing to eat after benching: Allowed, but requires new brachot.
• Fluctuating faith and synagogue-hopping: Hashem cherishes every effort; simple, heartfelt prayer anywhere strengthens connection—encouragement over self-criticism.
• Jews as "non-fighters" yet having a strong army: Victories are supernatural miracles (stories from 1948, Six-Day War, recent conflicts), not natural might—Hashem fights our battles when we stay close to Torah.

The episode overflows with inspiring stories of divine protection and encouragement to appreciate open Torah study in America amid 2,000 years of relentless persecution.

Please submit your questions at askaway@torchweb.org

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The Everyday Judaism Podcast is dedicated to learning, understanding and appreciating the greatness of Jewish heritage and the Torah through the simplified, concise study of Halacha, Jewish Law, thereby enhancing our understanding of how Hashem wants us to live our daily lives in a Jewish way.
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This Podcast Series is Generously Underwritten by Marshall & Doreen Lerner

• Download & Print the Everyday Judaism Halacha Notes:
  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RL-PideM42B_LFn6pbrk8MMU5-zqlLG5

This episode (Ep. #79) of the Everyday Judaism Podcast by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH is dedicated to my dearest friends, Marshall & Doreen Lerner! May Hashem bless you and always lovingly accept your prayer for good health, success and true happiness!!!

Recorded in the TORCH Centre - Levin Family Studio (B) to a live audience on December 7, 2025, in Houston, Texas.
Released as Podcast on December 22, 2025
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Share your questions at askaway@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  
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About the Host:
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback: awolbe@torchweb.org
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Published on 4 hours ago