Belief – Jewish Basics – Know What to Answer Yourself CD Series

The following audio lectures are available from Ani Maamin, run by Rabbi Dovid Sapirman.  These lectures are on the fundamentals of Jewish belief, and are being made available freely thanks to a donation of an anonymous sponsor.  If you find them valuable, please send them a donation of whatever amount you deem appropriate.  If you have any trouble listening, or need help putting these on CDs, leave a comment below.  During the period of sponsorship, the entire CD set can be ordered on CD for $10.

01) The Emunah Deficit

(Download: CD 1)

This introduction lecture sets out the problem.  In prior generations, Jews knew without a doubt that there was a G_d who gave us the Torah at Mount Sinai.  It was so well known and believed that no one needed to teach it.  In the past few hundred years, other ideologies and beliefs have pulled the Jews away from the Torah, leaving a huge deficit in belief that must be made up.  This is the purpose of this CD series.

02) The World Has an Owner

(Download: CD 2, CD 3, CD 4)

These lectures show that by examining the evidence around us and looking at the universe, it is obvious that there must be a creator.  The universe testifies to the existence of a creator, and ideologies to the contrary are without merit.

03) You Had a Revelation

(Download: CD 5, CD 6)

Every other religion is based on the concept of “I had a revelation  and this is what was revealed to me.”  Judaism is different.  Judaism is based on the fact that every single person experienced the revelation, in mass numbers.  The Torah states in many places open miracles that happened over the 40 years in the desert, and those which happened before and after as well.  Everyone who was there and received the revelation was commanded to pass down what they heard to their children, who believed without a doubt for generation after generation, despite tremendous persecution and adversity.  Such a thing could not be faked, cannot and has not been duplicated, and was not denied by anyone until extremely recently.  In fact, other religions base their claims off of that of Judaism, but add that “I had a revelation” that it should be changed, instead of “You had a revelation.”

04) So Where Has Everyone Gone?

(Download: CD 7)

While all the evidence is quite convincing, the problem often arises in the mind of a Jew – if it’s so obvious that it’s true, why have the majority of Jews, who have been handed down the transmission from Mount Sinai, and who can examine the evidence of the nature of the world, abandoned the Torah?  Where has everyone gone?

05) The Obvious Word of Hashem & Quotations from the Torah

(Download: CD 8, CD 9, CD 10)

In this final section, encompassing the last three CDs, numerous quotations from the written Torah are analyzed and compared to what actually happened, world history, and events predicted accurately.  These include the small number of Jews, being exiled around the world and returning to Israel, and the nature of and result of the destruction of the first and second Temples, as well as the promise of redemption before the building of the Third temple.

The Oral Torah

Please visit the Ani Maamin Store to purchase CDs on the Oral Torah, including how to know the Oral Torah was given by Hashem why a G-d–given Torah can still have disagreements in interpretation, what trust in our sages really means and doesn’t mean, why we have to follow Rabbinic law, why two Rabbis may give different answers to the same question, and the source of customs of Ashkenazic and Sefardi Jews.