Shtark Tank

Yaakov Wolff

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Judaism
Updated weekly

If you are a Ben Torah in the workforce, this is the podcast for you! Make sure to check out ShtarkTank.org for more meaningful content. You can access bonus content and community events through our quiet Whatsapp Group https://chat.whatsapp.com/B5jEcBP5umZAHWk2ILBWTS Feel free to reach out with feedback, or just to say hi: yaakovwolff@gmail.com

13 hr ago

Torah Only? Torah Im Derech Eretz? ft. Rav Rafi Dembovsky

What does Hashem actually want from us, a life of total immersion in Torah, or engagement with the world?This is one of the oldest machlokos in Jewish thought. And Rav Rafi Dembovsky was torn. He struggled with the issues, and wrote a book with his findings. You can order it here. Episode Description Rafi was raised in Edgware. Educated at Hasmonean. Spent years all-in at Torah-only yeshivos and kollel. Then came time to choose a school for his son — and the tension he'd quietly carried for years exploded into a full-blown existential question. So he went back to the sources. And wrote a sefer. We trace Rafi's personal journey alongside the intellectual one — from teenage brachos in Bnei Brak to law school at Hebrew University. We get into the sefer itself, the haskama drama, and the Rabbanim who quietly loved it but wouldn't sign their names. In this episode: Torah-only as a mindset, not just a lifestyle choiceThe Rashbi/Rabi Yishmael machlokes — and what it really means for how you liveWhy the Rambam wasn't who you think he wasThe four-point email telling him not to publish — and what he did nextLeaving kollel for law school: pshat or cop-out?

34 min
25 May

Ashi Taragin (Rabbi, Dr.) Didn't Become a Rosh Yeshiva

Ashi Taragin had every reason to stay in yeshiva. He grew up breathing Torah. His father is Rabbi Reuven Taragin. His mother is Rebbetzin Shani Taragin. He made a Siyum HaShas at his Bar Mitzvah.Yet he didnt choose a career in Chinuch. Today he's an ER doctor at Sharei Tzedek, a lawyer, a mohel, and a sofer. He's also the unofficial rav of the emergency room, fielding end-of-life shailos in real time. And he still teaches Torah — but entirely on his own terms. In this episode, Ashi breaks down his version of the Rambam model: why financial independence from Torah makes your Torah better, what it means to be a baal habayis as a zechut rather than a compromise, and why he thinks sitting and learning all day isn't what Hashem put you here to do. Make sure to check out our newsletter and subscribe: ShtarkTank.org

27 min
18 May

Pulling Teeth, Publishing Torah (and a Shavuos Conversation on Megillas Rus) ft. Dr. Reuven Mohl

What does it take to build a serious Torah legacy while running a thriving dental practice in Manhattan? Reuven Mohl has spent the last decade doing exactly that — and the results are five published books, a growing body of scholarship, and a model for what it looks like to take your Torah life seriously without stepping away from the working world. In this episode, Reuven walks us through his upbringing in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, where his father Rabbi Oscar Mohl — a philosophy professor, Holocaust survivor, and talmid of the Baba Vredi — set the tone for a home where Torah and ideas were always on the table. From Yeshiva Flatbush to Yeshiva HaKotel to YU, Reuven shares how his years of learning shaped both his character and his career path into dentistry. We talk about the discipline behind building a successful practice, how he carved out time for serious learning between patients, and what led him to compile commentaries on the Haggadah, Megillas Rus, and Tehillim using the writings of Rabbi Eliezer Berkovitz and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. And in honor of Shavuos, we learn together. Reuven shares a beautiful lesson from Megillas Rus on the difference between din and lifnim mishurat hadin — and what Boaz's generosity in the field teaches us about how to show up at work, at home, and in life. Topics covered: Growing up with a philosophy professor father and a Holocaust survivor in the homeThe work-life balance reality of a dental careerHow to pursue serious Torah scholarship while running a businessBuilding commentaries using the Rav and Rabbi BerkovitzMegillas Rus and the obligation to do more than the minimumThe story of calling before Shabbos

44 min
11 May

Are You Past Your Peak?

A Shabbaton in Bnei Brak. Two rabbis. A machlokes I have been wrestling with ever since. One rav told a room full of 18-year-olds that they were living the climax of their lives. Another rav pushed back. Both left a mark. In this solo episode, I share the audio version of my most-responded-to piece of writing to date — a post that starts the process of distilling over 120 episodes of Shtark Tank into one central question: what does it mean to serve Hashem during the working chapter of life? Subscribe to our newsletter at ⁠ShtarkTank.org⁠ We cover the surprising lesson buried in the Matan Torah story, the unique mitzvos that come alive when you enter the workforce (Shabbos, Kiddush Hashem, Yishuv Olam, Talmud Torah), and why this stage of life isn't a regression from the Beit Midrash, it's its own chapter, loaded with opportunity. Plus: a beautiful piece of listener feedback from Ruben Melman, a recent Yeshiva graduate about to start his first job, and my own honest reflection on what it felt like to pack up the sefarim boxes.

17 min
4 May

Why This CMO Learns Tanach Every Morning at 4:30am ft. Moshe Isaacson

Moshe Isaacson is a marketing executive and go-to-market leader in the SaaS world — and one of the most passionate Tanach learners you'll ever meet. In this episode, Moshe makes the case for why Tanach is the most underrated limud in the Torah world, how his love for it was ignited on hikes through Eretz Yisrael, and why he wakes up at 4:30am to prepare the three weekly shiurim he gives to his community. Topics covered: Growing up in Pittsburgh — a broad, out-of-town community that exposed Moshe to every type of YiddishkeitHow a yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael turned Tanach from stories into living heritageWhy Tanach gets second billing in the yeshiva world — and why Moshe thinks that's an avlaThe Maskilim and Zionists claimed Tanach as their own. Moshe's response: that's exactly why we need to take it backHow Moshe got into marketing entirely by accident, starting at IDT and building from thereThe overlap between psychology, marketing, and Torah — and why pattern recognition is the common threadBalancing a demanding career with three weekly shiurim, a daily chavrusa, and serious limud preparationThe 4:30am wake-up, the one-hour train commute, and how Moshe engineers his day around learningA practical challenge: 929 perakim, one a day, finished in under three yearsSefer Shmuel as his favorite — four years learning and teaching itWhere to find his podcast, Tanach in Depth, and his AI-generated Torah content To follow Moshe's Torah: https://open.spotify.com/show/3G2IJ0opltMtTlrsTioQVg?si=SAg8yci3QTeK99v8qWRWcQ https://x.com/isaacson Sign up for our newsletter @ ShtarkTank.org

41 min
27 Apr

Jon Medved Is Not Done Yet | OurCrowd Founder & Startup Nation Pioneer

Jon Medved has spent decades building Israel into a global technology powerhouse, helping fund hundreds of companies, bringing billions of dollars into the Israeli economy, and playing pivotal role in what eventually became the Startup Nation brand. Then he flatlined in a hospital for eight minutes. In this episode, Jon sits down with Yaakov Wolff to talk about growing up far from Judaism on the beaches of California, the unlikely path that brought him to Israel, and why he believes the Avot were the original entrepreneurs. He makes a bold case that building companies, solving the world's problems through technology, and living as a proud Torah Jew are inseparable. He also opens up about his ALS diagnosis, what it felt like to be brought back after flatlining, and why, at this stage of his life, he's more driven than ever. In this conversation: From Berkeley to Jerusalem — Jonathan's winding path to Aliyah and observanceThe PowerPoint that seeded Startup NationWhy the Avot were all entrepreneursTechnology, Torah, and where the two meetLiving with ALS and refusing to stop"I'm not done. There's still what I have to accomplish." For exclusive written content, subsribe to our newsletter at ShtarkTank.org

33 min
20 Apr

Yom HaZikaron & Yom HaAtzmaut Mega-Episode ft. Eitan Morell & Rob Airley

This Yom HaZikaron, we sit with two fathers who lost their sons in the early months of the war. Eitan Morell shares the story of his son Maoz — a kid with ADHD and learning difficulties who walked into a yeshiva that didn't want him, refused to leave, and became the kind of soldier his unit looked up to. Eitan reflects on what it means to suddenly see your child's whole life in reverse — and how grief reveals a person you thought you already knew. Rob Airley shares the story of his son Binyamin — named best soldier in his platoon, loved by commanders and chaverim alike. The kind of guy who, moments before being killed, volunteered to run into a building because his unit needed him. Rob talks about learning to grieve without falling apart — and what it looks like to keep laughing and dancing in the house when Binyamin is no longer at the table. We end off with exerpts from 3 other episodes, about the beauty of living in Israel. Shtark Tank episodes with Eli Freedman and Yaakov Ehrenkranz, and Yaakov's appearance on the DHR podcast hosted by Zak Lenik. Make sure to sign up for newsletter at ShtarkTank.org To support Beit Binyamin click here To watch the movie about Maoz Morell click here Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:20 Eitan Morell remembers his son Maoz 00:39:34 Rob Airley remembers his son Binyamin 01:11:25 Shtark Tank with Eli Freedman 0:1:23:17 Shtark Tank with Yaakov Ehrenkranz 01:33:24 Yaakov on DHR Podcast

1hr 46min
13 Apr

Rav Asher Weiss: The Hashkafa Every Working Ben Torah Needs [Classic Shiur]

Two years ago, we sat with Rav Asher Weiss and asked him some of the most fundamental questions a Ben Torah in the workforce can ask. I've returned to this shiur more than almost anything else we've put out — it's that dense with wisdom and direction. Since then, the show has grown a lot, and I wanted to make sure newer listeners got a chance to hear it. And if you've already heard it? I think you'll get something new from it the second time around. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter at ShtarkTank.org

37 min

If you are a Ben Torah in the workforce, this is the podcast for you! Make sure to check out ShtarkTank.org for more meaningful content. You can access bonus content and community events through our quiet Whatsapp Group https://chat.whatsapp.com/B5jEcBP5umZAHWk2ILBWTS Feel free to reach out with feedback, or just to say hi: yaakovwolff@gmail.com

Creator

Yaakov Wolff
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

127
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Yaakov Wolff
Show Website

Shtark Tank

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