To help support this podcast, please consider giving a tax deductible contribution here: http://support.rabbidovidkatz.com --- Rabbi Dovid Katz, PhD is lauded for his extensive knowledge of Jewish History, his engaging and insightful lecture series, and eye opening historical international tours. Follow him weekly. New content released on Saturday nights, Wednesday (Personalities in Jewish History), & Friday (Perspective on the Parshah). Opportunities for sponsorship of podcasts are available. He can be reached at the following email: rabbidkatz@gmail.com
R’ Yehudah Moscato (1532-1590), Pt. 2: Famous Italian תַּלְמִיד חָכָם וְדַרְשָׁן
A Renaissance Rabbi? Or a Rabbi who lived during the Renaissance?
2/5/2024 • 58 minutes, 42 seconds
Yisro v. Ruth: Two Archetypes
Why does Yisro skip the מַעֲמַד הַר סִינַי? Wasn't he a high religious figure?
2/4/2024 • 29 minutes, 44 seconds
Haftarah Yisro:Unlike Moshe, the prophetic experience of יְשַׁעְיָהוּ is a mediated one
Characterized by the presence of others (מַלְאָכִים) and a smoke-filled room
2/1/2024 • 31 minutes, 33 seconds
The Famous R’ Yehudah Moscato of 16th Century Italy: A Recently Discovered Remarkable Episode
Arrested by the Duke and tortured for trying to prevent a Jew from converting. It's like a novel!
1/31/2024 • 53 minutes, 31 seconds
Was יִתְרוֹ a good guy? The arguments in favor.
When you swear by God, and then God says you don't have to keep your oath.
1/30/2024 • 33 minutes, 15 seconds
Moshe Rabbenu: Intellectl or emotion?
Two schools of thought re: the uniqueness of Moses, particularly in connection with the receiving of the Torah
1/29/2024 • 38 minutes, 2 seconds
Parshas Yisro: What is the meaning of the babyish truculence of the Jews at the Red Sea?
Why does Moshe (and G-d!) indulge their truculence?
1/28/2024 • 33 minutes, 39 seconds
Parshas Beshalach: The Connection Between Circumcision and Krias Yam Suf
Removing עָרְלַת הַגּוּף symbolizes the drive to remove עָרְלַת הַלֵּב
1/22/2024 • 33 minutes, 27 seconds
Haftarah Bo: The two Babylonian invasions of Egypt? Who cares?
A foreshadowing of Word War III on the Messianic Era. The collapse of belief systems
1/19/2024 • 31 minutes, 7 seconds
R’ Mordecai Banet (1753-1829): Chief Rabbi of Moravia
Rare case of "poor boy" who rose to the top of the Rabbinic and Torah world's.
1/18/2024 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 9 seconds
Parshas Bo: Why Exactly is Moses Commanded לַחֲלֹק כָּבוֹד לַמַּלְכוּת?
A powerful Pharaoh was a necessary component of a successful יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם
1/17/2024 • 27 minutes, 8 seconds
Parshas Bo: What does G-d mean when He says He will punish the gods of Egypt?
Is there any reality to the gods of Egypt? How could there be?
1/16/2024 • 30 minutes, 26 seconds
The Famous Yad Malachi of Livorno (1700-1771)
R ‘ Malachi Cohen and his wonderful encyclopedia, a long time favorite for "cheaters '
1/12/2024 • 1 hour, 33 minutes, 17 seconds
What is going on with the conversation re: אֶה יֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה?
Why is the name immediately changed to just אֶהְיֶה?
1/10/2024 • 29 minutes, 21 seconds
Ezekiel: Egypt will suffer because it cynically & unscrupulously"played" Israel and Judah
Abarbanel: Egypt will be invaded and devastated by Christians in the אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים
1/10/2024 • 31 minutes, 22 seconds
Parshas VaEra: How Did the Jews Maintain Their Family Units Under Slavery ?
Did they view the mistakes of the story of Joseph & brothers as an abject lesson?
1/9/2024 • 30 minutes, 16 seconds
The 1947 UN Partition Vote, and the Arabs and Jews Prepare for War
“After the Hurricane: The Struggle for Israel, 1945-1949” - Rabbi Katz’ 2011-2012 Winter Lecture Series
1/9/2024 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 8 seconds
Isaiah blasts the drunken tyrants of the Northern Kingdom
They imitated King Solomon's vices, but not his virtues!
1/4/2024 • 34 minutes, 17 seconds
If they had yeshivos in Egypt, why did most Jews go off the derech?
What was their conception of deity, anyway, if they believed in Hashem at the same time they believed in Egyptian gods?
1/3/2024 • 33 minutes, 20 seconds
Galus as a core component of Judaism and Jewish history
The effects of the galus in Egypt: similar to today?
1/1/2024 • 28 minutes, 18 seconds
American Judaism a Century Ago (1880-1950)- Some Thoughts
Why did Orthodox Judaism fail so miserably in old America?
1/1/2024 • 48 minutes, 25 seconds
Joseph's class-act in burying Jacob next to Leah
Although Leah is in מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה, it is Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem that captures the imagination of the Jewish People
12/27/2023 • 35 minutes, 37 seconds
Haftarah VaYigash: David is Enraged at Joab. Why, Exactly?
Joab, to save his own life, revealed David's secret order to arrange the death of Uriah but make it look like accident
12/27/2023 • 44 minutes, 3 seconds
R’ Eliyahu Mizrachi of Istanbul, the Greatest Romaniote Gadol
A great Gadol and Posek, also mathematician; his fame in כְּלַל Klal Yisroel came from his fundamental פֵּרוּשׁ לַחֻמָּשׁ-רַשִׁ"י
12/26/2023 • 1 hour, 14 minutes, 12 seconds
Arafat, Hamas and Terrorism: The Aftermath of Oslo
From Rabbi Katz’ 2022-2023 Winter Lecture Series entitled “Oslo, Immigration and Assassination-The State of Israel and the Jewish People, 1992-1996”
12/26/2023 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 34 seconds
Parshas VaYechi: An Original Interpretation of Why Yehudah Got the Malchus- from the מֶשֶׁךְ חֲכָמָה
In war, there is no substitute for total victory!
12/25/2023 • 34 minutes, 11 seconds
The Israeli Offensives in the War for Independence: Brilliant Successes and Devastating Failures
From Rabbi Dr. Katz’ 2011-2012 Lecture Series: The Struggle for Israel, 1945-1949
12/22/2023 • 1 hour, 25 minutes, 52 seconds
Yosifon's Counterhistory of the Translation of the Torah into Greek
As a result of the translation, Pharaoh freed 150,000 Jewish slaves ( Yosifon)
12/22/2023 • 27 minutes, 56 seconds
After the dry bones comes the achdus, then מִלְחֶמֶת גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג
Is this haftarah theological or political?
12/20/2023 • 26 minutes, 42 seconds
Asarah B’Teves: Fasting to Mourn the Septuagint Translation?
Different ancient accounts of the translation of the Torah into Greek. Which stories are accurate? Different reactions: a.) Feast day b.) Fast day
12/19/2023 • 55 minutes, 5 seconds
Parshas VaYigash: Joseph's References to His Kavod
How did the brothers feel now about everyone bowing to Joseph? About having tried to prevent that?!
12/19/2023 • 32 minutes, 18 seconds
Israel’s War of Independence: The Arab Offensive in Palestine, December 1947-April 1948
From Rabbi Katz’ 2011-2012 Lecture Series: The Struggle for Israel, 1945-1949
12/18/2023 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 58 seconds
What exactly is זֹאת חֲנֻכָּה ?
When do the יָמִים נוֹרָאִים come to an end? On the last day of חֲנֻכָּה!
12/15/2023 • 33 minutes, 4 seconds
What exactly is זֹאת חֲנֻכָּה ?
When do the יָמִים נוֹרָאִים come to an end? On the last day of חֲנֻכָּה!
12/15/2023 • 33 minutes, 4 seconds
Again, why didn't Viceroy Joseph contact his father?
Why did the brothers try to kill אָסְנַת?
12/14/2023 • 33 minutes, 13 seconds
Thoughts re: Hellenists, then and now
Hellenist mercilessness and Maccabean retaliation. They never did find common ground!
12/13/2023 • 28 minutes, 45 seconds
Haftorah Mikeitz: King Solomon and the two "mothers"
Why did a frum king tolerate זוֹנוֹת וּקְדֵשׁוֹת?
12/12/2023 • 27 minutes, 44 seconds
Parshas Mikeitz: Joseph uses his prison time to learn Egyptian culture and politics
Joseph also learns discretion!
12/12/2023 • 31 minutes, 53 seconds
Judah Maccabee Storms Gaza- עַל פִּי יוֹסִיפוּן
The Hasmoneans implement a "day-after" strategy
12/10/2023 • 32 minutes, 57 seconds
Rambam in אִגֶּרֶת תֵּימָן: the "two-pronged" attack on Judaism... and Chanukah
The current propaganda war against Israel & Jews is part of an existential feature of our history(Rambam)
12/8/2023 • 30 minutes, 32 seconds
Outbreak of the Revolt - 3 different versions of the story (Chanukah)
Sifting through conflicting accounts. Welcome to the "history " of חֲנֻכָּה
12/8/2023 • 46 minutes, 13 seconds
Chanukah: Why does Josephus call the holiday not Chanukah, but Festival of אוֹר?
"The actual נֵרוֹת חֲנֻכָּה can be מַגִּידִים עֲתִידוֹת." What does that mean?
12/6/2023 • 41 minutes, 13 seconds
Haftarah Chanukah: The High Priest is Given a Pass in the Heavenly Court, as a Shoah Survivor
Zechariah's vision of miraculous oil fueling the heavenly menorah. This came true in the נֵס חֲנֻכָּה
12/5/2023 • 31 minutes, 59 seconds
Parshas VaYeshev: Oy, מַעֲשֵׂה אָבוֹת סִימָן לַבָּנִים in a Negative Way - the Sale of Joseph
The goat theme Jacob, Joseph, Judah
12/5/2023 • 31 minutes, 22 seconds
Henry Kissinger: Good for the Jews? Bad?
The unique and weird relationship between Richard Nixon and Kissinger in retrospect
12/3/2023 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 23 seconds
Haftarah VaYishlach: Who Exactly was Ovadiah? When Did He Live?
The problem with Eisav is not open entity, but treachery
12/1/2023 • 33 minutes, 36 seconds
Is the Story of David Rescuing the Hostages Relevant to Gaza? (Haftarah VaYishlach)
Does Netanyahu & Co. have an אֵפוֹד אוּרִים וְתֻמִּים?
11/30/2023 • 26 minutes, 33 seconds
Parshas VaYishlach: Shimon & Levi - Proportionate Response?
Whatever happened to the surviving women & children of the town of שְׁכֶם?
11/27/2023 • 37 minutes, 54 seconds
Rambam, Rav Zevin, & the קְהִלּוֹת יַעֲקֹב on fear in combat
Is a Jewish soldier allowed to be afraid of battle?
11/26/2023 • 35 minutes, 24 seconds
Thanksgiving and Jewish History: Were the Pilgrims of 1620 Antisemites, Philosemites or Both?
The Pilgrims/Puritans and the rise of the modern State of Israel
11/23/2023 • 37 minutes, 33 seconds
The Hostage Deal and Psalm 140: References to the Effective Propaganda Offensive of the Enemy
King David is confident he can beat them in physical combat, but fears their prowess in spin!
11/23/2023 • 24 minutes, 34 seconds
Hostage Deals in Jewish History
The halacha was one thing. What they actually did was something else
11/22/2023 • 28 minutes, 43 seconds
Haftarah Vayetzei: Remarkably Relevant to Current Events in Israel Over the Last Year
The sin of Israel? מַחְלֹקֶת! The cure? Words of אַחְדוּת, not a discourse of פֵּרוּד
11/22/2023 • 30 minutes, 46 seconds
Parshas VaYetzei: Jacob's Character Development in This Parsha
Lavan, ancestor of the Jewish People
11/21/2023 • 29 minutes, 24 seconds
Some thoughts about President Kennedy on the anniversary of his assassination 11/22/63
Son of a big antisemite, JFK enjoyed overwhelming Jewish support. Both financially as well as in votes
11/19/2023 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 13 seconds
Thoughts of רַבָּנִים and חַזָּנִים in the last two centuries
Their competition and respective popularity reflected the difference between elite & popular culture
11/16/2023 • 29 minutes, 27 seconds
Ahab and Ben Hadad: A Cautionary Tale
Will Sinwar escape? Will Israel allow it?
11/15/2023 • 29 minutes, 25 seconds
The inherent problem of hereditary (as opposed to meritocratic) authority
The Temple is supposed to inspire repentance, not demand it
11/14/2023 • 29 minutes, 15 seconds
Parshas Toldos: The Difference Between the Relationships of יִצְחָק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל vs. יַעֲקֹב וְעֵשָׂו
How have the two relationships played-out in history & in modern times?
11/13/2023 • 32 minutes, 6 seconds
Rabbinic influences on voting: in the old autonomous קְהִלּוֹת, and in modern democratic elections
Jews could not vote until modern times, but when they could, רבנים tried to influence
11/10/2023 • 28 minutes, 14 seconds
Psalm 91 and the Fighting in Israel and Gaza - Fits Like a Glove
The angels who protect our soldiers from harm, from the terrors of dark tunnels
11/8/2023 • 26 minutes, 11 seconds
The central role of Nathan the Prophet
Team Adonijah rejected Nathan's version of the David-Bsthsheba story
11/6/2023 • 31 minutes, 25 seconds
Abraham and Ephron in light of current events
Ephron (עֶפְרוֹן) the real estate speculator and the possibilities of a counterfactual history of Arabs & Jews
11/6/2023 • 29 minutes, 43 seconds
The Machiavellian role of Iran in the current conflict. The significance of Sunni vs. Shiite
Iran dreams of reviving its imperial grandeur by destroying Israel. The reverse of כֹּרֶשׁ
11/5/2023 • 41 minutes
Why did Elisha stay davka at her house?
She had previously experienced infant mortality and miscarriages
11/3/2023 • 26 minutes, 57 seconds
Psalm 140 fits the current war in Gaza on many levels
The massacre, the Booby traps, the rockets
11/2/2023 • 25 minutes, 40 seconds
Why was Abraham personally invested in the fate of Sodom?
The first case of concern for "civilian casualties?"
11/1/2023 • 38 minutes, 25 seconds
The Current Amalekite Demonstrations Against the Jews in America
The screwball relationship between Egypt and the Gaza War
10/31/2023 • 32 minutes, 29 seconds
The Chazon Ish and Medinat Yisrael: Aspects of the Life and שִׁיטוֹת of the חֲזוֹן אִי"שׁ
How the encounter between the חֲזוֹן אִי"שׁ and Ben Gurion affects the current Israeli domestic crisis
10/31/2023 • 57 minutes, 47 seconds
Hashkafic Look at Psalm 79 in Light of War Against Hamas
Why does it say (Psalm 79:6) אֶל הַגּוֹיִים וְלֹא עַל הַגּוֹיִים? Two groups marching currently against Israel: a.) גּוֹיִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְדָעוּךָ b.) מַמְלָכוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּשִׁמְךָ לֹא קָרָאוּ
10/27/2023 • 29 minutes, 1 second
Haftarah Lech Lecha: Isaiah Predicts the Current War Against Hamas Tunnels
Israel is a worm. But worms can penetrate anywhere and destroy mighty mountains
10/26/2023 • 26 minutes, 41 seconds
Parshas Lech Lecha: The First Hostage Rescue Mission in History
Abraham Discovers אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל נִקְנָה בְּיִסּוּרִים
10/25/2023 • 42 minutes, 32 seconds
Has Judaism ever sought converts in its history
The difference between Judaism OTOH and individual Jews who propagated the faith among gentiles
10/24/2023 • 37 minutes, 12 seconds
The Dilemma of Civilian Casualties in Urban Warfare
How does one lure a snake off the honey jar? Gittin 56b
10/23/2023 • 26 minutes, 33 seconds
A Short History of the Hamas Tunnels in Gaza
Hamas, North Korea, and the tunnel-strategy: the challenge for צה"ל
10/20/2023 • 26 minutes, 49 seconds
A Hashkafic Look at Current Events and a Hostile Media
Why do you believe reports from the other side when you know they like lying and support killing Jews?
10/19/2023 • 27 minutes, 13 seconds
A Two Front War in Israel? - R’ Katz analyzes the latest events in the Gaza War
In Gaza, there is a limited number enemy fighters. In Lebanon, there is an endless supply לדאבוננו
10/18/2023 • 27 minutes, 33 seconds
The Yom Kippur War, Part 3: Affliction
From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
10/18/2023 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 13 seconds
Haftarah Noach: Isaiah 54:17 in Light of the War Against Hamas
How do you translate כָּל לָשׁוֹן תָּקוּם אִתָּךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט תַּרְשִׁיעִי? Re: the Arab demonizers of Israel
10/17/2023 • 29 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Noach: The Deadening of the Moral Sensibilities of the דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל
If sin is "norm"alized, regret becomes impossible, and life becomes irremediably rotted: הִשְׁחִית כָּל בָּשָׂר
10/16/2023 • 34 minutes, 28 seconds
R Katz discusses the Jewish " Rachavs" and their support for Hamas
The Jew who embraces certain progressive causes but is then disillusioned by progressive Antisemitism
10/15/2023 • 34 minutes, 28 seconds
Tehillim and the Current War in Gaza: Read Psalms 79 and 60 and See the Parallels
Theology is a luxury pursuit. Fervent prayers ask for Theology to be cast aside in favor of pure רחמים
10/12/2023 • 25 minutes, 1 second
Isaiah discusses the current situation in the Middle East. Really
The relevance to the crisis in Israel is uncanny
10/12/2023 • 27 minutes, 18 seconds
Hamas' Error of Judgment? - More Analysis of the Current War Against Hamas
Will other Jihadists enter the fray?
10/11/2023 • 36 minutes, 58 seconds
The Yom Kippur War, Part 2: Affliction
From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
10/11/2023 • 1 hour, 29 minutes, 59 seconds
Thoughts on the Current War With Gaza
Some background, and why Israel was surprised
10/10/2023 • 36 minutes, 13 seconds
Parshas Bereishis: G-d Decided to Take the Land Away From Them and Give It to Us.
Can He do the opposite?How do secular Jews justify our claim to אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל?
10/9/2023 • 35 minutes, 1 second
The Yom Kippur War, Part 1: Affliction
From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
10/9/2023 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 48 seconds
Shmini Atzeres: Its Role as Part of Sukkos, Not as a רֶגֶל בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ
How you define שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת depends on how you define sukkos: עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד or סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ?
10/6/2023 • 42 minutes, 31 seconds
R’ Katz Criticizes the Current Wave of Spitting in Light of Jewish History
Many Yidden have been killed, hurt, and persecuted because of some individual's spitting
10/5/2023 • 27 minutes
R Katz analyzes the עֲרָבָה ceremony on the Temple, and the various versions of how they did it
How did beating palm fronds transition to our practice of beating עֲרָבוֹת?
10/4/2023 • 36 minutes, 48 seconds
R Aharon Shimon Shapiro of 17th century Prague: one of the greatest gedolim you never heard of
The remarkable story of the esrog!
10/4/2023 • 41 minutes, 11 seconds
Hashanah Rabbah: What is the meaning of יֹפִי לְךָ מִזְבֵּחַ?
Why praise the site of sacrifice?
10/4/2023 • 32 minutes, 42 seconds
Parshas V’Zos HaBrachah: An Explication of the Enigmatic Passage מְעוֹנָה אֱלֹהֵי קֶדֶם
Moses' last words on earth
10/2/2023 • 25 minutes, 52 seconds
Koheles: Money (Like the Sukkah) is a Symbol of Impermanence
What would have happened had Shlomo maintained more modest lifestyle?
10/2/2023 • 31 minutes, 26 seconds
Two different models on unity:the sukkah & the אַרְבַּע מִינִים
Just because you were an אֶתְרוֹג last year doesn't mean you won't be an עֲרָבָה this year!
9/29/2023 • 28 minutes, 27 seconds
The Buildup to the Yom Kippur War
None are as Blind as Those Who Would Not See - From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
9/28/2023 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 38 seconds
King Solomon and the אַרְבַּע מִינִים
What's preferable? Something expensive that few can afford, or something inexpensive that everyone can join in?
9/28/2023 • 35 minutes, 39 seconds
Unlike RH and Yom Kippur, Sukkos and ארבע מינים Cannot Be Done By a שָׁלִיחַ
Acc. to ילקוט שמעוני, how exactly do the frum need the non-frum?
9/28/2023 • 29 minutes, 1 second
What happened at the town of sukkos in Egypt?
Are the two versions of sukkos mutually compatible? Do they represent different family experiences?
9/27/2023 • 34 minutes, 52 seconds
The Yom Kippur War of 1973: Thoughts on the 50th Anniversary
The Israelis in 1973 were guilty of עֵינַיִם רָמוֹת וְעַזּוּת מֵצַח
9/27/2023 • 49 minutes, 45 seconds
Yom Kippur: What If You Do a Partial Teshuvah?
Three שִׁיטוֹת on Less-than-total repentance
9/24/2023 • 25 minutes, 19 seconds
The Fast of the 7th of Tishrei (אֹרַח חַיִּים תק"פ)
What does Elul have to do with the עגל הזהב?
9/21/2023 • 28 minutes, 55 seconds
R Tzvi H Kaidenover and his 17th century classic קַב הַיָּשָׁר
Part scary kabbalistic tales, part penetrating social criticism, one of the most popular seforim in Jewish history
9/21/2023 • 1 hour, 31 minutes, 2 seconds
Haftarah Shabbos Shuva: Hoshea HaNavi Calls for the Religious Reform of the Northern Kingdom
"Abandon your religion of sacrifices (golden calf), and try a religion of prayer!"
9/20/2023 • 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Parshas HaAzinu: The Powerful Pessimism of HaAzinu
A frustrated Moshe Rabbeinu lets loose on Klal Yisroel, calling them every harsh name he can
9/18/2023 • 26 minutes, 8 seconds
Rosh HaShanah: The Basic Three Sets of Blasts Correspond to מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת
Now מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת are three sides of the Jew-G-d relationship
9/15/2023 • 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Observations on Devarim: Why is Moshe's Rhetoric Harsher in סֵפֶר דְּבָרִים Than Elsewhere in the Chumash?
God sent a three-person team to lead כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל . By Deuteronomy, two are dead
9/13/2023 • 31 minutes, 22 seconds
Eating Before Shofar: The Historical Source for the Yeshivos Having a Kiddush Before Shofar-Blowing
Did this practice start in the 19th century in Lithuania?
9/13/2023 • 36 minutes, 14 seconds
R’ Joseph Ottolenghi: The One Whose Work You Skip Over in the Back of the Gemara
When Cremona was a center of Torah, Torah printing, and Torah burning
9/10/2023 • 44 minutes, 25 seconds
Rabbi Katz is leading a tour of the Bible Museum in DC on חול המועד סוכות
The tour will take place on Tuesday Chol haMoed
9/8/2023 • 1 minute, 20 seconds
R’ Menachem Mendel Gluskin of Minsk and Leningrdad: Trying to Be Jewish Under Stalin
The suffering of religious Jews at the hands of the regime and of the Jewish Communists
9/8/2023 • 58 minutes, 56 seconds
The First Zohar Ever Printed-Cremona 1559 - Offered by Genazym
The same Pope who burned all the Gemaras and סִפְרֵי נִגְלֶה permitted publishing the Zohar...for nefarious reasons
9/6/2023 • 37 minutes, 56 seconds
Haftarah Netzavim-Vayelech: Isaiah's Vision of the Future - Redemption, But Not Followed By Peace
Jerusalem is attacked. No one helps her, so Hashem personally intervenes and executes bloody vengeance
9/6/2023 • 27 minutes, 34 seconds
Parshas Netzavim-VaYelech: Moses' Demand for Perfection Runs into Human Nature
Although he originally demanded the Jews circumcise their own hearts, in the end he acknowledges it will have to come from G-d
9/5/2023 • 33 minutes, 6 seconds
Elul: No Protection Against the Satan This Year on the First Day of Rosh Hashanah
Why did the חכמים prohibit the shofar on Shabbos?
9/4/2023 • 30 minutes, 1 second
Responsa Mahari ben Lev From Genazym (1598)
Printed in the luxurious palace of Gracia Mendes' daughter in Constantinople in 1598. Gracia, Joseph Nasi, Donna Reyna, a family of exemplary Sephardic richie-riches
9/4/2023 • 38 minutes, 18 seconds
More on the New שׁוּ"ת חוּט הַשָּׁנִי Edition and the Famous Controversies of Yesteryear
The חוֹלֵץ who deliberately put the shoe on the wrong foot, to prevent his "in-laws" from cheating him
9/3/2023 • 56 minutes, 17 seconds
Parshas Ki Savo: Abarbanel Applies the תּוֹכָחָה to the Marranos
Sforno decries the Jews who go to non-Jewish courts: אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים!
Why the strange anthropormism that Hashem was "crazy in love" with the Patriarchs and Matriarchs?
8/1/2023 • 32 minutes, 9 seconds
R’ Shlomo Dovid Kahana: The Greatest Gadol of the 20th Century You Never Heard of, Part I
A Litvish Gadol who ends up as Dayan of the largest hasidic community in the world Part 1
8/1/2023 • 1 hour, 31 seconds
The Radbaz (Who was Big in Both נִגְלֶה וְנִסְתָּר) Describes the Rambam's Attitude Towards Gehinnom
The wicked are indeed destroyed, but not before they suffer torture
7/26/2023 • 32 minutes, 36 seconds
Parshas VaEschanan: Moshe Says That the חֻקִּים Will Inspire the Admiration of the Gentiles. Why?
Moshe is describing the wonderfully flexible תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה of long ago
7/25/2023 • 31 minutes, 36 seconds
Tisha B'Av and Mesilas Yesharim: What is a Chasid (in the Classical Sense of the Term) Supposed to Think on Tisha B'Av?
Luzzatto on אֲבֵלוּת לִשְׁמָהּ עַל הַחֻרְבָּן
7/25/2023 • 28 minutes, 36 seconds
Lewis Strauss - A Story About a Famous Reform Jew and His Connection to Klal Yisroel
Close with Hoover, Truman, & Eisenhower. Nemesis of Robert Oppenheimer. Helped Israel get the Atomic Bomb
7/25/2023 • 59 minutes, 41 seconds
Robert Oppenheimer and מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה
The Jews can never be safe, and neither can the non-Jews , after the developments of 1939-1945
7/24/2023 • 41 minutes, 19 seconds
Rabbi Katz’s Tisha B'Av Schedule This Year
Will take place at his shul. Google Beth Abraham Baltimore for info and livestream
7/24/2023 • 1 minute, 14 seconds
Haftarah Devarim: Isaiah Does Not Mention Idolatry as the Problem, But Social Injustice!
Isaiah punctures the self-satisfaction of Jerusalemites during the reign of Hezekiah
7/20/2023 • 24 minutes, 17 seconds
Parshas Devarim: Why Are Some Laws Only in Devarim?
Do we have the original version of the חומש? Or a second (divinely-dictated) version?
7/20/2023 • 39 minutes, 6 seconds
RFK Jr. and Dangerous Rhetoric re: Jews and Corona
How John Spargo scotched Henry Ford's antisemitic campaign 100 years ago
7/18/2023 • 25 minutes, 23 seconds
שְׂכַר הַצַּדִּיקִים לְפִי הָרַמְחַ"ל
The Final Reward will be on Planet Earth
7/17/2023 • 32 minutes, 38 seconds
Ramban's Anxious Letter to His Son Who Lived With the Rich Jews at the Royal Court
"Stay Way from בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב!"
7/13/2023 • 30 minutes, 34 seconds
Haftarah of the Three Weeks: Digging wells that turn out to have no water
What were the faults of the kohanim and the Rosh yeshivas?
7/13/2023 • 26 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Matos: Wars of Revenge?
Were the Jewish soldiers unaffected by their killing of children?
7/13/2023 • 36 minutes, 48 seconds
Traditionalist Jews in Israel and the Question of Religious Coercion
What is the meaning in Judaism of מִכָּאן מוֹדָעָה רַבָּה לְאוֹרָיְתָא?
7/10/2023 • 33 minutes, 33 seconds
Bastille Day 2023 - The Riots in France, and Jewish History
The differences between the American and French Revolutions and their effects upon כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל
7/9/2023 • 43 minutes, 39 seconds
Shivah Assar B’Tammuz: Who was Apostomus? What Exactly Did He Do?
Did he burn A Torah physically? Or THE Torah spiritually?
7/6/2023 • 32 minutes, 49 seconds
Haftarah Pinchas: Jeremiah, the Descendant of רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה
His losing battle against cynicism, skepticism, and sarcasm
7/5/2023 • 31 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Pinchas: What is the Meaning of the Vague Phrase: אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל בָּשָׂר?
How does Moshe define a successful general?
7/4/2023 • 35 minutes, 4 seconds
More on the Fourth of July and Klal Yisroel
The significance of the events of the 1780s
7/4/2023 • 37 minutes, 16 seconds
Cordovero's extremely vivid description of the different "departments" of heaven and hell
Hundreds of angels directing operations in different "rooms"
7/3/2023 • 27 minutes, 31 seconds
Thoughts on the Historical Legacy of R’ Yaakov Ruderman
The role of culture in a society. Who gets to decide what parts of culture are important? Is it the power of ideas? The number of followers?
7/3/2023 • 41 minutes, 5 seconds
The Fourth of July and the Jews
How the American Revolution affected the whole of כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל
7/2/2023 • 42 minutes, 10 seconds
Haftarah Balak: What is the מוּסָר הַשְׂכֵּל the Prophet extracts from the Bilam story?
When do קָרְבָּנוֹת appeal to God? When do they not?
6/30/2023 • 27 minutes, 48 seconds
Parshas Balak: Unlike Balaam, the Patriarchs built 7 altars but did not offer sacrifices on them
What was Balaams pitch to Hashem? Why was it an historic moment?
6/29/2023 • 32 minutes, 15 seconds
Parshas Chukas: Are the Two Stories of Hitting the Rock (בשלח and חוקת) One and the Same?
When exactly was the final חומש text dictated to Moshe?
6/29/2023 • 28 minutes, 42 seconds
Korach as a Leadership Type in Jewish History in the Diaspora
Gentile authorities had more to do with the Korachs than the Moshes
6/26/2023 • 58 minutes
Dvar Torah on כריתות at yahrtzeit siyum for R Katz's mother
אָשָׁם תָּלוּי -אַהֲבָה אוֹ יִרְאָה?
6/23/2023 • 37 minutes, 4 seconds
Haftarah Korach: Why Did G-d (and Samuel) Choose the Inexperienced Saul?
Shmuel ha-Navi: A Class-Act
6/23/2023 • 29 minutes, 31 seconds
The Burning of the Talmud in Paris on Parshas Chukas- Memory vs. History
The Pope and the Church: How they viewed the Talmud
6/22/2023 • 43 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Korach: Korach and the Power of "Spin"
Are the masses existentially gullible?
6/21/2023 • 33 minutes, 43 seconds
R Cordovero on the Summum Bonum- different departments of Heaven
The different הֵיכָלוֹת and their different "rewards"
6/20/2023 • 45 minutes, 43 seconds
Capsali's History of the Turkish Empire
Why Would a Chashuva Rov Write a History of the Turks? Could the Ottoman empire be the מַלְכוּת יִשְׁמָעֵאל, last of the Four Kingdoms, followed by מָשִׁיחַ?
6/19/2023 • 55 minutes, 15 seconds
Haftarah Shelach: Was Rachav HaZonah an Idealist or an Opportunist?
What were the results of her marriage to Joshua?
6/14/2023 • 35 minutes, 43 seconds
Parshas Shelach: What is the Meaning of כִּי לַחְמֵנוּ הֵם?
The Jews were afraid of a long, unending, bloody struggle. Moshe does not address these fears.
6/14/2023 • 40 minutes, 50 seconds
R’ Eliyahu Kapsali, Pt. 2: His Account of the Expulsion from Spain
What would YOU do if you had been stuck in your house during Corona with zero phones, internet, etc…?
6/12/2023 • 57 minutes, 19 seconds
Summum Bonum: The Style of the Kabbalists in Relating to All the Differing Chazals on Olam Haba, etc
Beginning the discussion on this complex matter
6/11/2023 • 35 minutes, 18 seconds
The 20th of Sivan: R’ Katz Analyzes Some Cossack Massacres from the Perspective of 2023
When the Cossacks persuaded the Poles to betray the Jews, but were themselves then betrayed & killed by the Cossacks
6/11/2023 • 35 minutes, 21 seconds
Haftarah BeHaaloscha: What will the gentiles do in the Messianic Era?
Judaism is about monotheism, but also about the inalienable superiority of עם ישראל, which is not so easy to "swallow "
6/8/2023 • 31 minutes, 21 seconds
Parshas BeHaaloscha: Did Moshe Marry an Ethiopian גִּיּוֹרֶת after מַתַּן תּוֹרָה?
Did all the aunts married to nephews divorce after מַתַּן תּוֹרָה ?
6/7/2023 • 39 minutes, 1 second
R’ Elyahu Kapsali (1480-1550): A Rare Case of a Rov Who was Also a Historian
Wrote history books during a "Covid type quarantine " in Crete to keep his sanity
6/6/2023 • 56 minutes, 31 seconds
Intro to Cordovero (רמ"ק הקדוש) on the Summum Bonum
R’ Katz discusses the historical background of the Kabbalistic writings of the רמ"ק
6/5/2023 • 37 minutes, 32 seconds
Parshas Naso: Some Thoughts re: The approach of HaRav Gershon Edelstein, זצ"ל
What is the sociological meaning of expelling undesirables from "the מַחֲנֶה"?
6/1/2023 • 33 minutes, 13 seconds
Simon Wolf (1836-1923): American Reform Jew Who Saved Vast Numbers of Eastern European Jews
One of the most successful Jewish lobbyists in Washington. Friend of many Presidents
6/1/2023 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 48 seconds
Haftarah Naso: Why do Chazal Say Manoach was an Am HaAretz?
The fascinating take of the רְמָ"א בְּסֵפֶר "תּוֹרַת הָעוֹלָה on the Samson story
5/30/2023 • 37 minutes, 3 seconds
A 15th Century Letter Inviting All Ashkenazic Jews to Leave Germany and Move to Turkey
The famous אִגֶּרֶת רַב יִצְחָק צָרְפָתִי ת praising the Turks for their good treatment of the Jews
5/29/2023 • 1 hour, 44 seconds
What Were the "Crowns" of Shavuos?
Crowns vs Mishkan: Two models of וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
5/25/2023 • 28 minutes, 33 seconds
The Angel מְטַטְ רוֹן and the Revelation on Shavuos
Attempting to unravel the chronology of the week of the first Shavuos, the original זְמַן מַתַּן תּוֹרָתֵנוּ
5/23/2023 • 34 minutes, 14 seconds
Shavuos: The Symbolism of the Waving of the Breads and the Sheep Together
At Sinai, they saw no image, but they did hear a voice!
5/23/2023 • 36 minutes, 2 seconds
Abraham Benvniste and the Yeshiva of Zamora in Castile: The Spanish "Lakewood" of the 15th Century
Patron of the revival of Torah scholarship in Spain
5/23/2023 • 48 minutes, 5 seconds
Shavuos: The רמ"א in תּוֹרַת הָעוֹלָה connects the שְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם to מַתַּן תּוֹרָה
Two types of נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע: Real and fake
5/21/2023 • 31 minutes, 44 seconds
Another reason שבועות is not mentioned as זמן מתן תורתנו in the חומש
Why was תהילים written davka by Ruth's grandson?
5/19/2023 • 33 minutes, 43 seconds
Hosea, Himself Married to a Faithless Wife, Blasts the Jews for Being Unfaithful to G-d
But in the end both "Husband " and "Wife" decide to preserve the "marriage" and have a second אֵרוּסִין
5/18/2023 • 29 minutes, 45 seconds
Shavuos and Matan Torah: Famous Critiques of the Chinuch-System of the Old Days
An exercise in pedagogy
5/17/2023 • 52 minutes, 33 seconds
Parshas Bamidbar: The Logistics of the March from Sinai to the Promised Land
A foreshadowing of the future history of the Jewish People in their march through history from Galus to Galus
5/16/2023 • 31 minutes, 24 seconds
An Infinitely-More Complex Understanding of Life After Death and Reward and Punishment
Post medieval opinions re: Summum Bonum -Kabbalistic
5/16/2023 • 30 minutes, 8 seconds
Three Items from the Era of Sabbatean Fights (Genazym)
Original Manuscript of סֵפֶר "שָׁרְשֵׁי שֵׁמוֹת" מֵהָרֶמֶ"ז, and two original classics from the Emden-Eibeschutz fights: לֻחוֹת עֵדוּת" וְ"סֵפֶר שִׁמּוּשׁ"
5/15/2023 • 39 minutes, 31 seconds
Abraham Benveniste (15th Century): Restored Yiddishkeit to a Bleeding Spanish Jewry
He used his relationship with PM Alvaro de Luna to help his suffering fellow Jews
5/15/2023 • 1 hour, 7 seconds
Genazym Offers a חומש from Prague from the בַּעַל שׁוּ"ת תְּשׁוּבָה מֵאַהֲבָה & His Close Catholic Friend
the Austrian Censor Carolus Fischer, the only copy the Austrian courts trusted that a Jew wouldn't lie
5/12/2023 • 1 hour, 38 seconds
A Venetian Jewish MD and Spy in the 17th Century, Liked by Both Sides
Israel Conegliano, a graduate of Padua, a fum Jew, physician to the highest Turkish officials, and a brilliant diplomat
5/10/2023 • 59 minutes, 28 seconds
The Prophet Jeremiah attacks syncretism & demands radical severance from paganism
The gentiles say, "Our religion was completely false." What about the Jews?
5/9/2023 • 30 minutes, 54 seconds
Bechukosai: The Historical Significance of וְאֶתְכֶם אֶזָּרֶה בַּגּוֹיִם
The negative effects of the lack of geographic contiguity in גלות in Jewish history
5/9/2023 • 30 minutes, 49 seconds
Lag B'Omer: Why was Only R’ Akiva's Yeshiva Hit?
If they died every day, why didn't they repent? Why did all of them fail to modify their behavior, even as they all died?
5/8/2023 • 36 minutes, 16 seconds
Genazym Offers the Notorious Giustiniani Edition of the Rambam, a Capitalist Fight of Long Ago
Giustiniani and מהר"ם פדובה played commercial hardball against each other, with disaster to all
5/7/2023 • 52 minutes, 54 seconds
The Coronation of King Charles III: What is the Role of a King in Jewish Thought?
Thoughts on אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם and the Coronation in London
5/7/2023 • 28 minutes, 56 seconds
Rabbi Isaac Cantarini of Padua (1644-1723), Rov & MD, and the pogrom of 1684
The "Purim of Padua (or Buda)". His סֵפֶר "פַּחַד יִצְחָק " on a pogrom, Venetian-style
5/5/2023 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 7 seconds
Haftarah Emor: The Bad Kohanim Who "Went-Along," and the Good Ones Who Remained Loyal
Is the Rambam right that the Torah can NEVER be changed?
5/4/2023 • 33 minutes, 25 seconds
Chasdai Crescas: Is G-d Omnipotence? Omniscience? Or Love?
Crescas on Olam Haba and Love that comes from perfection, not imperfection
5/3/2023 • 28 minutes, 43 seconds
Parshas Emor: Did the Blasphemer Curse G-d? Or G-d's Name?
Why would having an Egyptian father psychologically predispose him to curse HaShem?
5/2/2023 • 38 minutes, 13 seconds
A Famous Story About Abraham Benveniste, an Honest King, and an Attempted Blood Libel
From the classic שֵׁבֶט יְהוּד ָה, written 600 years ago
5/1/2023 • 51 minutes, 3 seconds
Abarbanel & Kli Yakar Summarize Opinions on Sumum Bonum
Why doesn't the חומש define the Sumum Bonum directly, explicitly, & clearly?
4/27/2023 • 29 minutes, 52 seconds
Amos' Summum Bonum in the Here and Now: A Rebuilt Prosperous Kingdom in אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Haftarah)
The Jews will be PERMANENTLY planted in Israel.
4/26/2023 • 31 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: Blood and the "Battle" Between the Beis HaMikdash and the Bamos
The Mitzvos are the ingredients; קְדוֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ is the cake
4/26/2023 • 31 minutes, 12 seconds
Shem Tov ben Shem Tov: Looking for reasons for the Holocaust of 1391. Part 1
"The Rambam is responsible for the weakening of faith!"
4/24/2023 • 58 minutes, 42 seconds
Haftarah Shabbos Rosh Chodesh: How will Christians and Muslims Feel in the Messianic Era?
Abarbanel's take on Isaiah 66. תּוֹכָחָה? Or יִעוּד וְנֶחָמָה?
4/20/2023 • 43 minutes, 15 seconds
The Political Crisis in Israel: Drafting the Bnei Torah, and Ketores Considerations
Is the חֶלְבְּנָה the רְשָׁעִים? Or is it the בַּעֲלֵי תְּשׁוּבָה?
4/20/2023 • 47 minutes, 19 seconds
What's the Meaning of Isaiah's Reference to a New Heaven & Earth? (Sumum Bonum)
Will this world come to an end? Or will it be repaired and improved ?
4/18/2023 • 38 minutes, 35 seconds
Parshas Tazria-Metzora: What is Unique About the Leprous House?
Difference between the לָשׁוֹן הָרַע of an individual, and that of a group
4/17/2023 • 25 minutes, 25 seconds
Shlomo Alami's contemporary harsh criticism of Spanish Jewry in the wake of 1391
His אִגֶּרֶת הַמּוּסָר calls a spade a spade. His assessment of the causes of the downfall of Spanish Jewry
4/16/2023 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 14 seconds
Crescas: Will the Moshiach be a Greater Prophet than Moshe?
Are we now in the fifth galus, or the first?
4/10/2023 • 32 minutes, 20 seconds
The Rambam vs Shem Tov on the Theological Significance of קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף
קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף vs מַעֲמַד הַר סִינַי
4/10/2023 • 43 minutes, 29 seconds
The Crisis in Spanish Jewry 1391-1492: The Shem Tovs and Their Differences
Fighting a two-front intellectual struggle to save Spanish Jewry-
חוּץ וּפְנִים
4/9/2023 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 41 seconds
The Abarbanel's fascinating connecting the Jewish fate in Egypt to the מְכִירַת יוֹסֵף
Abrabanel shows how various aspects of Jewish suffering in Egypt were מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה
4/3/2023 • 25 minutes, 13 seconds
Haggadah 2023: What Does It Mean, "The רשע Would Not Have Been Redeemed?" Many Were!
Despite grandiloquent claims, we still are in גָּלוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ, if you think about it intelligently
4/2/2023 • 32 minutes, 48 seconds
The colloquy between the Wise Son and his father: a Second Temple Convers
Different meanings of אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן and how it bothers the Wise Son
3/31/2023 • 42 minutes, 31 seconds
Why Davka Elijah the Prophet as the Great Reconciler? (Haftarah Shabbos HaGadol)
In Egypt too there was a problematic relationship between the slaves worshipping idols, and their Patriarchs
3/29/2023 • 31 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Tzav: The Two Types of Sin Offerings: Outer and Inner
Why does the kohen (not the sinner) eat the meat?
3/28/2023 • 31 minutes, 34 seconds
The Korban Pesach: Why is a Goat OK? For the Original Passover in Egypt?
The goat fits better with Shmuel than with Rav. It blames the slavery on us, not the Egyptians!
3/27/2023 • 21 minutes, 21 seconds
The Alshich - From the Golden Age of Safed in the 16th Century
Though a great Gaon, it was his sermons & speeches that "took-off" among the Jewish masses
3/26/2023 • 54 minutes, 10 seconds
The Four Sons historically considered
What was it like @that first Pesach if they were just the מְנוּיִים?
3/24/2023 • 37 minutes, 35 seconds
Did ALL the Jews Do the Original Korban Pesach?
The רָשָׁע actually has a good point!
3/23/2023 • 27 minutes, 27 seconds
The Great Philosopher Chasdai Crescas on תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים
What is G-d's purpose in Resurrection? What is His purpose in any miracle?
3/21/2023 • 38 minutes, 31 seconds
Haftarah Vayikrah: The Three Big Sins of the First Temple Era
a) Idolatry b.) Social Injustice c.) Neglect of sacrifices. Bringing a קרבן means giving to God. And giving something in return allows for a relationship
3/20/2023 • 27 minutes, 20 seconds
Parshas Vayikrah: Speaking to Moshe From the אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, Not From the Adjacent Mt. Sinai
The "downstairs" model replaces the "upstairs " model. Why?
3/20/2023 • 27 minutes, 55 seconds
Yeshiva Politics from Nosson HaBavli: The Extreme Formality of the Yarchei Kallah - Gaonic Gossip
A system with it's emphasis on the public manifestation of hierarchy, as reflected in differentials in seating, money and other perks
3/19/2023 • 47 minutes, 28 seconds
Ramban on Olam Habah as a New Physical World
Imagine a world without war, hatred, jealousy, exploitation. Where G-d is not a matter of faith but of knowledge!
3/16/2023 • 33 minutes, 11 seconds
Haftarah Vayakhel-Pekudei: Will Korbanos and other Mitzvos Change in the Messianic Era?
Chanaya explained our Haftarah's seeming clashes with the Chumash, but we don't have it today
3/14/2023 • 27 minutes, 45 seconds
Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei: The Human Logistics of the Fundraising Campaign (Mishkan)
Thd three month agony of Moses waiting for erecting the structure
3/13/2023 • 29 minutes, 10 seconds
A Frum Cassandra: Zorach Wahrhaftig in 1939-‘40 Lithuania
Mizrachi hatzalah activist and his role in the escape of some Litvish Jews to Japan and Shanghai
3/13/2023 • 1 hour, 32 minutes, 48 seconds
Haftarah Ki Sisa: Elijah the Religious Radical - “If you are not frum, get out of here!”
He is a forerunner of American Jewish Orthodox sociology in the late 20th century
3/9/2023 • 26 minutes, 34 seconds
Parshas Ki Sisa: The Second Tablets Contained More Than the First Tablets
After the disaster of the Golden Calf, Moshe needed more futuristic knowledge
3/9/2023 • 29 minutes, 28 seconds
Ramban's Complicated Description of Gan Eden - The One "Downstairs" and the One "Upstairs"
For 12 months, the soul of the departed צדיק "hangs-around" the downstairs Eden, which is an actual place
3/8/2023 • 29 minutes, 57 seconds
Gaonic Gossip: The Famous Description of the Inaugural Ceremonies of the Reish Galusah in Baghdad
The obsession with elaborate ceremony and protocol in Gaonic culture
3/8/2023 • 36 minutes, 40 seconds
Rabbi Katz Responds to a Mischaracterization re: a Recent Podcast
Falsely conflating the case of Saul and the Amelakites with Israelis and Palestinians
3/6/2023 • 5 minutes, 9 seconds
The 7 year Machlokes Between Saadia Gaon and the Reish Galusah - Gaonic Gossip
And the grand reconciliation on תענית אסתר. Followed by a memorable סְעוּדַת פּוּרִים
3/5/2023 • 34 minutes, 32 seconds
Gaonic Gossip from Nasan HaBavli: The Deposition of Ukvah the Reish Galusah
The famous chronicler of Yeshiva politics in the תְּקוּפַת הַגְּאוֹנִים 1000 years ago
3/3/2023 • 35 minutes, 29 seconds
How Did They Know Heaven had Confirmed Purim (קִיְּמוּ לְמַעְלָה מַה שֶׁקִּבְּלוּ לְמַטָּה)?
Did Jews sell-themselves in an effort to escape impending death?
3/2/2023 • 43 minutes, 13 seconds
Parshas Tetzaveh: The Moreh Nevuchim's Take on the Splendid Bigdei Kehunah
Overawe the masses and win them away from competing pagan temples. The masses go by externals, not by the inner (essential) realities.
3/1/2023 • 35 minutes, 1 second
Purim: Esther’s Hidden Identity
How could Esther hide her identity when she had been married to Mordecai? The brilliant effect of כָּל אֻמָּה נִדְמְתָה לָהּ כְּאֻמָּתוֹ
2/28/2023 • 34 minutes, 6 seconds
The Ramban's Detailed Description of the Sinner in Gehinnom - R’ Katz Discusses
Using mystical and (interestingly) psychological concepts to describe the suffering there
2/22/2023 • 25 minutes, 41 seconds
Haftarah Terumah: Shlomo's Corvee was the Fulfillment of the Warning of שְׁמוּאֵל הַנָּבִיא
Was it really wise for Shlomo to have close (even if transactional) relations with Tyre?
2/21/2023 • 26 minutes, 39 seconds
When was the Mishkan Commanded? During the First 40 days, or During the Third 40 days?
If the latter, when exactly during the third set of 40 days? The significance of this issue.
2/21/2023 • 25 minutes
The Controversial but Popular מַסֶּכֶת פּוּרִים (Venice 1552) from the Genazym
Auction this Sunday, Feb. 26th. R’ Katz also discusses Purim Parody, in general.
2/20/2023 • 38 minutes, 53 seconds
Sherira Gaon and Jewish Politics in 10th Century Babylonia
The fights to keep the Gaonic yeshiva alive in the face of economic hardships and personality-clashes
2/20/2023 • 57 minutes, 56 seconds
Haftarah Shekalim: Why Didn't the King Just Raise the Money for the Temple by Appealing to the Public?
The synagogue vs. the house minyan: בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ vs. בָּמוֹת
2/17/2023 • 28 minutes, 59 seconds
Nahmanides on Gehinnom - Sinners Do Actually Burn in a Certain Kind of Fire. It's Not an Allegory
There's an intermediate state of existence between the physical and the metaphysical, as evidenced by the soul being inside a specific body
2/16/2023 • 30 minutes, 45 seconds
A יְרוּשַׁלְמִי שְׁקָלִים from the Famous Bomberg ש"ס of the 1520s - For Sale at Genazym
From the original edition of the בַּבְלִי וִירוּשַׁלְמִי in Renaissance Venice, with its strange history
2/16/2023 • 53 minutes, 6 seconds
The unscrupulous "richie-riches" free the Hebrew slaves whom they have held too long
But discover they are addicted to the slavery-system and forcibly repossess them, engraging Hashem
2/15/2023 • 28 minutes, 20 seconds
The connection between the מִשְׁפָּטִים and the Yisro incident
Who gets the better of whom? The lender or the borrower who becomes an עֶבֶד עִבְרִי?
2/13/2023 • 31 minutes, 3 seconds
R’ Judah Mintz (1405 -1508), Who Turned Padua into the "Lakewood " of Italy
Famous for his responsa, and for his controversies over halachic matters
2/13/2023 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 57 seconds
Ramban's Theory of the Sumum Bonum
Differs from the view of Maimonides. Olam Haba will occur here on physical earth
2/10/2023 • 33 minutes, 19 seconds
Isaiah's Vision of G-d Seated on a Throne etc. Subjective Reality vs. Objective Reality
Stubbornness is a great crime in spirituality
2/8/2023 • 30 minutes, 51 seconds
Chaim Grade (1910-1982): Some Thoughts About the Yiddish Novelist
A brilliant novelist who consistently "bet on the wrong horse." Atheist who learned with the Chazon Ish.
2/8/2023 • 1 hour, 26 seconds
What exactly did Yisro mean that Moshe should be מוּל הָאֱלֹהִים ?
What is the meaning of נָבוֹל תִּבֹּל?
2/6/2023 • 33 minutes, 43 seconds
Eliyahu HaBachur HaAshkenazi (1470-1549)
Author of famous grammar works, but also of the original "Bava Maaseh"
אֵלִיָּהוּ בָּחוּר הָאַשְׁכְּנַזִּי הֲכִי גָּדוֹל בְּדִקְדּוּק
2/6/2023 • 1 hour, 11 minutes, 23 seconds
The Aftermath of the Maimonidean Controversies, Lecture 7 of 7
From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2022 Lecture Series, “Fundamental Disagreement:
The Maimonidean Controversies
Of the Middle Ages”
2/6/2023 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 17 seconds
Rambam on Resurrection (which is not part of nature)
Vs. עוֹלָם הַבָּא (which is indeed part of the natural world)
2/1/2023 • 31 minutes, 39 seconds
Haftarah Beshalach: How is the Story of Pharaoh Similar to That of Sisera?
Was Barak right not to care about his personal glory?
2/1/2023 • 35 minutes
Parshas Beshalach: The Complaints Against Moshe's Leadership - "Heading the Wrong Way!"
You have already killed most of us!
1/30/2023 • 26 minutes, 34 seconds
R’ Moshe Alashkar: One of the Greatest Sefardi Gedolim Who Left Spain in 1492
And wrote authoritative responsa. Champion of a.) Maimonides and b.) עֲגו ּנוֹת
1/30/2023 • 1 hour, 21 seconds
Did Abraham and Sarah Actually Exist? The Fight over Philosophical Homiletics (Part 6 of 7)
From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2021 Lecture Series - Fundamental Disagreement:
The Maimonidean Controversies
Of the Middle Ages
1/27/2023 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 32 seconds
Parshas Bo: Why Does Moshe Deviate from His Instructions?
G-d told him to tell the whole people to shecht, but he decided to tell just the elders
1/26/2023 • 25 minutes, 21 seconds
Rambam vs. Raavad and Others on the Difference Between תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים וְעוֹלָם הַבָּא
Rambam's testy reply to his critics: אִגֶּרֶת תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים
1/24/2023 • 31 minutes, 39 seconds
Jews Burning Books? (Part II) The Controversy in Montpelier and the Aftermath
Fundamental Disagreement:
The Maimonidean Controversies
Of the Middle (Part 5 of 7)
1/22/2023 • 1 hour, 23 minutes, 14 seconds
Moses Mendelssohn, Part 3
The controversial but complex legacy in an era that doesn't like complexities
1/22/2023 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 59 seconds
Moses Mendelssohn, Part 2
Stay tuned for part 3, the final episode
1/19/2023 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 52 seconds
Jews Burning Books? The Controversy in Montpelier
From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2021 Lecture Series - Fundamental Disagreement:
The Maimonidean Controversies
Of the Middle Ages (Part 4 of 7)
1/18/2023 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 4 seconds
Haftarah VaEra: Egypt will Suffer a Nuclear Holocaust and will be Empty for 40 Years
But then will have a "שִׁיבַת מִצְרַיִם." The restored Egypt will, however, be a degraded, not a great, power
1/17/2023 • 28 minutes, 10 seconds
Parshas VaEra: The Role of Aaron in the Exodus Story - Negotiator with the Egyptians, acc. to Rashi
What arguments would an Aaron have offered Pharaoh to persuade him?
1/17/2023 • 26 minutes, 54 seconds
Parshas Shmos: The Individual Unique Experience of G-d vs. the Common Joint Experience
Published same year as נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים , but in a different style, though same message
12/12/2022 • 56 minutes, 8 seconds
The view of שְׁלֹמֹה אִבְּן גַּבִּירוֹל מִסְּפָרַד on the nature of שְׂכַר וְעֹנֶשׁ
A remarkable passage in his poetic masterpiece כֶּתֶר מַלְכוּת
12/9/2022 • 22 minutes, 12 seconds
Rabbi Katz's Israel Trip is a Month Away!
RabbiKatz describes the packed-week that will be his Jewish History tour of Israel
12/7/2022 • 6 minutes, 56 seconds
Sefer Yosippon: A Historical Classic NOT Identical With the Books of Flavius Josephus!
A classic סֵפֶר once found in every intelligent Jewish home, including leading רִאשׁוֹנִים and אַחֲרוֹנִים. Where Jews once learned the stories of Chanukah and Tisha B'Av.
12/7/2022 • 42 minutes, 17 seconds
Parshas VaYishlach: Esav Felt Cheated, but Didn't Allow that to Define His Life - He Built His Own
It is יַעֲקֹב who is still obsessed with the deception. Not עֵשָׂו!
12/5/2022 • 23 minutes
R’ Dovid Kimchi, the Radak (1260-1335) as Grammarian - The World of דקדוק
Not so much a מְחַדֵּשׁ, but a brilliant מְחַנֵּךְ. Taught דקדוק to generations of Jews & gentiles
12/5/2022 • 54 minutes, 57 seconds
R' Hai Gaon: Aspects of His Messianic Theology
Mainly about the messianic process, not what comes afterwards
12/2/2022 • 26 minutes, 46 seconds
Haftarah VaYetzei: The Prophet Hosea Analyzes the Faults of Shevet Ephraim, Particularly Their Resentment of David
The Ephraimites are angry at the דַּרְכֵי הַשֵּׁם, ever since Rachel's being displaced by Leah
12/2/2022 • 31 minutes, 50 seconds
The Shechita Book of R' Yaakov Weil (15th century) - One of the Most Popular Books in Jewish History
Reprinted 150 times. Dozens of commentaries. Taken to heart by Ahkenazic Jewry.
12/1/2022 • 52 minutes, 45 seconds
R’ Yehoshua of Cracow (1578-1648): The Original פְּנֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ
First he learned the Gemara by itself, and he was always מְכַוֵּן לְפֵרוּשׁ רַשִׁ"י. Hence his מְגִנֵּי שְׁלֹמֹה
11/30/2022 • 49 minutes, 9 seconds
Parshas VaYeitzei: Why did Yaakov Kiss Rachel? Why did He Cry?
The Patriarchs lived in a time when they could occasionally "break" rules - נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים
11/29/2022 • 36 minutes, 11 seconds
The 5th of Kislev - A Fast Day?
Yehoyakim and his shocking act of burning דְּבַר הַשֵּׁם to toast hot dogs
11/28/2022 • 44 minutes, 52 seconds
R’ Baruch Schick (1744-1808): A Maskil of the Type Approved by the Gra
Can you know הֲלָכָה of you're ignorant of science and technology?
11/25/2022 • 50 minutes, 42 seconds
Malachi Blasts the Schmoozers & Boozers in Shul. What's the Problem with Jews & Davening, Anyway?
Aaron was able to be מְקָרֵב sinners only because בְּשָׁלוֹם וּבְמִישׁוֹר הָלַךְ. No hypocrisy
11/25/2022 • 28 minutes, 58 seconds
Saadia Gaon's Version the Messianic Process - Two Alternative Scenarios
The proper way to stitch - together the various verses into a coherent narrative. From Saadia's סֵפֶר אֱמוּנוֹת וְדֵעוֹת
11/24/2022 • 41 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Toldos: Why was it Predestined That in This Family, the Siblings Should Not Get Along?
The Abarnanel on the mindset of Isaac. נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים on that of Jacob
11/22/2022 • 42 minutes, 12 seconds
R’ Avraham ben HaGra: A Great Talmid Chacham But Also Interested in"Kosher Haskalah"
His Hebrew Geography book and his pioneering systematic study of the phenomenon of Midrashic literature
A great Gaon deposed by his own community (Damascus). A tale of the Sephardic Rabbinic elites
10/31/2022 • 1 hour, 8 minutes, 46 seconds
R Ovadia Yosef and Edmund Burke
Rabbinical politics (in both sense of the term)
10/31/2022 • 53 minutes, 18 seconds
Isaiah Compares the Assyrian Holocaust to a Biblical Flood
"No more floods! No more Holocausts!"
10/23/2022 • 30 minutes, 15 seconds
The Flood - Who Won in the End G-d or the Snake? (Parshas Noach)
Why did Noah take the snake on the Ark? Would you?
10/23/2022 • 29 minutes, 2 seconds
Is על הצדיקים a ברכה composed AFTER the preceding paragraph ( ולמלשינים )? Why the גירי הצדק?
What's with the second half re: בִּטָּחוֹן בִּגְאֻלַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל ?
10/21/2022 • 33 minutes, 17 seconds
The Texts Debated at the Medieval Disputations Between Christians & Jews from Isaiah 42
How exactly are we Jews supposed to be a בְּרִית עִם וְאוֹר גּוֹיִים ?
10/19/2022 • 38 minutes, 57 seconds
Parshas Bereishis: Is It the Snake or the Yetzer Hara?
What's the meaning of the Divine mandate that man and "snake" will attack each other's head & heels?
10/19/2022 • 36 minutes, 15 seconds
Hoshana Rabbah 1946 (0ctober 16, 1946) When They Hanged the Nazi War Criminals
בַּאֲבוֹד רְשָׁעִים רִנָּה
10/16/2022 • 2 minutes, 45 seconds
Hoshana Rabbah’s Historical Development
Does הֻשְׁעֲנָה רַבָּה mean "the day of the willows?" Or "the day of the salvation"?
10/14/2022 • 35 minutes, 44 seconds
The shaking of the lulav in six directions. What does it mean?
A 21st century original interpretation
10/13/2022 • 28 minutes, 36 seconds
Isaac Leeser, Rabbi Rice, and the Esrogim Controversy of 1847 - A Slice of American Jewish History
The Reform Rabbi who claimed to be more observant on Sukkos than the Gaon Rabbi Rice
10/13/2022 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 25 seconds
The קְטֹרֶת vs. the אַרְבָּעָה מִינִים: Two Different Models of Jewish אַחְדוּת
There's a difference between having no טַעַם וְרֵיחַ, and having a bad טַעַם וְרֵיחַ!
10/9/2022 • 33 minutes, 13 seconds
The "sicknesses" that are the subject of בִּרְכַּת "רְפָאֵנוּ" בִּשְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה
What are the "מַכּוֹת" you pray to be saved from ( if you daven אַשְׁכְּנַז)?
10/7/2022 • 35 minutes, 47 seconds
The Intermediate Days Between Yom Kippur and Sukkos in Light of Parshas Haazinu - An Analysis
What day is REALLY the רִאשׁוֹן לְחֶשְׁבּוֹן עֲווֹנוֹת?
10/7/2022 • 34 minutes, 6 seconds
Sukkos - Two Different Experiences: The Communally Shared? Or the Individual Family History?
עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד אוֹ סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ? -Which is it
10/6/2022 • 37 minutes, 3 seconds
Haftarah Haazinu: Isaiah "Calls Out" the Repugnant "Frum-Capitalist Fast".
Worry less about your ritual עִנּוּיִים, and more about the actual daily עִנּוּיִים of the poor and the downtrodden
10/3/2022 • 35 minutes, 45 seconds
Parshas Haazinu: Did receiveing the Torah leave Moshe physically and psychologically spent?
Is wealth and ease dangerous to Jews and Judaism? Chazal thought so
10/3/2022 • 33 minutes, 32 seconds
Jewish Disunity: Do We Mourn it or Just Accept it Like the Air?
Analyzing Modern Jewish History in Terms of the Centrifugal vs. Centripetal Tendencies
10/3/2022 • 46 minutes, 8 seconds
The Difference Between Yom Kippur in the Biblical Era, and Afterwards
If four of the עִנּוּיִים are rabbinic, when were they legislated, and why?
10/2/2022 • 35 minutes, 26 seconds
Hashiveinu HaShem- A Mystical Prayer, or a Rational One?
תְּשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה - that's tough!!
9/29/2022 • 28 minutes, 3 seconds
Parshas VaYelech: G-d Tells Moshe It Will All Fall Apart After He Dies
Problem -solving vs. the"Blame-Game"
9/29/2022 • 29 minutes, 10 seconds
Three Women and the Prayers on Rosh Hashanah
Is it 100 shofar blasts for Mrs. Sisera? Or is it for שָׂרָה אִמֵּנוּ ?
9/25/2022 • 41 minutes, 4 seconds
Isaiah's Graphic Metaphors of the Messianic Era (Haftarah Nitzavim)
"Physical-Union" in the political sense and in the theological
9/23/2022 • 29 minutes, 58 seconds
Parshas Nitzavim: What Exactly are the נִסְתָּרוֹת וְהַנִּגְלוֹת? The Approach of Gersonides
Can one successfully raise his kids to be Jewish metaphycisists?
9/23/2022 • 33 minutes, 51 seconds
Psalm 27 (לְדָוִד הַשֵּׁם אוֹרִי) as a Mystical Plea for Ecstatic רוּחָנִיּוּת
A plea to enter the פַּרְדֵּס and not be harmed. The fruits of Torahdige meditation!
9/22/2022 • 33 minutes, 31 seconds
Was Shofar Blowing Moved to Before Mussaf to Accommodate the Marannos?
Is the person in the Mishna walking by the shul during shofar blowing an apostate seeking his brethren?
9/20/2022 • 47 minutes, 49 seconds
The British Empire: R’ Katz Analyzes its Rapid Rise and Rapid Fall in Relation to Klal Yisroel
The Empire accomplished a תַּפְקִיד and then disappeared
9/19/2022 • 45 minutes, 37 seconds
Another Tale from Old Baltimore: Henry P. Cohn and the " Yaldei Teheran" Scandal (1943)
The Agudah made such a stink, the Zionists subsequently left frum Ashkenaz Jews alone
9/19/2022 • 57 minutes, 16 seconds
Before Elizabeth II: The Most Famous Eulogy for a Queen in Rabbinic Literature
The Noda BiYehudah's remarkable hesped for the (antisemitic) Empress Maria Theresa
9/15/2022 • 59 minutes, 56 seconds
What Will be the Role of the Gentiles in the Messianic Era? (Haftarah Ki Savo)
If the messiah came tomorrow, would the non-frum want to move to Israel and become observant?
9/14/2022 • 31 minutes, 13 seconds
The Real Reason G-d, Not the Jews, Buried Moses
Parshas Ki Savo and the Spanish Inquisition
9/14/2022 • 37 minutes, 19 seconds
Wanting to Repent but Addicted to a Sin - The Curved Shofar
טוֹבֵל וְשֶׁרֶץ בְּיָדוֹ is also a madreiga!
9/13/2022 • 27 minutes, 37 seconds
Nathan Adler Sr. and Rabbi Shimon Schwab: A Baltimore Story
The beginnings of the move to the right in Baltimore Orthodox Jewry
9/11/2022 • 1 hour, 28 minutes, 54 seconds
Is the Davening on the High Holidays Communal or Individualistic?
The בַּעַל מְחַבֵּר שׁוּ"ת תְּשׁוּבָה מֵאַהֲבָה criticizes cantors & choirs
9/9/2022 • 38 minutes, 22 seconds
Isaiah Discusses the SHAME of Galus (Haftarah Ki-Seitzei)
Some hunker-down and don't feel the contempt leveled against us. Others work to end Jewish statelessness
9/8/2022 • 34 minutes, 27 seconds
Luzzatto's מַאֲמָר עַל הָאַגָּדוֹת: Knowing the Decoding "Grid"
Luzzatto's unique history of the תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה (Oral Law)
9/7/2022 • 40 minutes, 24 seconds
How Could the Jews Back a בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה ( Absalom) as King? (Parshas Ki Seitzei)
What if a king's mother is a גִּיּוֹרֶת צֶדֶק? Would that matter?
9/5/2022 • 38 minutes, 2 seconds
The Very Unusual History of Prusbul: According to the Historical Reconstruction of Rabbeinu Tam
Hillel crafted the Prusbul, but put it "in the freezer" to be implemented a century later!!
9/4/2022 • 47 minutes, 16 seconds
Isaac Leeser (1806-1868): A Noble but Tragic Figure in American Orthodox Judaism in the 19th Century
Rabbi Katz analyzes the Leeser Bible, the first English translation in America
9/2/2022 • 1 hour, 50 seconds
The Oldest (?) paragraph of the Shmoneh Esrei: הָשִׁיבָה שׁוֹפְטֵינוּ כְּבָרִאשׁוֹנָה
"Save us from depression and anxiety"
9/1/2022 • 28 minutes, 56 seconds
Thoughts About Russia and the Jews - Occasioned by the Death of Gorbachev
Gorbachev -a textbook case of לֵב שָׂרִים בְּיַד הַשֵּׁם
8/31/2022 • 52 minutes, 56 seconds
The Machzor Bnai Roma: One of the Oldest נֻסְחָאוֹת , Now in Danger
The fascinating competition between Bavel and medieval Eretz Yisroel for primacy
8/31/2022 • 35 minutes, 55 seconds
The Role of the Gentiles in the Messianic Process (Haftarah Shoftim)
What is the meaning of לֹא בְּחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ?
8/30/2022 • 27 minutes, 36 seconds
Parshas Shoftim: The Strange Attraction Egypt Exercises on Jews
Moses' warning re: Egypt right-after the Jews had followed a "king" back to Egypt
8/29/2022 • 34 minutes, 36 seconds
R' Zundel Salant: The Hero of R' Yisroel Salanter & the Mussarists, a Highly-Original Person
Clark Kent until his fifties, then Superman
8/28/2022 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 31 seconds
Jewish Courts in Christian Europe: The Age of the Rishonim
From Rabbi Katz' Three Weeks Lecture Series 2022 – From Bavel to Barcelona and Fez to Frankfurt: The Powers of Jewish Courts Throughout the Diaspora 2/6
8/28/2022 • 1 hour, 20 minutes, 56 seconds
The Takanos of Frankfurt of 1603 and the Mesirah That Almost Led to Disaster
The old-model of trying to reform Jewish misbehaviour by top-down rabbinical legislation
8/25/2022 • 46 minutes, 6 seconds
R Yosef Albo (1380-1444): His Sefer HaIkarim is Among the Most Popular Books of Religious Philosophy
Written at a time when Judaism in Spain was under terrible attacks by the Church
8/25/2022 • 1 hour, 42 seconds
No מַחְלֹקֶת When You are Taught Directly by G-d
In the Messianic Era, will there be big-givers with "dirty-money"?
8/24/2022 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
The Debate re: בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַיי in the Context of a Dysfunctional Family
Erasing memory -a two-way street
8/24/2022 • 31 minutes, 17 seconds
The Great Mussarist R' Aharon Yosef Bakst: An Episode (and Conflicting Versions of It)
Two "Alters" and their different "yeshivish" educational philosophies and styles
8/23/2022 • 51 minutes, 1 second
"V'Kabtzeinu Yachad-" How Exactly is That Supposed to Play Out?
Could "wokeness" be the תְּקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל ?
8/21/2022 • 27 minutes, 32 seconds
Isaiah the "Novardoker"
Will Israel be physically narrow, or culturally narrow?
8/17/2022 • 26 minutes, 52 seconds
Who was the Leader the Jews Chose to Lead Them Back to Egypt in the Last Year of Moses' Life?
The Netziv on the different styles of פְּסַק of Moses and Aaron
8/17/2022 • 36 minutes, 34 seconds
Praying for Help with Depression: The עִנּוּי in רְאֵה בְּעָנְיֵנוּ
You can't pray for an end to national galus if you're trapped in emotional pain
8/16/2022 • 28 minutes, 14 seconds
Rav Hirschprung's Realistic Holocaust Memoir
His fascinating description of Hasidim and Litvaks in 1940
8/15/2022 • 51 minutes, 59 seconds
Jewish Courts in the Islamic World: The Problem of the Impenetrable
From the Three Weeks Lecture Series, Summer ‘22 – From Bavel to Barcelona and Fez to Frankfurt: The Powers of Jewish Courts Throughout the Diaspora, Part 1 of 6
8/14/2022 • 1 hour, 23 minutes, 23 seconds
The Meaning of the גְּאֻלָּה in בִּרְכַּת "רְאֵה נָא בְּעָנְיֵנוּ"
Not national redemption from exile, but physical security from ever-present toxic antisemitism
8/11/2022 • 29 minutes, 21 seconds
Why does Isaiah have to COMMAND the Jews to be comforted?
Does God punish sinners because He is angry?
8/10/2022 • 24 minutes, 55 seconds
The Attempts of the Tzfas Beis Din of R' Yosef Karo to Exercise the Authority of a Sanhedrin from Afar
Some thoughts...
8/9/2022 • 28 minutes, 18 seconds
What is the Significance of מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר as the Place Moses Repeated the 10 Commandments? (Parshas VaEschanan)
The סֵפֶר עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק on Christianity and Islam and the Jews
8/8/2022 • 38 minutes, 23 seconds
Rabbi Katz's schedule on תשעה באב
Ladies class Sunday at 2:00 at Rabbi Katz's shul
8/5/2022 • 1 minute
Tisha B'Av - The Historical Interpretations of יַעֲרוֹת דְּבַשׁ וְהַמֶּשֶׁךְ חֲכָמָה
Hyrcanus vs. Aristobulus: the original שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם that led to the Destruction
8/5/2022 • 50 minutes, 31 seconds
A Human Tale re: טומאת הכהנים in the 18th Century
A tale of הָרָאָבָ"ד ,הַחַתַּם סוֹפֵר ,הַנּוֹדָע בִּיהוּדָה ,וְרַב נָתָן אַדְלֶר
8/5/2022 • 43 minutes, 28 seconds
Why Did the שְׁכִינָה Depart? Why Do You Think It Will Return With the Way We Act?
If the Temple was rebuilt tomorrow, would it last, in the present state of Jewish conduct?
8/4/2022 • 31 minutes, 45 seconds
R’ Elchanan Wasserman: Aspects of Who He Was
Why was he "into" Kant?
8/3/2022 • 1 hour, 14 minutes, 34 seconds
Haftarah Shabbos Chazon: When Exactly was This Prophecy Uttered?
The ritual reforms of Hezekiah were meaningless because they weren't accompanied by social reform
8/2/2022 • 31 minutes, 50 seconds
Parshas Devarim: The Strange Story of the Invasion Og's Kingdom
After killing Sichon, why did they proceed north, not west?
8/1/2022 • 36 minutes, 12 seconds
Sefardim and Ashkenazim - Some Thoughts
Which one was regarded as superior - which century?
7/31/2022 • 37 minutes, 29 seconds
Jeremiah blasts the Rosh Yeshivas (Haftarah Matos-Maasei)
"They know how to learn, but they don't know ME!"
7/28/2022 • 26 minutes, 47 seconds
Parshas Matos-Maasei: The Massacre of the Women and Children
Did the Jewish soldiers marry the Midianite girls?
7/27/2022 • 30 minutes, 44 seconds
Rabbi Katz's Schedule in Teaneck this Shabbos
Two recent lecture series are now on YouTube
7/26/2022 • 2 minutes, 52 seconds
A Broad Review of Classic Frum Historiography
What were the classic "history seforim" read by our ancestors?
7/26/2022 • 35 minutes, 40 seconds
The Parts of the שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה Dealing With Aspects of a Future Utopia
What are you davening for, exactly, during The Three Weeks?
7/25/2022 • 32 minutes, 53 seconds
History of the Jews of Galicia, Pt. 3
Rabbi Katz’ Lecture Series on Galician Jewry (Part 3of 6)
7/22/2022 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 20 seconds
The Famous Piyut for This Shabbos, by the Buddy of רגמ"ה, רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן הַגָּדוֹל מִמַּגֶנְצׇה
"אֶל אֵל חַי אֲרַנֵּן"- Relentless pressure by the Catholics on the Jews to convert
7/22/2022 • 29 minutes, 42 seconds
Haftarah Pinchas: The Significance of the 13th Year of the Reign of Josiah
Why is G-d telling Jeremiah what is going to happen politically 40 years from now?
7/20/2022 • 22 minutes, 28 seconds
Parshas Pinchas: After 40 years of Miracles Etc., the Jews Came This-Close to Extermination...
What is the scary implication of the בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב story?
7/20/2022 • 28 minutes, 9 seconds
R’ Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886) Mr. קִצּוּר שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ . The "Goldilocks" Law Code
Author of what may be the most often republished sefer of all time
7/20/2022 • 57 minutes, 38 seconds
R’ Yosef Kapach (1917-2000): The Most Famous Yemenite Scholar of Modern Times
You're not a "player" if you don't have the "Kapach Edition" of Rishonim
7/17/2022 • 46 minutes, 50 seconds
שִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּתַמּוּז : The Military Facts
The details of the Roman siege
7/15/2022 • 30 minutes, 7 seconds
On Bastille Day (July 14th), R’ Katz Analyzes the Effect of the French Revolution on the Jews
The contrast between the American Revolution and the French re: what was demanded from the Jews as the price of equality
7/15/2022 • 35 minutes, 26 seconds
A קִינָה of the Ibn Ezra on the Almohad Massacres of the Jews in Spain and Morocco
In the era the Ashkenaz had the Crusades, the Sefardim had the Almohad persecutions
7/14/2022 • 28 minutes, 57 seconds
Famous Jewish Historians: Simcha Assaf - Saturday Night Lecture Series
Simcha Asaf. Part 6/7 series.
7/13/2022 • 1 hour, 33 minutes, 30 seconds
Haftarah Balak: The Jews as Pillars of Ingratitude
Don't insult and then compensate with a check!
7/13/2022 • 34 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Balak: In Hiring Bilaam, was Balak Confusing Cause and Effect?
Monotheism is not identical with the special אַהֲבַת הַשֵּׁם לִכְלַל יִשְׂ רָאֵל
7/12/2022 • 33 minutes, 17 seconds
Rabbi Ruderman: A Sociological Consideration, in Light of the Approach of R’ Yisroel Salanter
The role of a yeshiva in creating a new demography
Last of the Italian gedolim. Gave it to Napoleon straight
1/30/2022 • 1 hour, 34 minutes, 11 seconds
Is Shabbos Only for Jews or is There a Part of It That Applies to Gentiles? (Parshas Mishpatim)
A gentile may not be שׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת, but he should be זוֹכֵר שַׁבָּת
1/27/2022 • 32 minutes, 10 seconds
Chronology and the Torah: The Narration Our Parshas MIshpatim and the Debate About Whether It is in Chronological Order
What did Moses write down and read to the people after the Ten Commandments?
1/26/2022 • 33 minutes, 50 seconds
Yishtabach: When did Hashem Choose Shirei Zimrah? (Tefillah)
"הַבּוֹחֵר בְּשִׁירֵי זִמְרָה" - Why was there no music in the Mishkan?
1/25/2022 • 21 minutes, 7 seconds
Jeremiah Persuades Them to Free the Hebrew Slaves, But They Change Their Minds (Haftarah Mishpatim)
The master too is enslaved to the system of slavery
1/24/2022 • 26 minutes, 28 seconds
The 23rd of Shvat: Anniversary of the פִּילֶגֶשׁ בְּגִבְעָה Tragedy
The day the Tribes asked Benjamin for justice and received a negative reply
1/24/2022 • 37 minutes, 24 seconds
The Pri Chadash (1659-1698): "רַב חִזְקִיָּה דִּי סִילְבָה הַ"פְּרִי חָדָשׁ
The גדול who called it as he saw it, let the chips fall where they may
1/23/2022 • 1 hour, 38 minutes, 47 seconds
The Ten Commandments in Jewish Liturgy - Two Conflicting Dynamics
Is it proper to have the Ten Commandments on the ארון קודש or the פרוכת?
1/20/2022 • 35 minutes, 4 seconds
Isaiah and the Curse of Toxic Discourse (Haftarah Yisro)
How were Isaiah's lips טָמֵא?
1/18/2022 • 33 minutes, 34 seconds
The History of Jewish Political (Coercive) Communities: The 150 Year Hiatus and Its Consequences
Can fair coercive structures be established in our times in the frum world? Should they?
1/18/2022 • 55 minutes, 4 seconds
Is Unity More Important Than Mitzvah-Observance? (Parshas Yisro)
Was the Torah originally supposed to be given on the Egyptian border?
1/17/2022 • 33 minutes, 22 seconds
Tefilin: Its Historical Context and Why it’s Integral to Tefilah?
What does it mean that Tefilin represents יחודו ואחדותו?
1/13/2022 • 27 minutes, 27 seconds
The Water Problem in the Desert: Why Didn’t HaShem Just Make it Rain Every Day Over the Jewish camp?
Was it a well? Or was it a "river" generated by the rock G-d "stood on"? A difficult story.
1/13/2022 • 30 minutes
Was Deborah a Member of the Sanhedrin? Or a Sought-After Arbitrator? (Haftarah Beshalach)
Was Yael forbidden to her husband after her involvement with Sisera?
1/11/2022 • 34 minutes, 54 seconds
Moses the Rhetorician (Parshas Beshalach)
Why was it necessary to publicly respect that jerk Pharaoh?
1/10/2022 • 33 minutes, 48 seconds
The Rescue of the Belzer Rav in the Holocaust…Some Thoughts
Was there a Divinely Mandated failure of leadership? Sort of like with Pharaoh?
1/9/2022 • 51 minutes, 52 seconds
The Events of the 2nd of Shvat
The original ולמלשינים was against the Saducees
1/6/2022 • 35 minutes, 43 seconds
Jeremiah on the Invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Haftarah Bo)
Those who fled Israel for Egypt ran from the frying pan into the fire
1/4/2022 • 32 minutes
Professor Kotsuji (1899-1974): A Ger Tzedek Who was in the Right Place at the Right Time
From Shinto to Christianity to Holocaust prevention to geirus
1/3/2022 • 1 hour, 7 minutes, 48 seconds
Parshas Bo: Moshe was Relentlessly Recruited for His Suffering When Other Jews Suffered
Why did Moshe care about Pharaoh's math-science freaks with their atomic watches?
1/3/2022 • 32 minutes, 23 seconds
הַדְרָן הִיסְטוֹרִית עַל יְרוּשַׁלְמִי בֵּיצָה
Rabbi Katz' Siyum and speech on Maseches Beitzah (Yerushalmi) on the occasion of the Yahrtzeit of his father
1/3/2022 • 46 minutes, 3 seconds
Teshuvah and the Chaim Walder Scandal
Sometimes the חילונים get it right and the frum don't
12/30/2021 • 23 minutes, 36 seconds
Pharaoh as the Crocodile in the Desert, the Ultimate "Fish Out of Water" (Haftarah VaEra)
Ezekiel predicts the coming fall of Pharaonic Egypt, which indeed happened!
12/29/2021 • 30 minutes, 18 seconds
Jews and Real-Estate in Egypt, Pt. II: Who? How?
Was it just שֵׁבֶט לֵוִי who were excused from servitude, or were there other tribes too?
12/28/2021 • 33 minutes, 42 seconds
Rabbi David Nieto (1654-1728): Semicha, a PhD, an MD, and the Hakham of the Spanish Portuguese Community in London During the 18th Century
Defender of the Faith against Deists, Sabbateans, Spinozists, and sham-artists
12/26/2021 • 1 hour, 49 minutes, 3 seconds
The Famous Sefer Abudarham: The Greatest Work on Jewish Prayer in History
The first "Artscroll Siddur," only better. Written in 1340 in Spain.
12/22/2021 • 30 minutes, 39 seconds
"Shaking-Up" of the Middle East in the Messianic Era - What Does the Prophet Mean? (Haftarah Shmos)
Why are those in Assyria "lost," and those in Egypt "Bewildered/ Dejected"?
12/22/2021 • 29 minutes, 45 seconds
Parshas Shmos: Did the Jews Cause Their Enslavement By Their Real-Estate Tactics?
It seems enslavement was resorted to only when other options failed.
12/20/2021 • 32 minutes, 6 seconds
Joseph Shlomo Delmedigo, the “Yashar MiKandia” (1590-1655)
Was he pro-Kabbalah or anti?
Student of the Ari”zal and Galileo
12/19/2021 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 27 seconds
Rabbi Katz's Schedule This Shabbos in Lawrence, NY
Three talks: Friday night, Shabbos afternoon (women) and שלוש סעודות
12/16/2021 • 2 minutes, 41 seconds
Tefilah Translations: Tefilah Had Always Existed in Two Tracks
Famous translations and little-known but meaningful translations. Hebrew is not for everyone!
12/16/2021 • 31 minutes, 33 seconds
How Old is Shlomo in this Haftorah? 12? 20? (Haftarah VaYechi)
Is David telling him to stay frum for theological reasons, or political reasons?
12/15/2021 • 33 minutes, 41 seconds
Parshas VaYechi: Did Yaakov Give Shechem to the Descendants of Prince Shechem?
Is Dinah present in this parsha?
12/14/2021 • 30 minutes, 55 seconds
The Jews of Djerba, Tunisia - A Community Still in Existence and All Shomrei Shabbos
How did this community resist the westernization campaigns that turned the other Tunisian Jews irreligious? Sponsored by Djerba’s Jewish school, Torah VeHinouch, as part of today’s fundraising campaign. If you would like to donate, click this link https://campaigns.causematch.com/tov/19859
12/12/2021 • 37 minutes, 36 seconds
The Shelah: The Gilded Career of R’ Yeshaya Horowitz (1558-1630)
Gadol, אב"ד, Rosh Yeshiva, Mekubal, Oleh, Millionaire, author of the most famous hashkafah work of the 17th century.
12/10/2021 • 59 minutes, 52 seconds
The Prophecy of the Two Sticks: The Two Charismatic Brothers (Haftarah VaYigash)
Why two messiahs?
12/9/2021 • 27 minutes, 53 seconds
עֲשָׂרָה בְּטֵבֵת: The Famous Selichah About the 3 Tragedies in 3 days
Did חז"ל decree a fast because the Jews in Egypt had declared a holiday?
12/8/2021 • 37 minutes, 17 seconds
Parshas VaYigash: Why Present a Whole Story on How Joseph Bought Up All the Real-Estate?
And, why didn't the brothers return to Canaan when the famine ended?
12/7/2021 • 30 minutes, 36 seconds
The Day After Chanukah - What Happened?
Judah Maccabee's amazing "Entebbe" rescue campaign. Arab pogromists vs. Maccabeean veterans.
12/6/2021 • 37 minutes, 54 seconds
How Old is the Practice of Lighting Chanukah Candles? Did it Come Later?
Two theories about when חז"ל instituted הַדְלָקַת נֵרוֹת חֲנֻכָּה in addition to הִלֵּל וְהוֹדָאָה
12/3/2021 • 28 minutes, 49 seconds
הִדְלִיקוּ נֵרוֹת בְּחַצְרוֹת קָדְשֶׁךָ: Huh?
Two remarkable suggestions by the Chasam Sofer
12/3/2021 • 38 minutes, 4 seconds
The Vision of Zechariah and How It Impacted the Maccabean Revolt (Haftarah Shabbos Chanukah)
An ingenious version of the Chanukah narrative (especially חָנוּ כ"ה) by the Chasam Sofer
12/1/2021 • 29 minutes, 27 seconds
Joseph's Economic Plan: Did G-d Tell Him or Did He Come Up With It on the Spot? (Parshas Mikeitz)
Who is revealed as "blind"? The father by favoritism, or the brothers by hate?
11/29/2021 • 34 minutes, 33 seconds
The Untold Story of Chanukah
A speech delivered by Rabbi Dovid Katz in 1994 which goes into the history of Chanukah, in detail
11/29/2021 • 1 hour, 58 minutes, 11 seconds
The Other חנוכה: Inaugurating the Second Temple on the 25th of Kislev (from חגי הנביא)
How did they physically manipulate those פְּשׁוּטֵי כְּלֵי עֵץ?
11/28/2021 • 38 minutes, 35 seconds
Was עַל הַנִּסִּים Composed as an Anti-Karaite Polemic? (Tefillah)
As a history, עַל הַנִּסִּים follows The First Book of Maccabees. Who exactly are the טְמֵאִים?
11/26/2021 • 29 minutes, 30 seconds
Amos: The Problem is Not Idolatry, It is Social Injustice! Capitalism on Steroids (Haftarah VaYeshev)
"No, I will not shut up! Whom should I listen to? You, or Hashem?!"
11/26/2021 • 39 minutes, 40 seconds
Parshas VaYeshev: Did the Brothers Realize Their Father Would Never Get Over It?
Did Joseph lose his faith & then recover it, or did he have bitachon all the way through?
11/24/2021 • 36 minutes, 5 seconds
Haskalah and the Internet: Has the Internet Generated a Kind of Haskalah in the Frum World?
Rabbi Katz responds to a thoughtful question from a listener.
11/22/2021 • 43 minutes, 26 seconds
שַׁבָּת "אוֹת הִיא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם" Two's company, three's a crowd
Why do we say a gentile is punished for keeping Shabbos, but not for keeping the other mitzvos?
11/19/2021 • 28 minutes, 59 seconds
Is Obadiah Referring to His Own Time, or to the Messianic Era? (Haftarah VaYishlach)
What does it mean that Edom will go down through the treachery of its allies?
11/18/2021 • 34 minutes, 16 seconds
Jacob & Esau: A Mediated Encounter vs. Shechem & Dinah: An Unmediated Encounter (Parshas VaYishlach)
וַיִשְׁכֵּהוּ? וַיִּשָּׁקֵהו? Which was it
11/17/2021 • 35 minutes, 5 seconds
Rabbi Bernard Revel (1885-1940): Creator of "YU" Whose Lofty Vision Failed Because of Insufficient Funds
A tzadik who dreamed of building a combination of "Harvard & Volozhin," but ran into economic & educational realities
11/16/2021 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 32 seconds
R' Katz in Rochester at Beth Haknesses Hachodosh Next Week
Why a Haftarah from Isaiah, and Not Jeremiah? (Haftarah Shabbos Chazon)
When did Isaiah prophecy this? What is the context?
7/15/2021 • 28 minutes, 13 seconds
Why Do We Only Say Tefillas Nachem at Minchah on Tisha B’Av? (Tefillah)
Was Jerusalem a wasteland when the prayer was composed?
7/15/2021 • 33 minutes, 28 seconds
Parshas Devarim: Are These Moshe's Actual Words? Or G-d's Editing of Them?
Moshe's rhetoric vs. his kvad peh
7/14/2021 • 36 minutes, 55 seconds
Edmond Rothschild and His Strange Relationship to His Own Judaism
The micromanager who poured endless amounts of money into Jewish Settlement in Israel, but who denied any Jewish passion
7/12/2021 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 10 seconds
Jeremiah Blasts the Jews - "You're not just unfaithful, you're stupid!" (Haftarah Matos-Masei)
“Your ruchniyus is a wasteland!"
7/8/2021 • 31 minutes, 31 seconds
The Brachah of Attah Chonen and Its Meaning
Can you use your talents in a way that results in successful relationships? Or is it all about $$?
7/7/2021 • 27 minutes, 59 seconds
Parshas Matos-Maasai: Is Revenge a Jewish Value? Nationally? Individually?
The 42 stops on the way to the Promised Land. Portentous?
7/6/2021 • 43 minutes, 40 seconds
Montefiore: The Greatest Jewish Layman - The First to Act for Klal Yisrael
A millionaire who actually gave to Jewish causes, especially Eretz Yisrael
7/5/2021 • 1 hour, 27 minutes, 31 seconds
R’ Katz Discusses the Maimonidean Controversies of the 13th Century
An online series about the hashkafah fights of the Middle Ages
7/2/2021 • 5 minutes, 18 seconds
How Old Was Jeremiah When He Started to Prophesy? (Haftarah Pinchos)
Prophets predict why "Surfsides" happen. That's why they are unpopular
6/30/2021 • 33 minutes, 27 seconds
Parshas Pinchos: Did the Sin of Moabite Women Really Deserve Total Extermination?
Zealotry in defense of authority vs. zealotry in defiance of authority
6/29/2021 • 37 minutes, 17 seconds
The Barech Aleinu Brachah: Help Us Against the Unscrupulous Capitalist Hoarders
Can't survive economically without Divine intervention
6/28/2021 • 35 minutes, 7 seconds
Shivah Assar B’Tamuz: What Exactly Happened? Why are the Fast Days Destined to Be Feast Days?
What is the connection with Chanukah?
6/27/2021 • 40 minutes, 41 seconds
They Want to Know HOW to Repent, for Real and Michah’s Reply (Haftarah Balak)
Are the 613 mitzvahs an end in themselves, or a means to an end? What is THAT end?
6/24/2021 • 32 minutes, 33 seconds
The V’Lamalshinim Brachah in Shemonah Esrei: Are We Supposed to Hate Our Enemies?
The passionate paragraph: Can antisemitism be solved? Or just managed?
6/24/2021 • 34 minutes, 37 seconds
Bil'am: Father of "Woke" culture
Had Bil'am been allowed to speak, would it have influenced the Jews?
6/22/2021 • 37 minutes, 25 seconds
The Merkeves HaMishnah on the Rambam
The voice of reason in Polish Jewry in the 18th century, which was a time of extremes
6/20/2021 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 23 seconds
Was Yiftach a Shofet of Klal Yisroel or Just Captain-General of Ever HaYarden? (Haftarah Chukas)
For real warriors, war is the last-resort, not the first. But if it happens, attack first!
6/17/2021 • 38 minutes, 42 seconds
Parshas Chukas: The Well of Miriam - What Exactly Was It?
Moses bereft of his leadership team. The great crisis.
6/16/2021 • 46 minutes, 26 seconds
Learning and Davening for the Non-Frum in the Context of the State of Israel
The Mesilas Yesharim on praying that the sins of other Jews be forgiven.
6/15/2021 • 41 minutes, 22 seconds
Yosef Ben Yehudah and the Rambam: The Difficult But Fascinating Quest for Emunah Tzerufah
The student whose questions inspired the "Guide for the Perplexed"
6/13/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 30 seconds
Aleinu (The Second Paragraph): A Prayer of Pure Universalism, Something Most Unusual in Jewish Liturgy
Do you want the greater glory of G-d if it meant dumping the Jewish people?
6/11/2021 • 32 minutes, 44 seconds
Is Prayer Real? - Maimonides Guide to the Perplexed III 32 (Tefillah)
How G-d chooses to run things, and the role prayer plays in that.
6/10/2021 • 38 minutes, 19 seconds
Samuel's Humiliation: What Goes Around Comes Around? (Haftarah Korach)
Or (mystically) the descendant repairs the wrong done by the ancestor? Praying for posterity you will never know
6/8/2021 • 31 minutes, 48 seconds
Parshas Korach: Moses v. Korach - The Fickle Public Went For the Rich Guy in the Empty Suit
What had Korach ever done to convince people he could lead the Jewish people? How could they fall for him?
6/8/2021 • 34 minutes, 46 seconds
Anniversary of the Spanish Pogroms of 1391 - Rosh Chodesh Tamuz
When the volcano finally erupted on the Jews
6/6/2021 • 57 minutes, 44 seconds
How to Talk to G-d Without Committing the Error of Idolatry (Tefillah)
Is prayer logical or emotional? Can G-d be conceived?
6/3/2021 • 42 minutes, 59 seconds
Rachav and Her Odyssey From Zonah to Ger Tzedek
Why did the spies stay in a brothel? Why didn't they spy out the city?
6/2/2021 • 39 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Shelach: The Meraglim and the Canaanites - Who Was More Scared?
Caleb at the Ma’aras HaMachpelah: resisting "wokeism"
6/2/2021 • 52 minutes, 23 seconds
The 1648 Massacre and the 1171 Massacre
As told in the Yiven Metzulah and in the Emek HaBachah, respectively.
6/1/2021 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 46 seconds
Jeroboam Builds His "Berlin Wall"
The Palestinians (the Canaanites) demand the partition of the Holy Land
5/31/2021 • 41 minutes, 14 seconds
Why is the Kedushah Done Communaly? (Tefillah)
Poetic weaving-together of the prophetic visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel
5/27/2021 • 32 minutes, 16 seconds
Intermarriage: Whose Fault is It? (Haftarah BeHaaloscha)
The Judge screams at the prosecutor
5/26/2021 • 34 minutes, 25 seconds
Parshas Behaaloscha: The Political Message of the Menorah
The extremes must face the center.
5/25/2021 • 32 minutes, 21 seconds
NEW Youtube Lecture Series on Yiddish! Beginning This Week
Yiddish and Its Role in Judaism and Jewish History
5/23/2021 • 3 minutes, 34 seconds
R Eleazar Fleckeles, the last of the great rabbis of Prague. Sworn foe of Frankists
Great student (and successor) of the נודע ביהודה. Fantastic דרשן
5/23/2021 • 1 hour, 6 minutes, 18 seconds
The Saducees: Theology? Cult? Political party?
Toxic mix of religion and politics in the Second Temple era
5/21/2021 • 54 minutes, 33 seconds
Praying for “Peace” - What Do You Have in Mind? (Tefillah)
Peace among the Jews? Mid-East? World peace? Shalom bayis?
5/21/2021 • 37 minutes, 56 seconds
Parshas Naso: The Adulterous Wife vs. the Hypocritical Husband
Is the Sotah ceremony a one-way street?
5/20/2021 • 33 minutes, 44 seconds
Samson's Nezirus: Training for Espionage? (Haftarah Naso)
Intermarriage and Israeli spies
5/19/2021 • 37 minutes, 24 seconds
The Aseres HaDibros in Epic Poem Form - A Religious and Literary Masterpiece (Tefillah)
Maturely reflecting on each commandment. By one of the greatest Ashkenazic paytanim.
5/13/2021 • 33 minutes, 35 seconds
Parshas Bamidbar: The Flags - The Existential Struggle Between the Different Forces in Klal Yisroel
What are the "flags" nowadays?
5/12/2021 • 39 minutes, 1 second
The Prophet Hosea and His Theme of "Idolatry = Marital Infidelity" (Haftarah BaMidbar)
The Jews and G-d are "married," but without the option of divorce
5/11/2021 • 31 minutes, 10 seconds
Shavuos: Two Messages of the Book of Ruth - The Timely and the Timeless
Why did the Prophet Samuel write this book?
5/10/2021 • 45 minutes, 35 seconds
The 3rd Paragraph of Shmoneh Esrei: Why “V’Shimchah Kadosh?” (Tefillah)
Can God have a "name?
5/9/2021 • 33 minutes, 2 seconds
Rabbi M. Cahn of Fulda, Imperial Germany: Torah Im Derech Eretz in Action and a Lobbyist Supreme
The unbelievably busy schedule of a Rav in Germany in the Kaiser's era
5/9/2021 • 1 hour, 31 minutes, 40 seconds
Shavuos: Was Matan Torah Experienced as an Uplifting, or as a Depressing, Event?
The scary nature of the Torah Sh’Baal Peh
5/6/2021 • 31 minutes, 42 seconds
Performing a Real-Estate Deal on the Titanic - Jeremiah Ch. 32 (Haftarah Behar-Bechukosai)
The haftarah is a small fragment of the larger story. Look it up!
5/6/2021 • 29 minutes, 26 seconds
The Tchebiner Rav: The Greatness of the Galitzianers - Really
The days of Torah glory (Franz Josef) to the Churban, to Medinat Yisrael and the new Torah world
5/5/2021 • 1 hour, 32 minutes, 49 seconds
Parshas Behar-Bechukosai: The Tochachah - The Fate of the Survivors, the Nisharim.
Why was there a Second Temple? Why is there a State of Israel?
5/4/2021 • 36 minutes, 45 seconds
Shavuos: Zman Matan Torasainu or Zman Matan Aseres Hadibros?
The historical origins of the Azharos
5/3/2021 • 40 minutes, 5 seconds
The Second Brachah of Shemonah Esrei: Why Did They Make It All About Resurrection? (Tefillah)
Is it resurrection? Or immortality of the soul?
5/2/2021 • 47 minutes, 56 seconds
Lag B’Omer: R Akiva Teaching R’ Shimon bar Yochai After His Students Perished?
The change in the Israeli yeshiva culture as a result of the 24,000 deaths
4/28/2021 • 37 minutes, 39 seconds
The Passage in Ezekiel That Almost Got the Book Banned (Haftarah Emor)
Kiddush Rishon in the Beis HaMikdash?!
4/28/2021 • 41 minutes, 42 seconds
The First Three Paragraphs of the Shemonah Esrei
Do you start with reason, or with family history?
4/26/2021 • 42 minutes, 10 seconds
Parshas Emor: The Kohen vs. the Talmid Chacham. Two Different Models of Elitism
Why should a mere physical blemish prevent a righteous kohen from serving?
4/26/2021 • 39 minutes, 48 seconds
Orobio de Castro: The Marrano Champion of Judaism
The man who battled both the Inquisition and Spinoza
4/25/2021 • 59 minutes, 16 seconds
Henry Morgenthau: An Assimilated Jew Encounters His Jewish Identity in the Crucible of the Shoah
The unusual relationship between Morgenthau, FDR, and the terrible fate of the Jews in WWII
4/23/2021 • 1 hour, 56 minutes, 51 seconds
Amos Tells the Jews They Could Lose Israel Very Easily (Haftarah Acharei Mos-Kedoshim)
The difference between Klal Yisroel and the individual Bar Yisroel in terms of Divine Grace and survival
4/21/2021 • 30 minutes, 22 seconds
The Chaotic World of Unregulated Synagogues in the Second Temple Era (Tefillah)
And the turning point represented by the Destruction of the Bais HaMikdash
4/21/2021 • 40 minutes, 13 seconds
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: What is the Precise Meaning of “Kedoshim Tihiyu?”
How can you tell if someone's chumrah results in his fulfilling “Kedoshim Tihiyu?”
4/20/2021 • 43 minutes, 4 seconds
Romanian Jewry: The Fascinating Observations of a Hungarian Rav on Romanian Jewry in the Holocaust
What's the definition of "frum"? Why did the observant Jews get killed during the Holocaust, but not the non-observant?
4/18/2021 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 42 seconds
Parshas Tazria-Metzora: Leprosy a Punishment for Lashon Hara - Really?
Agadic statements as rhetoric, sometimes.
4/15/2021 • 43 minutes, 50 seconds
Prayer in the Second Temple Era, Part II (Tefillah)
The messy narrative of the historians. The neat narrative of Maimonides.
4/13/2021 • 47 minutes, 15 seconds
Was Gechazi a Moral Hero? Or an Expedient Opportunist? (Haftarah Tazria-Metzorah)
Did Elisha treat Gechazi correctly? Or did he drive him OTD?
4/13/2021 • 42 minutes, 33 seconds
R’ Yitzchak Alfasi - “The Rif” (1013-1103): The Pluses and Minuses of the "Reader's Digest" Approach
The fascinating literary history of the book. Aid or competition to the Gemara?
4/12/2021 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 33 seconds
Parshas Shmini: Nadav and Avihu - What Exactly Happened?
How can a soul be "burned"?
4/8/2021 • 31 minutes, 20 seconds
Prayer in the Second Temple Era, Part I (Tefillah)
Trying to Trace the Effects of Exile and Diaspora on the Evolution of Synagogues and Prayer. The "neat narrative" of Maimonides vs. the messy one of the historians
4/8/2021 • 44 minutes, 30 seconds
Was King David Right in Introducing "Carlebach" Music in the Aron Parade? (Haftarah Shmini)
Some unusual observations of the Malbim re: the David-Michal argument
4/6/2021 • 43 minutes, 23 seconds
Nathan Birnbaum (1864-1937): The Most Famous and Controversial Baal Teshuva of 100 Years Ago
The founder of Zionism who ended up as leader of the Agudah.
4/6/2021 • 1 hour, 25 minutes, 44 seconds
Haftarah Last Day of Pesach: The End of Passover and the Violent (?) Messianic Process
Pharaoh at the Red Sea equals the War of Gog and Magog
4/2/2021 • 43 minutes, 15 seconds
Last Day of Pesach: Pharaoh and the Eirev Rav
Egypt's other slaves "khap arein." Where are their descendants today? The Vilna Gaon opinion
4/1/2021 • 49 minutes, 20 seconds
Piyutim and Shul Fighting: A Poem from the 13th Century
Some actually argued piyutim were more important that tefilah!
3/31/2021 • 55 minutes, 3 seconds
Judah Al-Charizi (12th Century): Greatest (?) of the Sefardic Poets of the Golden Age
The "rapper" of genius who fought to make the Jews see the superiority of Hebrew over Arabic
3/31/2021 • 1 hour, 46 minutes, 55 seconds
Seder Thoughts: The "Three-Model" vs. the "Four-Model"
Which Maror is around today?
3/26/2021 • 58 minutes, 4 seconds
HaRav Yosef Tov Elem's Tour de Fource: The Famous Piyut ""Elokei Ruchos L'Chol Bassar"
A poetic review of Maseches Pesachim adored by the Baalei Tosafos
3/24/2021 • 41 minutes, 58 seconds
The Mission of the Prophet Elijah in the Messianic process (Haftarah Shabbos HaGadol)
The Jews challenge the Prophet over theodicy
3/23/2021 • 45 minutes, 47 seconds
Parshas Tzav: Reciting Korbanos vs. Understanding Korbanos
Symbolism in the olah and the minchah. Can you think of any?
3/22/2021 • 45 minutes, 43 seconds
Haggadah Thoughts: Two competing Seders? R’ Akiva vs. R’ Gamliel
A plug for the Abarbanel Hagada, among others
3/21/2021 • 49 minutes, 2 seconds
Dr. Elijah Montalto (1567-1616): Among the Most Famous Marranos Who Returned to Judaism and the Most Famous MD
Destroyed Catholics in debate, yet they held him as the best MD.
3/21/2021 • 46 minutes, 36 seconds
Tefillah: A New Series on Prayer and Prayers in Jewish History
What was prayer in the first millennium in Eretz Yisrael?
3/18/2021 • 31 minutes, 17 seconds
Isaiah's Bitter Diatribe Against Jewish Willful Stupidity During the Reign of Ahaz (Haftarah VaYikrah)
"They fashion the idol out of a piece of wood and then worship it sincerely"
3/17/2021 • 34 minutes, 40 seconds
Parshas VaYikrah: King David's Anguish at His Inability to Defend the Korbanos in Debate with Gentiles and Heretics
Maimonides: When you cannot win a debate about Judaism, just double-down in faith
3/16/2021 • 38 minutes, 49 seconds
R' Aryeh Levin (1885-1969): The Only Tzadik Genuinely Venerated By Both Frum and Non-Frum in Modern Times
His bio is different from the Artscroll bios of Gedolim
3/15/2021 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 31 seconds
The Most Difficult Haftorah of the Year (Haftarah Parshas HaChodesh)
Ezekiel's description of Passover in the Messianic Era
3/10/2021 • 34 minutes, 54 seconds
Parshas VaYakhel-Pekudei: Which Has Worked Better? Mishkan or Shabbos?
Why is Moses reticent about the mystical significance of the Sabbath in public?
3/9/2021 • 31 minutes, 26 seconds
Rabbi Leone Modena of Venice - A Posek Who Taught Dancing (and Many Other Subjects)
Very frum but skeptical of the claims of the Kabbalists
3/8/2021 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 59 seconds
Ezekiel's Prophecy of an Undeserved Redemption (Haftarah Ki Sisah)
The Red Cow: It works even without repentance
3/3/2021 • 27 minutes, 5 seconds
Parshas Ki Sisa: Where Does It Say You May Not Make an Idol of Hashem?
Does idolatry inevitably lead to indecency?
3/1/2021 • 42 minutes, 24 seconds
"The Akedah" - R’ Yitzhak Arama (15th Century Spain): Author of the "Cheater-Book" Used By Generations of Pulpit Rabbis
An encyclopedia of original approaches to the weekly Parshah. A classy intellectual work.
3/1/2021 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 13 seconds
Esther vs. Ezra: Competitive Narrative-Sensibilities
If you won the lottery, would you tell others? Or keep it quiet?
2/24/2021 • 40 minutes, 34 seconds
Parshas Tetzaveh: Aaron's Splendid Clothes and His Splendid Temperament
The first (only) brothers in the Chumash who get-along?
2/22/2021 • 32 minutes, 48 seconds
A Purim Insight of R’ Y. Eibeschutz in Its Historical Context
Were the Jews obligated to wipe out Amalek during the time of Haman?
2/21/2021 • 38 minutes, 21 seconds
Thoughts on Purim: Three Open-Ended Questions About the Purim Story
Was Haman out to kill the Jews, or was he out to convert them?
2/18/2021 • 35 minutes, 29 seconds
Parshas Trumah: Why Did G-d REQUEST a Mishkan, But Seemed Not Interested At All in a Bais Hamikdash?
What exactly is the danger of a holy building?
2/17/2021 • 40 minutes, 11 seconds
Haftarah Zachor: Saul and the Amalekites - Why Did He Think of Them as Innocent?
Was Saul punished so severely when he got it mostly right?
2/15/2021 • 40 minutes, 42 seconds
The "Levush": The "Goldilocks” Version of the Shulchan Aruch - and In the 16th Century!
The "original" Aruch ha-Shulkhan, trying to help the common man
2/14/2021 • 59 minutes, 8 seconds
The Story of Joash Repairing the Temple. What had Athaliah Done? Two Versions - (Haftarah Shekalim)
Do you just trust the contractors? Moses vs. King Joash of Judah.
2/11/2021 • 43 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Mishpatim: Onkelos, His Audience, and Seeing G-d Standing Next to a Sapphire Brick
Maimonides guides the perplexed to understand what happened to Aaron and the elders
2/9/2021 • 43 minutes, 33 seconds
The 23rd of Sivan: Another Holocaust Which Did Not Happen
Herod Agrippa's finest hour, his appeal to Caligula, and the Providential salvation of the Jews
2/7/2021 • 59 minutes, 39 seconds
Isaiah is Told of Impending Doom for the Kingdom of Judah, and Nothing Will Stop It - Haftarah Yisro
If you are good in בין אדם למקום but not בין אדם לחברו, are you frum?
2/3/2021 • 33 minutes, 53 seconds
Parshas Yisro: Why the Preoccupation With Staying Away From the Mountain?
Which parts of the story are literal? What is the meaning of the non-literal?
2/1/2021 • 46 minutes, 3 seconds
The "Rashba" - R’ Shlomo ben Adret (1235-1310): Baal HaBayis, Rosh Yeshiva, Posek and Royal Troubleshooter
Incredible literary-prolificacy in the "Golden Age" of Spanish Torah scholarship. The "vital-center."
2/1/2021 • 1 hour, 24 minutes, 39 seconds
Deborah: What Kind of a Judge Was She, Exactly? - Haftarah Beshalach
Why does she express disappointment in the midst of triumph?
1/28/2021 • 38 minutes, 34 seconds
Parshas Beshalach: Why Did Miriam Organize a Dance at the Red Sea?
Did Miriam think Moshe did not rise to the occasion sufficiently?
1/28/2021 • 33 minutes, 50 seconds
R’ Eliezer Silver: The Successes and Failures of the Agudas HaRabbonim - Pt. 1
The best example of the old-school model of the community-rav. Did it work?
1/27/2021 • 1 hour, 57 minutes, 28 seconds
Jeremiah Blasts the Jews Who Flee to Egypt: "You Are Fleeing to Hiroshima!" - Haftarah Bo
Egypt's Machiavellian policy boomerangs 20 years after the Churban
1/20/2021 • 32 minutes, 20 seconds
Parshas Bo: Why Does G-d Deceive Pharaoh With That Request to Leave for Only Three Days?
Moshe spends most of his time trying to persuade the Jews to leave. Unsuccessfully!
1/19/2021 • 32 minutes, 32 seconds
The Sheldon Adelson Phenomenon: An Interpretation Based on the Noda B'Yehudah and the Yaaros Dvash
Jewish billionaires and their indifference to Jewish causes; Galus HaShechinah.
1/17/2021 • 50 minutes, 42 seconds
The Crocodile Dropped Into the Sahara - Haftarah VaEra
The Babylonian invasion of Egypt as tit for tat?
1/14/2021 • 35 minutes, 39 seconds
Parshas VaEra: Why Show Respect to a Bum Like Pharaoh?
Moses could have lobbied with influential Egyptians had G-d not prohibited.
1/13/2021 • 29 minutes, 28 seconds
R Yehiel Weinberg - "The Seridei Aish" (1884-1966): Can One Be Yeshivish and Not Yeshivish At the Same Time?
What happens when the beauty of mussar runs into the horrors of the materialism and genocide of modernity?
1/12/2021 • 1 hour, 46 minutes, 57 seconds
Isaiah Predicts Destruction Followed By Restoration - Haftarah Shmos
Isaiah's condemnation of alcoholism and hedonism. The challenge of indulgence.
1/7/2021 • 33 minutes, 37 seconds
Parshas Shmos (2020): Unpacking the Hotel Incident - Did G-d Really Intend to Kill Moses After so Heavily Recruiting Him?
Getting used to a life with no time for anything other than prophecy-availability
1/5/2021 • 48 minutes, 3 seconds
Rabbi Moshe Oster of Brody (1710-1785): Life in the Kloiz of the Early Modern Era
Daunting schedule but the pay is good. Kabbalah after you have mastered Shas. No shortcuts!
1/3/2021 • 52 minutes, 11 seconds
David and Joab: A Complex of Emotions National-Security Issues - Haftarah VaYechi (2020)
Does Dovid actually tell Shlomo to kill them? The Abarbanel's version.
12/31/2020 • 41 minutes, 48 seconds
Parshas VaYechi (2020): Why Did Yaakov Have a "Gentile" funeral?
Where are exactly was Joseph buried in Egypt?
12/30/2020 • 36 minutes, 4 seconds
The "Ksav Sofer" of Pressburg (1825-1872): Steering the Ship Through Stormy Waters.
"Who needs Gan Eden when you have a good yeshiva, a hot mikvah, and a good cup of coffee?"
12/29/2020 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 16 seconds
The Sticks of Moses vs. the Sticks of Ezekiel - Haftarah VaYigash (2020)
Has the "blending" of the tribes occured?
12/23/2020 • 38 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas VaYigash: The Revelation, Shock, and Heart-Attacks in the Parsha
Did the brothers doubt themselves after Joseph's revelation?
12/23/2020 • 42 minutes, 1 second
Shlomo Molcho (1500-1532) - Who Wanted to Raise a Jewish Army to Conquer Israel in the 16th century
The extraordinary Marrano who was a hero to R Yosef Karo, and whose prophecies came true
12/21/2020 • 1 hour, 17 minutes, 18 seconds
Solomon’s Wisdom: What Kind of Wisdom Did He Request? What Kind Did He Get? -Haftarah Mikeitz (2020)
When is wisdom a good thing? When is it counterproductive?
12/18/2020 • 42 minutes, 58 seconds
Parshas Mikeitz (2020): Had They Succeeded in Killing Joseph, Would They Have Survived the Famine?
How was Joseph, alone, able to overcome Egyptian contempt for Hebrews?
12/16/2020 • 44 minutes, 12 seconds
Chanukah (2020): Who Were the "Greeks" of the Chanukah Story?
Was Chanukah a battle between "cultures?"
12/13/2020 • 46 minutes, 15 seconds
The Prophecy of Haggai: Did It "Cause" the Miracle of Hanukkah?
The original interpretation of R' Yaakov Emden re: the 24th of Kislev
12/9/2020 • 38 minutes, 4 seconds
Chanukah (2019): Women Refraining from Work the Entire Eight Days of Chanukah
A learned defense by the remarkable grandmother of the Chavos Yair.
12/9/2020 • 21 minutes
Parshas VaYeshev (2020): Why Doesn't Joseph Try to Contact His Father?
When they sold him into slavery, did they think he would survive it?
12/9/2020 • 39 minutes, 18 seconds
Menashe ben Israel of Amsterdam (1604-1657): "The Jonathan Sacks of the 17th Century"
Admired by Gentiles. Rodney Dangerfield to his own community.
12/8/2020 • 1 hour, 30 minutes, 59 seconds
Halacha Headlines Podcast
Halacha Headlines Podcast
With everything happening in the world today, it’s safe to say the we as frum jews have a lot of questions on how to correctly deal with these situations that come up in and day out.
Halacha Headlines Podcast features a weekly topic drawn from current events and matzavs, and with a panel of Rabbanim, discusses the best way we- as a klal, can approach contemporary society.
Some topics include Hafganos and racism, shidduchim and dating in the era of corona, mesira, vacations, life insurance, buying and selling stocks, police and police enforcement, the Israel UAE accord- all explored from halachic and hashkafic perspectives.
Needless to say, Halacha Headlines is more than necessary these days, and has given thousands the koach to approach modern situations more educated on the halachic implications. I think this is something everyone has to check out to hear for themselves. Halacha Headlines podcast is available on podcast.headlinesbook.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts.
12/3/2020 • 2 minutes, 11 seconds
Haftarah VaYishlach (2020): Who was Ovadia? Why Does He Hate Edom?
Who was worse to whom? A bloody history.
12/2/2020 • 36 minutes, 36 seconds
Parshas VaYishlach (2020): Did Yaakov's Children Really Have Idols? The Aftermath of the Massacre
What did Lavan mean when he said, "They are MY children"?
12/1/2020 • 30 minutes, 41 seconds
R' Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (1707-1747): The Genius Who Didn't Fit Into the Regular Yeshivish Patterns.
The first part of a three-part series on the Ramchal
11/29/2020 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 36 seconds
Hoshea's Gloom and Doom - Haftarah (VaYetzei)
Idolatry as infidelity. Idolatry as Judaism?
11/26/2020 • 36 minutes, 25 seconds
Parshas VaYetzei: Where is the Yeshiva of Shem? Why is Yaakov There?
Why is Yaakov depressed? How does the "ladder" help with that?
11/25/2020 • 45 minutes, 41 seconds
The Aruch LaNer - R' Yaakov Ettlinger (1798-1871): Last of the "Old School" Geonim in Germany, First of the "New School"
Altona, last of the autonomous coercive communities
11/24/2020 • 1 hour, 14 minutes, 51 seconds
The Book of Malachi and Its Critique of
Formal Religion - Haftarah (Toldos)
Are the Jews jerks? Or is it the fault of the Kohanim?
11/19/2020 • 26 minutes, 4 seconds
Parshas Toldos (2020): The Portentous Oracle - “Rav Yaavod Tzair”
What is the Bachurah?
11/19/2020 • 33 minutes, 42 seconds
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: The Only Orthodox Rabbi to Make a Kiddush Hashem in "the World."
Is respectful and genuine dialogue with all really a Jewish value?
11/17/2020 • 36 minutes, 8 seconds
Adonijah: Is This a Coup? Is This a Rebellion? - Haftarah Chayai Sara
Why is David unclear about the succession? Avraham wasn't!
11/12/2020 • 33 minutes, 58 seconds
Parshas Chayai Sara: The Strange and Enigmatic Keturah Story
What's the significance of Abraham's children from his old age?
11/11/2020 • 38 minutes, 38 seconds
“The Maharik” (R’ Joseph Colon): The Greatest Gadol in Italian History
The Influence of Classic Ashkenaz on Italian Jewry
11/11/2020 • 54 minutes, 4 seconds
The "Gechazi Phenomenon" Then and Now - Haftarah Vayera
The Gadol and the hypocritical and unscrupulous secretary/screener
11/6/2020 • 37 minutes, 47 seconds
Parshas VaYera: Whatever Happened to Lot, Anyway?
Why did G-d grant land to Lot's progeny in perpetuity? Why are both daughters ancestors of the Messiah?
11/3/2020 • 35 minutes, 28 seconds
Rabbi Abraham Rice, the First Rov in the USA. Tragedy of a Talmid Chacham in a Philistine Jewish Community
What does it take to be a "successful" Rabbi in a materialistic Jewish community?
11/2/2020 • 1 hour, 35 minutes, 20 seconds
Parshas Lech Lecha: Abraham and the Two Fateful Interviews With Sodom and Malki Tzedek
A callous act leads to galus mitzrayim as poetic justice
10/29/2020 • 43 minutes, 58 seconds
R' Aryeh Tzvi Fromer: One of the Last of the Great Poilishe Geonim and Author of the Fascinating Responsa Eretz Tzvi
The Hasid in the role of Rosh Yeshivah and Maggid Shiur. Pilpul as fun!
10/29/2020 • 1 hour, 39 minutes, 50 seconds
Parshas Noach: Why Couldn't G-d Think of an Alternative to Mass Genocide?
Is it possible to "kill" the Yetzer Tov?
10/23/2020 • 31 minutes, 30 seconds
The Maharashdam- R' Shmuel de Medina of Salonika (1505-1589): One of the Greatest Sephardic Responsa Writers of All Time
From the Golden Age of A+ level, Sephardic Poskim. Calm, compassionate, daring.
10/21/2020 • 1 hour, 46 minutes, 3 seconds
R’ Katz's new lecture series will be livestreamed Saturday nights at 9:00 PM
You can access the livestream on Rabbi Katz's YouTube channel, "Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz"
10/16/2020 • 1 minute, 39 seconds
Parshas Bereishis: Blaming the Snake
The snake in Paradise and the frum riots in NY and Israel
10/16/2020 • 38 minutes, 8 seconds
R Shmuel Landau, Son of the Noda B'Yehudah (1750-1834): The Challenge of Being a Great Man's Son
Would have been a worthy successor to his father, but historical trends were in the wrong direction
10/14/2020 • 1 hour, 50 minutes, 2 seconds
Rabbi Samson Morpurgo of Ancona: Classic Italian "Torah u-Madda"
A wonderful example of a Posek who is "normal"
10/7/2020 • 1 hour, 23 minutes, 30 seconds
R' Hile Wechsler: Yekke Critic of German Jewry, Criticized by Contemporaries But Vindicated (Terribly) by History
A dreamer of incredible accuracy. He foresaw the Holocaust long before it happened. Admirer & critic of R' S.R. Hirsch
10/6/2020 • 1 hour, 57 minutes, 12 seconds
The Meaning of the Ushpizin Ceremony - Perception vs. Reality (Sukkos 2020)
When outsiders use "insider" terms, incorrectly
10/5/2020 • 39 minutes, 33 seconds
Sukkos 2020: The History of the Sukkah as a Diras Kevah?
Revolution in “Sukkah consciousness" in the time of Ezra? A theory
10/2/2020 • 54 minutes, 38 seconds
R' Betzalel Ransburg (1760-1820): The Great Prague Scholar With a Gift for Making Lomdus Chatty
One of the last and most readable of the great Chachmei Prague, and author of Horah Gaver and Pesichas Niddah.
9/30/2020 • 1 hour, 54 seconds
Parshas Haazinu: The Interplay Between Divine Providence and Antisemitism
A comparison of two different visions of Moses: Haazinu v. Nitzavim
9/24/2020 • 43 minutes, 21 seconds
Yaakov HaLevi Lifschitz (1838-1922): The Brilliant and Controversial Secretary of R’ Y.E. Spector
The behind-the-scenes director of the "foreign-policy" of R’ Yitzchak Elchanan and a pioneer in the formation of a Russian-Jewish "Orthodox" (not Traditionalist) Judaism; one of the first Haredi "ideologists"
9/21/2020 • 1 hour, 34 minutes, 30 seconds
Rosh HaShanah 5781: If the Jewish People Unite, Do They Need to Repent?
יראת הרוממות אחדות ושופר Is there a connection
9/16/2020 • 52 minutes, 3 seconds
R' Meir Malbim (1809-1879): The Only Gadol in Lomdus Who Decided to Concentrate on Explaining Tanach
The Malbim's unique analysis of the relation between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.
9/15/2020 • 1 hour, 52 seconds
Parshas Nitzavim-VaYelech: What Does V’Hashevosah El L’Vovechah Mean and Can It Be Translated?
Can the Moshiach come at any moment? Meaning, literally right now?
9/10/2020 • 42 minutes, 6 seconds
The Maharatz Chayas, R’ Tzvi Hirsch Chayes of Galicia (1805-1855) - A Gadol, Historian and Maskil
Brilliant defender of Torah in the enemy camp, or פוסח על שתי הסעיפים?
9/9/2020 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 27 seconds
The Marcheshes (1864 - 1941): R’ Chanoch Agus of Vilna
Longtime colleague and close associate of R’ Chaim Ozer on the Vilna Beis Din, despite the fact one was Agudah and the other Mizrachi. Author of the classic lomdishe seforim of the 20th century. Murdered by Hitler.
9/7/2020 • 1 hour, 25 minutes, 27 seconds
The Tochachah - Warnings About Life in the Diaspora?
Why exactly do we want to live in Israel?
9/2/2020 • 44 minutes, 14 seconds
The Lehren Bros. and the Old Yishuv: Learning and Nothing But Learning
Some thoughts about a book I saw today on Reform Judaism and Dutch Jewry
8/31/2020 • 57 minutes, 14 seconds
Parshas Ki Seitzei: Moshe Calls Attention to Various Dangerous Behaviors Between the Sexes
Mussar- Who is the "beautiful woman"?
8/27/2020 • 41 minutes, 5 seconds
The Margoliyos HaYam (1889-1971) and the Haredi Haskalah
A Gaon who ran a bookstore, and then a library
8/24/2020 • 1 hour, 47 seconds
Parshas Shoftim: How to Be One's Own Judge and Policeman
Four verses, four approaches, to Elul
8/21/2020 • 45 minutes, 2 seconds
R’ Nesanel Weil: Chief Rabbi of Karlsruhe, Who Became Famous For His Commentary on the Rosh.
A charismatic teacher, back when students did Gemara, Rashi, and the Rosh.
8/18/2020 • 47 minutes, 21 seconds
A Short History of Talmudic Translations and Their Cultural Significance
Talmudic Translations as supplements? Or as replacements?
8/16/2020 • 58 minutes, 24 seconds
Parshas Re’eh: Moses Admonishes the Jews Not to Destroy the Bais HaMikdash....Hmm
Maintaining hatreds for decades (one of the 613 commandments)
8/12/2020 • 41 minutes, 5 seconds
Steinsaltz and the Revolution in the Popularization of Gemara; An Unforeseen Event in Judaism
The Steinsaltz-ArtScroll "dialectic"
8/10/2020 • 1 hour, 26 seconds
The Genre of Midrash: A Long Discussion
Parshas Eikev: Not Idolatry, But Forgetting and Ignoring
8/6/2020 • 1 hour, 31 seconds
Dr. Deutschlander: Not Just an Educator, But an Educationist! A Tragic Life Full of Accomplishments
The man who created both Yavneh and Bais Yaakov, particularly the infrastructure and philosophy of both.
8/4/2020 • 1 hour, 34 seconds
Parshas VaEschanan: Shabbos- Theology or Gratitude?
Passion without reason: Good or bad?
7/31/2020 • 39 minutes, 44 seconds
Is Tisha B’Av a day of despair? Washing Hands on Tisha B’Av From a Mystical Perspective
Two sets of halachic practices for netilas yadaim.
7/27/2020 • 23 minutes, 44 seconds
Parshas Devarim: Does the Word “Devarim” Mean "Words" or "History"
Is it a speech, or a (Divinely) edited collection of speeches?
7/23/2020 • 44 minutes, 12 seconds
The Aftermath of the Bar Kochva War: Retooling for the Long Haul - Ep. 6 (Final Episode)
The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
7/22/2020 • 1 hour, 11 minutes, 29 seconds
R Alexander Shor of Galicia: Author of the Popular Sefer on Shechitah, "The Simlah Chadashah"
The sad state of shechitah at various times in Jewish history
7/20/2020 • 45 minutes, 56 seconds
The War of Bar Kochva: The Hadrianic Persecutions - Searching for the Facts; Ep. 5
Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
7/19/2020 • 1 hour, 31 minutes, 57 seconds
Parshas Matos-Masei: Is Lebanon Part of Israel?
What if the two and a half tribes had not insisted on the Trans-Jordan?
7/17/2020 • 27 minutes, 57 seconds
The Jews and Hadrian: Background to the Great Revolt - Ep. 4
The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars.
7/15/2020 • 57 minutes, 53 seconds
Rav Kook (1865-1935): A Complicated Gadol
Why is he so controversial?
7/14/2020 • 1 hour, 58 minutes, 46 seconds
The “Five Good Emperors”: The Jews Under Nerva and Trajan - Ep. 3
The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
7/13/2020 • 1 hour, 12 minutes, 33 seconds
Jews and Romans in the Aftermath of the Destruction: Ep. 2 - Enduring the Unimaginable Pt. 2
Three Weeks Lecture Series on Bar Kochba
7/12/2020 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 25 seconds
Jews and Romans in the Aftermath of the Destruction: Episode 1 - Enduring the Unimaginable
The Baal HaTurim, R' Yaakov ben Asher: The Private Scholar Who Wrote the Araba Turim- The Model for the Shulchan Aruch
Ashkenaz scholar who moved to Spain and wrote the law code accepted by both Jewries . A wonderful encyclopedia.
7/6/2020 • 52 minutes, 41 seconds
Parshas Balak 2020: The Obscurities in the Account of the Punishment that Followed the Bnos Moav Story
Did Moses hand the Sanhedrin? Impale them? Push them off a cliff?
7/1/2020 • 32 minutes, 24 seconds
R' Esriel Hildesheimer (1820-1899): The Other Great Leader of Orthodox Jewry in Germany (Besides R' Hirsch)
The only Gaon and Rosh Yeshiva who also taught all the college courses within the walls of the yeshiva.
6/30/2020 • 1 hour, 55 minutes, 41 seconds
Korach, Moses, and the Politics of Ingratitude
Moses and Samuel: What goes around comes around
6/25/2020 • 37 minutes, 31 seconds
Rabbi Tzirelson of Kishinev (1859-1941): Founder of Both the Mizrachi and the Agudas Yisrael
One of the Most Successful Community-Rabbis in Europe
6/21/2020 • 58 minutes, 45 seconds
Parshas Shelach: Canaanite Consumerism?
What did the spies mean when they said the Canaanites were stronger than God?
6/19/2020 • 49 minutes, 57 seconds
Saadia Gaon (882/892-942): Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Medieval Haskalah
Saadia Gaon climbed to the top of the yeshiva world even though he was not one of the typical.
6/17/2020 • 56 minutes, 26 seconds
Parshas BeHaaloscha: The Menorah as a Symbol of Moral Leadership, Not Political
Sibling rivalry? Nuances of the Miriam story
6/11/2020 • 44 minutes, 50 seconds
R’ Yaakov Weil, the Great Ashkenazic Posek of the 15th Century
A gaon who struggled to maintain and invigorate German Jewry during times of great persecution
6/9/2020 • 55 minutes, 4 seconds
Parshas Naso: Can Sexuality Be Divorced From Prurience?
The sotah in the context of the wrestling match between Yaakov and Eisav's angel
6/4/2020 • 36 minutes, 45 seconds
R' Ephraim HaKohen, the Shaar Ephraim (1616-1678): From Vilna to Budapest, an Unusual Combination
One of the great responsa writers, thanks to his son's posthumous reconstruction of his writings
6/3/2020 • 1 hour, 50 seconds
A Conversation About Jewish Federations, Surveys, and "Unbiased" Statistics
June 2, 2020
6/3/2020 • 26 minutes, 10 seconds
R’ Chaim, Brother of the Maharal (1520-1568): Profound Literary- Critic of Halakhic Literature
Author of the quirky, fascinating mussar book, Sefer HaChaim, while quarantined during a pandemic
5/26/2020 • 57 minutes, 51 seconds
Parshas Bamidbar: The First Jewish Army in History?
If they had an army, why was it wrong to send spies?
5/22/2020 • 34 minutes, 25 seconds
Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura (1445-1515): The "Second Rashi," the Virtuoso of Tochacha
(The Gadol, Not the Wine)
5/20/2020 • 1 hour, 11 minutes, 29 seconds
Parshas Behar-Bechukosai: Is Recurring-Catastrophe a Basic Part of Jewish Destiny?
Why does the Torah only promise MATERIAL rewards, payable in THIS world?
5/14/2020 • 43 minutes, 7 seconds
Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever (1824-1898): "Zionism is the Antidote to Assimilation." True or Not True?
A Gaon and Tzadik wedded to Communal Traditionalism, not Sectariaan Orthodoxy
5/13/2020 • 2 hours, 20 minutes, 2 seconds
Lag B'Omer in Meta-History and Popular Imagination
Whatever happened to Mrs. Ra”ShbI?
5/11/2020 • 39 minutes, 18 seconds
Parshas Emor: Are Kohanim Still Holy Nowadays?
What does the "porch minyan" phenomenon indicate in the current crisis?
5/8/2020 • 43 minutes, 25 seconds
UPDATES on Rabbi Dr. Katz's Lectures and Daily Zoom Classes
Rabbi Katz's upcoming lecture series and information about joining Rabbi Katz's daily- zoom, every evening Sunday-Thursdays
5/5/2020 • 12 minutes, 15 seconds
Rabbi Zerach Eidlitz of Prague (1725-1780): Author of "Ohr LaYesharim," One of the Best Drasha Books
Undeservedly obscure, a Torah giant whose economic wheel of fortune turned against him cruelly.
5/3/2020 • 54 minutes, 31 seconds
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: What Does “קדושים תהיו” Mean Nowadays? Really
Can the "Jewish Gap" in Israel be bridged? Narrowed?
4/30/2020 • 54 minutes, 50 seconds
The Chacham Tzvi (1656-1718): The Ashkenaz Gadol with a Sephardi Semicha
Can an uncompromisingly honest blunt muckraker succeed in the rabbinate?
4/27/2020 • 1 hour, 28 minutes, 3 seconds
Parshas Tazria-Metzora: The House That is Tamei
Dissonance between the public and the private
4/24/2020 • 37 minutes, 1 second
Did the Students of Rabbi Akiva Die on the Original Lag B'Omer?
Also: What exactly is the connection between R Shimon bar Yochai and Lag B'Omer?
4/20/2020 • 56 minutes, 25 seconds
Parshas Shmini 2020 - The Mishkan as a National (Not Tribal) Institution
The existential Jewish struggle between the local ( currently, sectoral) and the national
4/17/2020 • 40 minutes, 36 seconds
R Yehudah Rosanes of Istanbul (!657-1727): "Author" of the Mishneh L'Melech and the Parshas Derachim
Rescued from oblivion by a disciple who created masterpieces from the teacher's notes.
4/14/2020 • 53 minutes, 44 seconds
Passover 2020: An Insight Into the Positive Psychological Aspect of " Bitterness"
The Noda B'Yehudah as pedagogue. The Maskil as acharon.
4/12/2020 • 40 minutes, 36 seconds
Lettuce or Horseradish? A Philosophical Debate
"The Egyptians embittered our lives." What does that mean?
4/8/2020 • 19 minutes, 21 seconds
Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber Kahana-Shapiro, the "Kovner Rov" (1870-1943) הי"ד
The Dvar Avraham: The Rabbinical career at its most glorious, most complex, and ultimately most tragic.
4/8/2020 • 1 hour, 23 minutes, 51 seconds
Six Passovers in the Bible? A Post Shabbos HaGadol Talk for the Corona Era
Passover and Amalek. Any connection? Food for thought. Horaas Shaah and Halachic Mega-Factors
4/5/2020 • 38 minutes, 10 seconds
Whose Truth How Jews and Egyptians Battled Over the Passover Narrative 2000 Years Ago
Special lecture
4/5/2020 • 1 hour, 2 minutes, 9 seconds
When an Epidemic Strikes, Should You Run or Self-Quarantine?: A brief look at the history of a law in the Shulchan Aruch
Recorded during the midst of the Coronavirus crisis in 2020.
4/1/2020 • 43 minutes, 9 seconds
Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, "HaKesav VaHakabbalah," Rav of Koenigsberg, Prussia (1830-1865) - A Highly Original Commentator
The "Aryeh Kaplan Chumash" version of the 19th century. A different translation of the Hebrew text.
3/30/2020 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 54 seconds
Moving from the Top of the Mountain to Its Base: The Story of the Ohel Moed
Does the Book of Leviticus denote a turn from the universalistic to the particularistic?
3/29/2020 • 39 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Vayikra: The "Sacrifice" of Self- Isolation: The Case of Moses
The Korban Olah - Can simcha be experienced in isolation and quarantine? This is a serious question.
3/26/2020 • 27 minutes, 6 seconds
Sara Schnirer and Esther Rubenstein - Vilna vs. Cracow
Thoughts on the strange history of Jewish education for women in the 20th century
3/24/2020 • 43 minutes, 10 seconds
Parshas Vaykhel-Pekudei (Parshas HaChodesh) 2020: Two Concepts of “Shevisah” in the Coronavirus Era
Why do they light fires and do work in the Mishkan?
3/19/2020 • 41 minutes, 47 seconds
The "Aruch HaShulchan" Rabbi Yechiel Michel HaLevi Epstein (1929-1908) - One of the Leading Rabbis of the Russian Empire in the 19th Century
The Aruch Hashulchan- the only one after the Rambam who wrote on and paskened on the entire Torah; friend of the shul rabbi and the baal habayis.
3/18/2020 • 1 hour, 30 minutes
Rabbi Alexander Ziskind of Grodno - the “Yesod V’Shoresh Ha’Avodah” (1720-1794)
A man admired by the Vilna Gaon, as well as by the Chasidim; the "Misnagdic Chasid" of the 18th century.
3/13/2020 • 36 minutes, 24 seconds
Parshas Ki Tisa: What’s Worse - Amalek or the Golden Calf?
The Jewish preoccupation with gold throughout our history.
3/11/2020 • 32 minutes, 28 seconds
Purim Mesibah 5780: Ad D'Lo Yada, Mordechai and Achdus
Rabbi Katz presents a unique perspective of the Purim holiday, based on Chazal, with amazing personal insights. This speech took place in his home, with a very lively and SPIRITED crowd!
3/10/2020 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 26 seconds
Parshas Zachor: Was Saul Really Responsible for Haman?
Seeming inconsistencies in the narrative about wiping out Amalek.
3/6/2020 • 21 minutes, 32 seconds
R’ Meir of Rothenberg (1215-1293): The Strange Story of His Arrest and Bizarre Imprisonment
What was his crime? The Jew as "property" of the Christian Ruler in the Middle Ages
3/4/2020 • 39 minutes, 1 second
Parshas Terumah: Was the Mishkan Commanded During the First 40 Days of Moses on the Mountain?
Considerations of God's warning about "Edifice Complexes"
2/28/2020 • 26 minutes, 15 seconds
The Great Italian Kabbalist R' Immanuel Chai Ricchi (1687-1743) - His Life, Fame and Tragic End
Italian Torah Culture in the Brilliant and Tragic Baroque Era
2/28/2020 • 1 hour, 39 minutes, 48 seconds
R Shabtai Cohen - The "Shach" (1621-1662): Foremost Commentator on the Shulkan Arukh
The genius whose youth led to great controversy. Should age matter in the world of scholarship?
2/21/2020 • 59 minutes, 1 second
Parshas Mishpatim. "Going up" to the Tetragramaton
How to philosophically decode a passage describing the indescribable.
2/19/2020 • 31 minutes, 37 seconds
Parahas Yisro: The Unusual Relationship Between Moshe and Tziporah.
Why did he divorce her twice?
2/14/2020 • 35 minutes, 51 seconds
R’ Dovid Sinzheim (1745-1812), Napoleon’s Sanhedrin and Alsatian Jewry.
Author of the Yad Dovid on Shas, and the Gadol who had the misfortune to live in France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era.
2/10/2020 • 58 minutes, 59 seconds
Parshas Beshalach: Weren't They Supposed to Head Towards Mt. Sinai Anyway?
Also, how did Dathan &Co. remain in Egypt, yet end up at Mt. Sinai?
2/7/2020 • 28 minutes, 47 seconds
Rabbenu Nissim ben Reuven (1315-1375): The " RaN in the Back of the Gemara"
A leading MD who was one of the greatest writers among the Rishonim. He held no official rabbinical position, yet was the leading posek and gadol in difficult times.
2/4/2020 • 47 minutes, 57 seconds
This Coming Weekend 1/31/20-2/2/20 in the New Jersey-Monsey Area
I will be in Livingston, NJ this Shabbos and in Monsey, Saturday Night, February 1st
1/30/2020 • 3 minutes, 18 seconds
The Tzemach Tzedek - R’ Menachem Mendel Krochmal, (1600-1661): A Fascinating Sefer of Responsa
This is the Tzemach Tzedek “HaKadmon” of the 17th Century: A tribune of the poor, and opponent of "baloney "
1/30/2020 • 29 minutes, 29 seconds
Parshas Bo: The "Borrowers"
What the Jews left behind in Egypt.
1/29/2020 • 22 minutes, 33 seconds
Parshas VaEra: The Ten Plagues as They Would Have Appeared to Egyptians and to Hebrews
"Punishing the "gods" - לעשות שופטים באלוהי מצרים
1/24/2020 • 28 minutes, 17 seconds
Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1803-1890)
“I am the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire” - Judaism is too important to be left in the hands of the bourgeoisie
1/21/2020 • 46 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Shemos: The Jews Who Didn't Want to Leave
How many Jews were NOT present at Mt. Sinai?
1/17/2020 • 35 minutes, 40 seconds
Yosef ibn Naghrela - Son of Shmuel HaNagid and Vizier of the Kingdom of Granada, Spain (1035-1066): A Brilliant and Tragic Figure in the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry.
How not to avoid antisemitism in a gentile world.
1/13/2020 • 43 minutes, 14 seconds
Parshas VaYechi: Canaanite Ancestors?
The Strange Funeral of Yaakov Avinu
1/10/2020 • 28 minutes
"The Shvus Yaakov" - Rabbi Yaakov Reischer (1661-1733)
None are as blind as those who will not see.
1/7/2020 • 45 minutes, 51 seconds
Parshas Vayigash: The Gaping Holes in the Narrative
Was there a reconciliation between the brothers?
1/3/2020 • 26 minutes, 52 seconds
The Chavos Yair (1639-1702) - R’ Yair Chaim Bacharach: A Famous Posek With No Luck in the Rabbinate
A Gaon with Yekiishe virtues personified
12/31/2019 • 40 minutes, 46 seconds
Parshas Mikeitz: The Fifth Galus - Egypt
Joseph the Virtuoso - Succeeding in two cultures at the same time. Role model? Or danger?
12/27/2019 • 32 minutes, 4 seconds
The " Sedei Chemed" (1834-1904) - Rabbi Haim Hezekiah Medini and Crimean Jewry
The Sephardic Rabbi of the Crimean Jews (Krymchaks), who were neither Ashkenaz nor Sephard. A beloved figure . An early "Ovadia Yosef"
12/26/2019 • 49 minutes, 52 seconds
Is Chanukah a Biblical Holiday?
Is Chanukah foretold in the Book of Daniel? Really?
12/24/2019 • 42 minutes, 27 seconds
Parshas VaYeshev: Disunity in the Family
How easy it is to break up a family, how difficult it is to restore family unity.
12/19/2019 • 28 minutes, 26 seconds
Abraham Maimonides (1186-1237): Son of the Rambam, a Rishon in His Own Right
The son who took the father's philosophy into philosophical- experiential mysticism, while completely avoiding credulity.
12/17/2019 • 49 minutes, 17 seconds
Parshas VaYishlach: The Rape of Dina in Kabbalistic Terms
Competing notions of morality and propriety, and the deadly wages, thereof
12/12/2019 • 29 minutes, 56 seconds
The Maharshal (1510-1573) - The Most Colorful Rabbinic Personality of the Golden Age of Polish Jewry
A perfectionist who was not only willing to dish out criticism, but was willing to accept it, as well. A rare quality.
12/11/2019 • 42 minutes, 37 seconds
Parshas VaYetzei: The Lavan Challenge in Jewish History and Meta-History
Yaakov survives Lavan only by the skin of his teeth. A "Zionist" vort?
12/5/2019 • 24 minutes, 12 seconds
The Maharsha (1555-1631)
The gadol who made his mother in law one of the most famous women in Jewish history, and the one man in the Golden Age of Polish Jewry whose book achieved canonical status in the study of the Talmud......And who was so normal!
12/4/2019 • 36 minutes, 23 seconds
Parshas Toldos: Yitzchak and the Palestinians, 4,000 years ago
Why do Jewish females call themselves Yehudis?
11/27/2019 • 25 minutes, 43 seconds
R‘ Shalom Shachna of Lublin (1490-1559), the Golden Age of Polish Jewry
Power, violence, scholarship, royal favor, and rosh yeshiva - an interesting, but possibly dangerous, combination
11/26/2019 • 40 minutes, 38 seconds
Parshas Chayai Sarah: Death and Shidduchim
Parshas Chayei Sarah - Abraham the Grand Seigneur. When is lashon hara ok?
The Kabbalistic subculture of the Vilna Gaon legacy. Not for the broad public!
11/21/2019 • 42 minutes, 4 seconds
Parshas Vayeira: Sodom - Then and Now
Sodom vs. Mamrei: Economics and Religion - Which?
11/14/2019 • 22 minutes, 27 seconds
The "Radbaz" - Rabbi Dovid ibn Abi Zimra of Spain and Egypt (1479-1573)
A rare combination of world-class rabbinic scholarship and financial success, and common sense
11/12/2019 • 39 minutes, 55 seconds
Parshas Lech Lecha The adventures of the childless couple
The first couple in the Bible whose relationship is described in any detail
11/8/2019 • 36 minutes, 56 seconds
Rabbi Jonah of Gerona (Spain), 1210-1264 Author of the שערי תשובה
Having tasted controversy in his youth, he abandoned it in favor of scholarship and morality in his mature years
11/5/2019 • 41 minutes, 45 seconds
Parshas Noach: Disturbing Stories
Degeneracy and Proud Towers - A Cautionary Tale
11/1/2019 • 25 minutes, 23 seconds
Isaac Abravnel, “The Abarbanel,” (1437-1508)-King of Pshat
The most unusual and dramatic "rabbi" of the Middle Ages
10/28/2019 • 45 minutes, 54 seconds
Bereishis: Eden, Hell, Flaming Swords, and Circumcision
The first mention of ברית מילה in history
10/25/2019 • 27 minutes, 29 seconds
Chasam Sofer (1762-1839)
The man of creative reaction
10/23/2019 • 45 minutes, 45 seconds
Sukkos-A Few Thoughts
2019 Sukkos
10/13/2019 • 23 minutes, 55 seconds
Parshas Haazinu: Moses’ History of the Future
An Oracle: Disturbing or Thrilling?
10/11/2019 • 19 minutes, 10 seconds
Parshas Vayelech: Pessimism on Shabbos Shuva?
Predictions of a less-than-glorious future. Oy!
10/4/2019 • 18 minutes, 59 seconds
The Chayai Adam - R’ Avraham Danzig ( 1748 - 1820)
חיי אדם The beginning of the "Art Scroll" phenomenon in Eastern Europe, 200 years ago
10/3/2019 • 39 minutes, 21 seconds
Join R’ Katz on the 1st Day of Chol HaMoed Sukkos on a Special Trip to D.C.’s Museum of the Bible
Rabbi Katz's upcoming trip to the Museum of the Bible in DC-an amazing experience when guided properly.
10/3/2019 • 3 minutes, 44 seconds
Parashas Nitzavim and Rosh HaShanah
Thoughts on L’Dovid HaShem Ohri, Rosh HaShanah and the Shofar blasts.
9/27/2019 • 38 minutes, 51 seconds
Rabbi Yehonasan Eibeschutz (1694-1764)
The most brilliant and most controversial Gadol of the Early-Modern Era
9/25/2019 • 43 minutes, 55 seconds
The Tochecha: Trying to Relate It to History and Current Events- Parshas Ki Savo
The great מפרשים, the תוכחה, and historiosophical analyses
9/20/2019 • 24 minutes, 1 second
The Maharal of Prague (1520-1610)
The Gaon and nonconformist, not the golem- maker!
9/18/2019 • 38 minutes, 21 seconds
דברה תורה כנגד יצר הרע: Parshas Ki Seitzei
Ki Teizei and Rosh Hashanah - battling Satan
9/13/2019 • 28 minutes, 33 seconds
The Rivash (1326-1408): Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet Prefet of Aragon (in Spain)
Hero and victim of the wave of forced conversions of 1391. (1326-1408)
9/10/2019 • 35 minutes, 25 seconds
Parshas Shoftim: Political Science
What's the ideal form of government in Judaism?
9/6/2019 • 39 minutes, 14 seconds
The Tosafos Yom Tov-Rabbi Yom Tov Lippman Heller (1579-1654)
The rabbi who was so honest, his ballebatim tried to murder him.
9/4/2019 • 43 minutes, 57 seconds
Parshas Re’eh- Moses’ Prescient Warnings Against Syncretism
Which is worse? Idolatry or syncretism? A case in point
8/29/2019 • 33 minutes, 17 seconds
The Netziv of Volozhin 1816-1893: The Pilot Who Steered the Yeshiva Through Endless Storms-Until Not
One of the most original thinkers in Torah literature, with a grand unusual vision
8/28/2019 • 47 minutes, 39 seconds
Crusaders and Jews, Pt. 3: The Cyclone Forms-The First Crusade and the Ashkenazic Jews
Three Weeks series
8/25/2019 • 1 hour, 14 minutes
Eikev: The Mystery of the Ark of Moses
Sublime self-sacrifice, or anger-management issues
8/23/2019 • 22 minutes
Son of the famous R’ Aryeh Levine and One of the Leading עילויים of the Jerusalem of a Century Ago
A special podcast of a 20th century story: Should have been a big Rosh Yeshivah, but instead served in the pulpit and communal Rabbinate.
8/22/2019 • 39 minutes, 38 seconds
R’ Chaim “Brisker” Soloveitchik (1853-1918) and His Historical Significance
The man with two (make that three) Gadol-careers
8/21/2019 • 51 minutes, 12 seconds
Old Jewish Baltimore Tour-THIS WEEKEND (Aug. 25th)
A rare opportunity to learn the history and archaeology of one of the leading Jewish communities in N. America today
8/19/2019 • 4 minutes, 32 seconds
Parshas VaEschanan ואתחנן
You can thank Zev and Dena Raden in Boca for this re-podcast
8/18/2019 • 10 minutes, 28 seconds
Crusaders and Jews, Pt.2: The Age of Rabeinu Gershom and Rashi-Ashkenazic Civilization Develops
Three weeks series
8/18/2019 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 50 seconds
Rav Itzele Peterburger (1937–1907): The Main Disseminator of the Teachings of R’ Yisroel Salanter
The mussarist as communal rabbi, educational-innovator, responsa-writer, Lithuanian "hasid," and ideologue of counter-modernity
8/13/2019 • 1 hour, 55 seconds
Crusaders and Jews, Pt.1: The Age of Rabeinu Gershom and Rashi-Ashkenazic Civilization Develops
From the Three Weeks Lecture Series
8/11/2019 • 55 minutes, 13 seconds
Parshas Devarim: The Censorious Speech of Moses and Its Connection with תשעה באב
Some thoughts on this fifth, different, book of the Chumash, and of its connection with תשעה באב
8/9/2019 • 32 minutes, 4 seconds
Preview of Upcoming Saturday Night Lecture Series: Crusaders and Jews: The Massacres of 1096
The massacres and the mass-suicides and their effect upon Ashkenazic Jewry down to the present
8/9/2019 • 4 minutes, 20 seconds
R’ Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940): A Study in Non- Hasidic Charisma
A look at R’ Chaim Ozer from a cultural perspective
8/8/2019 • 41 minutes, 18 seconds
Parasha: פרשת מטות מסעי
Is the Torah fire or water?
8/2/2019 • 20 minutes, 41 seconds
The Shaagas Aryeh - R’ Aryeh Leib ben Asher of Minsk and Metz: A Gaon Who Broke the Mold
Hero of the masses, and the subject of many legends and "baba maasos"
7/30/2019 • 47 minutes, 24 seconds
Some Insights into Violence, Middle Eastern Politics, and the Shidduch Crisis of the דור המדבר
Remarkable parallels to our own times
7/25/2019 • 28 minutes, 43 seconds
Rav Yitzchak HaLevi Herzog (1888-1959)- A Unique Figure, a Gaon and a PhD
One of the two truly great Chief Rabbis of modern Israel
7/22/2019 • 36 minutes, 28 seconds
Murdering Jews for Something they did not do: The 20th-21st Centuries The Struggle Goes On - Part 5 (Series Finale)
6/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
Series: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do
7/21/2019 • 1 hour, 12 minutes, 32 seconds
Parshas Balak- The Phenomenon of Moses' Inability to Respond to Direct Challenges to His Authority
Combined with repeated Divine Intervention to suppress such challenges
7/19/2019 • 34 minutes, 32 seconds
Post-Tour Reflections: A Cautionary Judaic Tale
Post-Tour Reflections on Rot in Judaism - Prague, Vienna, Budapest as a Cautionary Judaic Tale
Rabbi Katz discusses some worrying trends in contemporary Judaism
7/18/2019 • 28 minutes, 38 seconds
Some Historical Reflections by Rabbi Katz on the History of Hungarian Jewry in the Modern Era.
Recorded in Budapest while on a Jewish History tour
7/15/2019 • 26 minutes, 20 seconds
Murdering Jews for Something they did not do: Czarist Russia and the Blood Libel in Modern Times- Part 4
5/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
Series: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do
7/14/2019 • 1 hour, 25 minutes, 5 seconds
Vienna Tour: Rabbi Katz and Some Jewish History Thoughts in Vienna
Habsburgs and Jews
7/11/2019 • 15 minutes, 38 seconds
Prague Jewish History Tour: Reflections on the Jews and Prague
On location in Europe.....
7/9/2019 • 17 minutes, 23 seconds
Murdering Jews for Something they did not do: The Blood Libel in Modern Times - Part 3
4/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
7/7/2019 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 35 seconds
Parshas Korach: Provoking the Nuclear Option
Demagoguery, and dealing with the Masses
7/4/2019 • 13 minutes, 22 seconds
Fourth of July, USA: Reflections in Jewish History
The Jews in the Anglo American era
7/4/2019 • 12 minutes, 16 seconds
Murdering Jews for Something They did not do: Blood Libels: German Madness and Greed in the Middle Ages Part 2
3/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
6/30/2019 • 1 hour, 12 minutes, 34 seconds
פרשת שלח Parshas Shelach
1.) The terrible power of peer pressure 2.) Moses the lawyer
6/26/2019 • 22 minutes, 36 seconds
20 Sivan: Anniversary of the Massacres in France, Ukraine and Hungary
A discussion of various tragedies that occurred on this date, and the response of the Ashkenazi Jews to these events
6/26/2019 • 26 minutes, 7 seconds
Blood Libels: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do-German Madness in the Middle Ages Part I
Murdering Jews for Something Edited (2)
02 Summer Series 2014 Lecture 2 German Madness and Greed in the Middle Ages, Part I
6/22/2019 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 9 seconds
Does the Torah Require Any 'Secular' Knowledge?
On parashas בהעלותך
6/21/2019 • 26 minutes, 23 seconds
Rabby Yosef Ergas (1685-1730), The שומר אמונים - Personalities in Jewish History
One of the most interesting and accessible Kabbalistic books
6/18/2019 • 26 minutes, 1 second
Blood Libels: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do- French Madness in the Middle Ages
Murdering Jews for Something Edited (1)
01 Summer Series 2014 French Madness in the Middle Ages(incomplete - missing the end)
6/15/2019 • 1 hour, 14 minutes, 12 seconds
Parshas Nasso - Deference for Consensus
The parshah that privileges consensus over unilateralism
6/14/2019 • 20 minutes
Rabbi Dovid Pardo (1718-1790) of Venice and Sarajevo - Personalities in Jewish History
The Rabbi who "opened up" the Tosefta
6/12/2019 • 38 minutes, 59 seconds
The Rema (1525-1572)
Biographical
6/12/2019 • 42 minutes, 16 seconds
Avraham Ben Avraham | The Ger Tzedek - Vilna 1749 - Personalities in Jewish History
Valentin Potocki the reputed martyr and Ger Tzedek at the time of the Vilna Gaon. Fact or fairy-tale?
6/4/2019 • 38 minutes, 2 seconds
Saturday Night Lecture Series Preview- Blood Libels: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do
A history of the Blood Libel in six lectures
6/2/2019 • 4 minutes, 43 seconds
Parshas Bechukosai-The Tocahachah and Modern Times
Can the תוכחה be related to the Holocaust at an intellectually honest level? The seduction of glib analysis
5/30/2019 • 21 minutes, 19 seconds
Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin 1780-1849 and the Challenges of Czarist Russia
The son of Reb Chaim Volozhiner. "Mr. Responsiblity"
5/29/2019 • 41 minutes, 27 seconds
From Chanukah to Tishabav: The Great Revolt, the Civil Wars, and the Churban (Part 4) - Saturday Night Lecture Series (Series Finale)
Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 4/4
5/26/2019 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 28 seconds
Lag B’Omer- Parshas Behar
An analysis of Lag B'Omer, its countermodern attractiveness, and its relevance to the modern Jewish experience
5/24/2019 • 30 minutes, 36 seconds
A Personal Request from Rabbi Katz
Spread the word
5/23/2019 • 58 seconds
From Chanukah to Tishabav: The Background to the Great Revolt; the Tragedy of Roman-Jewish Relations (Part 3) - Saturday Night Lecture Series
Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 3/4
5/19/2019 • 1 hour, 32 seconds
Parshas Emor
Plus a little on Lag B'Omer
5/17/2019 • 17 minutes, 38 seconds
Maharam Lublin: R’ Meir Lublin 1558-1616 - Personalities in Jewish History
The famous combatant in the bitter 1611 controversy surrounding the "Get of Vienna"
5/15/2019 • 35 minutes, 51 seconds
From Chanukah to Tishabav (Part 2) - Saturday Night Lecture Series
Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 2/4
5/12/2019 • 1 hour, 22 seconds
Parshas Kedoshim and the Passion - Imperative
The coinciding of קדושים and יום העצמאות. Community and absence of community in contemporary Judaism and Jewish sociology
5/10/2019 • 28 minutes, 35 seconds
Rabbi Yaakov Sasportas 1610-1698 of the Sephardi "Diaspora" - Personalities in Jewish History
Posek, diplomat, rosh yeshiva, and the leading opponent of Shabtai Zvi. A truly dramatic biography
5/8/2019 • 40 minutes, 11 seconds
From Chanukah to Tishabav - SERIES PREMIERE (Part 1) - Saturday Night Lecture Series
The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av.
5/5/2019 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 18 seconds
Parshas Acharei Mos
"Getting too close?"
5/2/2019 • 24 minutes, 28 seconds
Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash of Spain (1077-1141) - Personalities in Jewish History
The greatest Sephardi Gadol of the early 12th century. The "hero" of Maimonides
5/1/2019 • 27 minutes, 21 seconds
Something to say @the seder #3
The power of the Jewish Woman
4/18/2019 • 18 minutes, 10 seconds
Something to say at the seder #2
Wise and dumb, heroes and cowards
4/17/2019 • 14 minutes, 30 seconds
Nahmanides (רמב"ן) - Personalities in Jewish History
The greatest Spanish Rishon of the second half of the Middle Ages. The father of "Sefardi-Yeshivsh "
4/16/2019 • 38 minutes, 8 seconds
Something to say @the Seder #1
Three groups @ the original Passover
4/15/2019 • 10 minutes, 6 seconds
פרשת מצורע-Parshas Metzora-Shabbos HaGadol
The leprosy of King Uzziah of Judah
4/12/2019 • 23 minutes, 58 seconds
Rabbi Shmuel Yehudah Katzenellenbogen of Venice ( 1521-1597) Personalities in Jewish History
A Rosh Yeshiva in the "party-city" of the Old World - What a challenge!
4/11/2019 • 35 minutes, 57 seconds
Famous Jewish Historians: Fritz Baer - Saturday Night Lecture Series
The Kli Yakar: Rabbi Ephraim Luntshitzer (1540-1620) - Personalities in Jewish History
The famous כלי יקר, one of the great orators and great social critics in Jewish History
3/13/2019 • 28 minutes, 58 seconds
Famous Jewish Historians: Flavius Josephus - Saturday Night Lecture Series - Part 1
First of seven lectures on Flavious Josephus
3/10/2019 • 1 hour, 35 minutes, 44 seconds
Parshas Pekudei - Parsha Persepctives
Clouds and fire, darkness or light? Which?
3/8/2019 • 14 minutes, 1 second
“Galitzianer Jewry” and The 'Shoel Umayshiv': Personalities in Jewish History
One of the greatest of the "Galitzianer" Gedolim. Author of one of the most widely-used responsa collections, but unknown in the Yeshiva World. A glimpse into a vanished world.
3/7/2019 • 32 minutes, 28 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: Poles and Jews Since the Fall of Communism- Pt. 6
“Can we at least agree on the facts? No!” Poles and Jews Since the Fall of Communism
3/3/2019 • 1 hour, 59 minutes, 5 seconds
Parshas ויקהל - Parsha Perspectives
A משכן built by sinners?
3/1/2019 • 14 minutes, 59 seconds
R’ Yitzchok Elchonon Spector, 1817 - 1896: Personalities in Jewish History
The last of the Great Rabbis venerated by ALL segments of Jewish Society, not just the Orthodox
2/27/2019 • 32 minutes, 23 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: Poles and Jews in the Holocaust and After- Pt. 5
Poles and Jews in the Reborn Republic of Poland
2/24/2019 • 1 hour, 53 minutes, 42 seconds
Parshas Ki Sisa - Why would they make the Golden Calf? - Parsha Perspective
Why would they make a Golden Calf?
2/22/2019 • 19 minutes, 30 seconds
Italian Jewry and Rabbi Azarya Figo 1579-1647 - Personalities in Jewish History
A look at one of .Italy's Jews and גדולי תורה in an age of persecution and brilliance
2/20/2019 • 35 minutes, 52 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: Jews in the Reborn Republic of Poland (1918-1939)- Pt. 4
Poles and Jews in the Reborn Republic of Poland
2/17/2019 • 1 hour, 43 minutes, 31 seconds
Old Ashkenazic Jewry and Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid (1150-1217): Personalities in Jewish History
The hasidic world of a thousand years ago - ספר החסידים
2/13/2019 • 21 minutes, 1 second
Parshas Tetzaveh: Parsha Perspectives
Trust and priesthood
2/12/2019 • 10 minutes, 11 seconds
Parshas Teruma: Parsha Persepctives
So why exactly do we need a משכן?
2/8/2019 • 17 minutes, 27 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: Jews Under Czarist Rule- Pt. 3
Deuteronomy 28:49-51: Poles and Jews under Czarist Rule
2/7/2019 • 1 hour, 24 minutes, 29 seconds
The Ibn Ezra: Personalities in Jewish History
The famous Bible Commentator and intellectual. Is a "Rishon" a "Rishon" if he is not into Gemara ?
2/5/2019 • 19 minutes, 18 seconds
Parshas Mishpatim: Parsha Perspectives
Problems of slavery, problems of emancipation
2/1/2019 • 14 minutes, 26 seconds
Greece! An exciting Jewish-History tour of Greece with Rabbi Dovid Katz May 13-20, 2019
Join Rabbi Katz on this amazing trip to Greece, which will include a wealth of information on the history of the Jews andvthe Greeks over the last 2500 years, an encounter that has left a profound impact on both civilizations. Contact Rabbi Katz at rabbidkatz@gmail.com
1/31/2019 • 5 minutes, 54 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: Crisis! Downfall of the Polish Kingdom (18th Century)- Pt. 2
The Crisis of the Old Order: Poles and Jews and the Downfall of the Kingdom
1/31/2019 • 1 hour, 30 minutes, 24 seconds
History of the Jews in Poland: How Poland Became Home to the Freest Jewish Community- Pt. 1
How the Kingdom of Poland Became the Site of the Largest, Freest, and Most Important Community in Jewry
1/27/2019 • 1 hour, 31 minutes, 15 seconds
Parshas Yisro - Fathers-in-law
Two remarkable depictions of human foibles depicted just beneath the surface of the Biblical narrative
1/25/2019 • 11 minutes, 52 seconds
The Pnei Yehoshua: Personalities in Jewish History
A short biographical sketch of one ofbthe most interesting Gedolim of the past three centuries.
1/20/2019 • 12 minutes, 1 second
Parshas Beshalach - Faith or Conviction?: Parsha Perspectives
Why did they not believe until קריעת ים סוף?
1/18/2019 • 14 minutes, 11 seconds
The Rashash: Personalities in Jewish History
A few words about the great Kabbalist Rabbi Shalom Sharabi
1/16/2019 • 19 minutes, 53 seconds
History of Israel-Considering the Future from the Perspective of the Past - 1952-56 (Season Finale)
Considering the Future from the Perspective of the Past - 1952-1956 (Season Finale)
The unusual relationship between הקב"ה and the man He drafted to lead the Jews
1/11/2019 • 12 minutes, 57 seconds
History of Israel-Zionism in Triumph and Crisis 1952-1956
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
1/8/2019 • 1 hour, 43 minutes, 37 seconds
History of Israel-The World of American Jewry 1952-1956
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
1/5/2019 • 1 hour, 45 minutes, 10 seconds
פרשת וארא The Perils of Rationalism
The Existential tension concerning the rationalistic interpretation of the Torah
1/4/2019 • 17 minutes, 10 seconds
History of Israel-The Suez Crisis and the Sinai Campaign 1952-1956 (Part 2)
Heroism, Deception and Misunderstanding
1/3/2019 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 31 seconds
History of Israel-The Suez Crisis and the Sinai Campaign 1952-1956 (Part 1)
This lecture sketches the complicated background of the Sinai War of 1956, when Israel's toxic border situation, combined with the specter of Nasser organizing a giant Arab war against the Jewish State, led Ben-Gurion to engage in a machiavellian military alliance with France and Britain and attack Egypt. This was the most controversial war in Israeli history
12/29/2018 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 39 seconds
Shemos: 'Goshens' Does Success Carry its own Ingredients for Failure?: Parsha Perspectives
The Goshen model in ancient egypt and in contemporary America. Does success carry its own ingredients for failure?
12/27/2018 • 9 minutes, 45 seconds
Shemos - Moshe the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter: Parsha Perspectives
A thought about the conversation that never rook place surrounding thecsale of Joseph
12/21/2018 • 9 minutes, 13 seconds
Va'yigash: Joseph, Not a Dreamer but a Master of Dreams: Parsha Perspectives
A thumbnail sketch of יוסף הצדיק
12/14/2018 • 12 minutes, 8 seconds
חנוכה 2018 Chanukah
A dvar torah on חנוכה combining history and torah
12/7/2018 • 11 minutes
Shabtai Tzvi - After the Bubble Bursts-Part 5
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
11/30/2018 • 1 hour, 17 minutes, 36 seconds
Shabtai Tzvi: His Era-Part 4
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
11/16/2018 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 6 seconds
Shabtai Tzvi: His Era-Part 3
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
10/18/2018 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 47 seconds
Noach: The Tower of Babylon: Parsha Perspectives
A story underneath a text
10/15/2018 • 13 minutes, 41 seconds
Shabtai Tzvi: Kabbalah and Kabbalistic Messianism-Part 2
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
10/11/2018 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 48 seconds
Shabtai Tzvi: Messianism in Judaism-Part 1
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
10/4/2018 • 2 hours, 28 minutes, 36 seconds
Sukkos: An Unusual Take
"An unusual take of sukkos"
9/23/2018 • 17 minutes, 22 seconds
History of Israel-Strange Bedfellows: Israel & France 1952-1956
Though it may seems strange to us today, back in the early years of the State, France was Israel's best-friend, supplying the Jewish State with military aircraft at a time when even the USA declined to do so.
Since the Soviets were supplying Egypt with modern weapons, France's support was vitally-needed.
This lecture describes the background for this "Strange-Bedfellows" relationship, which was vital for the Israel of the Ben Gurion era.
8/12/2018 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 59 seconds
Adam, Eve, and Sheva Brachos
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
8/10/2018 • 3 minutes, 16 seconds
History of Israel-The Bear Enters the Middle East: Israel, the USSR, and the Cold War 1953-1956
This lectures describes the process whereby the Russians became involved in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and turned the Arab States, which until then had been militarily weaker than Israel, into militarily powerful countries that posed a mortal threat to the State of Israel. This lecture serves as an introduction to relations between Israel and Russia, a topic much in the news today
8/5/2018 • 1 hour, 21 minutes, 24 seconds
History of Israel-Nasser & Arab Nationalism 1952-1956
Analyzes the state of the Arab World in the Early Ben Gurion years.,
The new phenomenon called "Arab Nationalism" which seemed to sweep the Arab states in those years, and which found its foremost figure in Egypt's Nasser. The conflicts between Nasser and Israel, and, unexpectedly, between Nasser and Islamists. This lecture helps the listener understand how the Middle East of today came to be.
7/22/2018 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 43 seconds
A Tale of the Nine Days in 2018
A mini-essay on a recent event In Germany which reveals the contemporary relevance of The Nine Days
7/20/2018 • 7 minutes, 57 seconds
History of Israel-The State of Israel and the Jewish Religion 1952-1956
A historical analysis of the early stages of how a strange thing happened: A State founded by secularists on strongly secular liberal principles ended up becoming the number-one funder and enabler of a network of religious institutions dedicated to the very opposite of secular liberalism. How Ben Gurion put the Haredim on their feet without wishing to.
7/15/2018 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 54 seconds
History of Israel-The Snake-Pit-1952-1956
This lectures exposes the underside of Israeli Natl.-Security politics in the Ben-Gurion era. In a system in which only the opinion of one man counted, intrigues, untruths, lead to dysfunction, and to The Lavon Affair, which became the Watergate Scandal of the Ben-Gurion regime.
7/8/2018 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 40 seconds
Happy Birthday America
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
7/6/2018 • 4 minutes, 35 seconds
History of Israel-The Border Wars: Infiltration, Terrorism, Reprisal-Raids 1952-56
The strange tale of the national-security problem Israel's early years, when Israel; had the strongest army in the Middle-East, combined with the weakest borders, implacable Arab hatred, and an Arab Refugee Problem for which no solution had been found even today(2018). A tale of violence, retaliation, and no solution
7/1/2018 • 1 hour, 10 minutes, 27 seconds
History of Israel-Trying to Get It Right: Israel, Aliyah, Racism 1952-1956
Frank talk about anti-Sefardi racism in Israel during the Ben Gurion era
6/24/2018 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 39 seconds
History of Israel-Around the (Jewish) World in 80 Minutes in 1953
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
6/19/2018 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 59 seconds
History of Israel-Jews in the Shadow of the Holocaust: Coping by Ignoring-1952-1956
Progress Without Peace: Israel and the Jewish People, 1952-1956
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How the new State of Israel wrestled with the question of how to relate to the Holocaust. The conflicted feelings of shame, anger, and profound-compassion came to a head in the "Kasztner-Trial" of 1954, the most controversial trial in Israeli history
5/29/2018 • 1 hour, 16 minutes, 17 seconds
European Revolutions: The Twisted Legacy of the Liberal Revolutions on Jewish Religion-Part 6
Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
5/24/2018 • 1 hour, 44 minutes, 49 seconds
European Revolutions: The Great Liberal Revolutions of 1848 and the Impact on the Jews-Part 5
Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
5/18/2018 • 1 hour, 20 minutes, 11 seconds
European Revolutions: The Anti-Semitic Reaction of Europe-Part 4
Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
5/16/2018 • 1 hour, 12 minutes, 22 seconds
European Revolutions: The French Revolution and the Political Fate of the Jews-Part 2
Jews and the Great European Revolutions
5/11/2018 • 1 hour, 22 minutes, 4 seconds
European Revolutions: Sufferance is the Badge of Our Tribe-Part 1
Jews and the Great European Revolutions
5/10/2018 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 49 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: Censorship of Jewish Books, 1600-1900- Part 6
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
5/9/2018 • 1 hour, 24 minutes, 46 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: Popes and the Counter-Reformation- Part 5
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
5/9/2018 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 5 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: The Late Middle Ages- Part 3
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
5/8/2018 • 1 hour, 13 minutes, 40 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: The Burning of the Talmud- Part 2
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
5/8/2018 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 15 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: The Renaissance and New Technology- Part 4
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
5/8/2018 • 1 hour, 14 minutes, 52 seconds
War Against the Jewish Book: The First Half of the Middle Ages- Part 1
Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
