Unfortunately the phenomenon of isolated instances of Jews consumed with self hatred, while projecting antisemitic stereotypes on their brethren is nothing new. It has existed in one form or another throughout Jewish history. This historical saga is worth examining, coupled with specific stories of Jewish self hatred during the Nazi era.  Subscribe to Jewish History Soundbites Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/ or your favorite podcast platform Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history or feedback contact Yehuda at: [email protected]

During the 18th & first half of the 19th centuries, many members of the financial and rabbinical elite in Jewish Eastern Europe engaged in the practice of marrying off their children at a very young age. Why did they do that? How widespread was this practice? Why did it end? And what ramifications did this have on European Jewish life during this time and afterwards? Subscribe to Jewish History Soundbites Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/ or your favorite podcast platform Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history or feedback contact Yehuda at: [email protected]

Rav Avraham Dov of Ovruch (yidd. Ovrutsch) (c.1765-1840) is known for his highly acclaimed chassidic work 'Bas Ayin'. As he has become something of a more popular figure in recent years, it's an opportunity to study his life and illustrious career. He was a follower of the Chernobyl chassidic dynasty, and served as a communal rabbi and chassidic leader in Ovruch and Zhitomir, Ukraine. In his later years, he settled in the Land of Israel, where he became the leader of the chassidic community of Tzfas. During the ensuing decade of the 1830's, the community faced great upheavals with the Syrian Peasant Revolt, the great earthquake of 1837 and the Druze revolt. Through it all, the Bas Ayin was a responsible and charismatic leader, rebuilding the community through times of crisis. Though he passed away in 1840 during a cholera epidemic, and left no descendents, his legacy lives on through his accomplishments and writings. Subscribe To Our Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/ Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites You can email Yehuda at [email protected]

Special Tisha B'av episode: A recording of a live lecture delivered in May 2025 at the Shappell's Darche Noam Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, on the topic of the first Nazi death camp at Chelmno, near Lodz, Poland. The story of the daring escape attempts from this extermination site, and the escapees efforts at spreading the word to their brethren in nearby ghettos in order to sound the alarm regarding the Nazi implementation of the Final Solution. Subscribe to Jewish History Soundbites Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/ or your favorite podcast platform Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history or feedback contact Yehuda at: [email protected]

For nearly two thousand years Jews lived in the shadow of the Catholic Church. As heads of the church, popes throughout the ages formulated an official papal policy regarding the Jews as a religion, as a local community in Rome, as subjects of the pope in the Papal States, and broadly regarding the Jews across Europe. This relationship was complex and lopsided. On one hand, although often forced to convert or be killed, the official general papal policy was not to forcibly convert the Jewish People as a whole. On the other hand, the Jews were to be subjugated, humiliated and discriminated against, as the official church policy down to modern times. The Vatican and the Catholic Church more broadly played a decisive role in the rise of modern antisemitism in the 19th century as well. In 1858 the kidnapping of the Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara was a modern example of church persecution with direct papal approval. The 20th century brought two contrasts in papal relationship with the Jews. Pope Pius XII became infamous for his complicity during the Holocaust, while Pope John Paul II, who grew up with Jews in prewar Poland, changed course and had a much more positive relationship with the Jewish People and State of Israel.   Subscribe to Jewish History Soundbites Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/ or your favorite podcast platform Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history or feedback contact Yehuda at:  [email protected]  

With the Netziv solidifying his control, the Yeshiva entered it's Golden Age. Attracting the best and the brightest from across the Pale of Settlement, the Yeshiva was producing the Rabbinical greats of the Jewish world. With Rav Chaim Brisker's appointment in 1881 as the assistant Rosh Yeshiva, he raised the scholarship in the Yeshiva to a whole new level. Around the year, Volozhin continued with a regular routine of intensive study, with the Yamim Tovim offering a short respite with their accompanying excitement. Alongside these accomplishments, under currents were brewing as well. Secret societies were formed promulgating early forms of Zionism. Haskala literature became popular and got passed around by the students of the Yeshiva. Subscribe To Our Podcast on:    PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/   Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @Jsoundbites You can email Yehuda at [email protected]