Mordechai Dinerman

1

From Philadelphia to Newport: An Early American Teshuvah (1790)

Jul 1, 2026

1:14:24

In 1790, Moses Seixas of Newport, Rhode Island, and Manuel Josephson of Philadelphia corresponded, with Josephson composing what effectively amounts to a halachic teshuvah. Josephson raised concerns about the conduct of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, arguing that elements of the service were not being properly observed. The exchange provides an important window into the religious commitments and halachic awareness of early American Jews. It also stands as one of the earliest examples of a rabbinic-style teshuvah in the formative years of Jewish life in the United States. From Philadelphia to Newport: An Early American Teshuvah (1790)

2

What Did the Rebbe Say About Going on Har Habayis?

Jun 16, 2026

1:11:05

In this final class of the series, we will examine the Rebbe’s statements and correspondence regarding going up to Har Habayis. By studying the available sources, we will seek to better understand what the Rebbe did—and did not—say about this complex and significant question. This is the fourth and final installment on this topic. What Did the Rebbe Say About Going on Har Habayis?

3

The Boy at the Bimah: A History of Bar Mitzvah Celebrations

May 14, 2026

1:12:38

The bar mitzvah ceremony didn’t always look the way it does today. In fact, for much of Jewish history, it barely looked like anything at all. In this episode, we investigate: When did a ceremony first appear? What did it look like? When did bar mitzvah boys start receiving an aliya? Leining? Leading davening? A derasha? We’ll trace its evolution among Ashkenazi Jews from the eleventh century through the seventeenth century. In celebration of the bar mitzvah of Meir Nosson Hakohen Dinerman The Boy at the Bimah: A History of Bar Mitzvah Celebrations

4

Is the Dome of the Rock Where the Mikdash Stood?

Jun 4, 2026

1:14:25

Whether Jews may enter Har Habayis largely depends on whether we know where the Beis Hamikdash stood. A common assumption is that we don’t know for sure, but that assumption has a history. This class traces the story of this uncertainty, primarily through the accounts of Jewish travelers who visited Eretz Yisrael and recorded what they saw and heard. This is the third installment in a series about going up onto Har Habayis. Is the Dome of the Rock Where the Mikdash Stood?

5

Jews and Booze: Uncorking the Wine Debate During the Age of Prohibition

Feb 5, 2026

56:08

Today, we explore Jewish life during Prohibition, when the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages were banned in the United States. While the U.S. government granted religious exceptions for wine, both the Reform and Conservative movements distanced themselves from this loophole, endorsing the use of grape juice instead. One contemporary posek passionately rejected grape juice, and we’ll examine the central arguments that shaped this debate. As we’ll see, this issue became a defining point for Orthodox Judaism in the early 20th century. Jews and Booze: Uncorking the Wine Debate During the Age of Prohibition

6

Josephus

Jan 9, 2025

1:05:23

The book known as Yosifun, cherished in traditional Jewish circles, and the books of Josephus, preserved in Greek and Latin by non-Jewish hands, spark challenging questions about authorship, reliability, and reconstructing the Jewish past. This class explores how rabbis throughout the ages evaluated these works, their role on the Jewish bookshelf, and how to navigate the apparent discrepancies between their accounts and the teachings of chazal. Josephus

7

The Cantonist Crisis

Aug 22, 2025

1:23:33

In 1827, Czar Nicholas I decreed that Jewish boys and young men be conscripted into the Russian army, a policy that shook Jewish life in Russia to its core. Communities debated and attempted various strategies to confront this crisis, and in that context, the Tzemach Tzedek was asked whether a particular approach was permissible. In this class, we’ll explore the historical backdrop, unpack the Tzemach Tzedek’s responsum, and work together to understand its meaning. The Cantonist Crisis

8

Wine: Blind Tastes, Price Controls, and the Most Regulated Wine Market You’ve Ever Seen

Jan 14, 2026

1:04:22

This class takes us inside the Jewish wine economy of earlier centuries. We will see communities enforcing price ceilings, outlawing seller collusion, and appointing assessors to protect community members from being overcharged. In some places, the system became so aggressively strict: monopoly-style selling rights, blind tastings, barrels sealed by wine assessors, community-owned measuring jugs, and stiff fines for anyone who tried to sell wine off the books. Wine: Blind Tastes, Price Controls, and the Most Regulated Wine Market You’ve Ever Seen

9

Rabbinic Police Powers, Love and Hate, and Stern Censorship: Insights from Newly Discovered Passages of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch

Mar 9, 2022

56:02

The Czarist regime forbade rabbinical courts from employing coercive measures and adopted policies to promote assimilation. This led to the censoring of Jewish texts, and a recent discovery has shown that this also affected the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. Rabbinic Police Powers, Love and Hate, and Stern Censorship: Insights from Newly Discovered Passages of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch

10

Art of the Blast: Shofar Blowing Customs in Medieval Manuscripts

Sep 11, 2024

1:07:10

In this episode, we’re diving into fascinating early 16th-century woodcut images and priceless medieval machzor manuscripts to see how they portray the mitzvah of blowing the shofar. We’ll explore the unique details in these images that reveal interesting minhagim of the time, though some might leave us with more questions than answers. Let’s uncover the stories these images tell about our tradition. Links: Book on Jewish Confession (Nuremberg 1508) https://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/freimann/content/thumbview/6515799 Der Juden Spiegel (Cologne 1508) https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1911061m/f39.double Luzzato Machzor https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-luzzatto-high-holiday-mahzor-1 Machzor – Bavarian State Library https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb00034975?page=82 Kaufmann Machzor - Hungarian Academy of Sciences http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/en/ms388/ms388-012v.htm Machzor – Cambridge University Library https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-00662/127 Machzor – Austrian National Library https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/viewerpage?vid=MANUSCRIPTS#d=[[PNX MANUSCRIPTS990001692630205171-1,FL21854414]] Art of the Blast: Shofar Blowing Customs in Medieval Manuscripts

Mordechai Dinerman

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