Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

1

Why did Moshe accept the עֵרוּב רַב and Mordecai the מִתְיַהֲדִים?

Feb 18, 2026

25:16

Both leaders wanted the Jews-by-birth to accept the Torah, and discerned they would be impressed by sight of the non-Jews who now embraced Judaism

2

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת תְּרוּמָה תשפ"ו Was Shomo's Temple popular?

Feb 18, 2026

26:12

Built with forced labor, it doesn't seem to have captured the emotions of כלל ישראל. Instead, separation, במות, etc. Unlike the בַּיִת שֵׁנִי

3

Malbim on Messianism and the Messianic Era Part 2

Feb 18, 2026

41:03

Malbim's theory of the terminus post quem for the Redemption

4

The new English translation of the Classic R Yehonasan Eibeschutz sefer on Megilas Esther

Feb 17, 2026

28:33

R Menachem Tenenbaum (Cleveland) has translated the wonderful סֵפֶר יְשׁוּעָה גְּדוֹלָה (שֶׁהוּא מְלֻקָּט מִסֵּפֶר "יַעֲרוֹת דְּבַשׁ"), which contains the "Agadic Pilpul" on the Purim Story from the Gaon Y. Eibeschutz into readable English...in time for this Purim!

5

וְרַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים כִּי נָפַל פַּחַד הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם - Did they actually convert?

Feb 17, 2026

32:09

Was it a wave of גֵּרֵי צֶדֶק or an avalanche of opportunists, a new עֵרוּב רַב?

6

פָּרָשַׁת תְּרוּמָה תשפ"ו - Stationary and Mobile

Feb 16, 2026

32:04

A box never to be opened, a symbol of Divine Mystery?

7

וְאֶל מֹשֶׁה אָמַר עֲלֵה אֶל יְהֹוָה - What does this actually mean?

Feb 11, 2026

25:54

"Rise intellectually and struggle to comprehend the meaning of the Tetragrammaton." Like any ideal, you cannot get there but you must strive to constantly progress in that direction"

8

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת שְׁקָלִים תשפ"ו - Fundraising techniques 2800 years ago

Feb 10, 2026

56:07

How the King and the High Priest had to come up with a fundraising plan whereby none of the money went to the solicitors! Rather all the $$ went to the Temple Plant refurbishing campaign.

9

The Malbim on Messianism Part 1

Feb 9, 2026

56:07

Malbim calculated Mashiach would come in 1927. To be continued...

10

Genazym s offering (this Sunday!) the first edition of the classic סֵפֶר אֱמוּנוֹת וְדֵעוֹת לְרַב סְעַדְיָה גָּאוֹן (Istanbul 1562)

Feb 9, 2026

38:05

This is the book that launched (and legitimized!) the rational (non-Kabbalistic) approach to Torah and Judaism. written to rescue the religious Jew "drowning in doubt" (in the author's words)

11

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת מִשְׁפָּטִים תשפ"וו - Facing doom but still unable to let go of their (illegally held) Hebrew slaves

Feb 9, 2026

25:40

Jeremiah: "The Destruction of Jerusalem is unstoppable, but your physical torture by the captors IS preventable, IF you do the right thing and free your Hebrew Slaves whom you are holding beyond the six years"

12

פָּרָשַׁת מִשְׁפָּטִים תשפ"ו - Saadia Gaon's remarkable in sight into the Torah's statement re: Kidnapping

Feb 8, 2026

27:00

The child who hit his father not knowing it was his father; he was kidnapped at birth!

13

Genazym is auctioning a letter from the famous Sir Moses Montefiore to the Jews of Baghdad assuring them there will be no pogrom!

Feb 8, 2026

39:15

A tale from the Victorian Era: In 1860 the Druze massacred the Christians in Lebanon, the Muslims massacred the Christians in Damascus, and now the Christians wanted to set-off massacres of the Jews there as well as in Baghdad, but Lord Palmerston & Lord Russel (thanks to Montefiore) prevented this.

14

Current Events: Ehud Barak, the Epstein tapes, and Ashkenazi Jewish Racism

Feb 8, 2026

45:33

WASP = "White (Secular) Ashkenazi with Protektsia"

15

הפטרת פרשת יתרו תשפ"ו - The Great Hall in Heaven Filled with smoke

Feb 5, 2026

23:51

a.) Smoke at Sinaib.) Smoke in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippurc.) Smoke in Heaven in Isaiah's Prophetic Vision

16

פָּרָשַׁת יִתְרוֹ 2026 - The Chronology Problem

Feb 4, 2026

25:51

If he came after the Ten Commandments, then how long after? Immediately after? After the erecting of the Mishkan?

17

Genazym is auctioning the Landau Family (as in Noda BiYhudah)'s copy of the 17th century Kabbalistic classic טוּר בָּרֶקֶת עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ

Feb 4, 2026

34:01

Signed by the Noda BiYhudah himself when he was a teenager, soon to enter the Kloiz of Brody whose curriculum combined intense נִגְלֶה and נִסְתָּר.

18

פָּרָשַׁת יִתְרוֹ תשפ"ו חָתָן וְחוֹתֵן

Feb 3, 2026

32:46

Fathers in laws and sons in law in the Bible

19

Utopia- a חידוש of the Torah

Jan 30, 2026

30:50

Utopia is a necessary corollary of a God who is not only Omnipotent, but also Supremely Benevolent

20

Haftarah Parshas Beshalach 2026 - Was Yael a Judge?

Jan 27, 2026

33:36

Was Deborah a general? Josephus' version of the story...and more

21

A Document of Spicy Prague Rabbinical Controversy History (From the Genazym Auction)

Jan 27, 2026

37:54

R Shmuel Landau (son of the נוֹדַע בִּיהוּדָה) is engaged in a controversy re: the members of the Prague בֵּית דִּין, whom he accuses of violating the terms of a Prague communal foundation. The Maskilim tried to turn this into a cause célèbreDon't worry: אֶת וָהֵב בְּסוּפָה

22

Parshas Beshalach: What was the nature of Moshe's reputation among the Egyptians?

Jan 26, 2026

31:08

They tried to buy him off, but it didn't workhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

23

Ramban on the Mashiach and Messianism

Jan 26, 2026

1:06:22

Ramban's three great works on the subject: a.) סֵפֶר הַוִּכּוּחַ b.) סֵפֶר הַגְּאֻלָּה c.) שַׁעַר הַגְּמוּלhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

24

Genazym is offering (on Feb. 15) an autograph from R Yehonasan Eibeschutz which reflects why he was so successful as a Rosh Yeshivas

Jan 25, 2026

33:28

R Y Eibeschutz may possibly have been the the Rosh Yeshiva with the greatest number of students in history! This letter gives an insighthttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

25

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת בֹּא תשפ"ו - The Invasion of Egypt By Nebuchadnezzar

Jan 23, 2026

30:17

The strange attraction of Jews to Egypt...https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

26

Some thoughts about the institution of the עָרֵי מִקְלָט

Jan 21, 2026

22:24

Why does the Torah say that in the Messianic Era, there will be even more עָרֵי מִקְלָט?

27

The Holiday of the 2nd of Teves: The Anniversary of the Death of Herod

Jan 20, 2026

34:19

He gave orders to kill all the Gedolim when he died, in order to make sure there would be plenty of wailing and crying on the day of his death

28

More on Sinas Chinam in Jewish History - a reference to the destruction of the 2nd Temple

Jan 19, 2026

37:41

Was there שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם in the era of the בַּיִת רִאשׁוֹן?

29

Parshas Bo: When did Moses become humble?

Jan 19, 2026

29:23

His princely/aristocratic upbringing in the Palace was not one calculated to make someone humble. Quite the opposite!

30

"Persian Gulf" in Chronology: Three takes on the discrepancy in Ancient Sources

Jan 16, 2026

55:17

This is the second par of a two-part series

31

The Current Situation in France (Christians, Moslems, Jews) in Light of French History

Jan 13, 2026

31:05

Divine "Chessboard": The Christians of Europe could have recaptured the Middle East centuries ago if the French had not blocked them from doing so. OTOH had that happened, Medinat Yisrael would never have come into being.

32

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת וָאֵרָא תשפ"ו - The Saadia-Dunash Debate (10th century) re: the meaning of "אֲנִי עֲשִׂיתִנִי"

Jan 13, 2026

29:32

Boastful Pharaoh will have a ridiculous death: He will be like an Alligator dropped into the Middle of the Sahara Desert!

33

The Jews of Bucovina, an important community in Central Europe You never heard of

Jan 12, 2026

32:31

The remarkable and variegated Jewish Community of the capital city Czernowitz, which ran the gamut from Hasidim (Sadegur and Vishnitz) to Germanized Meshumadim ... and everything in between!

34

The Current Situation in Iran: Will Trump go in? I don't think so

Jan 12, 2026

22:46

The American record of encouraging uprisings but not supporting them

35

Who is putting up Hitler's speeches (in English) on you tube? And why?

Jan 12, 2026

30:01

There is a centrally-directed evil conspiracy to popularize Hitler and everything he stood for in order to attack Israel (which has benefited from the Holocaust Narrative) and to attack the Jewish People and provoke another Holocaust. Really.Such s the price of the unregulated internet...

36

פָּרָשַׁת וָאֵרָא תשפ"ו - Two opposing traditions re: what language the Jews spoke in Egypt

Jan 11, 2026

30:45

Did God speak Hebrew or did He speak Egyptian when he addressed the Jews at the Ten Commandments?

37

"Persian Gulf" in Chronology Part 1 : three takes on the discrepancy in ancient sources

Jan 11, 2026

57:23

This is the first part of a two-part series

38

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמוֹת תשפ"ו - A Glimpse into Isaiah's Utopia

Jan 8, 2026

29:30

If the אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם would allow the Jews' undisputed possession of אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל and follow the highest teachings of the Torah, the Human race would enter a Utopian Era

39

How Maimonides' Messianic Doctrines were a reflection of his times

Jan 7, 2026

45:51

Rambam had a hard life, full of physical and religious challenges, and frustrations at the false ideas of his fellow-Jews, and his ideas re: Mashiach reflect this

40

A short history of פְּשַׁט vs. דְּרַשׁ in Jewish Bible Interpretation

Jan 7, 2026

33:13

A response to Karaism in e Early Medieval Period and later to Christian interpretation in the High Middle Ages

41

פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמוֹת תשפ"ו Yaakov the Successful Parent

Jan 5, 2026

30:28

A Jewish Baby-Boom in our own country is celebrated. A A Jewish Baby-Boom in someone else's country is considered a threat justifying a Holocaust!https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

42

A סִפְרִי re: Yaakov refraining from chastising his sons out of fear they will defect to "Eisav" - The "vengeful meshumad "in Jewish History

Jan 4, 2026

43:11

The Jew who defects to another faith out of conviction or opportunism vs. The Jew who defects out of resentment. Sources used by Candace Owens...https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

43

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת וַיְחִי תשפ"ו -- David, Solomon, Joab - the problem of getting the right kind of subordinates

Jan 2, 2026

29:08

David, who came to the throne in his 30s, was confident enough to surround himself with strong personalities who didn't always obey . Shlomo, a boy of 12, cannot afford to do so, though the alternative is to be surrounded by "yes-men"

44

Some thoughts about שִׂנְאַת חִינָם in Jewish History

Jan 1, 2026

38:41

A problem that cannot be solved, only managed. Some preliminary observations.

45

Parshas VaYechi: What was the “Acharis HaYamim” that Yaakov wanted to reveal to his sons?

Jan 1, 2026

35:53

Why didn't Joseph ask Pharaoh directly for permission to bury his father in Canaan?

46

The Fast of the Ninth of Teves and the Toldos Yeshu

Dec 30, 2025

33:55

More excursions into the world of the "Frum Apocrypha." Sigh

47

The Israel-Somaliland Connection: Why is this so controversial?

Dec 28, 2025

40:20

The extraordinarily complex geopolitical situation in the "Horn of Africa," and its relation to Israel and Israel's haters. A classic case of international hypocrisy on the part of the latter.,https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

48

Parshas VaYigash: Not saying dumb things that will hurt the Jewish People

Dec 24, 2025

29:16

See how Joseph doesn't trust his brothers. He stage-manages their encounter with Pharaoh and the Egyptians, micromanaging every aspect of the conversation, like a trial-lawyer with a client. (יוֹסֵף הַפִּקֵּחַ not יוֹסֵף הַצַּדִּיק)

49

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּגַּשׁ תשפ"ו - The vision of grafting the two trees together

Dec 24, 2025

24:02

Will the tribes retain their individual identities and consciousness in the future Messianic Utopia?

50

R Katz discussesa fasinating siddur published in Greece in 1941 who omits the word יָוָן from עַל הַנִּסִּים

Dec 23, 2025

27:53

At that moment, Greece under the Metaxas Regime was saving the Jews from Hitler and Mussolini