Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

751

A Famous Story About Abraham Benveniste, an Honest King, and an Attempted Blood Libel

May 1, 2023

51:04

From the classic שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה, written 600 years ago

752

Abarbanel & Kli Yakar Summarize Opinions on Sumum Bonum

Apr 27, 2023

29:53

Why doesn't the חומש define the Sumum Bonum directly, explicitly, & clearly?

753

Amos' Summum Bonum in the Here and Now: A Rebuilt Prosperous Kingdom in אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Haftarah)

Apr 26, 2023

31:11

The Jews will be PERMANENTLY planted in Israel.

754

Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim: Blood and the "Battle" Between the Beis HaMikdash and the Bamos

Apr 26, 2023

31:13

The Mitzvos are the ingredients; קְדוֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ is the cake

755

Shem Tov ben Shem Tov: Looking for reasons for the Holocaust of 1391. Part 1

Apr 24, 2023

58:42

"The Rambam is responsible for the weakening of faith!"

756

Haftarah Shabbos Rosh Chodesh: How will Christians and Muslims Feel in the Messianic Era?

Apr 20, 2023

43:16

Abarbanel's take on Isaiah 66. תּוֹכָחָה? Or יִעוּד וְנֶחָמָה?

757

The Political Crisis in Israel: Drafting the Bnei Torah, and Ketores Considerations

Apr 20, 2023

47:19

Is the חֶלְבְּנָה the רְשָׁעִים? Or is it the בַּעֲלֵי תְּשׁוּבָה?

758

What's the Meaning of Isaiah's Reference to a New Heaven & Earth? (Sumum Bonum)

Apr 18, 2023

38:35

Will this world come to an end? Or will it be repaired and improved ?

759

Parshas Tazria-Metzora: What is Unique About the Leprous House?

Apr 17, 2023

25:25

Difference between the לָשׁוֹן הָרַע of an individual, and that of a group

760

Shlomo Alami's contemporary harsh criticism of Spanish Jewry in the wake of 1391

Apr 16, 2023

1:15:15

His אִגֶּרֶת הַמּוּסָר calls a spade a spade. His assessment of the causes of the downfall of Spanish Jewry

761

Crescas: Will the Moshiach be a Greater Prophet than Moshe?

Apr 10, 2023

32:21

Are we now in the fifth galus, or the first?

762

The Rambam vs Shem Tov on the Theological Significance of קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף

Apr 10, 2023

43:29

קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף vs מַעֲמַד הַר סִינַי

763

The Crisis in Spanish Jewry 1391-1492: The Shem Tovs and Their Differences

Apr 9, 2023

1:13:41

Fighting a two-front intellectual struggle to save Spanish Jewry- חוּץ וּפְנִים

764

The Abarbanel's fascinating connecting the Jewish fate in Egypt to the מְכִירַת יוֹסֵף

Apr 3, 2023

25:13

Abrabanel shows how various aspects of Jewish suffering in Egypt were מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה

765

Haggadah 2023: What Does It Mean, "The רשע Would Not Have Been Redeemed?" Many Were!

Apr 2, 2023

32:48

Despite grandiloquent claims, we still are in גָּלוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ, if you think about it intelligently

766

The colloquy between the Wise Son and his father: a Second Temple Convers

Mar 31, 2023

42:32

Different meanings of אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן and how it bothers the Wise Son

767

Why Davka Elijah the Prophet as the Great Reconciler? (Haftarah Shabbos HaGadol)

Mar 29, 2023

31:39

In Egypt too there was a problematic relationship between the slaves worshipping idols, and their Patriarchs

768

Parshas Tzav: The Two Types of Sin Offerings: Outer and Inner

Mar 28, 2023

31:34

Why does the kohen (not the sinner) eat the meat?

769

The Korban Pesach: Why is a Goat OK? For the Original Passover in Egypt?

Mar 27, 2023

21:21

The goat fits better with Shmuel than with Rav. It blames the slavery on us, not the Egyptians!

770

The Alshich - From the Golden Age of Safed in the 16th Century

Mar 26, 2023

54:10

Though a great Gaon, it was his sermons & speeches that "took-off" among the Jewish masses

771

The Four Sons historically considered

Mar 24, 2023

37:35

What was it like @that first Pesach if they were just the מְנוּיִים?

772

Did ALL the Jews Do the Original Korban Pesach?

Mar 23, 2023

27:28

The רָשָׁע actually has a good point!

773

The Great Philosopher Chasdai Crescas on תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים

Mar 21, 2023

38:32

What is G-d's purpose in Resurrection? What is His purpose in any miracle?

774

Haftarah Vayikrah: The Three Big Sins of the First Temple Era

Mar 20, 2023

27:21

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

775

Parshas Vayikrah: Speaking to Moshe From the אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, Not From the Adjacent Mt. Sinai

Mar 20, 2023

27:56

The "downstairs" model replaces the "upstairs " model. Why?

776

Yeshiva Politics from Nosson HaBavli: The Extreme Formality of the Yarchei Kallah - Gaonic Gossip

Mar 19, 2023

47:29

A system with it's emphasis on the public manifestation of hierarchy, as reflected in differentials in seating, money and other perks

777

Ramban on Olam Habah as a New Physical World

Mar 16, 2023

33:11

Imagine a world without war, hatred, jealousy, exploitation. Where G-d is not a matter of faith but of knowledge!

778

Haftarah Vayakhel-Pekudei: Will Korbanos and other Mitzvos Change in the Messianic Era?

Mar 14, 2023

27:46

Chanaya explained our Haftarah's seeming clashes with the Chumash, but we don't have it today

779

Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei: The Human Logistics of the Fundraising Campaign (Mishkan)

Mar 13, 2023

29:10

Thd three month agony of Moses waiting for erecting the structure

780

A Frum Cassandra: Zorach Wahrhaftig in 1939-‘40 Lithuania

Mar 13, 2023

1:32:49

Mizrachi hatzalah activist and his role in the escape of some Litvish Jews to Japan and Shanghai

781

Haftarah Ki Sisa: Elijah the Religious Radical - “If you are not frum, get out of here!”

Mar 9, 2023

26:35

He is a forerunner of American Jewish Orthodox sociology in the late 20th century

782

Parshas Ki Sisa: The Second Tablets Contained More Than the First Tablets

Mar 9, 2023

29:28

After the disaster of the Golden Calf, Moshe needed more futuristic knowledge

783

Ramban's Complicated Description of Gan Eden - The One "Downstairs" and the One "Upstairs"

Mar 8, 2023

29:57

For 12 months, the soul of the departed צדיק "hangs-around" the downstairs Eden, which is an actual place

784

Gaonic Gossip: The Famous Description of the Inaugural Ceremonies of the Reish Galusah in Baghdad

Mar 8, 2023

36:41

The obsession with elaborate ceremony and protocol in Gaonic culture

785

Rabbi Katz Responds to a Mischaracterization re: a Recent Podcast

Mar 6, 2023

5:09

Falsely conflating the case of Saul and the Amelakites with Israelis and Palestinians

786

The 7 year Machlokes Between Saadia Gaon and the Reish Galusah - Gaonic Gossip

Mar 5, 2023

34:32

And the grand reconciliation on תענית אסתר. Followed by a memorable סְעוּדַת פּוּרִים

787

Gaonic Gossip from Nasan HaBavli: The Deposition of Ukvah the Reish Galusah

Mar 3, 2023

35:29

The famous chronicler of Yeshiva politics in the תְּקוּפַת הַגְּאוֹנִים 1000 years ago

788

How Did They Know Heaven had Confirmed Purim (קִיְּמוּ לְמַעְלָה מַה שֶׁקִּבְּלוּ לְמַטָּה)?

Mar 2, 2023

43:13

Did Jews sell-themselves in an effort to escape impending death?

789

Parshas Tetzaveh: The Moreh Nevuchim's Take on the Splendid Bigdei Kehunah

Mar 1, 2023

35:02

Overawe the masses and win them away from competing pagan temples. The masses go by externals, not by the inner (essential) realities.

790

Purim: Esther’s Hidden Identity

Feb 28, 2023

34:06

How could Esther hide her identity when she had been married to Mordecai? The brilliant effect of כָּל אֻמָּה נִדְמְתָה לָהּ כְּאֻמָּתוֹ

791

The Ramban's Detailed Description of the Sinner in Gehinnom - R’ Katz Discusses

Feb 22, 2023

25:41

Using mystical and (interestingly) psychological concepts to describe the suffering there

792

Haftarah Terumah: Shlomo's Corvee was the Fulfillment of the Warning of שְׁמוּאֵל הַנָּבִיא

Feb 21, 2023

26:39

Was it really wise for Shlomo to have close (even if transactional) relations with Tyre?

793

When was the Mishkan Commanded? During the First 40 days, or During the Third 40 days?

Feb 21, 2023

25:01

If the latter, when exactly during the third set of 40 days? The significance of this issue.

794

The Controversial but Popular מַסֶּכֶת פּוּרִים (Venice 1552) from the Genazym

Feb 20, 2023

38:54

Auction this Sunday, Feb. 26th. R’ Katz also discusses Purim Parody, in general.

795

Sherira Gaon and Jewish Politics in 10th Century Babylonia

Feb 20, 2023

57:56

The fights to keep the Gaonic yeshiva alive in the face of economic hardships and personality-clashes

796

Haftarah Shekalim: Why Didn't the King Just Raise the Money for the Temple by Appealing to the Public?

Feb 17, 2023

29:00

The synagogue vs. the house minyan: בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ vs. בָּמוֹת

797

Nahmanides on Gehinnom - Sinners Do Actually Burn in a Certain Kind of Fire. It's Not an Allegory

Feb 16, 2023

30:45

There's an intermediate state of existence between the physical and the metaphysical, as evidenced by the soul being inside a specific body

798

A יְרוּשַׁלְמִי שְׁקָלִים from the Famous Bomberg ש"ס of the 1520s - For Sale at Genazym

Feb 16, 2023

53:06

From the original edition of the בַּבְלִי וִירוּשַׁלְמִי in Renaissance Venice, with its strange history

799

The unscrupulous "richie-riches" free the Hebrew slaves whom they have held too long

Feb 15, 2023

28:21

But discover they are addicted to the slavery-system and forcibly repossess them, engraging Hashem

800

The connection between the מִשְׁפָּטִים and the Yisro incident

Feb 13, 2023

31:04

Who gets the better of whom? The lender or the borrower who becomes an עֶבֶד עִבְרִי?