Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

1501

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: The Only Orthodox Rabbi to Make a Kiddush Hashem in "the World."

Nov 17, 2020

36:09

Is respectful and genuine dialogue with all really a Jewish value?

1502

Adonijah: Is This a Coup? Is This a Rebellion? - Haftarah Chayai Sara

Nov 12, 2020

33:58

Why is David unclear about the succession? Avraham wasn't!

1503

Parshas Chayai Sara: The Strange and Enigmatic Keturah Story

Nov 11, 2020

38:38

What's the significance of Abraham's children from his old age?

1504

“The Maharik” (R’ Joseph Colon): The Greatest Gadol in Italian History

Nov 11, 2020

54:04

The Influence of Classic Ashkenaz on Italian Jewry

1505

The "Gechazi Phenomenon" Then and Now - Haftarah Vayera

Nov 6, 2020

37:47

The Gadol and the hypocritical and unscrupulous secretary/screener

1506

Parshas VaYera: Whatever Happened to Lot, Anyway?

Nov 3, 2020

35:29

Why did G-d grant land to Lot's progeny in perpetuity? Why are both daughters ancestors of the Messiah?

1507

Rabbi Abraham Rice, the First Rov in the USA. Tragedy of a Talmid Chacham in a Philistine Jewish Community

Nov 2, 2020

1:35:21

What does it take to be a "successful" Rabbi in a materialistic Jewish community?

1508

Parshas Lech Lecha: Abraham and the Two Fateful Interviews With Sodom and Malki Tzedek

Oct 29, 2020

43:58

A callous act leads to galus mitzrayim as poetic justice

1509

R' Aryeh Tzvi Fromer: One of the Last of the Great Poilishe Geonim and Author of the Fascinating Responsa Eretz Tzvi

Oct 29, 2020

1:39:50

The Hasid in the role of Rosh Yeshivah and Maggid Shiur. Pilpul as fun!

1510

Parshas Noach: Why Couldn't G-d Think of an Alternative to Mass Genocide?

Oct 23, 2020

31:30

Is it possible to "kill" the Yetzer Tov?

1511

The Maharashdam- R' Shmuel de Medina of Salonika (1505-1589): One of the Greatest Sephardic Responsa Writers of All Time

Oct 21, 2020

1:46:04

From the Golden Age of A+ level, Sephardic Poskim. Calm, compassionate, daring.

1512

R’ Katz's new lecture series will be livestreamed Saturday nights at 9:00 PM

Oct 16, 2020

1:39

You can access the livestream on Rabbi Katz's YouTube channel, "Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz"

1513

Parshas Bereishis: Blaming the Snake

Oct 16, 2020

38:08

The snake in Paradise and the frum riots in NY and Israel

1514

R Shmuel Landau, Son of the Noda B'Yehudah (1750-1834): The Challenge of Being a Great Man's Son

Oct 14, 2020

1:50:02

Would have been a worthy successor to his father, but historical trends were in the wrong direction

1515

Rabbi Samson Morpurgo of Ancona: Classic Italian "Torah u-Madda"

Oct 7, 2020

1:23:30

A wonderful example of a Posek who is "normal"

1516

R' Hile Wechsler: Yekke Critic of German Jewry, Criticized by Contemporaries But Vindicated (Terribly) by History

Oct 6, 2020

1:57:12

A dreamer of incredible accuracy. He foresaw the Holocaust long before it happened. Admirer & critic of R' S.R. Hirsch

1517

The Meaning of the Ushpizin Ceremony - Perception vs. Reality (Sukkos 2020)

Oct 5, 2020

39:33

When outsiders use "insider" terms, incorrectly

1518

Sukkos 2020: The History of the Sukkah as a Diras Kevah?

Oct 2, 2020

54:38

Revolution in “Sukkah consciousness" in the time of Ezra? A theory

1519

R' Betzalel Ransburg (1760-1820): The Great Prague Scholar With a Gift for Making Lomdus Chatty

Sep 30, 2020

1:00:54

One of the last and most readable of the great Chachmei Prague, and author of Horah Gaver and Pesichas Niddah.

1520

Parshas Haazinu: The Interplay Between Divine Providence and Antisemitism

Sep 24, 2020

43:21

A comparison of two different visions of Moses: Haazinu v. Nitzavim

1521

Yaakov HaLevi Lifschitz (1838-1922): The Brilliant and Controversial Secretary of R’ Y.E. Spector

Sep 21, 2020

1:34:31

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"

1522

Rosh HaShanah 5781: If the Jewish People Unite, Do They Need to Repent?

Sep 16, 2020

52:03

יראת הרוממות אחדות ושופר Is there a connection

1523

R' Meir Malbim (1809-1879): The Only Gadol in Lomdus Who Decided to Concentrate on Explaining Tanach

Sep 15, 2020

1:00:52

The Malbim's unique analysis of the relation between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.

1524

Parshas Nitzavim-VaYelech: What Does V’Hashevosah El L’Vovechah Mean and Can It Be Translated?

Sep 10, 2020

42:06

Can the Moshiach come at any moment? Meaning, literally right now?

1525

The Maharatz Chayas, R’ Tzvi Hirsch Chayes of Galicia (1805-1855) - A Gadol, Historian and Maskil

Sep 9, 2020

1:13:28

Brilliant defender of Torah in the enemy camp, or פוסח על שתי הסעיפים?

1526

The Marcheshes (1864 - 1941): R’ Chanoch Agus of Vilna

Sep 7, 2020

1:25:27

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.

1527

The Tochachah - Warnings About Life in the Diaspora?

Sep 2, 2020

44:15

Why exactly do we want to live in Israel?

1528

The Lehren Bros. and the Old Yishuv: Learning and Nothing But Learning

Aug 31, 2020

57:15

Some thoughts about a book I saw today on Reform Judaism and Dutch Jewry

1529

Parshas Ki Seitzei: Moshe Calls Attention to Various Dangerous Behaviors Between the Sexes

Aug 27, 2020

41:05

Mussar- Who is the "beautiful woman"?

1530

The Margoliyos HaYam (1889-1971) and the Haredi Haskalah

Aug 24, 2020

1:00:47

A Gaon who ran a bookstore, and then a library

1531

Parshas Shoftim: How to Be One's Own Judge and Policeman

Aug 21, 2020

45:02

Four verses, four approaches, to Elul

1532

R’ Nesanel Weil: Chief Rabbi of Karlsruhe, Who Became Famous For His Commentary on the Rosh.

Aug 18, 2020

47:22

A charismatic teacher, back when students did Gemara, Rashi, and the Rosh.

1533

A Short History of Talmudic Translations and Their Cultural Significance

Aug 16, 2020

58:24

Talmudic Translations as supplements? Or as replacements?

1534

Parshas Re’eh: Moses Admonishes the Jews Not to Destroy the Bais HaMikdash....Hmm

Aug 12, 2020

41:06

Maintaining hatreds for decades (one of the 613 commandments)

1535

Steinsaltz and the Revolution in the Popularization of Gemara; An Unforeseen Event in Judaism

Aug 10, 2020

1:00:26

The Steinsaltz-ArtScroll "dialectic"

1536

The Genre of Midrash: A Long Discussion

Aug 6, 2020

1:00:31

Parshas Eikev: Not Idolatry, But Forgetting and Ignoring

1537

Dr. Deutschlander: Not Just an Educator, But an Educationist! A Tragic Life Full of Accomplishments

Aug 4, 2020

1:00:34

The man who created both Yavneh and Bais Yaakov, particularly the infrastructure and philosophy of both.

1538

Parshas VaEschanan: Shabbos- Theology or Gratitude?

Jul 31, 2020

39:44

Passion without reason: Good or bad?

1539

Is Tisha B’Av a day of despair? Washing Hands on Tisha B’Av From a Mystical Perspective

Jul 27, 2020

23:44

Two sets of halachic practices for netilas yadaim.

1540

Parshas Devarim: Does the Word “Devarim” Mean "Words" or "History"

Jul 23, 2020

44:12

Is it a speech, or a (Divinely) edited collection of speeches?

1541

The Aftermath of the Bar Kochva War: Retooling for the Long Haul - Ep. 6 (Final Episode)

Jul 22, 2020

1:11:30

The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars

1542

R’ Alexander Shor of Galicia: Author of the Popular Sefer on Shechitah, "The Simlah Chadashah"

Jul 20, 2020

45:57

The sad state of shechitah at various times in Jewish history

1543

The War of Bar Kochva: The Hadrianic Persecutions - Searching for the Facts; Ep. 5

Jul 19, 2020

1:31:58

Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars

1544

Parshas Matos-Masei: Is Lebanon Part of Israel?

Jul 17, 2020

27:57

What if the two and a half tribes had not insisted on the Trans-Jordan?

1545

The Jews and Hadrian: Background to the Great Revolt - Ep. 4

Jul 15, 2020

57:53

The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars.

1546

Rav Kook (1865-1935): A Complicated Gadol

Jul 14, 2020

1:58:46

Why is he so controversial?

1547

The “Five Good Emperors”: The Jews Under Nerva and Trajan - Ep. 3

Jul 13, 2020

1:12:34

The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars

1548

Jews and Romans in the Aftermath of the Destruction: Ep. 2 - Enduring the Unimaginable Pt. 2

Jul 12, 2020

1:05:26

Three Weeks Lecture Series on Bar Kochba

1549

Jews and Romans in the Aftermath of the Destruction: Episode 1 - Enduring the Unimaginable

Jul 9, 2020

1:14:05

Three Weeks Lecture Series on Bar Kochba

1550

Parshas Pinchas: Strange Yichus - Pinchas, Potiphar, Shechem

Jul 9, 2020

36:40

Pinchas elsewhere in the Bible