Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

251

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ"ה - "סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל תִּגְּעוּ!"

Aug 28, 2025

30:30

What kind of cultural "baggage" will Jews bring with them from their exiles when they return to Eretz Yisroel? https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

252

פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ"ה - What is the actual meaning of "צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף"?

Aug 27, 2025

30:24

There's צֶדֶק - justice in the sense of social-contract. Then there is צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, which is Justice with a capital J, the attainment of judicial righteousness, which is an ideal to be pursued (תִּרְדֹּף"), though never quite attained.https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

253

Psalm # 2 and Israel's losing the current propaganda war

Aug 26, 2025

30:28

Read this Kapitel and you will see the relevance to Israel's floundering in the current war of ideas and information. Israel is not successfully countering the demonization efforts of its enemies.https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

254

Genazym: The First Printing of the classic בֵּית מֵאִיר (1787), the author's own copy with extensive handwritten glosses on the sides!

Aug 25, 2025

50:09

Rabbi Meir Posner of Danzig (1725-1807), one of the leading poskim of the entire 18th century. R Akiva Eger used to send him his questions! A classic אב"ד of the "Old School" https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

255

A recent find of of an ancient coin in Jerusalem, and thoughts about the Messianic Era . Some "dirt" re: Ptolemy III and Berenice II

Aug 24, 2025

51:31

For some obscure reason, Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy III's invasion of Syria (246 BCE) to rescue his sister Berenice from a crazed mob is mentioned by the Angel Gabriel in Daniel Chapter 11 as being relevant to the events of יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ. The other day, a coin of Ptlemy's Queen Berenice II was discovered under a Jerusalem parking lot.The weird world of archaeology...https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

256

Genazym is auctioning the 15h century classic of Talmudic Methodolgy - הֲלִיכוֹת עוֹלָם, first complete edition (Constantinople 1510)

Aug 21, 2025

42:09

This methodological intro to the Talmud was held in high esteem, and R Yosef Karo wrote a commentary (סֵפֶר כְּלָלֵי הַגְּמָרָא) on it. One of the first Hebrew books ever printed https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

257

Moses' warning: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל can easily become a קְלָלָה!

Aug 20, 2025

39:44

To prevent human sacrifce by the uneducated, the Temple is located on the Mountain of the עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק

258

Genazym is Auctioning an item (a סְמִיכַת חָבֵר) from the tension-laden Golden Age of Prague, the Era of the Noda BiYhudah and the remarkable R Meir Bumsla (1703-1769), the millionaire Rosh Yeshiva

Aug 19, 2025

49:32

A close student of R Yehonasan Eibeschutz, Bumsla nevertheless got along with the Noda BiYhudah, and the latter had a "prophecy" about Bumsla which he shared at the latter's funeral.https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

259

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת רְאֵה תשפ"ה - A future without fear? Really?

Aug 18, 2025

25:06

Isaiah 54:15 difficult to translate convincingly

260

פָּרָשַׁת רְאֵה תשפ"ה - Keep the booze out of the house of the fellow in recovery

Aug 18, 2025

32:25

אַבֵּד תְּאַבְּדוּן אֶת הַמְּקוֹמוֹת - How does one destroy a place?

261

R Naphtali Katz (1648-1719) Part 2

Aug 16, 2025

56:02

After the Great Fire in Frankfurt: Battling the Sabbateans (Nechemiah Chayon). The very famous (and romantic!) Ethical Will https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

262

R Naphtali Katz (1648-1719): The בַּעַל "סְמִיכַת חֲכָמִים". Part 1

Aug 14, 2025

1:11:50

Did he cause the Great Fire of 1711 which burned down the entire Jewish Ghetto of Frankfurt? Was it a case of קַבָּלָה מַעֲשִׂית gone awry?

263

Moses and the Bones of Joseph: Two different models of Jewish leadership?

Aug 13, 2025

25:46

Joseph was the personification of Traditionalism. Moshe was the personification of חִנּוּךְhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

264

Pirkei Avos Chapter 4: Why is the phrase אַל תִּפְרֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר associted with the Tanna R Tzadok?

Aug 12, 2025

30:03

Did the Rabbis of Eretz Yisroel learn the lesson of שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם in the wake of the Destruction of the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ?

265

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת עֵקֶב תשפ"ה - The Revolution in Identity in the Messianic Era

Aug 11, 2025

29:31

Millions of gentiles will discover they are actually Jews, which will necessitate territorial expansion of ארץ ישראל

266

פָּרָשַׁת עֵקֶב תשפ"ה - וְנָשַׁל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵל מִפָּנֶיךָ מְעַט מְעָט לֹא תוּכַל כַּלֹּתָם מַהֵר פֶּן תִּרְבֶּה עָלֶיךָ חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה

Aug 10, 2025

37:37

Why was the Conquest of the Land supposed to proceed slowly? who are the "Wild Beasts?"

267

פָּרָשַׁת וָאֶתְחַנַּן תשפ"ה - זָכוֹר אוֹ שָׁמוֹר? Is the Sabbath theology or history?

Aug 7, 2025

35:30

Why is a nochri punished so severely for שְׁמִירַת שַׁבָּת?

268

The curious but vital role of Egypt in the current Gaza War.

Aug 5, 2025

41:48

Egypt HATES Israel, but the Middle-Eastern political chessboard, both externally and internaly, compels the Egyptian regime to act in a manner fundamentally friendly to Israel, though this could never be acknowleged.https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

269

הַפְטָרַת שַׁבַּת נַחֲמוּ תשפ"ה - Prophets cannot provide comfort to survivors; Prophets are too "frum"

Aug 5, 2025

27:36

נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי doesn't work. So it has to be אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם

270

פָּרָשַׁת וָאֶתְחַנָּן תשפ"ה - וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם

Aug 5, 2025

27:17

What exactly transpired in Galus Bavel?

271

15th of Av - Humpty-Dumpty Day?

Aug 5, 2025

37:30

Can machlokes and unilateralism ever be fully-repaired?

272

Tisha b'Av 5785/2025

Aug 3, 2025

4:42:22

Rabbi Dovid Katz at BAH shul in Baltimoreunedited

273

On the Arizal's yahrtzeit: Some historical thoughts re: one of the most mysterious yet influential figures in Jewish History

Jul 30, 2025

39:01

How come the Ari's bona fides was never challenged? And why did the רבונו של עולם choose to reveal more about himself in the 16th century than any other? And why did the Arizal get "prophecies" in Egypt, of all places?https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

274

הַפְטָרַת שַׁבַּת חֲזוֹן תשפ"ה - Isaiah decries organized crime in Ancient Jerusalem

Jul 29, 2025

25:39

481 synagogues and yeshivos ... and the mafia

275

This Tisha B’av, turn tears into Action

Jul 29, 2025

21:14

Watch the ground breaking, first of its kind initiative called Uniting Torah which unites the 4 Torah worlds. Let’s show hashem that the divisions of the past no longer define us. Now every Jew can support all Torah worlds equally. This time, we give to each other.https://Unitingtorah.com/rk

276

Torah Im Derech Eretz in a Different Key, Pt. 1: Four Gedolim who dropped-out of college but utilized their secular education

Jul 29, 2025

31:31

1.) Azariah Figo 2.) Ramchal 3.) R' Yaakov Ettlinger 4.) R' SR HirschThis podcast is the first of two partshttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

277

פָּרָשַׁת דְּבָרִים תשפ"ה The strange story of how the עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן was divided-up by Moses, not God

Jul 28, 2025

29:14

Why was Half-Manasseh invited in by Moses? And given so much land?

278

Torah Im Derech Eretz in a Different Key Part 2

Jul 28, 2025

40:29

R Yaakov Ettlinger and R Samson Raphael Hirsch: Why they dropped out of College and how they used their secular education

279

Torah Im derech Eretz in a Different Key: Four Gedolim who dropped-out of college but utilized their secular education

Jul 25, 2025

31:31

!.) Azariah Figo 2.)Ramchal 3.) R Yaakov Ettlinger 4.) SR HirschThis podcast is the first of two partshttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

280

Analyzing the sinister role of Turkey, currently Israel's mortal enemy, inthe goings-on in Syria and the Middle East

Jul 24, 2025

36:29

The old Ottoman policy of religious toleration has been abandoned for over a century and replaced by a policy of killing non Sunni Muslims whenever opportunity presents itself (as in Syria), and as they hope to do one day in EY. :(https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

281

Parshas Matos 5785 What happened to the kids of the two and a half tribes while the fathers were away fighting on the other side of the Jordan River?

Jul 23, 2025

25:05

The kids lived in a rough neighborhood (מִפְּנֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ), heavily armed and without paternal supervision for years. result? בְּגִלְעָד נְפִישֵׁי רוֹצְחִין!https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

282

הַפְטָרַת מַטּוֹת-מַסְּעֵי (בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים) תשפ"ה - A Famous Jeremiad

Jul 22, 2025

25:10

"Why are the Jews the only people who voluntarily switched their god? The Prophet tears into them.https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

283

Rashi's raw hatred of the Crusaders - the vicious poem תִּתְּנֵם לְחֶרְפָּה

Jul 20, 2025

30:25

Every kind of curse and imprecation in the Hebrew language . How Rashi felt when he learned about the Crusader massacres of 1096https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

284

פָּרָשַׁת מִטּוֹת מַסְּעֵי תשפ"ה - מִלְחֶמֶת הַנְּקָמָה בְּמִדְיׇן וְהַמִּלְחָמָה נֶגֶד חָמָס בְּעַזָּה

Jul 20, 2025

29:20

Moshe (a former "Midianite") is told to lead the war. He tries to wiggle out, but as events unfold, he is dragged into the thick of it

285

Haftarah Pinchas: The Relationship between Pinchas and Eliyahu -Are they literally the same person?

Jul 17, 2025

33:52

Moses says הָרְגֵנִי נָא הָרוֹג. Pinchas says קַח נַפְשִׁי. What is the difference?https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

286

R Katz Analyzes the Current Middle East Crisis involving the Druze, Syria, Israel, and the USA

Jul 16, 2025

46:21

The Existential Dilemma facing Bibi: Making Peace with Syria, but also bombing Syria to save the Syrian Druze (thereby giving מְנוּחַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ to the Israeli Druze). A very complicated story!

287

The Influence of R Saadia Gaon on the Rambam and all the other Medieval Jewish Philosophers

Jul 16, 2025

27:02

Many of the ideas in the מוֹרֵה נְבוֹכִים, הַכּוּזָרִי, הַחוֹבוֹת הַלְּבָבוֹת, יַד רמ"ה, הָעִקָּרִים, וְכוּלְהוּ actually were already written in the אֱמוּנוֹת וְדֵעוֹת

288

Isaac Ochberg of Cape Town (1878-1937): Rescuer of Orphans from World War I

Jul 15, 2025

33:47

A South African "Jewish Jew" who went to wartorn Ukraine in 1920, then in the midst of massacres of Jews, and brought 200 Jewish orphans to safety in South Africa

289

פָּרָשַׁת פִּינְחָס תשפ"ה - The Bloody Discrepancies

Jul 14, 2025

28:35

Why did the Civil Wars between the Tribes in the Desert degenerate into exterminatory massacres?

290

Bilam's obseration of הֶן עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן and the current phenomenon of Jews being abandoned by their supposed "allies"

Jul 10, 2025

29:12

So many Jews have deluded themselves that they wre building "alliances" only to discover on October 7 that they had been building on sand

291

What is the oldest source for the "Three Weeks"?

Jul 9, 2025

25:34

Daniel fasts out of consternation at Cyrus' stop-order re: the building of the Second Templehttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

292

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת בָּלָק תשפ"ה - Will some Jews choose to remain in חוּץ לָאָרֶץ in the Messianic Era?

Jul 8, 2025

25:12

Is the Messianic Utopia only for the Jews? Or for all mankind?

293

Quaker Ger Tzedek: Warder Cresson of Philadelphia and Jerusalem (1798-1861)

Jul 8, 2025

56:09

The Famous Trial in 1849: Is conversion to Judaism an indication of mental insanity?

294

פָּרָשַׁת בָּלָק תשפ"ה - Parshas Bil'am and the Current War in Gaza

Jul 8, 2025

26:29

Contrast the two stories: a.) The King of Arad b.) Bil'am, the lethal rhetoric, and the בְּנוֹת מוֹאָבhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

295

Katz Analyzes the current situation inthe Middle East: The Connection between Drafting the בני תורה and the possibilities of peace with Syria?

Jul 7, 2025

33:26

Acc.to current reports, the Syrians may be willing to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights(!), just as Israel is cracking-down on the Haredi Draft. Sighhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

296

רס"ג והמשיח - The Reasons for Saadia Gaon's Messianic Speculation in the 10th Century Abbasid Caliphate

Jul 6, 2025

53:06

What was the historical context for Saadia's prediction that משיח would come in 965 CE

297

הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת חֻקַּת תשפ"ה - Was Yiftach a Shofet? Or was he a general?

Jul 1, 2025

25:40

Was he a shofet over כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל? Or was he just a big shot (רֹאשׁ וּקְצִין) over the area of עֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן?https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

298

פָּרָשַׁת חֻקַּת תשפ"ה - The cedar, hyssop, and crimson wool - the Three types of Worshipers of the Golden Calf?

Jul 1, 2025

29:05

Is becoming טָמֵא a sin?https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

299

עַל כֵּן יֹאמְרוּ הַמֹּשְׁלִים בֹּאוּ חֶשְׁבּוֹן - Some philosophical thoughts re: Oct. 7, 2023 vs. June 12, 2025

Jun 30, 2025

26:12

An intelligent person (or nation) needs a plan, but he (it) must be its מוֹשֵׁל, not its עֶבֶד!https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

300

Messianism in Jewish History: The Specific Historical Contexts: The Case of Biblical and then Ancient Judaism

Jun 30, 2025

41:07

Messianism arose when the situation for the Jews was terrible, and there was nothing they could do about it בְּדֶרֶךְ הַטֶּבַעhttps://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast