Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

Rabbi Leone Modena of Venice - A Posek Who Taught Dancing (and Many Other Subjects) 08.03.2021 1:15:59 ↓

Very frum but skeptical of the claims of the Kabbalists

Ezekiel's Prophecy of an Undeserved Redemption (Haftarah Ki Sisah) 03.03.2021 27:05 ↓

The Red Cow: It works even without repentance

Parshas Ki Sisa: Where Does It Say You May Not Make an Idol of Hashem? 01.03.2021 42:24 ↓

Does idolatry inevitably lead to indecency?

"The Akedah" - R’ Yitzhak Arama (15th Century Spain): Author of the "Cheater-Book" Used By Generations of Pulpit Rabbis 01.03.2021 1:10:13 ↓

An encyclopedia of original approaches to the weekly Parshah. A classy intellectual work.

Esther vs. Ezra: Competitive Narrative-Sensibilities 24.02.2021 40:34 ↓

If you won the lottery, would you tell others? Or keep it quiet?

Parshas Tetzaveh: Aaron's Splendid Clothes and His Splendid Temperament 22.02.2021 32:48 ↓

The first (only) brothers in the Chumash who get-along?

A Purim Insight of R’ Y. Eibeschutz in Its Historical Context 21.02.2021 38:21 ↓

Were the Jews obligated to wipe out Amalek during the time of Haman?

Thoughts on Purim: Three Open-Ended Questions About the Purim Story 18.02.2021 35:29 ↓

Was Haman out to kill the Jews, or was he out to convert them?

Parshas Trumah: Why Did G-d REQUEST a Mishkan, But Seemed Not Interested At All in a Bais Hamikdash? 17.02.2021 40:11 ↓

What exactly is the danger of a holy building?

Haftarah Zachor: Saul and the Amalekites - Why Did He Think of Them as Innocent? 15.02.2021 40:42 ↓

Was Saul punished so severely when he got it mostly right?

The "Levush": The "Goldilocks” Version of the Shulchan Aruch - and In the 16th Century! 14.02.2021 59:08 ↓

The "original" Aruch ha-Shulkhan, trying to help the common man

The Story of Joash Repairing the Temple. What had Athaliah Done? Two Versions - (Haftarah Shekalim) 11.02.2021 43:11 ↓

Do you just trust the contractors? Moses vs. King Joash of Judah.

Parshas Mishpatim: Onkelos, His Audience, and Seeing G-d Standing Next to a Sapphire Brick 09.02.2021 43:33 ↓

Maimonides guides the perplexed to understand what happened to Aaron and the elders

The 23rd of Sivan: Another Holocaust Which Did Not Happen 07.02.2021 59:39 ↓

Herod Agrippa's finest hour, his appeal to Caligula, and the Providential salvation of the Jews

Isaiah is Told of Impending Doom for the Kingdom of Judah, and Nothing Will Stop It - Haftarah Yisro 03.02.2021 33:53 ↓

If you are good in בין אדם למקום but not בין אדם לחברו, are you frum?

Parshas Yisro: Why the Preoccupation With Staying Away From the Mountain? 01.02.2021 46:03 ↓

Which parts of the story are literal? What is the meaning of the non-literal?

The "Rashba" - R’ Shlomo ben Adret (1235-1310): Baal HaBayis, Rosh Yeshiva, Posek and Royal Troubleshooter 01.02.2021 1:24:39 ↓

Incredible literary-prolificacy in the "Golden Age" of Spanish Torah scholarship. The "vital-center."

Deborah: What Kind of a Judge Was She, Exactly? - Haftarah Beshalach 28.01.2021 38:34 ↓

Why does she express disappointment in the midst of triumph?

Parshas Beshalach: Why Did Miriam Organize a Dance at the Red Sea? 28.01.2021 33:50 ↓

Did Miriam think Moshe did not rise to the occasion sufficiently?

R’ Eliezer Silver: The Successes and Failures of the Agudas HaRabbonim - Pt. 1 27.01.2021 1:57:28 ↓

The best example of the old-school model of the community-rav. Did it work?

Jeremiah Blasts the Jews Who Flee to Egypt: "You Are Fleeing to Hiroshima!" - Haftarah Bo 20.01.2021 32:20 ↓

Egypt's Machiavellian policy boomerangs 20 years after the Churban

Parshas Bo: Why Does G-d Deceive Pharaoh With That Request to Leave for Only Three Days? 19.01.2021 32:32 ↓

Moshe spends most of his time trying to persuade the Jews to leave. Unsuccessfully!

The Sheldon Adelson Phenomenon: An Interpretation Based on the Noda B'Yehudah and the Yaaros Dvash 17.01.2021 50:42 ↓

Jewish billionaires and their indifference to Jewish causes; Galus HaShechinah.

The Crocodile Dropped Into the Sahara - Haftarah VaEra 14.01.2021 35:39 ↓

The Babylonian invasion of Egypt as tit for tat?

Parshas VaEra: Why Show Respect to a Bum Like Pharaoh? 13.01.2021 29:28 ↓

Moses could have lobbied with influential Egyptians had G-d not prohibited.