Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

Education EN ↓ 1711 episodes

To help support this podcast, please consider giving a tax deductible contribution here: https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatzRabbi Dovid Katz, PhD is lauded for his extensive knowledge of Jewish History, his engaging and insightful lecture series, and eye opening historical international tours. Follow him weekly. New content released each week, including Personalities in Jewish History, Insights into Tefillah and Perspectives on the Haftarah and Parshah. Sponsorships of podcasts are available. He can be reached at the following email: rabbidkatz@gmail.com.

Author

Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

Episodes

Haftarah Shabbos Shuvah: ?" "שׁוּבָה עַד?" אוֹ "שׁוּבָה אֶל 25.09.2025 25:39

One expectation from the elites, a different expectation from the masses

Penance (not repentance!): Some famous cases in the Sefer Chasidim and Responsa of the Maharam Lublin 25.09.2025 41:23

The mindset of the person who soclcits the Penance from the Beis Din

Parshas VaYelech: Hester Panim 22.09.2025 32:45

What is the actual meaning of "Hester Panim"? What is the meaning of הַשְׁגָּחָה כְּלָלִית as opposed to הַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית?

The Debate in the Mishna whether the Shliach Tzibur should be motzi the intelligent worshipers on Rosh HaShanah - שֶׁהוּא יוֹם הַדִּין 19.09.2025 26:24

Who was the first Shliach Tzibur in Jewish History?

Haftarah Nitzavim: Delighting in G-d - "How is that done? 17.09.2025 28:03

Not relief. Not gratitude. Not romantic love. Delight! Not the love of bride and groom, but the delight at the wedding. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

The Middle East: G-d's Chess Board - R' Katz discusses current events in Egypt, Israel, Yemen, and Ethiopia 17.09.2025 28:37

Egypt and Ethiopia - A Tale of Two Dams

A Suggested History of Tekias Shofar - Involving the Masses, the Satan, and Chazal 15.09.2025 34:00

Thoughts re: the existential tension between the public and the religious elites in the Second Temple period and afterward.

The Haredi Who Spied for Iran and Committed Sabotage on Their Behalf 15.09.2025 23:31

The disconnect between ritual practice and sound hashkafic fundamentals, particularly ahavah and achrayus for The Jewish People

Parshas Nitzavim: Trying to match the glorious prophecy with recent Jewish history 14.09.2025 30:51

The ingathering of the alienated Jews: The נִדָּחִים מִקְּצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם עַד קְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

"Shouting Match" Between Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel: The Freudian Aspects 12.09.2025 46:30

Bibi's father wrote THE book on the Spanish Inquisition and Spain's successful persecution of the Jews, especially the sccessful (and brutal) erasure of the Jewish Identity of the Jews forced to convert. IOW the Spanish "Holocaust"

Haftorah Ki Savo: The Days of Moshiach Without War 11.09.2025 28:00

Isaiah's vision of a Messianic Era characterized, not by World War III, but by a world in moral darkness turning to Klal Yisroel for Enlightenment. A pain-free Geulah https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

A Suggested History of Shofar Blowing 09.09.2025 35:19

What came first in Jewish History? The תְּקִיעוֹת דִמְיוּשָׁב or the תְּקִיעוֹת דִּמְעֻמָּד ?

Parshas Ki Savo: The Abarbanel v. the Netziv 09.09.2025 28:15

"הַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבְּךָ יַעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ מַעְלָה מָּעְלָה וְאַתָּה תֵרֵד מַטָּה מָּטָּה" Abarbanel - The gentile minority in Eretz Yisroel. Netziv - The gentiles who move into Jewish neighborhoods in the Diaspora and economically displace the Jews. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

The Giant Water Crisis Threatening the Entire Middle East - in the context of the current Arab-Israeli conflict 08.09.2025 20:44

"The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest."George Washington's Farewell Address https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Why does a shofar have to be from a from a horn whose inside layer can be removed? 08.09.2025 27:55

The symbolism of וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם , removing the layer of "foreskin" on the "heart." A difficult task indeed. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Why is Rosh Hashanah decribed as "covered up" or obscure? תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֵּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ? 03.09.2025 32:03

What if you hold the world was created in Nissan? And anyway, the story of Moshe Rabbenu pleading before Hashem a third time (Elul-Tishrei) is very unclear in the text of the Chumash.

Haftarah Ki Seitzei: Isaiah predicts the expansion of Israel in the Messianic Era. Will Israel annex Turkey and Spain?! 01.09.2025 26:27

"הַרְחִבִי מְקוֹם אֲהָלֵךְ" https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

A Personal Letter From R' Ovadia Yosef to R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach re: High Israeli Politics concerning the Shas Party- An offering from Genazym 01.09.2025 26:04

The bitter politics surrounding the 1992 Knesset Elections (which led to the Oslo Agreement) and the bitter politics in the frum world surrounding the Shas Party's disobeying the political directives of the leadership of the "Litvish" Yeshiva World's leadership. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

פָּרָשַׁת כִּי תֵּצֵא תשפ"ה - יְפַת תֹּאַר בְּעוֹלַם הַקַּבָּלָה 01.09.2025 35:35

How can "Righteous Soldiers" (like King David) lust on the battlefield? A mystical take. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Genazym is offering the Prague 1595 edition of the famous Ramban theological essay דְּרָשַׁת "תּוֹרַת הַשֵּׁם תְּמִימָה" 31.08.2025 41:17

In this essay, Ramban analyzes the grandeur of the Written Law , the תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, refuting Christlogical readings and the skepticism of Spanish Jewish אֶפִּיקוֹרְסִים. This is the edition published in the Prague of the Maharal Era. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Haftarah Shoftim: "סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל תִּגְּעוּ" 28.08.2025 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

Parshas Shoftim: What is the actual meaning of "צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף"? 27.08.2025 30:23

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

Psalm # 2 and Israel's Losing of the Current Propaganda War 26.08.2025 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

Genazym: The First Printing of the classic בֵּית מֵאִיר (1787), the author's own copy with extensive handwritten glosses on the sides! 25.08.2025 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

A recent find of of an ancient coin in Jerusalem, and thoughts about the Messianic Era . Some "dirt" re: Ptolemy III and Berenice II 24.08.2025 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://thechesedf...