Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz
To help support this podcast, please consider giving a tax deductible contribution here: https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz Rabbi 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: [email protected].
Genazym is offering a sefer with handwritten notes by Rabbi Shmuel Freund of Prague
Whose biography I did yesterday. The sefer is the famous קָרְבַּן אַהֲרֹן עַל הַתּוֹרֹת כֹּהֲנִים עִם הַהַגָּהוֹת שֶׁל הַגָּאוֹן בְּצַלְאֵל רְנַשְׁבּוֹרְג וְתַלְמִידוֹ הַגָּאוֹן שְׁמוּאֵל פְרוֹיְנְד רֹאשׁ ב"ד פְּרָאג
The Chief Rabbinate of Prague in its 19th century decadence: Rabbi Mordechai Amram Hirsch (1833-1909)
"Status-Quo" in Hungary, then Orthodox in Prague, then Very-Orthodox (nusach SR Hirsch) in Hamburg
Rabbi Shmuel Freund of Prague (1794-1881): Prague in its Jewish decadence
Successor to great rabbis, but lived in an era when learning was unfashionable
Genazym is offering a fascinating letter from Montefiore to Rothschild re: Montefiore's famous trip to Russia in 1846
Montefiore went to see Czar Nicholas I to try to get him to ease up on the antisemitic גְּזֵרוֹת. This letter is to Amschel Mayer Rothschild of Frankfurt, one of the big backer$ of the famous Samson Raphael Hirsch
Haftarah Chayei Sarah: Dovid Hamelech, brilliantly successful in every area - except parenting...
Compare and contrast Abraham and David (in this week's parsha and haftorah) in how they prepared for the future after they passed away
Chayei Sarah: Why the Torah mentions Rivka's מֵינֶקֶת? What eternal significance could THAT have?
Who guided the new young bride in making all the right moves, not making one misstep? Who counselled her on how to win the heart of her new husband?
Genazym is offering the First edition (1780) of the famous (and controversial in its day) סֵפֶר "תּוֹלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף"
The first Hasidic sefer ever published. Provoked tremendous enthusiasm among chasidic masses. The מִתְנַגְּדִים burned it at the stake. Really
Some exciting details about Rabbi Katz's Jewish History Tour In Israel January 18-24, 2027
Not the tour-guide spiels!
הַפְטָרָה פָּרָשַׁת וַיֵּרָא תשפ"ז - Elisha and the "אִשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה"
Not that SHE was HIS wife, but rather HE was HER husband!
Current Events: The Nefarious role of Turkey in the Middle Eastern Chessboard: The plan to strangle Israel
While all eyes are on Iran, Turkey is setting up military bases in Libya, Sudan, and Somalia in preparation for a war against Israel...
More on Parshas Vayeira 2026: Did Abraham actually kill Isaac?
Why did he return alone?
Parshas VaYera: The strange use of the verb in the enigmatic Genesis 22:14
Was Avraham afraid people would say he chickened-out?
Did Avraham learn in the Yeshiva of Shem & Ever?
Also, more on the question: what happened to the נֶפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְּחָרָן?
Haftarah Lech Lecha: Can the Jewish People be subject to הֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים?
The Prophet Isaiah and Mark Twain on Jewish vitality
Parshas Lech Lecha: Why didn't Abraham fight for his wife as he fought for Lot?
Who WERE Abraham's חֲנִיכָיו?
Genazym is offering the first Hebrew תנ"ך published in America in 1814. During the War of 1812
Christians in the new USA were very anxious to see the "Old Testament" in the original Hebrew, the Bible used by their Jewish neighbors. Did they suspect their own Christian translations were less than accurate?
Genazym is offering THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT of the עָרוּךְ הַשֻּׁלְחָן הֶעָתִיד in the (very clear) handwriting of the author himself
On הִלְכוֹת בִּנְיַן בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ וְהִלְכוֹת מַעֲשֵׂה הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת. The author's unique contribution to תְּנוּעַת שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן?
Whatever happened in the long run to the נֶפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְּחָרָן ?
Could they be the עֵרֶב רַב? Were they enslaved by Pharaoh? Was it the threat of slavery that led them to abandon the Abrahamic religion?
Genazym is offering a fascinating personal letter (1909) from the חֵפֶץ חַיִּים declining to take part in a שְׁלִיחוּת הַגֵּט
"I am not a Rov, and I do not mix in such matters, but I CAN advise you who you should send it to."
Rabbi Katz on the current situation in Saudi Arabia and how it affects Israel
Having poisoned their people for a century on Anti-Israel propaganda, the regime is not able to take-advantage of Israel's help in the war against the Houthis, which may lead to the collapse of S Arabia!
Genazym is offering a historical letter (1912) from R Chaim Ozer to the דּוֹרוֹת רִאשׁוֹנִים re: the upcoming founding of the Agudah
This letter contains "insider baseball" by two "players" re: the political, religious, and logistical challenges connected with trying to launch the world's first international Charedi political organization.
הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ תשפ"ז - "מֵי נֹחַ זֹאת לִי"
Why did God Promise to not destroy THIS world (as opposed to earlier world He did destroy)?
פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ תשפ"ז - Were the lands uninhabited by humans destroyed in the Flood?
Were ALL the animals & creatures on the Ark? What about those who lived in uninhabited areas? Were THOSE animals corrupted?
Prelude to the Deluge: Is is it Bnai Elohim or Bnai Elokim?
If not angels, then what could be the meaning of Bnai Elokim (as per Ibn Ezra and Netziv)
Parshas Bereishis #2 The Eternal Meaning of the Cain and Abel story
If God told Cain to stop being angry, how could Cain not listen?
Parshas Bereishis #5 What is the meaning of אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה?
What is the beginning of idolatry? Or rather the beginning of true religious enlightenment (in the frum sense)?
Parshas Bereishis #4 - The Opaque tale of Lemech
What is the significance of telling us of his polygamy? Of his progeny? Who exactly did he kill?
Parshas Bereishis #2 What was the Tree of Life?
Why wasn't Cain killed for murdering Abel?
Pashas Bereishis 5767 Part 1 - Onkelos on the Names of God in the Chumash
The challenge of Gnostic Judaism, the Left-Wing of Hellenistic Judaism in the Ancient World
הֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת vs. וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּשִׂמְחָה in light of Hoshana Rabbah
Civility vs. Affection: Two different approaches
The נַעֲנוּעִים in 5787 (2027) in light of current events
The physical and political dangers we face from all directions
פָּרָשַׁת וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה תשפ"ז - Before Moshe blesses the hereditary Jews, he blesses the גֵּרִים
Including the עֵרֶב רַב!
A new interpretation of בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי אוֹתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם - סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ
Where did the Jews sleep BEFORE they crossed the Red Sea?
Leone Modena's explanation of the halachos of the arba minim and the US Constitution
The נַעֲנוּעִים are not some devil-worship ritual, but rather a sublime Maimonidean-Logical rite of acknowledging God's sovereignty over everything, even the Heavens. The great impact of Modena's explanation upon Gentile intellectuals
Calling a Spade a Spade: The עוֹלְלוֹת אֶפְרַיִם on the אַרְבַּע מִינִים
The לוּלָב is the תַּלְמִיד חָכָם who is a turnoff!
Sukkos and the Battle for "The" Official-Memory of the 40 years in the desert
The years in the Desert were magical, wondrous, and wonderful (עַנָּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד)
OR
The year in the desert were physically torturous and ended in death (because of the two big sins) (סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ)
Intellectual Bankruptcy and the Current (non-frum) Jewish Anti-Zionism
Will Dissolving Israel and returning to Galus save the Jewish People? Are you nuts?
The unusual מַחְלֹקֶת רִאשׁוֹנִים re: The אַרְבָּעָה חִלּוּקֵי כַּפָּרָה
The סֵפֶר הָאֶשְׁכּוֹל says that is not how Heaven operates
שַׁבַּת שׁוּבָה פָּרָשַׁת הַאֲזִינוּ תשפ"ז - Moshe goes out on a rhetorical high
When misfortune strikes, will you intelligent enough to be thoughtfully and constructively self-critical? Or will you be like everyone else in the Middle East?
A Possible History of Yom Kippur
Why does the Torah (i.e., Hashem) permit everything on Yom Kippur except eating and drinking?
