The Jewish Story: Recent Episodes
Daniel Kroft
The Jewish Story is a Jewish History podcast for the 21st Century. In it, we use the latest in archaeology, linguistics, and historical methods to sculpt a history of the Jewish people, from the exodus out of Egypt until the present!
Theme tune courtesy of Crowander via the Free Music Archive
In this episode, the rising tide of anti-Jewish hatred we've seen throughout the season will culminate in the Spanish Inquisition - a mass extermination of Jews from Spain.
In this episode, the Talmud itself stands trial in France and Spain, an epidemic rocks medieval Europe, a wave of Jewish pogroms sweeps Christian Spain, and we are introduced to Nahmanides and the Jews of India,
In this episode, we will explore 13th century Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities, meet some famous medieval Jewish money-lenders, learn of the Fourth Lateran Council, and witness the emergence of some of the most damaging antisemitic tropes in history.
In this episode, we witness a wave of anti-Jewish bigotry and violence sweep across Christian Europe, watch Saladin and his Ayyubid caliphate re-take the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and meet Maimonides, one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the Medieval period.
In this episode, we learn of Christianity's great schism, see the Seljuq Turks launch an empire, witness the devastation of the First Crusade, and meet one of the most famous Jewish scholars in history.
In this episode, we revisit the highlights of Jewish history covered in Season 2, from the aftermath of the First Roman-Jewish War to the birth of the Ashkenazi Jewish community and the Fitnah of Al-Andalus.
In this episode, we meet two new Jewish communities, and explore the Jewish literary traditions of Spain and the western Muslim Empire.
In this episode, we explore Jewish life in the Muslim Empire during the late first millennium.
In this episode, we survey the Jewish Diaspora, and meet a brand new religion that would sweep the ancient world.
In this episode, we follow the rise of Christianity from a small prophetic following to a massive religion encompassing the entire Roman Empire, and we see its effect on the surrounding Jewish population.
In this episode, we explore the aftermath of the First Roman-Jewish War, and watch two distinct Jewish communities form in Judea and Mesopotamia.
In this episode, we recap the first 1300 years of Jewish history, from the exodus from Egypt to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
In this episode, I sit down with Sherry Wolfe-Elazar, a Jewish educator (and my former elementary school teacher) to discuss the Greek and Roman periods of Jewish history, and what lessons modern-day Jews can learn from the past.
In this episode, we follow Herod the Great's rise to power, watch Judea devolve into chaos under the rule of successively unstable Roman Emperors, and witness a climactic and devastating showdown between the Jews and their Roman occupiers.
In this episode, we follow the rise and fall of the Hasmonean dynasty, and our Jewish story becomes enmeshed with Roman history.
In this episode, we watch the Ptolemies and Seleucids battle over control of Israel, follow the intrigue of Jewish elites fighting for the position of High Priest, hear of the brutal Greek repression of Jewish practice, and see the rise of a rebellion.
In this episode, Rabbi Matthew Leibl and I sit down to discuss the first eight centuries of Jewish history, and their relevance to modern Jewish life.
In this episode, we follow the parallel paths of Jews after the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem. A temple is destroyed, a city is rebuilt, and the first public Torah reading is performed.
In this episode, we discuss the earliest evidence of Jewish existence, and follow the Jewish Kingdom from its inception through its various conflicts with neighbouring Empires, culminating in the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple.
Welcome to The Jewish Story! In this brief introductory episode, I introduce myself, give some background on this podcast, lay out a roadmap for Season One, and describe my primary sources for this history.