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Why was political Zionism perceived as מְטַמֵּא אֶת הַטְּהוֹרִים אֲבָל מְטַהֵר אֶת הַטְּמֵאִים?
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Realistic evaluations of politics and politicians based on long experience in שְׁתַדְּלָנוּת
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To get the full picture, read the last chapters of the book of Ezra
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If Jethro's son, had he befriended Moshe when he lived with Jethro? Was חוֹבׇב turned-off by the Jews blaming the גֵּרִים for the Golden Calf?
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Russia, China, Iran, Turkey- all obsessed with recovering glorious pasts, even at the risk of nuclear war
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Genazym auctioning the first edition, plus a historic תשובה בכתב יד from the ב"ח himself
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Do we put grass nowadays on the floors of our homes and synagogues? And who were the צֹאן וּבָקָר at Sinai?
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Without כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בְּלֵב אֶחָד, it would not be possible to get a collective binding נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע
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The problem of trying to give a rational interpretation for what is clearly a mystical event, as Rambam himself admits
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PLUS the ONLY surviving copy of the famous חֵרֶם issued by R’ Yosef Caro's בֵּית דִּין. A classic tale in Jewish history
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Those "allies" will leave כלל ישראל to die, like like someone stripped naked and left to die from thirst in the middle of the Sahara Desert
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Why weren't the two tablets given on the occasion of the original shavuos?
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Herzl tries to avoid the fights between the frum and the anti-frum in the fin de siecle
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A short history of the Jerusalem issue in international law
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The 48 attributes of a scholar: Does one require all 48, or some of 48?
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The Kingdom of Judah truly believed in the faithfulness of their Egyptian "ally"
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If Moshe had led them then and there (& not died in Chutz L’Aretz), they would have also conquered & settled Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria!
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Jonathan thought of the public welfare and wanted to avoid a civil war. The narcissistic Amnon threw her out and did not consider what would happen as a result of his actions.
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Herzl, Political Zionism, and Campus Riots, Pt. 4
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He left Spain just in time, and translated the Sephardic literature from Arabic to Hebrew. Wrote much, but only his פירוש על התורה ּis of permanent interest
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At the time of שבועות, the conquest of Canaan was but weeks away
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Buying "worthless" real estate demonstrates faith in ultimate victory and the permanent survival of כלל ישראל. It prevents יֵאוּשׁ
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1945-1990: The years the Jews owned the Shoah-narrative, and got their account of it accepted by the West. The East was "muzzled"
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Trying to make sense of the chronology of the life of Rabbi Akiva and the story of his students
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The Zionists were the first to assemble (or appear to assemble) representatives of all כלל ישראל to discuss the fate of כלל ישראל and seek a realistic solution
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Shabbos comes about once a week, so if a person is not well-versed in its intricacies, then it is inevitable that transgressions will take place.
Here is a solution! KinyanHilchosShabbos.comWorld famous Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav HaGaon Yitzchak Berkovits shlit’a used his vast knowledge to arrange all the Gemaras with the commentators on each area of Hilchos Shabbos and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the Gemara until practical halacha. This enables one to cover main opinions in each topic and gain a deep understanding of the halacha.
Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent eight years as a Rosh Chaburah in Rav Berkovits’s famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Rav’s haskama, took on the monumental task of adapting the Hebrew sheets into English. The material is written with care and with great clarity, as well as including the various opinions in the contemporary practical halacha.
For the past several years, Rabbi Gefen has been teaching this material to Torah learners throughout the world, on all levels of learning, and of all ages now as the founder of KinyanHilchosShabbos.com. Participants in each online chabura receive source sheets with explanations both in Hebrew and English, participate in a weekly Zoom shiur and ask questions by phone and email. Many have also successfully gained Smicha through thoroughly learning the material.
The program includes a weekly Zoom shiur which is recorded and can be reviewed later, tests on the material covered to enable the individual to evaluate their understanding of the material, and availability by email or phone for questions, clarifications, or further discussions.
The program includes the option of Smicha which is a wonderful source of pride for the individual’s family. But its greatest benefit is that it will ensure that a person can lead his family to observing the laws of Shabbos with all their details.
For more information, tuition, and to receive an application visit KinyanHilchosShabbos.com.
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What does the אריז"ל mean when he says that in the future, כהנים will be לויים and vice versa?
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If G-d created טֻמְאָה, why not include it in religious rituals?
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The Israeli foreign Ministry has been pulled apart by Netanyahu on political grounds, and diplomats are mostly leftists and cannot make the case for a prime minister with whom they disagree.
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Herzl: Sometimes arrogance, self-assuredness, and chutzpa can be positive qualities
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Rationalism as a check on false mysticism, but not on true mysticism
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Learning from history, but being aware of ever-changing circumstances. Appomatox vs. the Middle East
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Is every word in the Talmud true? Like the medicines? (רַב שְׁרִירָא גָּאוֹן)
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Telling the raw truth about our history vs. not embarrassing כלל ישראל in synagogue readings - An existential tension
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Kedoshim Tehiyu: It's meanderings through Jewish History
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The Jews in the 19th Century - Civil rights followed by Antisemitism
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"Rhetoric" as a key tool for understanding אַגָּדוֹת חַזַ"ל
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If Zionism is delegitimated, then violence against it becomes legitimate, if not "legal"
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Are American Jews currently undergoing a "sifting" process?
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How was Aharon affected by the death of his sons?
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Dedicated groups of pogromists are going around from campus to campus, and nobody is noticing
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The existential tension in Judaism between the mystical and the rational
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What is the difference between מִצְרַיִם and בֵּית עֲבָדִים?
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The Jews did not say נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע until after they were told about the בְּרִית בֵּין הַבְּתָרִים
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How the different opinions re: בל יראה among Rishonim reflect different Jewish השקפות on the original Passover
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Redemption has to be preceded by a great prophet, who will guide the Jews in that turbulent and complex era
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Who won the battle between the Torah and lashon hara?
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Jordan & Israel: Publicly the bitterest of enemies, privately close cooperation
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Did Egypt get the "full business" on the night of Passover, or at the Red Sea?
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What is the meaning of the phrase "Love is blind" in Judaism?
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Was he already a leper, or did he get leprosy because he kidnapped the little Jewish girl (Like Hamas!)?
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This parsha is a fascinating study in human psychology
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What if the Cananites (Amorites) had repented at the time of Moses, as Ninveh did later?
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Famous responsa from R’ Moshe Provenzalo & Leone Modena
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Going after Israel's "support" system. The need for Jewish counter-tactics
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The Temple is a place for both a public worship experience as well as as private one
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Nadav & Avihu couldn't make the adjustment from halfway-up Sinai to the Mishkan
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Does Ezekiel see the Third Temple as evolving along the historical lines of the Second? Particularly the Hasmonean נָשִׂיא?
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The Kashrus Laws: The difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law
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On a national level, purification can come solely through repentance
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Like Hitler, Hamas understands what a powerful weapon is antisemitism, which trumps all other considerations
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Champion of Judaism against Catholicism & Sabbateanism, expert in the classics, and a great פּוֹסֵק
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Mordecai - member of Sanhedrin and general in the Persian army. Not the typical גדול!
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The meaning of the phrase: the world 's existence depends on the korbanos.
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What happens when one spouse is Orthodox and the other Reform? An "Old Baltimore" tale
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Haman's spinning of the Biblical narrative to make the Jews look bad, just like Hamas propaganda today
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Reading the megillah in a two-tiered fashion ( הַמֶּלֶךְ)
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What provoked Schumer's speech? Do Israelis care about the USA and its interests?
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R Katz suggests a chronology of the historical development of the acceptance of the holiday of Purim
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Great Italiani gaon, whose rabbinical opponents tried to get him fired by his own בַּעֲלֵי בָּתִּים
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Why the extra (and indeed omnipresent) cherubs and pictures of cherubs all over the Temple?
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The strange history of the 71 years of הֶתֵּר הַבָּמוֹת
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The bad guys are trying to change PC to say it is ok, indeed correct, to be anti-Semitic.
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The first real Hebrew dictionary, dissed by jealous rivals, used by Rashi and defended by Rabbenu Tam
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Solomon's pragmatism in building the Temple: Good move or bad?
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The story of the three material objects: The שִׁבְרֵי לוּחוֹת רִאשׁוֹנוֹת, the עֵגֶל הַזָּהָב , and the כְּרוּבִים
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What happened to the wooden box Moshe constructed for those three months?
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R’ Yosef Yaabetz (1440-1508), premier Sefardi דרשן who tries to understand the Expulsion from Spain in 1492
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What was the real story of the great Jewish revolt against Trajan? Who exactly were the הֲרוּגֵי לֹד?
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Some Prophets are "messenger boys," others are subordinates who display initiative
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Famously controversial chronicle, dissed by the historians, but beloved by the masses
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Why did Moshe segregate the עֵרֶב רַב at מַתַּן תּוֹרָה? What were the consequences?
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Why did the Jews build it according to the dimensions of נבואת יחזקאל הנביא ? Why does the Altar have to be in an exact spot, with no deviation?
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R’ Katz explains the context of this letter and the elections to the Russian government's " Rabbinical Commission " to which R Chaim was indeed elected
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The Netziv's theory of the אָרוֹן and the Menorah
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1.) Private notes 2.) Manuscript given out to copy 3.) Printed books
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What does a yeshiva study when all the Gemaras are burned? The toxic Catholic Reformation & the Babylonian Talmud
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Why did both מִשְׁכָּן and בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ have such a large non-Jewish role in their construction?
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God tells Moshe He doesn't need to impress anyone. The miskan is more about intimacy
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Supposed to be a commentary , but is more an independent tour de force of incredible Renaissance philosophical erudition
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It would have been a YU in the 16th century, in the best sense of the term
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G-d will reject the other religious groups who set up institutions on the הַר הַבַּיִת
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Don't confuse keruvim with idols when you visit the Temple on שָׁלוֹשׁ רְגָלִים
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A Renaissance Rabbi? Or a Rabbi who lived during the Renaissance?
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Why does Yisro skip the מַעֲמַד הַר סִינַי? Wasn't he a high religious figure?
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Characterized by the presence of others (מַלְאָכִים) and a smoke-filled room
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Arrested by the Duke and tortured for trying to prevent a Jew from converting. It's like a novel!
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When you swear by G-d, and then G-d says you don't have to keep your oath.
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Two schools of thought re: the uniqueness of Moses, particularly in connection with the receiving of the Torah
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Why does Moshe (and G-d!) indulge their truculence?
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Removing עָרְלַת הַגּוּף symbolizes the drive to remove עָרְלַת הַלֵּב
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A foreshadowing of Word War III on the Messianic Era and the collapse of belief systems
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Rare case of "poor boy" who rose to the top of the Rabbinic and Torah world's.
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A powerful Pharaoh was a necessary component of a successful יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם
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Is there any reality to the gods of Egypt? How could there be?
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R ‘ Malachi Cohen and his wonderful encyclopedia, a long time favorite for "cheaters '
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Why is the name immediately changed to just אֶהְיֶה?
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Abarbanel: Egypt will be invaded and devastated by Christians in the אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים
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Did they view the mistakes of the story of Joseph & brothers as an abject lesson?
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“After the Hurricane: The Struggle for Israel, 1945-1949” - Rabbi Katz’ 2011-2012 Winter Lecture Series
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They imitated King Solomon's vices, but not his virtues!
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What was their conception of deity, anyway, if they believed in Hashem at the same time they believed in Egyptian gods?
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The effects of the galus in Egypt: similar to today?
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Why did Orthodox Judaism fail so miserably in old America?
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Although Leah is in מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה, it is Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem that captures the imagination of the Jewish People
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Joab, to save his own life, revealed David's secret order to arrange the death of Uriah but make it look like accident
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A great Gadol and Posek, also mathematician; his fame in כְּלַל Klal Yisroel came from his fundamental פֵּרוּשׁ לַחֻמָּשׁ-רַשִׁ"י
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From Rabbi Katz’ 2022-2023 Winter Lecture Series entitled “Oslo, Immigration and Assassination-The State of Israel and the Jewish People, 1992-1996”
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In war, there is no substitute for total victory!
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From Rabbi Dr. Katz’ 2011-2012 Lecture Series entitled “The Struggle for Israel, 1945-1949”
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As a result of the translation, Pharaoh freed 150,000 Jewish slaves ( Yosifon)
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Different ancient accounts of the translation of the Torah into Greek. Which stories are accurate? Different reactions: a.) Feast day b.) Fast day
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How did the brothers feel now about everyone bowing to Joseph? About having tried to prevent that?!
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When do the יָמִים נוֹרָאִים come to an end? On the last day of חֲנֻכָּה!
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Hellenist mercilessness and Maccabean retaliation. They never did find common ground!
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Why did a frum king tolerate זוֹנוֹת וּקְדֵשׁוֹת?
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The Hasmoneans implement a "day-after" strategy
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The current propaganda war against Israel & Jews is part of an existential feature of our history(Rambam)
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Sifting through conflicting accounts. Welcome to the "history " of חֲנֻכָּה
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"The actual נֵרוֹת חֲנֻכָּה can be מַגִּידִים עֲתִידוֹת." What does that mean?
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Zechariah's vision of miraculous oil fueling the heavenly menorah. This came true in the נֵס חֲנֻכָּה
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The unique and weird relationship between Richard Nixon and Kissinger in retrospect
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The problem with Eisav is not open entity, but treachery
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Does Netanyahu & Co. have an אֵפוֹד אוּרִים וְתֻמִּים?
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Whatever happened to the surviving women & children of the town of שְׁכֶם?
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Is a Jewish soldier allowed to be afraid of battle?
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The Pilgrims/Puritans and the rise of the modern State of Israel
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King David is confident he can beat them in physical combat, but fears their prowess in spin!
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The halacha was one thing. What they actually did was something else
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The sin of Israel? מַחְלֹקֶת! The cure? Words of אַחְדוּת, not a discourse of פֵּרוּד
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Son of a big antisemite, JFK enjoyed overwhelming Jewish support. Both financially, as well as in votes
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Their competition and respective popularity reflected the difference between elite & popular culture
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The Temple is supposed to inspire repentance, not demand it
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How have the two relationships played-out in history & in modern times?
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Jews could not vote until modern times, but when they could, rabbanim tried to influence
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The angels who protect our soldiers from harm, from the terrors of dark tunnels
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Team Adonijah rejected Nathan's version of the David-Bathsheba story
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Ephron (עֶפְרוֹן) the real estate speculator and the possibilities of a counterfactual history of Arabs & Jews
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Iran dreams of reviving its imperial grandeur by destroying Israel. The reverse of Koresh.
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She had previously experienced infant mortality and miscarriages
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The first case of concern for "civilian casualties?"
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The screwball relationship between Egypt and the Gaza War
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How the encounter between the חֲזוֹן אִי"שׁ and Ben Gurion affects the current Israeli domestic crisis
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Why does it say (Psalm 79:6) אֶל הַגּוֹיִים וְלֹא עַל הַגּוֹיִים? Two groups marching currently against Israel: a.) גּוֹיִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְדָעוּךָ b.) מַמְלָכוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּשִׁמְךָ לֹא קָרָאוּ
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Israel is a worm. But worms can penetrate anywhere and destroy mighty mountains
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Abraham Discovers אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל נִקְנָה בְּיִסּוּרִים
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The difference between Judaism OTOH and individual Jews who propagated the faith among gentiles
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How does one lure a snake off the honey jar? Gittin 56b
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Hamas, North Korea, and the tunnel-strategy: the challenge for צה"ל
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Why do you believe reports from the other side when you know they like lying and support killing Jews?
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In Gaza, there is a limited number enemy fighters. In Lebanon, there is an endless supply לדאבוננו
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From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
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How do you translate כָּל לָשׁוֹן תָּקוּם אִתָּךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט תַּרְשִׁיעִי? Re: the Arab demonizers of Israel
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The Jew who embraces certain progressive causes but is then disillusioned by progressive Antisemitism
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Theology is a luxury pursuit. Fervent prayers ask for Theology to be cast aside in favor of pure רחמים
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The relevance to the crisis in Israel is uncanny
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From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
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Can He do the opposite?How do secular Jews justify our claim to אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל?
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From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
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How you define שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת depends on how you define sukkos: עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד or סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ?
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Many Yidden have been killed, hurt, and persecuted because of some individual's spitting
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How did beating palm fronds transition to our practice of beating עֲרָבוֹת?
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What would have happened had Shlomo maintained more modest lifestyle?
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Just because you were an esrog last year doesn't mean you won't be an aravah this year!
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None are as Blind as Those Who Would Not See - From Rabbi Katz’ 2017-2018 Lecture Series on the Yom Kippur War
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What's preferable? Something expensive that few can afford, or something inexpensive that everyone can join in?
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Acc. to ילקוט שמעוני, how exactly do the frum need the non-frum?
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Are the two versions of sukkos mutually compatible? Do they represent different family experiences?
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The Israelis in 1973 were guilty of עֵינַיִם רָמוֹת וְעַזּוּת מֵצַח
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Part scary kabbalistic tales, part penetrating social criticism; one of the most popular seforim in Jewish history
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"Abandon your religion of sacrifices (golden calf), and try a religion of prayer!"
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A frustrated Moshe Rabbeinu lets loose on Klal Yisroel, calling them every harsh name he can
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Now מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת are three sides of the Jew-G-d relationship
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God sent a three-person team to lead כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל . By Deuteronomy, two are dead
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Did this practice start in the 19th century in Lithuania?
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When Cremona was a center of Torah, Torah printing, and Torah burning
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The tour will take place on Tuesday Chol haMoed
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The suffering of religious Jews at the hands of the regime and of the Jewish Communists
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The same Pope who burned all the Gemaras and סִפְרֵי נִגְלֶה permitted publishing the Zohar...for nefarious reasons
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Jerusalem is attacked. No one helps her, so Hashem personally intervenes and executes bloody vengeance
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Although he originally demanded the Jews circumcise their own hearts, in the end he acknowledges it will have to come from G-d
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Why did the חכמים prohibit the shofar on Shabbos?
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Printed in the luxurious palace of Gracia Mendes' daughter in Constantinople in 1598. Gracia, Joseph Nasi, Donna Reyna, a family of exemplary Sephardic richie-riches
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The חוֹלֵץ who deliberately put the shoe on the wrong foot, to prevent his "in-laws" from cheating him
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Sforno decries the Jews who go to non-Jewish courts: אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים!
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מַחְלֹקֶת רַאְבַ"ד וּבְעַל הַמָּאוֹר עַל פֵּרוּשׁ "עִרְבּוּב הַשָּׂטָן"
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The Jewish triumph will be moral, not military. It won't have to be!
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This classic was written circa 1200, and is the first of the genre of minhag-litetature, evaluating the correctness of various halachic practices
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The Rema"s unique Baroque explanation of the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ וְהַקָּרְבָּנוֹת.
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The kohen who suddenly decided he was not a kohen (to marry a rich divorcee)
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When a person is חוֹשֵׁק, he doesn't consider the future consequences
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Has day-school enrollment in NYC plateaued? R' Katz and Gabe Aaronson analyze the latest statistics.
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Wealthy enough not to be a rov or rosh yeshiva, but up there with the גְּדוֹלֵי הַדּוֹר
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Which round was תְּשׁוּבָה מִיִּרְאָה , and which was תְּשׁוּבָה מֵאַהֲבָה?
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From Volozhin to the JTS of Breslau to the Great Synagogue of St. Petersburg, Reform Russian style
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Genuine אֱמוּנָה requires seeing נִקְמַת מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה
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R,Katz distinguishes between courts who administered the justice of the original תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה and their later successors
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The mammoth Aguna crisis in the aftermath of the Holocaust
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The existential tension in Jewish history between the centralizers and the decentralizers
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If the soul "reunites " with God, then we are way beyond שְׂכַר וְעֹנֶשׁ
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The Arabs make peace with Israel when all other options fail...
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How exactly did they later discover the site of the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ? After all, it is not stated in the חֻמָּשׁ?
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The diastrous effects of WW 1 on religiosity, and the efforts to respond to the crisis in Warsaw
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What happens when two persons have the same relationship to a mitzvah?
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Did the corpses of ביתר remain intact (though mutilated from battle and torture)? Or was it the skeletons which survived intact?
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Why kind of a marriage does כלל ישראל have today with HaShem?
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Why the strange anthropormism that Hashem was "crazy in love" with the Patriarchs and Matriarchs?
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A Litvish Gadol who ends up as Dayan of the largest hasidic community in the world Part 1
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The wicked are indeed destroyed, but not before they suffer torture
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Moshe is describing the wonderfully flexible תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה of long ago
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Close with Hoover, Truman, & Eisenhower. Nemesis of Robert Oppenheimer. Helped Israel get the Atomic Bomb
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The Jews can never be safe, and neither can the non-Jews , after the developments of 1939-1945
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Will take place at his shul. Google Beth Abraham Baltimore for info and livestream
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Isaiah punctures the self-satisfaction of Jerusalemites during the reign of Hezekiah
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Do we have the original version of the חומש? Or a second (divinely-dictated) version?
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How John Spargo scotched Henry Ford's antisemitic campaign 100 years ago
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What were the faults of the kohanim and the Rosh yeshivas?
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Were the Jewish soldiers unaffected by their killing of children?
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What is the meaning in Judaism of מִכָּאן מוֹדָעָה רַבָּה לְאוֹרָיְתָא?
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The differences between the American and French Revolutions and their effects upon כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל
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Did he burn A Torah physically? Or THE Torah spiritually?
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His losing battle against cynicism, skepticism, and sarcasm
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Hundreds of angels directing operations in different "rooms"
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The role of culture in a society. Who gets to decide what parts of culture are important? Is it the power of ideas? The number of followers?
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How the American Revolution affected the whole of כְּלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל
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When do קָרְבָּנוֹת appeal to God? When do they not?
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What was Balaams pitch to Hashem? Why was it an historic moment?
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When exactly was the final חומש text dictated to Moshe?
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Gentile authorities had more to do with the Korachs than the Moshes
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The Pope and the Church: How they viewed the Talmud
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The different הֵיכָלוֹת and their different "rewards"
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Why Would a Chashuva Rov Write a History of the Turks? Could the Ottoman empire be the מַלְכוּת יִשְׁמָעֵאל, last of the Four Kingdoms, followed by מָשִׁיחַ?
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What were the results of her marriage to Joshua?
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The Jews were afraid of a long, unending, bloody struggle. Moshe does not address these fears.
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What would YOU do if you had been stuck in your house during Corona with zero phones, internet, etc…?
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Beginning the discussion on this complex matter
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When the Cossacks persuaded the Poles to betray the Jews, but were themselves then betrayed & killed by the Cossacks
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Judaism is about monotheism, but also about the inalienable superiority of עם ישראל, which is not so easy to "swallow "
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Did all the aunts married to nephews divorce after מַתַּן תּוֹרָה ?
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Wrote history books during a "covid quarantine " in Crete to keep his sanity
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R’ Katz discusses the historical background of the Kabbalistic writings of the רמ"ק
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What is the sociological meaning of expelling undesirables from "the מַחֲנֶה"?
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One of the most successful Jewish lobbyists in Washington. Friend of many Presidents
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The fascinating take of the רְמָ"א בְּסֵפֶר "תּוֹרַת הָעוֹלָה on the Samson story
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The famous אִגֶּרֶת רַב יִצְחָק צָרְפָתִי ת praising the Turks for their good treatment of the Jews
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Crowns vs Mishkan: Two models of וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
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Attempting to unravel the chronology of the week of the first Shavuos, the original זְמַן מַתַּן תּוֹרָתֵנוּ
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At Sinai, they saw no image, but they did hear a voice!
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Patron of the revival of Torah scholarship in Spain
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Two types of נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע: Real and fake
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Why was תהילים written davka by Ruth's grandson?
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But in the end both "Husband " and "Wife" decide to preserve the "marriage" and have a second אֵרוּסִין
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A foreshadowing of the future history of the Jewish People in their march through history from Galus to Galus
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Post medieval opinions re: Summum Bonum -Kabbalistic
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Original Manuscript of סֵפֶר "שָׁרְשֵׁי שֵׁמוֹת" מֵהָרֶמֶ"ז, and two original classics from the Emden-Eibeschutz fights: לֻחוֹת עֵדוּת" וְ"סֵפֶר שִׁמּוּשׁ"
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He used his relationship with PM Alvaro de Luna to help his suffering fellow Jews
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the Austrian Censor Carolus Fischer, the only copy the Austrian courts trusted that a Jew wouldn't lie
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Israel Conegliano, a graduate of Padua, a fum Jew, physician to the highest Turkish officials, and a brilliant diplomat
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The gentiles say, "Our religion was completely false." What about the Jews?
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The negative effects of the lack of geographic contiguity in גלות in Jewish history
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If they died every day, why didn't they repent? Why did all of them fail to modify their behavior, even as they all died?
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Giustiniani and מהר"ם פדובה played commercial hardball against each other, with disaster to all
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The "Purim of Padua (or Buda)". His סֵפֶר "פַּחַד יִצְחָק " on a pogrom, Venetian-style
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Is the Rambam right that the Torah can NEVER be changed?
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Crescas on Olam Haba and Love that comes from perfection, not imperfection
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Why would having an Egyptian father psychologically predispose him to curse HaShem?
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From the classic שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה, written 600 years ago
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Why doesn't the חומש define the Sumum Bonum directly, explicitly, & clearly?
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The Jews will be PERMANENTLY planted in Israel.
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The מִצְווֹת are the ingredients; קְדוֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ is the cake
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"The Rambam is responsible for the weakening of faith!"
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Abarbanel's take on Isaiah 66. תּוֹכָחָה? Or יִעוּד וְנֶחָמָה?
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Is the חֶלְבְּנָה the רְשָׁעִים? Or is it the בַּעֲלֵי תְּשׁוּבָה?
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Will this world come to an end? Or will it be repaired and improved ?
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Difference between the לָשׁוֹן הָרַע of an individual, and that of a group
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His אִגֶּרֶת הַמּוּסָר calls a spade a spade. His assessment of the causes of the downfall of Spanish Jewry
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Fighting a two-front intellectual struggle to save Spanish Jewry: חוּץ וּפְנִים
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Abrabanel shows how various aspects of Jewish suffering in Egypt were מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה
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Despite grandiloquent claims, we still are in גָּלוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ, if you think about it intelligently
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Different meanings of אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן and how it bothers the Wise Son
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In Egypt too there was a problematic relationship between the slaves worshipping idols, and their Patriarchs
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Like ancient times, modern Israel consists of שבטים, whose "red lines" should not be crossed
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Why does the kohen (not the sinner) est the meat?
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The goat fits better with Shmuel than with Rav. It blames the slavery on us, not the Egyptians!
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Though a great Gaon, it was his sermons & speeches that "took-off" among the Jewish masses
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What was it like @that first Pesach if they were just the מְנוּיִים?
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What is G-d's purpose in Resurrection? What is His purpose in any miracle?
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a) Idolatry b.) Social Injustice c.) Neglect of sacrifices. Bringing a קרבן means giving to God. And giving something in return allows for a relationship
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The "downstairs" model replaces the "upstairs " model. Why?
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system, with it's emphasis on the public manifestation of hierarchy, as reflected in differentials in seating, $$, and other perks
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Imagine a world without war, hatred, jealousy, exploitation. Where G-d is not a matter of faith but of knowledge!
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Will קרבנות and other מצוות change in the Messianic Era?
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Thd three month agony of Moses waiting for erecting the structure
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Mizrachi hatzalah activist and his role in the escape of some Litvish Jews to Japan and Shanghai
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He is a forerunner of American Jewish Orthodox sociology in the late 20th century
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After the disaster of the Golden Calf, Moshe needed more futuristic knowledge
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For 12 months, the soul of the departed צדיק "hangs-around" the downstairs Eden, which is an actual place
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In Baghdad. The obsession with elaborate ceremony and protocol in Gaonic culture
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Falsely conflating the case of Saul and the Amelkites with Israelis and Palestinians
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And the grand reconciliation on תענית אסתר. Followed by a memorable סְעוּדַת פּוּרִים
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The famous chronicler of Yeshiva politics in the תְּקוּפַת הַגְּאוֹנִים 00 years ago
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Did Jews sell-themselves in an effort to escape impending death?
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Overawe the masses and win them away from competing pagan temples. The masses go by externals, not by the inner (essential) realities.
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The brilliant effect of כָּל אֻמָּה נִדְמְתָה לָהּ כְּאֻמָּתוֹ
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Why was Saul, heavily engaged in war with the Philistines, suddenly ordered to break-off & redirect against one group of Amelkites?
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Using mystical and (interestingly) psychological concepts to describe the suffering there
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Was it really wise for Shlomo to have close (even if transactional) relations with Tyre?
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If the latter, when exactly during the third set of 40 days? The significance of this issue.
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Auction this Sunday, Feb. 26th. R’ Katz also discusses Purim Parody, in general.
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The fights to keep the Gaonic yeshiva alive in the face of economic hardships and personality-clashes
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The synagogue vs. the house minyan: בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ vs. בָּמוֹת
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There's an intermediate state of existence between the physical and the metaphysical, as evidenced by the soul being inside a specific body
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From the original edition of the בַּבְלִי וִירוּשַׁלְמִי in Renaissance Venice, with its strange history
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But discover they are addicted to the slavery-system and forcibly repossess them, engraging Hashem
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Who gets the better of whom? The lender or the borrower who becomes an עֶבֶד עִבְרִי?
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Famous for his responsa, and for his controversies over halachic matters
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Differs from the view of Maimonides. Olam Haba will occur here on physical earth
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A brilliant novelist who consistently "bet on the wrong horse." Atheist who learned with the Chazon Ish.
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Author of famous grammar works, but also of the original "Bava Maaseh"
אֵלִיָּהוּ בָּחוּר הָאַשְׁכְּנַזִּי הֲכִי גָּדוֹל בְּדִקְדּוּק
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From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2022 Lecture Series, “Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle Ages”
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Vs. עוֹלָם הַבָּא (which is indeed part of the natural world)
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Was Barak right not to care about his personal glory?
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And wrote authoritative responsa. Champion of a.) Maimonides and b.) עֲגוּנוֹת
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From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2021 Lecture Series - Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle Ages
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G-d told him to tell the whole people to shecht, but he decided to tell just the elders
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Rambam's testy reply to his critics: אִגֶּרֶת תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים
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Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle (Part 5 of 6)
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The controversial but complex legacy in an era that doesn't like complexities
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From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2021 Lecture Series - Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle Ages (Part 4 of 6)
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But then will have a "שִׁיבַת מִצְרַיִם." The restored Egypt will, however, be a degraded, not a great, power
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What arguments would an Aaron have offered Pharaoh to persuade him?
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אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֶאֱלּוֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב אוֹ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב
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From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2022 Lecture Series, “Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle Ages”
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From Rabbi Katz’ Summer 2021 Lecture Series - Fundamental Disagreement:The Maimonidean ControversiesOf the Middle Ages
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…due to open heart surgery and hopes to be home next week. דָּוִד הַכֹּהֵן בֵּן לֵאָה
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Or letting him continue as Shlomo's rebbe, where he exercised an excellent influence.
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On עֲשָׂרָה בְּטֵבֵת , we mourn, not just our political stupidity, but our inability to change
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Joseph made good use of his time in prison with high Egyptian economists & administrators
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Mendelssohn in his non-controversial "frum" phase. Not insular but very religious
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What survives (maybe) isa certain type of נֶפֶשׁ, NOT the נְשָׁמָה! An unusual take
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Where would Torah Judaism be today without translations and "cheater books" For the הָמוֹן עַם ?
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Imagine if the Ten Lost Tribes are rediscovered through DNA!
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Just as happened to the brothers, the whole thing got out of hand.
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One may have multiple loyalties, but which loyalty trumps the others?
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Rambam writes lucidly until he gets to clearly defining עוֹלָם הַבָּא, which is impossible
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Rambam vs Ramban on the phenomenon of the כֹּהֲנִים becoming מְלָכִים
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HaShem turned the world upside down to cure Joseph's psychological pain
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A clash between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews in Germany (18th century)
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His military victories and defeats; his controversial political policies
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Forget עוֹלָם הַבָּא for a second. What's life going to be like in a transformed עוֹלָם הַזֶּה ? What changes!
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Parallels between the political situation in Israel at that time and the situation today, December 28022?
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God can tolerate idolatry, but not social-injustice and miscarriage of justice
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How did he change when he arrived in Egypt? His character-development
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Published same year as נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים , but in a different style, though same message
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A remarkable passage in his poetic masterpiece כֶּתֶר מַלְכוּת
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RabbiKatz describes the packed-week that will be his Jewish History tour of Israel
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A classic סֵפֶר once found in every intelligent Jewish home, including leading רִאשׁוֹנִים and אַחֲרוֹנִים. Where Jews once learned the stories of Chanukah and Tisha B'Av.
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It is יַעֲקֹב who is still obsessed with the deception. Not עֵשָׂו!
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Not so much a מְחַדֵּשׁ, but a brilliant מְחַנֵּךְ. Taught דקדוק to generations of Jews & gentiles
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Mainly about the messianic process, not what comes afterwards
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They Ephraimites are angry at the דַּרְכֵי הַשֵּׁם, ever since Rachel's being displaced by Leah
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Reprinted 150 times. Dozens of commentaries. Taken to heart by Ahkenazic Jewry
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First he learned the Gemara by itself, and he was always מְכַוֵּן לְפֵרוּשׁ רַשִׁ"י. Hence his מְגִנֵּי שְׁלֹמֹה
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The Patriarchs lived in a time when they could occasionally "break" rules - נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים
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Yehoyakim and his shocking act of burning דְּבַר הַשֵּׁם to toast hot dogs
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Can you know הֲלָכָה of you're ignorant of science and technology?
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Aaron was able to be מְקָרֵב sinners only because בְּשָׁלוֹם וּבְמִישׁוֹר הָלַךְ. No hypocrisy
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The proper way to stich together the various verses into a coherent narrative. From Saadia's סֵפֶר אֱמוּנוֹת וְדֵעוֹת
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The Abarnanel on the mindset of Isaac. נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיִּים on that of Jacob
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His Hebrew Geography book and his pioneering systematic study of the phenomenon of Midrashic literature
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The Gaonim envision an imperfect State of Israel, without a בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ
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Dovid destroyed his own health deliberately as an act of penance. But was this wise?
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Eliezer, Besuel, and the role of the "Guardian Angel"
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If Israel doesn't have a Constitution, can the SC declare a law passed by the Knesset unconstitutional?
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He is her best benefactor, but he doesn't speak directly to her. She OTOH grabs him by the hand and by the feet
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How does Judaism envision the Final Utopia? Introductory remarks
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What was the big sin of the angels? Two schools of thought in חַזַ"ל
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His sefer מַלְמַד הַתַּלְמִידִים עַל פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ loved and hated down the centuries
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R Katz discusses his intellectually -exciting itinerary for his upcoming tour. Israel with his "spin"
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Is your soul identical with "you"? Who exactly are YOU?
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If Isaiah says אַל תִּירָא,the Jews at that time must have been terrified... of Assyria
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Why are all the Biblical characters described as handsome or beautiful?
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A great Gaon deposed by his own community (Damascus). A tale of the Sephardic Rabbinic elites
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Rabbinical politics (in both sense of the term)
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Why did Noah take the snake on the Ark? Would you?
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What's with the second half re: בִּטָּחוֹן בִּגְאֻלַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל ?
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How exactly are we Jews supposed to be a בְּרִית עִם וְאוֹר גּוֹיִים ?
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What's the meaning of the Divine mandate that man and "snake" will attack each other's head & heels?
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Does הֻשְׁעֲנָה רַבָּה mean "the day of the willows?" Or "the day of the salvation"?
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The Reform Rabbi who claimed to be more observant on Sukkos than the Gaon Rabbi Rice
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There's a difference between having no טַעַם וְרֵיחַ, and having a bad טַעַם וְרֵיחַ!
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What are the "מַכּוֹת" you pray to be saved from ( if you daven אַשְׁכְּנַז)?
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What day is REALLY the רִאשׁוֹן לְחֶשְׁבּוֹן עֲווֹנוֹת?
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עַנְנֵי הַכָּבוֹד אוֹ סֻכּוֹת מַמָּשׁ? -Which is it
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Worry less about your ritual עִנּוּיִים, and more about the actual daily עִנּוּיִים of the poor and the downtrodden
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Is wealth and ease dangerous to Jews and Judaism? Chazal thought so
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Analyzing Modern Jewish History in Terms of the Centrifugal vs. Centripetal Tendencies
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If four of the עִנּוּיִים are rabbinic, when were they legislated, and why?
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Is it 100 shofar blasts for Mrs. Sisera? Or is it for שָׂרָה אִמֵּנוּ ?
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"Physical-Union" in the political sense and in the theological
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Can one successfully raise his kids to be Jewish metaphycisists?
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A plea to enter the פַּרְדֵּס and not be harmed. The fruits of Torahdige meditation!
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Is the person in the Mishna walking by the shul during shofar blowing an apostate seeking his brethren?
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The Empire accomplished a תַּפְקִיד and then disappeared
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The Agudah made such a stink, the Zionists subsequently left frum Ashkenaz Jews alone
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The Noda BiYehudah's remarkable hesped for the (antisemitic) Empress Maria Theresa
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If the messiah came tomorrow, would the non-frum want to move to Israel and become observant?
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The beginnings of the move to the right in Baltimore Orthodox Jewry
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The בַּעַל מְחַבֵּר שׁוּ"ת תְּשׁוּבָה מֵאַהֲבָה criticizes cantors & choirs
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Some hunker-down and don't feel the contempt leveled against us. Others work to end Jewish statelessness
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Luzzatto's unique history of the תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה (Oral Law)
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What if a king's mother is a גִּיּוֹרֶת צֶדֶק? Would that matter?
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Hillel crafted the Prusbul, but put it "in the freezer" to be implemented a century later!!
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Rabbi Katz analyzes the Leeser Bible, the first English translation in America
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Gorbachev -a textbook case of לֵב שָׂרִים בְּיַד הַשֵּׁם
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The fascinating competition between Bavel and medieval Eretz Yisroel for primacy
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What is the meaning of לֹא בְּחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ?
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Moses' warning re: Egypt right-after the Jews had followed a "king" back to Egypt
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Three Weeks Lecture Series 2022 – From Bavel to Barcelona and Fez to Frankfurt: The Powers of Jewish Courts Throughout the Diaspora
2/6
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The old-model of trying to reform Jewish misbehaviour by top-down rabbinical legislation
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Written at a time when Judaism in Spain was under terrible attacks by the Church
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In the messianic era, will there be big-givers with "dirty-money"?
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Two "Alters" and their different "yeshivish" educational philosophies and styles
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Could "wokeness" be the תְּקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל ?
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Will Israel be physically narrow, or culturally narrow?
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The Netziv on the different styles of פְּסַק of Moses and Aaron
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You can't pray for an end to national galus if you're trapped in emotional pain
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His fascinating description of Hasidim and Litvaks in 1940
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Three Weeks Lecture Series 2022 – From Bavel to Barcelona and Fez to Frankfurt: The Powers of Jewish Courts Throughout the Diaspora
1/6
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Not national redemption from exile, but physical security from ever-present toxic antisemitism
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The סֵפֶר עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק on Christianity and Islam and the Jews
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Ladies class Sunday at 2:00 at Rabbi Katz's shul
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Hyrcanus vs. Aristobulus: the original שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם that led to the Destruction
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A tale of הָרָאָבָ"ד הַחַתַּם סוֹפֵר הַנּוֹדָע בִּיהוּדָה וְרַב נָתָן אַדְלֶר
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If the temple was rebuilt tomorrow, would it last, in the present state of Jewish conduct?
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The ritual reforms of Hezekiah we're meaningless because they weren't accompanied by social reform
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After killing Sichon, why did they proceed north, not west?
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Which one was regarded as superior - which century?
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"They know how to learn, but they don't know ME!"
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Did the Jewish soldiers marry the little Midianite girls?
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What were the classic "history seforim" read by our ancestors?
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What are you davening for, exactly, during The Three Weeks?
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Rabbi Katz’ Lecture Series on Galician Jewry (Part 3of 6)
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"אֶל אֵל חַי אֲרַנֵּן"- Refrelentless pressure by the Catholics on the Jews to convrertvi
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Why is G-d telling Jeremiah what is going to happen politically 40 years from now?
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What is the scary implication of the בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב story?
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Author of what may be the most often republished sefer of all time.
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You're not a "player" if you don't have the "Kapach Edition" of Rishonim
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The contrast between the American Revolution and the French re: what was demanded from the Jews as the price of equality
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In the era the Ashkenaz had the Crusades, the Sefardim had the Almohad persecutions
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Monotheism is not identical with the special אַהֲבַת הַשֵּׁם לִכְלַל יִשְׂרָאֵל
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The role of a yeshiva in creating a new demography
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A bitter parody of Yehudah Halevi's famous "צִיּוֹן הַלֹּא תִּשְׁאֲלִי לִשְׁלוֹם אַסִּירַיִךְ?"
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His most important work, סֵפֶר הַמַּחְלוֹקוֹת, was only recently discovered, and will only increase his reputation
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When he sticks to G-d's script, everything goes smoothly
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Did Shlomo HaMelech actually make the Jews swear not to make a state? When? How? Why?
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The Liturgy of the 10 Martyrs - 4 of whose Yahrtzeits fall out this week
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Yes I am old, worn-out in public service, not that you appreciate it!
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He makes his move when Moses offers them no hope post מרגלים
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A Man Who Indomitably Set Up Yeshivas in Memel, Frankfurt and London. Rebbe of Rav Shternbuch
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June 21, 1941 (26 Sivan 5701). The real beginning of the mass murder of the Jews in Europe
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Where did Moshe go wrong? Where did Joshua go right?
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Summer Lecture Series (2022) 1/6
This lecture has been generously sponsored in honor of Levi Friedman, by a "Landsman".
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Some thoughts on the מְרַגְּלִים and the Holocaust
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Expert in the Responsa Literature, though he himself kept nothing!
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The literary power of the Shach's מְגִלַּת עֵיפָה, formerly recited on כ סִיוָן
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The one Italian Gadol you know, thanks to his still -popular commentary,
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What memories is this supposed to evoke within us?
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If it's not perfect, should you settle for the good? How important are externals?
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Abarbanel - Is it possible to go through the Mt. Sinai experience without effect?
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The world of מֶחְקָר practiced (uniquely) by a גָּדוֹל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
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Ten levels of "engaging in the words of the Torah"
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What exactly is the difference between a גֵּר צֶדֶק and a regular גֵּר?
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The soldier should not have to worry what is happening @ home while he's fighting @the front
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Why did they build a Mishkan if they were about to conquer Israel and build a Temple in Jerusalem?
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When G-d Showed Up at Sinai, Where was He Coming From?
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Somehow, the Talmud Bavli (and nothing else) gained universal acceptance
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The controversies this poem generated among the Rishonim of the Middle Ages
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Bible Criticism is treife, but Mishna Criticism is kosher - Hoffmann
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What is the meaning of שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁתַּעְבְּדוּ בָּהֶן בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יוֹתֵר מִדַּאי ?
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A snippet of chapters 16 & 17 of Jeremiah. One should really read all of both chapters.
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The מֶשֶׁךְ חֲכָמָה on תַּמָּה זְכוּת אָבוֹת and the first paragraph of the שמונה עשרה
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The theme of קֶרִי. The interesting inability of modern Jews to react religiously to the Shoah.
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No group can survive in exile without a vibrant and intellectually-engaging high-culture
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What is the significance of the presence of the tattler יְהוּדָה בֶּן גֵּרִים ?
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Did the Jerusalemites sell their homes to their occupiers for a song out of desperation and יֵאוּשׁ ?
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Ramban and the theory of the Broken Contract and a second, harsher, contract
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One of the best works on the halachic Midrash. A hit even with the Ashkenazic Gedolim.
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Kohen and wife: Did the רבנן convert a לָאו דְּאוֹרָיְתָא into an עֲשֵׂה מִדַּרְבָּנָן?!
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יִחוּד הַשֵּׁם בַּתְּפִלָּה and it's challenges …
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The כֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי צָדוֹק, who stayed frum when all the others went off the derech
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May one go to public school on Shabbos? May you carry your books? Write? German שאלות
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In the absence of Fundamentalism, the attempt to restore a state and geographic-contiguity to ensure survival
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A fascinating interpretation by the מֶשֶׁךְ חָכְמָה of the historical-psychological purpose of this ברכה
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The greatest (only?) exemplar of תּוֹרָה, יִרְאָה, וּמַדָּע
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"Why are You (כביכול) asleep @ the switch? Wake up and save me!
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It is easier to take them out of Egypt than to take Egypt out of them
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The manipulation of Jewish statistics on Wikipedia, and the new reality of Israel as the largest Jewish community
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R Katz will deliver a lecture on modern Jewish history of Galicia. This Wednesday night at 8:00 in his shul
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A poetic history of blasphemy by R’ Shimon bar Yitzhak of Worms, buddy of Rabbeinu Gershom
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The real Exodus was (and will be) the exodus out of people's alienation from their own Jewish identities
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Did Moshe say, "Be silent?" Or did he say, "Shut up!"
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R Moshe Feinstein; Should we still do הַקְהֵה אֶת שִׁנָּיו nowadays?
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Sexual perversion and the remarkable connection to Egypt throughout the Biblical era.
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Do you offer a korban pesach if it is an אוֹתוֹ וְאֶת בְּנוֹ ?
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What do you emphasize? The horrors? Or the miracles of that miraculous night?
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Pharaoh brought it all on himself with his big fat mouth
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Were Joseph's brothers buried in Egypt? Are they still there today?
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Defender of Judaism in the Beilis Trial. Author of scintillating Jewish memoirs, which everyone should read
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The Yad Hashem in the formation of the modern Middle East
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How did Pharaoh's new policy of infanticide trigger the end of slavery?
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The poet evokes the original Shabbos, the Saturdays the exhausted slaves rested and ate, with no time for spirituality
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The elaborate purification ritual: it is easier to contract leprosy than to be purified from it!
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The jaded Jews say God is "on the take," but then comes Judgment Day!
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Originally, it was not Maror that was the symbol of the suffering, it was Charoses
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The changes after the חֻרְבָּן. The manipulations of the narrative for reasons of time and dignity.
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Talmid of R’ Chaim Ozer, but a leading Zionist author of a unique intro to lomdus
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Who is this mysterious נָשִׂיא? Rashi vs. מְנַחֵם בֶּן חֶלְבּוֹ
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Rabbi JS Bloch of Vienna, the champion against the blood libelers
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If it requires a miracle to combat לָשׁוֹן הָרַע, what are we to do nowadays?
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The Seder - a response to an outraged Egyptian counter-narrative of the Exodus
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The plagues forced assimilated Jews (spared, unlike their neighbors) to acknowledge their Jewish identity
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For Parshas Parah, Kaliri imitates the piyutim describing the Yom Kippur ceremony
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The classic bitter prophecy about a Redemption that is בְּעִתָּהּ וְלֹא בְּאֲחִישֶׁנָּה
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Why was the innovation of the two sons fatal, but not the innovation of Aaron?
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A Conservative Rabbi who inspired cultured Italian Jews to Emunah, Torah, and Mitzvos
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The fascinating interpretation of The Guide to the Perplexed on Jeremiah's message in this Haftarah
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One of Rabbi Katz's numerous analyses of different aspects of the Purim story
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How is the sacrifice/present system a model for inter-human conduct?
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What Caused the Purim Miracle? Esther or Public Prayer?
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Author of לְכָה דּוֹדִי , probably the most famous poem in Jewish history. When Safed was "white hot"
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When piyutim had to replace both קְרִיאַת הַתּוֹרָה וּקְרִיאַת הַהַפְטָרָה
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King Saul, Amalek, and the intrinsic chronological limitations of rationalism
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Did people follow the rules of וַיִּקְרָא during the period of the בָּמוֹת?
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Rabbi Katz analyzes the medieval Ashkenazic Purim custom of זֵרְעוֹנִים
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A glimpse into tensions between “Yeshiva-Learning” and the venerable מִנְהַג אַשְׁכְּנַז in 12th century France and Germany
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The 15 praises in Yishtabach are Moshe's 15 words of joy and relief when his financial rectitude was publicly vindicated
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What did Moshe do with the surplus funds from the fundraising drive?
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What furniture from the Mishkan did Shlomo retain in the Temple?
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Then, too, Jews were caught-up in the deadly struggle between Russians and Ukrainians
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Are we seeing a reversion to the "Balance -of-Power" system? How will this affect Israel?
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What should one pray for today in light of the Russo-Ukranian war breaking out?
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Was he from שֵׁבֶט דָּן בִּזְמַן הַפֶּסֶל מִיכָה? Would that matter?
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Which gold was used for the Golden Calf, and which for the Mishkan?
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Naming the grandson of Chur as project manager was a piece of fundraising genius
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How would the triumph of Mordecai have affected the king's hostile policy re: Jerusalem and the Temple?
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Why is this the haftorah, and not the story of the reappearance of the Golden Calf in the time of Jeroboam?
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The two meanings of מָקוֹם I'm the context of prayer
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Why does Moses tell them to run around the Jewish community and kill at will?
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Rare case of responsa writer who was an actual folk-hero
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Is music an essential part of prayer? For all? For some?
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What's the connection between a sense of profound shame and a Third (eternal) Temple?
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Why was Aaron chosen to be an integral part of the ritual atonement process?
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Rambam's narrative of how unresolvable disputes developed in the era of בֵּית שַׁמַּאי וּבֵית הִלֵּל
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Does wine lead to prophecy, as Psalm 104 seems to suggest?
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Why did Shlomo used non-Jewish (Lebanese)? Why not imitate Moses and appeal for Jewish volunteers?
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Why were the tablets of the Ten Commandments never taken out of the box?
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Last of the Italian gedolim. Gave it to Napoleon straight
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A gentile may not be שׁוֹמֵר שַׁבָּת, but he should be זוֹכֵר שַׁבָּת
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What did Moses write down and read to the people after the Ten Commandments?
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"הַבּוֹחֵר בְּשִׁירֵי זִמְרָה" - Why was there no music in the Mishkan?
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The master too is enslaved to the system of slavery
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The day the Tribes asked Benjamin for justice and received a negative reply
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The גדול who called it as he saw it, let the chips fall where they may
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Is it proper to have the Ten Commandments on the ארון קודש or the פרוכת?
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Can fair coercive structures be established in our times in the frum world? Should they?
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Was the Torah originally supposed to be given on the Egyptian border?
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What does it mean that Tefilin represents יחודו ואחדותו?
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Was it a well? Or was it a "river" generated by the rock G-d "stood on"? A difficult story.
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Was Yael forbidden to her husband after her involvement with Sisera?
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Why was it necessary to publicly respect that jerk Pharaoh?
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Was there a Divinely Mandated failure of leadership? Sort of like with Pharaoh?
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The original ולמלשינים was against the Saducees
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Those who fled Israel for Egypt ran from the frying pan into the fire
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From Shinto to Christianity to Holocaust prevention to geirus
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Why did Moshe care about Pharaoh's math-science freaks with their atomic watches?
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Rabbi Katz' Siyum and speech on Maseches Beitzah (Yerushalmi) on the occasion of the Yahrtzeit of his father
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Sometimes the חילונים get it right and the frum don't
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Ezekiel predicts the coming fall of Pharaonic Egypt, which indeed happened!
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Was it just שֵׁבֶט לֵוִי who were excused from servitude, or were there other tribes too?
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Defender of the Faith against Deists, Sabbateans, Spinozists, and sham-artists
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The first "Artscroll Siddur," only better. Written in 1340 in Spain.
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Why are those in Assyria "lost," and those in Egypt "Bewildered/ Dejected"?
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It seems enslavement was resorted to only when other options failed.
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Was he pro-Kabbalah or anti?
Student of the Ari”zal and Galileo
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Three talks: Friday night, Shabbos afternoon (women) and שלוש סעודות
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Famous translations and little-known but meaningful translations. Hebrew is not for everyone!
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Is David telling him to stay frum for theological reasons, or political reasons?
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How did this community resist the westernization campaigns that turned the other Tunisian Jews irreligious? Sponsored by Djerba’s Jewish school, Torah VeHinouch, as part of today’s fundraising campaign. If you would like to donate, click this link https://campaigns.causematch.com/tov/19859
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Gadol, אב"ד, Rosh Yeshiva, Mekubal, Oleh, Millionaire, author of the most famous hashkafah work of the 17th century.
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Did חז"ל decree a fast because the Jews in Egypt had declared a holiday?
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And, why didn't the brothers return to Canaan when the famine ended?
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Judah Maccabee's amazing "Entebbe" rescue campaign. Arab pogromists vs. Maccabeean veterans.
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Two theories about when חז"ל instituted הַדְלָקַת נֵרוֹת חֲנֻכָּה in addition to הִלֵּל וְהוֹדָאָה
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An ingenious version of the Chanukah narrative (especially חָנוּ כ"ה) by the Chasam Sofer
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Who is revealed as "blind"? The father by favoritism, or the brothers by hate?
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A speech delivered by Rabbi Dovid Katz in 1994 which goes into the history of Chanukah, in detail
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How did they physically manipulate those פְּשׁוּטֵי כְּלֵי עֵץ?
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As a history, עַל הַנִּסִּים follows The First Book of Maccabees. Who exactly are the טְמֵאִים?
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"No, I will not shut up! Whom should I listen to? You, or Hashem?!"
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Did Joseph lose his faith & then recover it, or did he have bitachon all the way through?
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Rabbi Katz responds to a thoughtful question from a listener.
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Why do we say a gentile is punished for keeping Shabbos, but not for keeping the other mitzvos?
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What does it mean that Edom will go down through the treachery of its allies?
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A tzadik who dreamed of building a combination of "Harvard & Volozhin," but ran into economic & educational realities
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https://congbethabrahamhertzberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BHH-scholar-in-residence-Rabbi-Katz-flyer.pdf
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When does the money you give in charity not help your heavenly "bank-account"?
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If he was one of the four greatest Rishonim, why is he not better-known?
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Why is this recited as Shabbos ends? Does Shamayim mean the sky? Come on!
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Yes, Yaakov won, but have his descendants acted in a manner fitting the bechorah?
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A parshah with many alternative versions of the story in Chazal and the Meforshim
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A Jewish State in Israel is the only way to prevent intermarriage among the non-frum
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Do you regret "giving-in" (Bathsheba)? Or stubborn callousness (Census)?
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Contrast the Eliezer-story (absence of intrigue) with the David-story (redolent of intrigue)
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Both Eliezer and Rebecca dislike long engagements
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He embarked on a lifelong, grand quest to do the whole Chumash, but tragically unsuccessful because of his brilliant pizur kochos.
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Shabbos in Wesley Hills (קְהִלַּת בֵּית אֲבִיגְדוֹר). Saturday night at 25 Barrie Drive 9:00 PM
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The different reactions of Sarah and the Shunamite woman to the news they will have a baby
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Should a servant of Hashem my welcome נִסְיוֹנוֹת as an opportunity to show loyalty?
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Does Abraham allude to a crisis of faith earlier in life in Genesis 20:13?
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Was it un-frum to move to Israel and work for a living in the 19th century?
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Lectures will be in person at Shomrei Emunah on Saturday nights at 8:45 PM. Starting tomorrow night. YouTube option available
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What does V'Chiseih Dovid Avdichah L'Sochah Tachin actually mean?
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How exactly did the outnumbered Abraham defeat the forces of כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר?
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Why is Lot zocheh to be the ancestor of the Mashiach?
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The Rebbe with the largest following, who lived the lifestyle of a Reish Galusah
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Upcoming Scholar in Residence Appearances this Winter, History of the State of Israel Winter Lecture Series and Tech-Issues
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Are the "dispersed Jews" physically exiled or psychologically alienated?
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The many ways Noah's oracle about Shem and Yafes can be translated and interpreted
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The Ran seeks a logical explanation, not a midrashic approach. His remarkable reconstruction of ancient history.
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The best Allied general of WWI, who had a love-hate relationship with Yiddishkeit.
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Did G-d create a perfect world? Why are things so imperfect?
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Man's curiousity, though G-d-like, is dangerous, but unstoppable
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What does the rise of this holiday " from the bottom up" indicate about the character of the Jewish people?
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Was Moshe told to march around the altar long before the walls of Jericho crumbled?
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Amalgamation (loss of individual identity) or cooperation? Which unity is better?
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The עֲרָבָה represents those Jews who will join Gog and Magog against their own people
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A famous tale of yeshiva politics, ambition, faction, but also nobility
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Different types of Sukkah reflect different diaspora experiences
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Does it makes sense to try to make sense out of Yom Kippur?
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The poem is pessimistic because it fears the Jews' narcissism
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Refugee from Spain (1391). A founder of Torah greatness in Algeria. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן צֶמַח דּוּרָאן
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Explaining the parable of the penitent touching the Heavenly Throne
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On the day of Creation, did G-d do נְשִׁימָה אַחַת or שְׁתֵּי נְשִׁימוֹת?
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A historical suggestion of the בַּעַל הַמָּאוֹר and the vituperative criticism of the Raavad
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Was blowing nine blasts originally an anti-Saducee act? Were they blown all at once?
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The ibn Ezra on the first Christians. Why Does Edom Have to Be Destroyed?
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What are the "hidden" and "revealed" things to which Moses refers?
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Superbly educated, highly-gifted, a brilliant-success, a tragic failure
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Rambam says the Jews forgot how to blow shofar. How exactly does he understand this to have happened?
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If you could create a Utopia, what would it look like? Isaiah's?
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The critics of Kaliri vs. the defenders -famous Gedolim, all of them.
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Why does the end of the Tochachah describe a national psychological depression?
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Liturgical creativity? Musical creativity? Reflections of different communities.
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The great blessing of putting a negative past in proper perspective
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The Jews (some of them) began to "crack" after 30 days in the original Elul. This became Rosh HaShanah
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Can a Jew live in Israel and still be in galus?
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An exception to the prohibition of intermarriage (הָאַבְנֵי מִלּוּאִים)?
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The "normal"posek and friend of the victimized Jewish woman
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Did Moshe want new tablets? Or the magical reconstitution of the first ones?
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Are you "drunk but not from wine"? What's YOUR addiction?
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One of the greatest figures of the 15th century and afterwards. Hero-worshiped.
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Is prophecy really the result of a failure of nerve (or imagination) at Sinai?
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Was the Arizal referring to the time of Elul? Or to the three daily prayers of Elul?
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Do non-Jews have to believe in one G-d the same way as the Jews?
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Do the Jews have survival skills? Or is it all simply Divine Providence?
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Does Judaism fulfill the emotional needs of everyone? If not, there are dangers out there.
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The "rest" of Tosafos and one of the most popular seforim for poskim. Martyred in the "other pogroms" - the ones that do not get much attention.
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Are we supposed to care about the rest of the human race?
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"I am just really good at this nechamah business. Though I had to go to a hard school to learn how to do it."
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Was the speech of Devarim a prepared and written speech? Or was it extemporaneous?
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Should the Nine Days be extended to the whole year?
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Holocaust survivors don't need criticism. They need comfort, if they are to rebuild
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Which law is Moses afraid the Jews will drop once he is dead?
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Insufferable personality, wracked with pain, suffused with genius
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpkvIqeauUJSqXVb7Acn5nQ/featured
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When did Isaiah prophecy this? What is the context?
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Was Jerusalem a wasteland when the prayer was composed?
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The micromanager who poured endless amounts of money into Jewish Settlement in Israel, but who denied any Jewish passion
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Can you use your talents in a way that results in successful relationships? Or is it all about $$?
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The 42 stops on the way to the Promised Land. Portentous?
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A millionaire who actually gave to Jewish causes, especially Eretz Yisrael
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An online series about the hashkafah fights of the Middle Ages
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Prophets predict why "Surfsides" happen. That's why they are unpopular
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Zealotry in defense of authority vs. zealotry in defiance of authority
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Can't survive economically without Divine intervention
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Are the 613 mitzvahs an end in themselves, or a means to an end? What is THAT end?
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The passionate paragraph: Can antisemitism be solved? Or just managed?
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Had Bil'am been allowed to speak, would it have influenced the Jews?
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The voice of reason in Polish Jewry in the 18th century, which was a time of extremes
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For real warriors, war is the last-resort, not the first. But if it happens, attack first!
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Moses bereft of his leadership team. The great crisis.
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The Mesilas Yesharim on praying that the sins of other Jews be forgiven.
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The student whose questions inspired the "Guide for the Perplexed"
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Do you want the greater glory of G-d if it meant dumping the Jewish people?
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How G-d chooses to run things, and the role prayer plays in that.
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Or (mystically) the descendant repairs the wrong done by the ancestor? Praying for posterity you will never know
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What had Korach ever done to convince people he could lead the Jewish people? How could they fall for him?
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Is prayer logical or emotional? Can G-d be conceived?
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Why did the spies stay in a brothel? Why didn't they spy out the city?
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Caleb at the Ma’aras HaMachpelah: resisting "wokeism"
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As told in the Yiven Metzulah and in the Emek HaBachah, respectively.
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The Palestinians (the Canaanites) demand the partition of the Holy Land
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Poetic weaving-together of the prophetic visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel
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Yiddish and Its Role in Judaism and Jewish History
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Great student (and successor) of the נודע ביהודה. Fantastic דרשן
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Toxic mix of religion and politics in the Second Temple era
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Peace among the Jews? Mid-East? World peace? Shalom bayis?
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Maturely reflecting on each commandment. By one of the greatest Ashkenazic paytanim.
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The Jews and G-d are "married," but without the option of divorce
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The unbelievably busy schedule of a Rav in Germany in the Kaiser's era
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The haftarah is a small fragment of the larger story. Look it up!
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The days of Torah glory (Franz Josef) to the Churban, to Medinat Yisrael and the new Torah world
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Why was there a Second Temple? Why is there a State of Israel?
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Is it resurrection? Or immortality of the soul?
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The change in the Israeli yeshiva culture as a result of the 24,000 deaths
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Do you start with reason, or with family history?
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Why should a mere physical blemish prevent a righteous kohen from serving?
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The man who battled both the Inquisition and Spinoza
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The unusual relationship between Morgenthau, FDR, and the terrible fate of the Jews in WWII
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The difference between Klal Yisroel and the individual Bar Yisroel in terms of Divine Grace and survival
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And the turning point represented by the Destruction of the Bais HaMikdash
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How can you tell if someone's chumrah results in his fulfilling “Kedoshim Tihiyu?”
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What's the definition of "frum"? Why did the observant Jews get killed during the Holocaust, but not the non-observant?
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The messy narrative of the historians. The neat narrative of Maimonides.
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Did Elisha treat Gechazi correctly? Or did he drive him OTD?
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The fascinating literary history of the book. Aid or competition to the Gemara?
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Trying to Trace the Effects of Exile and Diaspora on the Evolution of Synagogues and Prayer. The "neat narrative" of Maimonides vs. the messy one of the historians
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Some unusual observations of the Malbim re: the David-Michal argument
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The founder of Zionism who ended up as leader of the Agudah.
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Pharaoh at the Red Sea equals the War of Gog and Magog
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Egypt's other slaves "khap arein." Where are their descendants today? The Vilna Gaon opinion
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Some actually argued piyutim were more important that tefilah!
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The "rapper" of genius who fought to make the Jews see the superiority of Hebrew over Arabic
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A poetic review of Maseches Pesachim adored by the Baalei Tosafos
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Symbolism in the olah and the minchah. Can you think of any?
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Destroyed Catholics in debate, yet they held him as the best MD.
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What was prayer in the first millennium in Eretz Yisrael?
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"They fashion the idol out of a piece of wood and then worship it sincerely"
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Maimonides: When you cannot win a debate about Judaism, just double-down in faith
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His bio is different from the Artscroll bios of Gedolim
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Ezekiel's description of Passover in the Messianic Era
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Why is Moses reticent about the mystical significance of the Sabbath in public?
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Very frum but skeptical of the claims of the Kabbalists
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An encyclopedia of original approaches to the weekly Parshah. A classy intellectual work.
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If you won the lottery, would you tell others? Or keep it quiet?
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The first (only) brothers in the Chumash who get-along?
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Were the Jews obligated to wipe out Amalek during the time of Haman?
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Was Haman out to kill the Jews, or was he out to convert them?
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Was Saul punished so severely when he got it mostly right?
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The "original" Aruch ha-Shulkhan, trying to help the common man
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Do you just trust the contractors? Moses vs. King Joash of Judah.
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Maimonides guides the perplexed to understand what happened to Aaron and the elders
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Herod Agrippa's finest hour, his appeal to Caligula, and the Providential salvation of the Jews
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If you are good in בין אדם למקום but not בין אדם לחברו, are you frum?
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Which parts of the story are literal? What is the meaning of the non-literal?
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Incredible literary-prolificacy in the "Golden Age" of Spanish Torah scholarship. The "vital-center."
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Why does she express disappointment in the midst of triumph?
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Did Miriam think Moshe did not rise to the occasion sufficiently?
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The best example of the old-school model of the community-rav. Did it work?
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Egypt's Machiavellian policy boomerangs 20 years after the Churban
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Moshe spends most of his time trying to persuade the Jews to leave. Unsuccessfully!
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Jewish billionaires and their indifference to Jewish causes; Galus HaShechinah.
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The Babylonian invasion of Egypt as tit for tat?
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Moses could have lobbied with influential Egyptians had G-d not prohibited.
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What happens when the beauty of mussar runs into the horrors of the materialism and genocide of modernity?
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Isaiah's condemnation of alcoholism and hedonism. The challenge of indulgence.
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Getting used to a life with no time for anything other than prophecy-availability
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Daunting schedule but the pay is good. Kabbalah after you have mastered Shas. No shortcuts!
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Does Dovid actually tell Shlomo to kill them? The Abarbanel's version.
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"Who needs Gan Eden when you have a good yeshiva, a hot mikvah, and a good cup of coffee?"
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Did the brothers doubt themselves after Joseph's revelation?
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The extraordinary Marrano who was a hero to R Yosef Karo, and whose prophecies came true
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When is wisdom a good thing? When is it counterproductive?
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How was Joseph, alone, able to overcome Egyptian contempt for Hebrews?
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The original interpretation of R' Yaakov Emden re: the 24th of Kislev
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A learned defense by the remarkable grandmother of the Chavos Yair.
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When they sold him into slavery, did they think he would survive it?
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Admired by Gentiles. Rodney Dangerfield to his own community.
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Halacha Headlines Podcast
With everything happening in the world today, it’s safe to say the we as frum jews have a lot of questions on how to correctly deal with these situations that come up in and day out.
Halacha Headlines Podcast features a weekly topic drawn from current events and matzavs, and with a panel of Rabbanim, discusses the best way we- as a klal, can approach contemporary society.
Some topics include Hafganos and racism, shidduchim and dating in the era of corona, mesira, vacations, life insurance, buying and selling stocks, police and police enforcement, the Israel UAE accord- all explored from halachic and hashkafic perspectives.
Needless to say, Halacha Headlines is more than necessary these days, and has given thousands the koach to approach modern situations more educated on the halachic implications. I think this is something everyone has to check out to hear for themselves. Halacha Headlines podcast is available on podcast.headlinesbook.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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What did Lavan mean when he said, "They are MY children"?
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The first part of a three-part series on the Ramchal
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Why is Yaakov depressed? How does the "ladder" help with that?
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Altona, last of the autonomous coercive communities
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Are the Jews jerks? Or is it the fault of the Kohanim?
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Is respectful and genuine dialogue with all really a Jewish value?
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Why is David unclear about the succession? Avraham wasn't!
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What's the significance of Abraham's children from his old age?
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The Influence of Classic Ashkenaz on Italian Jewry
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The Gadol and the hypocritical and unscrupulous secretary/screener
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Why did G-d grant land to Lot's progeny in perpetuity? Why are both daughters ancestors of the Messiah?
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What does it take to be a "successful" Rabbi in a materialistic Jewish community?
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A callous act leads to galus mitzrayim as poetic justice
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The Hasid in the role of Rosh Yeshivah and Maggid Shiur. Pilpul as fun!
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From the Golden Age of A+ level, Sephardic Poskim. Calm, compassionate, daring.
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You can access the livestream on Rabbi Katz's YouTube channel, "Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz"
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The snake in Paradise and the frum riots in NY and Israel
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Would have been a worthy successor to his father, but historical trends were in the wrong direction
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A dreamer of incredible accuracy. He foresaw the Holocaust long before it happened. Admirer & critic of R' S.R. Hirsch
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When outsiders use "insider" terms, incorrectly
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Revolution in “Sukkah consciousness" in the time of Ezra? A theory
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One of the last and most readable of the great Chachmei Prague, and author of Horah Gaver and Pesichas Niddah.
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A comparison of two different visions of Moses: Haazinu v. Nitzavim
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The behind-the-scenes director of the "foreign-policy" of R’ Yitzchak Elchanan and a pioneer in the formation of a Russian-Jewish "Orthodox" (not Traditionalist) Judaism; one of the first Haredi "ideologists"
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The Malbim's unique analysis of the relation between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.
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Can the Moshiach come at any moment? Meaning, literally right now?
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Brilliant defender of Torah in the enemy camp, or פוסח על שתי הסעיפים?
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Longtime colleague and close associate of R’ Chaim Ozer on the Vilna Beis Din, despite the fact one was Agudah and the other Mizrachi. Author of the classic lomdishe seforim of the 20th century. Murdered by Hitler.
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Some thoughts about a book I saw today on Reform Judaism and Dutch Jewry
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A charismatic teacher, back when students did Gemara, Rashi, and the Rosh.
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Talmudic Translations as supplements? Or as replacements?
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Maintaining hatreds for decades (one of the 613 commandments)
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Parshas Eikev: Not Idolatry, But Forgetting and Ignoring
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The man who created both Yavneh and Bais Yaakov, particularly the infrastructure and philosophy of both.
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Two sets of halachic practices for netilas yadaim.
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Is it a speech, or a (Divinely) edited collection of speeches?
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The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
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The sad state of shechitah at various times in Jewish history
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Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
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What if the two and a half tribes had not insisted on the Trans-Jordan?
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The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars.
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The Three Weeks Lecture Series on the Bar Kochva Wars
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Ashkenaz scholar who moved to Spain and wrote the law code accepted by both Jewries . A wonderful encyclopedia.
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Did Moses hand the Sanhedrin? Impale them? Push them off a cliff?
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The only Gaon and Rosh Yeshiva who also taught all the college courses within the walls of the yeshiva.
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Moses and Samuel: What goes around comes around
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One of the Most Successful Community-Rabbis in Europe
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What did the spies mean when they said the Canaanites were stronger than God?
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Saadia Gaon climbed to the top of the yeshiva world even though he was not one of the typical.
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A gaon who struggled to maintain and invigorate German Jewry during times of great persecution
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The sotah in the context of the wrestling match between Yaakov and Eisav's angel
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One of the great responsa writers, thanks to his son's posthumous reconstruction of his writings
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Author of the quirky, fascinating mussar book, Sefer HaChaim, while quarantined during a pandemic
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If they had an army, why was it wrong to send spies?
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Why does the Torah only promise MATERIAL rewards, payable in THIS world?
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A Gaon and Tzadik wedded to Communal Traditionalism, not Sectariaan Orthodoxy
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What does the "porch minyan" phenomenon indicate in the current crisis?
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Rabbi Katz's upcoming lecture series and information about joining Rabbi Katz's daily- zoom, every evening Sunday-Thursdays
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Undeservedly obscure, a Torah giant whose economic wheel of fortune turned against him cruelly.
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Can the "Jewish Gap" in Israel be bridged? Narrowed?
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Can an uncompromisingly honest blunt muckraker succeed in the rabbinate?
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Also: What exactly is the connection between R Shimon bar Yochai and Lag B'Omer?
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The existential Jewish struggle between the local ( currently, sectoral) and the national
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Rescued from oblivion by a disciple who created masterpieces from the teacher's notes.
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The Noda B'Yehudah as pedagogue. The Maskil as acharon.
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"The Egyptians embittered our lives." What does that mean?
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The Dvar Avraham: The Rabbinical career at its most glorious, most complex, and ultimately most tragic.
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Passover and Amalek. Any connection? Food for thought. Horaas Shaah and Halachic Mega-Factors
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Recorded during the midst of the Coronavirus crisis in 2020.
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The "Aryeh Kaplan Chumash" version of the 19th century. A different translation of the Hebrew text.
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Does the Book of Leviticus denote a turn from the universalistic to the particularistic?
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The Korban Olah - Can simcha be experienced in isolation and quarantine? This is a serious question.
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Thoughts on the strange history of Jewish education for women in the 20th century
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Why do they light fires and do work in the Mishkan?
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The Aruch Hashulchan- the only one after the Rambam who wrote on and paskened on the entire Torah; friend of the shul rabbi and the baal habayis.
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A man admired by the Vilna Gaon, as well as by the Chasidim; the "Misnagdic Chasid" of the 18th century.
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The Jewish preoccupation with gold throughout our history.
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Rabbi Katz presents a unique perspective of the Purim holiday, based on Chazal, with amazing personal insights. This speech took place in his home, with a very lively and SPIRITED crowd!
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Seeming inconsistencies in the narrative about wiping out Amalek.
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What was his crime? The Jew as "property" of the Christian Ruler in the Middle Ages
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Considerations of God's warning about "Edifice Complexes"
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Italian Torah Culture in the Brilliant and Tragic Baroque Era
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The genius whose youth led to great controversy. Should age matter in the world of scholarship?
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How to philosophically decode a passage describing the indescribable.
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Author of the Yad Dovid on Shas, and the Gadol who had the misfortune to live in France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era.
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Also, how did Dathan &Co. remain in Egypt, yet end up at Mt. Sinai?
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A leading MD who was one of the greatest writers among the Rishonim. He held no official rabbinical position, yet was the leading posek and gadol in difficult times.
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I will be in Livingston, NJ this Shabbos and in Monsey, Saturday Night, February 1st
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This is the Tzemach Tzedek “HaKadmon” of the 17th Century: A tribune of the poor, and opponent of "baloney "
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"Punishing the "gods" - לעשות שופטים באלוהי מצרים
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“I am the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire” - Judaism is too important to be left in the hands of the bourgeoisie
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How not to avoid antisemitism in a gentile world.
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Was there a reconciliation between the brothers?
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Joseph the Virtuoso - Succeeding in two cultures at the same time. Role model? Or danger?
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The Sephardic Rabbi of the Crimean Jews (Krymchaks), who were neither Ashkenaz nor Sephard. A beloved figure . An early "Ovadia Yosef"
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Is Chanukah foretold in the Book of Daniel? Really?
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How easy it is to break up a family, how difficult it is to restore family unity.
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The son who took the father's philosophy into philosophical- experiential mysticism, while completely avoiding credulity.
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Competing notions of morality and propriety, and the deadly wages, thereof
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A perfectionist who was not only willing to dish out criticism, but was willing to accept it, as well. A rare quality.
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Yaakov survives Lavan only by the skin of his teeth. A "Zionist" vort?
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The gadol who made his mother in law one of the most famous women in Jewish history, and the one man in the Golden Age of Polish Jewry whose book achieved canonical status in the study of the Talmud......And who was so normal!
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Power, violence, scholarship, royal favor, and rosh yeshiva - an interesting, but possibly dangerous, combination
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Parshas Chayei Sarah - Abraham the Grand Seigneur. When is lashon hara ok?
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The Kabbalistic subculture of the Vilna Gaon legacy. Not for the broad public!
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Sodom vs. Mamrei: Economics and Religion - Which?
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A rare combination of world-class rabbinic scholarship and financial success, and common sense
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The first couple in the Bible whose relationship is described in any detail
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Having tasted controversy in his youth, he abandoned it in favor of scholarship and morality in his mature years
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Degeneracy and Proud Towers - A Cautionary Tale
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The most unusual and dramatic "rabbi" of the Middle Ages
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Predictions of a less-than-glorious future. Oy!
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חיי אדם The beginning of the "Art Scroll" phenomenon in Eastern Europe, 200 years ago
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Rabbi Katz's upcoming trip to the Museum of the Bible in DC-an amazing experience when guided properly.
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Thoughts on L’Dovid HaShem Ohri, Rosh HaShanah and the Shofar blasts.
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The most brilliant and most controversial Gadol of the Early-Modern Era
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The great מפרשים, the תוכחה, and historiosophical analyses
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The Gaon and nonconformist, not the golem- maker!
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Hero and victim of the wave of forced conversions of 1391. (1326-1408)
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What's the ideal form of government in Judaism?
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The rabbi who was so honest, his ballebatim tried to murder him.
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Which is worse? Idolatry or syncretism? A case in point
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One of the most original thinkers in Torah literature, with a grand unusual vision
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Sublime self-sacrifice, or anger-management issues
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A special podcast of a 20th century story: Should have been a big Rosh Yeshivah, but instead served in the pulpit and communal Rabbinate.
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The man with two (make that three) Gadol-careers
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A rare opportunity to learn the history and archaeology of one of the leading Jewish communities in N. America today
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You can thank Zev and Dena Raden in Boca for this re-podcast
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The mussarist as communal rabbi, educational-innovator, responsa-writer, Lithuanian "hasid," and ideologue of counter-modernity
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Some thoughts on this fifth, different, book of the Chumash, and of its connection with תשעה באב
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The massacres and the mass-suicides and their effect upon Ashkenazic Jewry down to the present
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A look at R’ Chaim Ozer from a cultural perspective
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Hero of the masses, and the subject of many legends and "baba maasos"
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One of the two truly great Chief Rabbis of modern Israel
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6/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
Series: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do
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Combined with repeated Divine Intervention to suppress such challenges
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Post-Tour Reflections on Rot in Judaism - Prague, Vienna, Budapest as a Cautionary Judaic Tale
Rabbi Katz discusses some worrying trends in contemporary Judaism
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Recorded in Budapest while on a Jewish History tour
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5/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
Series: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do
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4/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
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3/6: Murdering Jews for Something They Did Not Do: Chimerical Christian Fantasies and their Lethal Results in Jewish History
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1.) The terrible power of peer pressure 2.) Moses the lawyer
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A discussion of various tragedies that occurred on this date, and the response of the Ashkenazi Jews to these events
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Murdering Jews for Something Edited (2)
02 Summer Series 2014 Lecture 2 German Madness and Greed in the Middle Ages, Part I
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One of the most interesting and accessible Kabbalistic books
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Murdering Jews for Something Edited (1)
01 Summer Series 2014 French Madness in the Middle Ages(incomplete - missing the end)
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The parshah that privileges consensus over unilateralism
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Valentin Potocki the reputed martyr and Ger Tzedek at the time of the Vilna Gaon. Fact or fairy-tale?
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Can the תוכחה be related to the Holocaust at an intellectually honest level? The seduction of glib analysis
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The son of Reb Chaim Volozhiner. "Mr. Responsiblity"
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Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 4/4
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An analysis of Lag B'Omer, its countermodern attractiveness, and its relevance to the modern Jewish experience
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Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 3/4
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The famous combatant in the bitter 1611 controversy surrounding the "Get of Vienna"
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Series: The Slippery Slope from Chanuka to Tisha b'Av. Lecture 2/4
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The coinciding of קדושים and יום העצמאות. Community and absence of community in contemporary Judaism and Jewish sociology
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Posek, diplomat, rosh yeshiva, and the leading opponent of Shabtai Zvi. A truly dramatic biography
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The greatest Sephardi Gadol of the early 12th century. The "hero" of Maimonides
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The greatest Spanish Rishon of the second half of the Middle Ages. The father of "Sefardi-Yeshivsh "
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A Rosh Yeshiva in the "party-city" of the Old World - What a challenge!
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A sobering reflection on the korban pesach andvthe golden calf
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An "old-style" chasid who became the brother in law of the founder of the "new-style" Chasidism
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Katz. Part 4 - The Doros Harishonim
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The greatest Torah expositor and styist of the 20th century
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The most influential, brilliant, flawed, and opinionated of modern Jewish Historians. German Jewish Historicism at its best and at its worst
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A few thoughts about the nature of the exegetical process by which laws are extracted from the text of the חומש
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Rabbi Katz delivers his Purim lecture to a lively, tipsy, but captivated audience
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The famous כלי יקר, one of the great orators and great social critics in Jewish History
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One of the greatest of the "Galitzianer" Gedolim. Author of one of the most widely-used responsa collections, but unknown in the Yeshiva World. A glimpse into a vanished world.
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“Can we at least agree on the facts? No!” Poles and Jews Since the Fall of Communism
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The last of the Great Rabbis venerated by ALL segments of Jewish Society, not just the Orthodox
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Poles and Jews in the Reborn Republic of Poland
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A look at one of .Italy's Jews and גדולי תורה in an age of persecution and brilliance
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Poles and Jews in the Reborn Republic of Poland
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The hasidic world of a thousand years ago - ספר החסידים
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Deuteronomy 28:49-51: Poles and Jews under Czarist Rule
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The famous Bible Commentator and intellectual. Is a "Rishon" a "Rishon" if he is not into Gemara ?
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Join Rabbi Katz on this amazing trip to Greece, which will include a wealth of information on the history of the Jews andvthe Greeks over the last 2500 years, an encounter that has left a profound impact on both civilizations. Contact Rabbi Katz at rabbidkatz@gmail.com
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The Crisis of the Old Order: Poles and Jews and the Downfall of the Kingdom
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How the Kingdom of Poland Became the Site of the Largest, Freest, and Most Important Community in Jewry
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Two remarkable depictions of human foibles depicted just beneath the surface of the Biblical narrative
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A short biographical sketch of one ofbthe most interesting Gedolim of the past three centuries.
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A few words about the great Kabbalist Rabbi Shalom Sharabi
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Considering the Future from the Perspective of the Past - 1952-1956 (Season Finale)
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The unusual relationship between הקב"ה and the man He drafted to lead the Jews
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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The Existential tension concerning the rationalistic interpretation of the Torah
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This lecture sketches the complicated background of the Sinai War of 1956, when Israel's toxic border situation, combined with the specter of Nasser organizing a giant Arab war against the Jewish State, led Ben-Gurion to engage in a machiavellian military alliance with France and Britain and attack Egypt. This was the most controversial war in Israeli history
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The Goshen model in ancient egypt and in contemporary America. Does success carry its own ingredients for failure?
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A thought about the conversation that never rook place surrounding thecsale of Joseph
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A dvar torah on חנוכה combining history and torah
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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Though it may seems strange to us today, back in the early years of the State, France was Israel's best-friend, supplying the Jewish State with military aircraft at a time when even the USA declined to do so.
Since the Soviets were supplying Egypt with modern weapons, France's support was vitally-needed.
This lecture describes the background for this "Strange-Bedfellows" relationship, which was vital for the Israel of the Ben Gurion era.
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Katz
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This lectures describes the process whereby the Russians became involved in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and turned the Arab States, which until then had been militarily weaker than Israel, into militarily powerful countries that posed a mortal threat to the State of Israel. This lecture serves as an introduction to relations between Israel and Russia, a topic much in the news today
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Analyzes the state of the Arab World in the Early Ben Gurion years.,
The new phenomenon called "Arab Nationalism" which seemed to sweep the Arab states in those years, and which found its foremost figure in Egypt's Nasser. The conflicts between Nasser and Israel, and, unexpectedly, between Nasser and Islamists. This lecture helps the listener understand how the Middle East of today came to be.
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A mini-essay on a recent event In Germany which reveals the contemporary relevance of The Nine Days
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A historical analysis of the early stages of how a strange thing happened: A State founded by secularists on strongly secular liberal principles ended up becoming the number-one funder and enabler of a network of religious institutions dedicated to the very opposite of secular liberalism. How Ben Gurion put the Haredim on their feet without wishing to.
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This lectures exposes the underside of Israeli Natl.-Security politics in the Ben-Gurion era. In a system in which only the opinion of one man counted, intrigues, untruths, lead to dysfunction, and to The Lavon Affair, which became the Watergate Scandal of the Ben-Gurion regime.
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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The strange tale of the national-security problem Israel's early years, when Israel; had the strongest army in the Middle-East, combined with the weakest borders, implacable Arab hatred, and an Arab Refugee Problem for which no solution had been found even today(2018). A tale of violence, retaliation, and no solution
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Frank talk about anti-Sefardi racism in Israel during the Ben Gurion era
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Progress Without Peace: Israel and the Jewish People, 1952-1956
How the new State of Israel wrestled with the question of how to relate to the Holocaust. The conflicted feelings of shame, anger, and profound-compassion came to a head in the "Kasztner-Trial" of 1954, the most controversial trial in Israeli history
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Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
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Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
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Revolution! Jews and the Great European Revolutions
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Jewish History with Rabbi Dovid Katz
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Latest episode of Rabbi Dovid Katz Jewish History
