Beginnings of Ashkenazic & Sephardic Jewry

Rabbi Wein treats us to a double-screen show as he describes the development of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities. Contrasting the Islamic approach toward the Jews with Christian, Rabbi Wein shows the political and religious forces that shaped each community and the great sages each produced.• The end of Babylonian Jewry & the rise of North Africa• The legend of the four captives• The Moors and the Berbers - who were they?• The Rif - rosh yeshiva for 60 years• Rabbeinu Gershom and his famous decree against polygamy