Episodes
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The Life & Times of Rav Yaakov Ettlinger the Aruch Lener
Germany Jewry of the 19th century was going through a period of transition. Emancipation was a struggle which was incrementally achieved, and rampant secularization and integration into German society followed. The rise of Orthodoxy was an attempt to preserve tradition within the modern context....
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The Holocaust Research of Professor Yehuda Bauer
The field of Holocaust research has been enriched over the decades in both its scope and depth by generations of historians and researchers worldwide. For more than 60 years one of the premier scholars in this field was Professor Yehuda Bauer, whose groundbreaking research covering a wide array…
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Remembering Tragedy on Happy Days
With the Jewish calendar full of happy holidays and joyous occasions, and Jewish history filled with tragic events, an inevitable paradox is confronted when wishing to commemorate a tragic occasion during a happy time. Unfortunately this was recently experienced with the desire to commemorate the...
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Polish Patriotism & Rav Dov Ber Meizlish
Following the partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century, there were several attempts of the Polish people to revolt against Czarist Russia or Austria during the 19th century. An interesting component of this story is the Polish patriotic position adopted by one of the most prominent...
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The 1837 Tzfas Earthquake
On January 1, 1837, a devastating earthquake hit the upper Galilee and southern Lebanon, destroying towns, villages, property and roads, disrupting commerce and claiming the lives of thousands of victims. The ancient and mystical city of Tzfas was essentially destroyed at the epicenter of the...
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The Death Marches
Towards the end of 1944, as it became clear to the senior officers of the Nazi SS that the war was lost, they decided to evacuate the many concentration camps which held several hundred thousand inmates, and which stood in the path of the rapidly advancing Red Army. Himmler and his SS didn’t want...
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The Tzadik of Shtefanesht
Rav Avraham Matisyahu Friedman of Shtefanesht (1849-1933) was a grandson of Rav Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin, leader of the Shtefanesht Chassidic dynasty for 65 years, and one of the most important rabbinical figures in Romanian Jewry during his lifetime. Though mysterious in his silent ways, he…
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Haskala in 19th Century Imperial Russia Part II
The Jewish enlightenment movement – known as the Haskala, endeavored to implement changes within the Jewish communal structure in the modern era. Though the haskala in its many manifestations existed in many countries in the modern era, this episode will focus on the haskala in 19th century…
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Haskala in 19th Century Imperial Russia Part I
The Jewish enlightenment movement – known as the Haskala, endeavored to implement changes within the Jewish communal structure in the modern era. Though the haskala in its many manifestations existed in many countries in the modern era, this episode will focus on the haskala in 19th century…
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Karaite Jews in Czarist Russia
Though never large in number, the Karaite communities of Russia are an interesting side chapter in Russian Jewish history. Residing primarily in the Crimean Peninsula, with communities in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, the Czarist government recognized the Karaites as distinct from Rabbinic Jews....
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Tourbites: The Life & World of the Shach – Rav Shabsai Hakohen
Rav Shabsai Hakohen (1621-1663) was the author of one of the most important halachic works ever written, the Shach (Sifsei Kohen). His last rabbinical position and burial place in Holesov, Czechia, is a popular stop on Jewish history tours of Europe, along with the well preserved 16th century…
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Tribute Episode: Rav Meir Wunder
The recent passing of Rav Meir Wunder (1934-2024) is an opportunity to pay tribute to this great man and his vast accomplishments as a historian, scholar and pioneer tour guide to Europe. Having attended Ponovezh Yeshiva in its early years, and gained a closeness with the Chazon Ish and many…
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Non-Ashkenazi Jews in Czarist Russia
Far from the Pale of Settlement, the Jews of Georgia, Bukhara, the Caucasus (Mountain) Jews, and other Jewish communities of Central Asia, found themselves under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire over the course of the 19th century. These ancient Jewish communities had been under the…
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The Machine Matzah Controversy
The Industrial Revolution brought the mechanization of manual labor, and this reached the matzah baking industry in the mid-19th century. Although it was initially accepted in Western Europe, when it arrived in Galicia in 1857, it sparked a controversy between leading rabbinical authorities...
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Beyond the Pale: Russian Jewry outside the Pale of Settlement
The Russian Czarist government restricted Russian Jewry to the western provinces of the empire through a series of legislative acts, which came to be known as the Pale of Settlement. Starting in the 1850’s, provisions were enacted which enabled certain types of Jews to reside outside the Pale....
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The Yeshiva Elite in 19th Century Lithuania
A dominant feature of religious life of the 20th century has been the centrality of the Yeshiva institution for intensive Torah study. The modern yeshiva is a direct byproduct of its antecedents in the Russian Empire of the 19th century. The old oligarchy which controlled Jewish communal life in...
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Censorship in Czarist Russia
The Czarist government implemented a policy of censorship of all published material in the empire, whether it was imported or printed locally. Though this was a general policy, there were unique particularities regarding the censorship of Jewish works. In the early years following the partitions…
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Cantonists & The Czarist Military (+ Recap of a Trip to Ashkenaz/Germany) Featuring Dovi Safier
In 1827 Czar Nicholas I implemented the military draft on the Jewish community of Russia as a means of integrating Jews into Russian society. The Jewish kahal was required to supply the young recruits, who then generally served for 25 years in the Czar’s army. The most infamous element of the…
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The Chassidic Movement in the Russian Empire
The cradle of the Chassidic movement was in the areas of the Polish Kingdom which were soon annexed to the Russian Empire during the partitions of Poland in the last quarter of the 18th century. This took place just as the nascent movement was spreading rapidly throughout these areas and beyond....
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Russian Jewry under the Czars 1881-1914
The aftermath of the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881 was a watershed time period in Russian Jewish history. A reactionary phase led to the passing of the infamous May Laws which restricted Jewish life, and reversed many of the previous reforms. A series of violent pogroms broke out...
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Russian Jewry under the Czars 1772-1881
From the time of the first partition of Poland in 1772, until the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Czarist Russian Empire was host to the largest Jewish population in the world. The generally antisemitic Romanov dynasty early on formulated solutions to what they referred to as the ‘Jewish…
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Galician Greatness: Rav Shlomo Kluger
World renowned posek of the 19th century, prolific author and courageous leader, Rav Shlomo Kluger (1785-1869) achieved immortality in the Torah world through his nearly half century tenure as Magid and Av Beis Din in the prominent Galicia town of Brody. As political and economic changes swept...
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The Legacy & Impact of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
As the architect of Orthodoxy in the modern era, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) has an outsized impact on the Torah world until this very day. In his own lifetime his leadership of German Jewry overall and in particular his own community of Frankfurt stemmed the tide towards...
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The Life & Legacy of the Aruch Hashulchan
One of the leading halachic authorities of the 19th century, Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908) achieved immortality through his indispensable magnum opus Aruch Hashulchan. He grew up in Bobruisk in the Russian Pale of Settlement, and served for a decade as rabbi of Novozybkov, before…
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A Dream to Rebuild: The Early Years of Ponovezh Yeshiva
After losing his family, community and yeshiva in Ponovezh, Lithuania during the Holocaust, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (1886-1969), the Ponovezh Rav, endeavored to rebuild what was lost in the Land of Israel. He was a dreamer who carried out his vision with a zeal and energy which seemed...
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The Machal Fighters of 1948
A special place in Jewish history is reserved for the Machal fighters of 1948. These were primarily World War II veterans, who volunteered to fight for Israel during its War of Independence, and their participation served a key role in Israel’s victory. Comprised mostly of Jews, but included...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part X
In this final installment of ‘The Great Shanghai Escape’ series, we explore the story of the refugees stay in Shanghai during the war years. While integrating with the local Jewish community in Shanghai, the refugees remained there for the duration of the Japanese occupation until and even beyond...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part IX
The refugees stay in Japan lasted much longer than their brief transit visas had initially allowed for, with the imperial government allowing them to remain for several months. Though some refugees made it to the United States or other countries, most had nowhere to go. With the Japanese…
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part VIII Featuring Dovi Safier
As part of our ongoing series about the Great Shanghai Escape, I had a conversation with my friend and collaborator Dovi Safier, who is a known expert on this topic, as well as having done some original research highlighting new angles of the narrative. Prior to getting to the topic at hand, our...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part VII
The Soviets charged the refugees exorbitant fees for the exit visas and travel expenses. The Joint and the Vaad Hatzalah provided funds for these costs, with Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz investing herculean efforts to ensure the Mir contingent were able to fund their escape. Many refugees sold their...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part VI
Once one was in possession of a destination visa, came the most challenging phase of the escape – applying for a Soviet exit visa. Applying for an exit visa from the ‘communist paradise’ was potentially requesting for a one way ticket to Siberia. Despite the risks involved, thousands of refugees...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part V
As thousands of Jewish refugees scrambled for Curacao ‘visas’ and Japanese transit visas, many others were skeptic regarding the visa scheme, while others thought it a downright dangerous maneuver. Not only were the Curacao visas dubious at best, but the very idea of applying for a Soviet exit…
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part IV
The summer of 1940 brought a measure of desperation in the search for visas in order to escape the clutches of the Soviet Union. Two Dutch citizens stranded in Lithuania independently contacted the Dutch consul in Riga LPJ de Decker, in order to seek his assistance in exiting the country. With...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part III
With the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in the summer of 1940, the search for visas to destination countries turned into a desperate endeavor for thousands of refugees who wished to escape a life under the communists. In order to execute an exit plan, one was required to be in possession of a…
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Bonus Episode: With Dovi Safier & Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein
In this special bonus episode of Jewish History Soundbites, Dovi Safier and Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein join me in discussing our article in Mishpacha Magazine about Rav Yonah ‘Minsker’, the famed Alter Mirrer who was killed by the Nazis and author of the newly republished Sefer Yonas...
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part II
As thousands of refugees streamed into Vilna in the fall of 1939, a humanitarian crisis ensued, with neither local authorities nor the local Jewish community capable of providing for the throngs of refugees. The situation was especially acute for the many impoverished yeshivos who had found…
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The Great Shanghai Escape Part I
In this new series launched by Jewish History Soundbites, we’ll explore the story of the escape to Shanghai from war torn Europe during the early stages of World War II. Among the thousands of Jewish refugees who obtained visas was the Mir Yeshiva. This enabled them to traverse the Soviet Union,...
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Rebbe Under Communism: The Ribnitzer Rebbe
Jewish History Soundbites podcast is back after a long hiatus. Lots of great content, explorations of Jewish history and ongoing series will be posted on a consistent basis in the coming months. Stay tuned. The yahrtzeit of Rav Chaim Zanvil Abramovitz (c.1902-1995), the Ribnitzer Rebbe, is an...
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The Jews of Sighet Part II
The Jewish history of Sighet is almost synonymous with its long line of rabbis from the Teitelbaum family. This rabbinic and chassidic dynasty dominated Orthodox life of Sighet for nearly a century prior to the community’s destruction in the Holocaust. It began with the son of the Yismach Moshe,...
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The Jews of Sighet Part I
Though only settled in the 18th century and flourishing in the 19th, the town of Sighet made its mark on Jewish history and its legacy accompanies Jewish life until this very day. Nestled in the Maramaros district in Transylvania, it was sometimes in Romania, other times in Hungary and for a long...
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The Life & Times of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt
Rav Yitzchak Aryeh (Zekl Leib) Vormser, known as the Baal Shem of Michelstadt (1768-1847) was a prominent rabbi and kabbalist, who lived in Germany in the 19th century. Having studied under Rav Nosson Adler in Frankfurt, he gained renown as a ‘Baal Shem’, someone who utilized kabbalistic formulas...
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The Mirrers Who Didn’t Make It
It’s well known that the Mir Yeshiva collectively and successfully escaped war torn Europe, being stranded first in Kobe, Japan, followed by a long exile in Shanghai, China. While mostly true, there were students who were unable for one reason or another to escape together with the yeshiva, and...
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Medicine & the Holocaust
Cross River, a leading financial institution committed to supporting its communities, is proud to sponsor Jewish History Soundbites. As a trusted partner for individuals and businesses, Cross River understands the importance of preserving and celebrating our heritage. By sponsoring this podcast,...
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From the Ashes to the Hilltops: Rav Yehuda Amital
Rav Yehuda Amital (1924-2010) was a unique leader and builder of Torah of the 20th century. Born in Grosswardein, he survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the Land of Israel where he studied in the Chevron Yeshiva. While teaching at his father in law Rav Tzvi Yehuda Melter’s yeshiva in…
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Chasam Sofer Part V: Halacha & Leadership in a Changing World
Rav Moshe Sofer the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839) was both a leader and halachic decisor throughout his long rabbinical career. As he confronted a changing world where traditional Jewish life faced developing challenges of modernity, his vision, brilliance and sense of responsibility led him to…
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Antisemitism Part III: The Road to Racial Antisemitism
One of the enduring antisemitic tropes has been the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ forgery. Fabricated in Czarist Russia in the early 20th century, it was later exported to Western Europe and the United States. Jews have responded to Antisemitism in a variety of ways, including humor…
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Antisemitism Part II: Nationalism & Modern Antisemitism
The 19th century brought the rise of nationalism in European society along with the idea of emancipation and equality among the nation’s citizenry. In Western Europe the Jewish population ultimately became beneficiaries of Emancipation, but nationalism generally precluded including the Jews on an...
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Antisemitism Part I: Old & New; Religious & Racial
Antisemitism or anti-semitism or anti-Semitism or Jew hatred or hatred of the Jewish People has been around since antiquity. Expressing itself in various ways over time and place, it has remained a salient feature of Jewish history often with tragic consequences. While the Middle Ages is often...
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Chassidic Influencers: Mashpi’im & Recurring Themes of Chassidic History
The Chabad & Breslov chassidic dynasties have always had Mashpi’im - influencers or teachers - who taught chassidic thought and inspired their communities. In recent years there’s been a growing popularity of Mashpi’im around the entire chassidic world and even beyond. Where does the idea of a...
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Live From Prague with Dovi Safier & Nachi Weinstein of Seforim Chatter Podcast
An unscripted conversation with Dovi Safier and Seforim Chatter podcast host Nachi Weinstein summarizing an amazing trip to Central Europe with the Daf Yomi Chaburah of Reb Sruly Borenstein and Eli Slomowitz of E&S Tours. This casual discussion covers the people and places we saw - Vienna,...
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