All Episodes
Rabbi Dovid Katz — 73 episodes
How did Mordecai & Esther know the contents of the private conversation between Haman and the King?
Why did Moshe accept the עֵרוּב רַב and Mordecai the מִתְיַהֲדִים?
וְרַבִּים מֵעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים כִּי נָפַל פַּחַד הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם – Did they actually convert?
וְאֶל מֹשֶׁה אָמַר עֲלֵה אֶל יְהֹוָה – What does this actually mean?
Genazym s offering (this Sunday!) the first edition of the classic סֵפֶר אֱמוּנוֹת וְדֵעוֹת לְרַב סְעַדְיָה גָּאוֹן (Istanbul 1562)
Current Events: Ehud Barak, the Epstein tapes, and Ashkenazi Jewish Racism
Genazym is auctioning the Landau Family (as in Noda BiYhudah)’s copy of the 17th century Kabbalistic classic טוּר בָּרֶקֶת עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ
Utopia- a חידוש of the Torah
A Document of Spicy Prague Rabbinical Controversy History (From the Genazym Auction)
The Institution of the Cities of Refuge
The Holiday of the 2nd of Shvat: The Anniversary of the Death of Herod
More on Sinas Chinam in Jewish History – a reference to the destruction of the 2nd Temple
“Persian Gulf” in Chronology: Three takes on the discrepancy in Ancient Sources
The Current Situation in France (Christians, Moslems, Jews) in Light of French History
The Jews of Bucovina, an important community in Central Europe You never heard of
The Current Situation in Iran: Will Trump go in? I don’t think so
Who is putting up Hitler’s speeches (in English) on you tube? And why?
“Persian Gulf” in Chronology Part 1 : three takes on the discrepancy in ancient sources
A short history of פְּשַׁט vs. דְּרַשׁ in Jewish Bible Interpretation
A סִפְרִי re: Yaakov refraining from chastising his sons out of fear they will defect to “Eisav” – The “vengeful meshumad “in Jewish History
Some thoughts about שִׂנְאַת חִינָם in Jewish History
The Fast of the Ninth of Teves and the Toldos Yeshu
The Israel-Somaliland Connection: Why is this so controversial?
Greece under the Metaxas Regime and a Siddur from 1941
Final Chanukah 2025 Thoughts: וּלְךָ עָשִֽׂיתָ שֵׁם גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ בְּעוֹלָמֶֽךָ
Another Apocryphal “Midrash” on the Chanukah Story, with interesting takes on the discovery of the jar of oil
Chanukah, the Maccabean Wars, and the Civil wars in Seleucid Syria
Some thoughts on the Chanukah Story and its historiosophical relation to גָּלוּת יָוָן
Some thoughts on today 24 Kislev and its famous prophecy in סֵפֶר חַגַּי (תְּרֵי עָשָׂר)
How the Judith Story in the Apocrypha (or a different version of the story) entered orthodox rabbinic literature AND practice
Chanukah 2025: The Story of the Greeks depriving the Jews of doors and windows
The Current Big Threat to Israel from … Turkey
Israel & France (and Syria) : Connecting Dots
Chanukah 2025: Was the oil in the jar in the Temple the only kosher oil available?
The “בַּת עַיִן” in Historical Context (1765-1840)
What’s with this Israeli preoccupation with the bodies of their dead, killed by Hamas & Co.?
Some thoughts on Self-Hating and Self-Denying Jews in the current antisemitic climate, now and a century ago
Answering a listener’s query re: allegorical interpretations of Biblical stories in ultra-orthodox sources
The Current Christian Dispute Between Philosemites and Antisemites
Psalm 83 and the current coinciding of שִׂנְאַת יִשְׂרָאֵל on the part of the Antisemitic Christian influencers and their counterparts in the בני ישמעאל world
Part 2: The Other “Hellenistic Judaism” – not the Chanukah villains
The Current Wave of Antisemitism in Italy – My reaction to a podcast
Part 1: The Other “Hellenistic Judaism” – not the Chanukah villains
Is Donald Trump a “Second Cyrus”?
The Strage history of Hoshanah Rabbah in the Temple: The Willow vs. the Palm Frond ( הַלּוּלָב שֶׁנִּפְרְדוּ עָלָיו)
נִעֲנוּעִים: The ritual of lulav-waving and its contemporary relevance in the year 5786 (2025)
Sukkos 2025: What’s with the strange ritual of פָּרֵי הַחַג?
The Four Minim and the Wars of Sichon and Og: A Different take on the אַרְבָּעָה מִינִים
A Different Understanding of the Holiday of Sukkos
Sukkos: The Symbolism of the sukkah under a tree
The Lishkas HaParvah in the Avodah of Yom Kippur- Who was הַפַּרְוָה? Why does the High Priest purify himself there?
The Pros and Cons of Publicly Confessing Your Sins to the Rest of the Congregation
Yonah: Compare and contrast with Akeidas Yitzchok
Late Antiquity in Eretz Yisroel (300-600 C.E.): The Early History of the Yom Kippur Liturgy
Rabbi Katz’s Shabbos Shuvah Drashah: Primordial or Mosaic?
Penance (not repentance!): Some famous cases in the Sefer Chasidim and Responsa of the Maharam Lublin
The Debate in the Mishna whether the Shliach Tzibur should be motzi the intelligent worshipers on Rosh HaShanah – שֶׁהוּא יוֹם הַדִּין
The Middle East: G-d’s Chess Board – R’ Katz discusses current events in Egypt, Israel, Yemen, and Ethiopia
A Suggested History of Tekias Shofar – Involving the Masses, the Satan, and Chazal
The Haredi Who Spied for Iran and Committed Sabotage on Their Behalf
“Shouting Match” Between Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel: The Freudian Aspects
A Suggested History of Shofar Blowing
R Katz analyzes the current Arab-Israeli conflict in in the face of the giant water crisis threatening the entire Middle East
The Giant Water Crisis Threatening the Entire Middle East – in the context of the current Arab-Israeli conflict
Why does a shofar have to be davka from a שְׁפוֹפֶרֶת, from a horn whose inside layer can be removed?
Why does a shofar have to be from a from a horn whose inside layer can be removed?
Why is Rosh Hashanah decribed as “covered up” or obscure? תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֵּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ?
Why is Rosh Hashanah decribed as “covered up” or obscure? תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֵּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ?
“הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת כִּי תֵּצֵא תשפ”ה – “הַרְחִבִי מְקוֹם אֲהָלֵךְ!
Genazym is offering a personal letter from R Ovadia Yosef to R Shlomo Zalman Auerbach re: High Israeli Politics concerning the Shas Party
Genazym is offering the Prague 1595 edition of the famous Ramban theological essay דְּרָשַׁת “תּוֹרַת הַשֵּׁם תְּמִימָה”
הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ”ה – “סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל תִּגְּעוּ!”
פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ”ה – What is the actual meaning of “צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף”?