Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

The Left-Wingers vs. the (non extreme) Right Wingers among the "מְפָרְשֵׁי הַ"מוֹרֵה נְבוֹכִים

The Rabbi preaches about Zionism but the (anti-Zionist) בַּעֲלֵי בַּתִּים hear what they want to hear

Who were the member of Moshe's secretariat? Who kept the records of the Jewish People's vital statistics?

How could the women of Israel SING the praises of Saul and David as they passed by in triumph, what about אִסּוּר קוֹל בְּאִשָּׁה עֶרְוָה?

A brilliant explication of the Tannaic dispute re: whether or not Moses did the right thing when he "hid his face" rather than look at God.

What is the meaning of the statement of חֲזַ"ל that the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ pre-existed the physical-universe?

They are punished but do not repent. By the end of the תּוֹכֵחָה the punishments have been ratcheted-up 2400 times (7x7x7x7)!

A tale from the era of problematic הֶכְשֵׁרִים from leading רַבָּנִים וְתַלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים

Throughout Jewish History, גְּדוֹלֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל followed the policy of R Yehudah, not R Shimon, though the Jewish People in its folk-wisdom came to celebrate the frank expressions of R Shimon bar Yochai. They admired the one who "called a spade a spade" even though in practice they imitated R Yehudah

Throwing clothes onto a coffin was an (incorrect but emotionally understandable) practice in Talmudic days expressing an excess of grief. With Rashbi (described as ascending to Heaven in a Pillar of Fire), the tossing of clothes morphed into burning them to celebrate his unique petirah.

The difference between Protestant notions of toleration in Early-Modern Europe vs. Catholic ones. Hypocrisy was not a problem!

Perhaps the special regulations in the haftorah (which caused so much controversy in the Talmud) are a reward for those kohanim who stayed loyal to the Torah at a time when others (kohanim and regular Jews) went off the derech

The interesting distinction between one who voluntarily converts vs. one who is forced to convert

"Break the News to the Kohanim Gently. They are going to have even more marriage restrictions than those of regular Jews"

Shabbos as a powerful enforcer through mimesis of the Jewish Family unit, with the parents playing roles reflecting their exalted status in the family-unit

The modern State of Israel already includes territory that is שְׁאֵרִית אֱדוֹם

Do you have to give honor and respect to a bad king? an antisemitic king?

What mistakes has Israel made recently? How can they be fixed?

Their crying over it was not simply a matter of petulance!

The Left has tried to assimilate Jews, the Right to exterminate (because in their eyes assimilation does not work)

The Talmudic metaphor of מַפְתֵּחוֹת בְּיָדָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא and its culinary application in 18th century Hasidic Practice

Some ideas for your seder

The passionate speeches of the נוֹדַע בִּיהוּדָה and his son against the theft of their intellectual property

In Israel right now, people are praying the enemy missiles should "pass over"!

Some thoughts on בַּל יֵרָאֶה עַל בְּלִיעוֹת וְחָמֵץ הַטַּל בְּשִׁשִּׁים. Plus, plagiarism in rabbinic literature, eradicating bad traits, and other matters.

Why were the Jews told to lie to the Egyptians? Isn't that the ultimate חילול השם? "Jews are all about money!"

The poisonous rhetoric of both men. But the Ford Antisemitism called-forth an eloquent protest from America's leading non-Jews. R Katz reads this public letter on this episode.

The קָרְבָּנוֹת offered on the בָּמוֹת were (Maimonidean) concessions to popular superstitionsOTOH the קָרְבָּנוֹת offered in the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ were sublime in nature and were (Nachmanidean) constituent-elements in the metaphysical universe

Will תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים occur for the benefit of the Dead, or the benefit of the Living?

It is NOT about the affliction, it is about the hope for the messianic redemption in the near future. This is Abarbanel speaking to the battered Sephardim in 1496!

Can "Christian Zionism" flourish in the aftermath of the Cold War? Or is it a phenomenon confined to older Americans?

Trump joked about the Pearl Harbor Attack of 1941. Actually, this resulted in Hitler stupidly declaring war on the USA (thus sealing his own doom) , PLUS providing the Americans with an insight into his thinking, thanks to the blabbermouth Japanese Ambassador in Berlin Baron Oshima

Man-made idols do not offer moral criticism!

Looks? Bucks? Yichus? Higher salary? Higher job position? Class? Equal Partner in the Marriage?

For the first year after the original Passover, there were basically no korbanos (with a few exceptions) in Judaism

Israel agreed not to "out" ex-Nazis in the West German Government. A grateful Germany bankrolled Israel's secret nuclear project. An previously unknown detail of the relationship between Ben Gurion and Konrad Adenauer

What did the Jews imagine was going to happen when they were told God would "pass over" their houses that night?

The German food crisis of 1942 as a cause of the setting-up of industrial genocide centers in Occupied Poland in 1942

High- Office will have the power to tempt the powerful to be corrupt even in the Messianic Era!

Shabbos - God the Creator of literally everything, hence beyond transcendentMishkan- God something that has a "presence" (שְׁכִינָה), hence somehow immanent

Abarbanel burns with indignation at the falsehoods to which the Jews had been subject at the Disputation of Tortosa (1413) and the hostile misrepresentations of Aggadah in Raymond Martini's infamous 'Pugio Fidei" cynically hurled at them

That which becomes impure can be made pure again; a nation that becomes homeless can regain their home

God can only be comprehended (to some extent) through history, not philosophy!

Why did the Jews stop observing Purim a few years after they originally accepted it?

Has Sinwar ימ"ש caused the death of Khamenei and the fall of his regime? The ironies of the Purim season

Was the mountain held over their heads at Sinai to compel them to accept ALL the mitzvot? Did the Jews not want to accept ANY mitzvot? Or just some of them? In other words, what actually happened as a result of Purim?

Why would he deprecate the use of coercion on the non-frum? The answer lies in his own and his family's history...

וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם בְּבֵיתִי וּבְחוֹמֹתַי יָד וָשֵׁם טוֹב מִבָּנִים וּמִבָּנוֹת שֵׁם עוֹלָם אֶתֶּן לוֹ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִכָּרֵת

Had Esther's intervention not succeeded, would Mordechai THEN bow down to Haman to save the Jews?

Managing an unsolvable existential problem - the " זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק" in every generation,