The Tikvah Podcast

Andrew Roberts and Meir Soloveichik on Winston Churchill and His Detractors

25 snips
Sep 18, 2025
Meir Soloveichik, a rabbi and director at Yeshiva University, teams up with Andrew Roberts, a renowned British historian and Churchill biographer, to explore the rise of historical revisionism targeting Winston Churchill. They discuss Churchill's enduring legacy and his support for Jewish causes during WWII. The duo highlights alarming trends in modern narratives that misconstrue Churchill's role. They emphasize the importance of factual rebuttals to combat these distortions and promote civic memory to ensure history remains accurately understood.
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INSIGHT

Victory, Not Just Ideas, Saved Lives

  • The Allies' victory, not merely superior ideas, made survival possible for Holocaust victims.
  • Jonathan Silver argues winning the war physically defeated the Nazi threat and preserved Jewish life.
ANECDOTE

Churchill Cites Maccabees In Desperate Hour

  • Rabbi Meir Soloveichik recounts Churchill's May 1940 radio speech quoting Maccabees.
  • He emphasizes the speech's dire setting between Churchill's famed Commons addresses.
INSIGHT

Maccabees Framed WWII As Civilizational Hinge

  • Churchill quoted Judah Maccabee to frame WWII as a civilizational hinge.
  • Soloveichik argues Churchill saw a Jewish historical parallel to defend truth and civilization.
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