

Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz
Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz
To help support this podcast, please consider giving a tax deductible contribution here:
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Rabbi Dovid Katz, PhD is lauded for his extensive knowledge of Jewish History, his engaging and insightful lecture series, and eye opening historical international tours.
Follow him weekly. New content released each week, including Personalities in Jewish History, Insights into Tefillah and Perspectives on the Haftarah and Parshah. Sponsorships of podcasts are available. He can be reached at the following email: rabbidkatz@gmail.com.
https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz
Rabbi Dovid Katz, PhD is lauded for his extensive knowledge of Jewish History, his engaging and insightful lecture series, and eye opening historical international tours.
Follow him weekly. New content released each week, including Personalities in Jewish History, Insights into Tefillah and Perspectives on the Haftarah and Parshah. Sponsorships of podcasts are available. He can be reached at the following email: rabbidkatz@gmail.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 22, 2024 • 31min
Haftarah Behar: Jeremiah and the land deal - Preserving hope among the doomed
Buying "worthless" real estate demonstrates faith in ultimate victory and the permanent survival of כלל ישראל. It prevents יֵאוּשׁ

May 21, 2024 • 45min
Biden: It's a good thing we have a President who grew up with the JEWISH version of the Holocaust
1945-1990: The years the Jews owned the Shoah-narrative, and got their account of it accepted by the West. The East was "muzzled"

May 21, 2024 • 29min
R’ Akiva’s Students - When exactly did the 24,000 students die? What was the historical context?
Trying to make sense of the chronology of the life of Rabbi Akiva and the story of his students

May 20, 2024 • 42min
The Bitter, Non-Frum Opposition to Herzl and His Proposal -Theodore Herzl, Political Zionism, Pt. 3
The Zionists were the first to assemble (or appear to assemble) representatives of all כלל ישראל to discuss the fate of כלל ישראל and seek a realistic solution

May 20, 2024 • 3min
Gain Mastery of Hilchos Shabbos in This Online Program
Shabbos comes about once a week, so if a person is not well-versed in its intricacies, then it is inevitable that transgressions will take place.
Here is a solution! KinyanHilchosShabbos.com
World famous Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav HaGaon Yitzchak Berkovits shlit’a used his vast knowledge to arrange all the Gemaras with the commentators on each area of Hilchos Shabbos and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the Gemara until practical halacha. This enables one to cover main opinions in each topic and gain a deep understanding of the halacha.
Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent eight years as a Rosh Chaburah in Rav Berkovits’s famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Rav’s haskama, took on the monumental task of adapting the Hebrew sheets into English. The material is written with care and with great clarity, as well as including the various opinions in the contemporary practical halacha.
For the past several years, Rabbi Gefen has been teaching this material to Torah learners throughout the world, on all levels of learning, and of all ages now as the founder of KinyanHilchosShabbos.com. Participants in each online chabura receive source sheets with explanations both in Hebrew and English, participate in a weekly Zoom shiur and ask questions by phone and email. Many have also successfully gained Smicha through thoroughly learning the material.
The program includes a weekly Zoom shiur which is recorded and can be reviewed later, tests on the material covered to enable the individual to evaluate their understanding of the material, and availability by email or phone for questions, clarifications, or further discussions.
The program includes the option of Smicha which is a wonderful source of pride for the individual’s family. But its greatest benefit is that it will ensure that a person can lead his family to observing the laws of Shabbos with all their details.
For more information, tuition, and to receive an application visit KinyanHilchosShabbos.com.

May 16, 2024 • 29min
Haftarah Emor: Who are the people referred to strangely as הַכֹּהֲנִים ַלְּוִיִּי?
What does the אריז"ל mean when he says that in the future, כהנים will be לויים and vice versa?

May 14, 2024 • 30min
Parshas Emor: The existential struggle against worshipping כּוֹחוֹת הַטֻּמְאָה
If G-d created טֻמְאָה, why not include it in religious rituals?

May 14, 2024 • 37min
Israel’s PR Battle: Why is Israel doing a poor job on PR in this war? Why is Hamas beating them?
The Israeli foreign Ministry has been pulled apart by Netanyahu on political grounds, and diplomats are mostly leftists and cannot make the case for a prime minister with whom they disagree.

May 13, 2024 • 40min
Theodore Herzl, Political Zionism and the Current Campus Riots, Pt. 2
Herzl: Sometimes arrogance, self-assuredness, and chutzpa can be positive qualities

May 12, 2024 • 28min
R’ Sherira Gaon on Sefer Shiur Komah: Does being a rationalist preclude a belief in mysticism?
Rationalism as a check on false mysticism, but not on true mysticism