Category Archives: History

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Ep. 84: Two-State Solution Part 2: A Century of Doomed Proposals

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Straddling the Mediterranean Sea is a very special sliver of land: The land of Israel. The land of Canaan; Palestine; The Holy Land – there are a lot of names that this land is called by. This is the land to which Abraham was instructed to go to. This is the land that the Jewish slaves of Egypt coveted. This is the land flowing with milk and honey. This is the land that Joshua conquered and settled. From here the Jewish people were expelled, and to here the Jewish people returned. But there are other peoples who claim this land as their own. The Arabs claim it as Islamic land. With the actualization of a Zionist vision, the Jewish people returned to their historic homeland and found lots of Arabs there. This created lots of tension, which escalated into horrific violence. The Israeli/Arab conflict — the Israeli/Palestinian conflict — has raged for more than a century. Is this a solvable problem? Would the solution be granting a state to both the Jews and the Arabs? Is the two state solution a viable resolution to this ancient and seemingly intractable problem? It’s been tried many times before, but it is doomed to fail unless something completely unexpected happens. In part 2 of our series on the Two-State-Solution, we explore the many varied attempts to finally resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict . It does not seem to be a viable solution, but that doesn’t mean that people won’t try.

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Ep. 83: Two-State Solution Part 1: The Peril and Naivete of Promoting a Palestinian State

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 51:16 — 23.5MB)

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Is a two-state solution a viable way to finally resolve the Israel Palestine conflict? Many in the international community believe that it is the only solution. After the horrific massacres of October 7th, 2023, the international community is once again amplifying the call for a two-state solution. Instead of punishing the Arabs for their violent acts of terrorism and unspeakable brutality, the international community took this opportunity to pressure Israel to make concessions and to take steps towards granting the Palestinians their own, independent state. Is this something which can ever happen? What do the Arabs really want? Do they want to live in harmony and peace with their Jewish neighbors? Is there any evidence that they willing to accept the existence and legitimacy of the state of Israel? From everything we know and from everything that history tells us, the answer is a resounding no. Allowing the Palestinians to have a state on Israel’s borders would be a bloody catastrophe waiting to happen.

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Ep. 82: Valor and Violence: Jews and Arabs in 1920s British Mandate Palestine

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The Balfour Declaration was a pivotal shift in the prospects of the Zionist dream. For the first time, a major world power declared their intent – in a binding governmental commitment – to work towards the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Political Zionism achieved a major strategic victory, but actualizing this plan would be far from easy. The Jews were outnumbered by Arabs in the land, and the Arabs were not too keen on having a Jewish presence, much less a Jewish state, in the Holy Land. The 1920s saw an escalation of Arab violence towards the Jews in Palestine. The Jews dedicated themselves towards building the land – building out the infrastructure, drain the swamps, establishing institutions – and the Arabs sought to undermine any Zionist progress, often resorting to horrific violence. In this Jewish history podcast, we tell the story of Jews and Arabs under the British mandate in the 1920s.

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The History of Chanukah: Hellenism, Heroism and Hasmoneans (Rebroadcast)

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The holiday of Chanukah commemorates the triumph of the Maccabean Revolt over the oppressive regime of Antiochus IV and the Seleucid Empire. In this podcast we tell the story of this miraculous victory of the weak over the mighty; the few over the many; the pure over the impure; and the righteous over the wicked.

NOTE: This Podcast was originally recorded in 2017.

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Ep. 80: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Historical Background

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The Arab-Israeli conflict is front and center on the world stage today. The barbaric October 7th terrorist attacks – where more than a thousand innocent Jewish civilians were slaughtered, thousands more wounded, and hundreds were taken hostage by the vile Hamas terrorist organization – prompted an Israeli invasion of the Gaza strip with the express intent of completely eliminating Hamas once and for all and retrieving the hostages. What is the background of this conflict? Is Israel in apartheid state? Is Israel a colonial state? Does Israel have a right to exist? What is the ultimate solution for this conflict? These questions brought me out of my retirement from the Jewish history podcast. In this first episode of the series on the Arab-Israeli conflict, we explore the roots of both the Jewish and Islamic claims to the land and provide an overview of the events that let up to the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

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Tu B’Shevat: The Secret of the Rosh Hashana for Trees (Rebroadcast)

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The fifteenth day of the Jewish month of Shevat – known as Tu B’Shevat – is the New Year for trees and fruits. All the fruits that sprout before this cutoff are associated with the previous year’s yield and the ones that come afterwards are attributed to the new year’s. If that was all that we knew about this day it would be a pretty anemic day. But the Kabbalists revealed that is a very powerful and propitious day with deep, mystical meanings. In this special episode we plumb the depths of this day and discover its power and the potential. I must admit that coming into this project I knew very little about Tu B’Shevat. This was a truly eye-opening subject that I am sure will rivet the audience as it did me.

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Ep. 79: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 3: Roman Rule and Rabbinic Reconciliation)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 53:51 — 24.6MB)

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The final century of the Second Temple and the one that followed its destruction were pivotal ones of Jewish history. It was an era replete with absolute Torah giants – Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai, Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh and his colleagues, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Akiva and his students, among many other giants – but it was also a time of unprecedented challenges. Several times over these centuries, the Nation was hanging on a thread. The great Rabbis were targeted, the Great Sanhedrin was threatened, the Nation was attacked and dispersed. Over the course of this time, the conditions of the Nation deteriorated to the point that it was clear to our leaders that unless something drastic was done, the Nation as we know it would cease to exist. In this podcast we talk about the conditions that led to the fateful decision to write down the Mishna and to codify the Oral Torah. This podcast was originally recorded for episode 34 of the TORAH 101 podcast and has been re-edited for The Jewish History Podcast.

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Ep. 78: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 2: Hasmoneans, Herod, and Hillel)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 47:30 — 21.7MB)

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The Second Temple Era was an eventful time for the Jewish People and the perpetuation of Torah. Over the course of the Second Commonwealth our nation was blessed with great legends, such as Ezra, Shimon Ben Shetach, and Hillel, but the Nation faced unprecedented tests too: We were forced to contend with hostile foreign nations; internally, we suffered from discord and sectarianism; and at various times the Rabbis were targeted with assassinations and purges. To understand the imperative for the codification of Oral Torah, we must study the treacherous and perilous conditions of Torah in the Second Temple Era. This podcast was originally recorded for episode 33 of the TORAH 101 podcast and has been re-edited for The Jewish History Podcast.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Ep. 77: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 1: From Moses to Men of the Great Assembly)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 1:05:46 — 30.1MB)

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In the narrow sense, Oral Torah refers to the interpretation and understanding of the Written Torah. The Written Torah is written cryptically, and the Oral Torah demystifies and explains it. But the truth is that Oral Torah includes much more than that. Oral Torah includes all of Torah that is not included in the Written text. In this special edition of The Jewish History Podcast, we discuss the concept of Rabbinic Law, its roots, how the corpus of Oral Torah was expanded, and the various developments in Oral Torah from Moses until the end of prophecy at the beginning of the Second Commonwealth. This podcast was originally recorded for episodes 31 and 32 of TORAH 101, but have been re-edited for The Jewish History Podcast.

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Sponsorship: Please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Ep. 76: JC in Jewish Sources: Exploring the Censored Text

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 56:20 — 25.8MB)

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As we approach the end of December, I chose to experiment by doing something a bit different in examining the Jewish take on the Christian hero and on early Christianity. When we look at the Talmudic sources on the matter we find that our version of this story is radically different than the Christian one, and, quite unsurprisingly, the Christian censors forced the Jewish printers of the Talmud to omit these sections. But these sections were preserved and clandestinely perpetuated, and in this episode we they reveal is fascinating.

Sanhedrin 107b Talmud

Sanhedrin 107b

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This Jewish History Podcast is sponsored by my dear friend, Shully Lichtman, who dedicated it in the merit of continued health for all.

If you want to sponsor an episode of the Jewish History Podcast or if you have any questions or comments, please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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Ep. 75 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part Two – Restoring the Crown of Sephardic Jewry to its Former Glory

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Chacham Ovadia Yosef was one of the most impactful and transformative Jewish leaders of recent history. In Part One we discussed Chacham Ovadia’s complete Torah mastery, in this episode we will explore his role as a leader: as a Rabbi, as Rishon LeZion (Sephardic Chief Rabbi), as a halachic arbiter, as a Posek (halachic arbiter), as an influential, national and international, and even political figure.

Perhaps his most impactful legacy, the mission that he strove for his entire life, was what he called, the restoration of the Crown of Sephardic Jewry to its previous Glory. This axiom was Chacham Ovadia’s oft-quoted motto and life mission, and the unifying theme of his life and accomplishments

This motto had widespread implications. It had religious and halachic meaning, but it also described Chacham Ovadia’s efforts to better the state of Sephardic Jewry in the political, economic, social, and cultural realm. On all accounts, Chacham Ovadia’s efforts were a wild, unbridled success.

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