Category Archives: History

Ep. 74 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part One – The Prince of Torah

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 44:26 — 20.3MB)

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, known the world over as “Chacham Ovadia” or simply “Maran”, was one of the most important rabbinical personalities of the 20th Century. His career accomplishments were staggering: He was a Torah scholar of absolute unmatched greatness. He was a transformational Rabbi – with rabbinic posts both in Israel and abroad – who served as the Chief Rabbi of Israel. He was a voluminous Halachist – having answered hundreds of thousands of Halachic queries in his lifetime and authored 50 books on Halacha in his lifetime. His accomplishments also extend beyond the rabbinate: In the 1980s, he founded the largest and most powerful religious political party in Israel. He was also the Patriarch of a prestigious rabbinic dynasty. In part one of our series of this giant of Jewish history, we tell the story of his remarkable Torah prowess that undergirded all his career accomplishments.

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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This Jewish History Podcast is dedicated in honor of Shimmy and Joely Bernstein, new podcast listeners but old friends of ours – thank you for your friendship over the years

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!

Ep. 73: Rabbi Avraham Grodzinsky: The Exemplar of Slabodka

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 57:34 — 26.3MB)

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Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski was the last head of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania. He was primary disciple of the Alter of Slabodka, and his successor after the Alter moved to Chevron, heading the yeshiva until WW2 broke out, and even leading a cadre of students in the ghetto under ghastly conditions. With the destruction of European Jewry in the Holocaust, the vibrant world of the Lithuanian Mussar Yeshiva world expired – the great yeshivos erected or resurrected after the war are a shell of their progenitor’s glory.

Rabbi Grodzinksi is an exemplar of the glory and greatness of that lost world

A man of unmatched nobility – even aristocracy, a person of flawless, sterling character, an unparalleled intellect, and a man who lived a tragic life replete with all manners of suffering, punctuated by his macabre murder by the Nazis on the 22nd day of Tammuz 1944, exactly 76 years to the day from when this podcast is released

Please email me at rabbiwolbe@gmail.com with any questions or comments

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This Jewish History Podcast is dedicated in loving memory and leiluei nishmas Rivka bas Reb Avraham. May her holy Soul be elevated in Heaven

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!

Ep. 72: Chazon Ish: Part Three – On Politics and the Conflict of Religion and State

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 44:31 — 20.4MB)

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The Chazon Ish’s activism once he arrived in British Mandate Palestine were not limited to building up the religious and Torah infrastructure of the Land. His invested great efforts in establishing the political philosophy of the yeshiva community, and like his work in building the Torah infrastructure, his political efforts endure until today. Indeed, for much of the history of the state, the political parties and ideologies that he led were heralded as the kingmakers of Israeli politics. In his day, The Chazon Ish waged campaigns against government policies that he thought were unjust and harmful to the religious community. He also guided and advised religious politicians who heeded his advice. But he wasn’t just an adviser to the politicians, He was viewed by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion as the leader of the yeshiva community’s camp and in fact the PM visited and negotiated with him on matters of religion and State. The influence that the yeshiva community has on Israeli politics is stronger than ever, and as I mentioned in episode 70, it is impossible to really understand the dynamics of the Israeli political universe – in general a labyrinthine vortex of complexity – without understanding the positions staked out by the Chazon Ish during the very early days of the State

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This Jewish History Podcast is sponsored by Bill Koen in loving memory of Michael Ben Shmuel and Yehudit. May his Soul be elevated in Heaven

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!

Contact Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.orgTwitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts

Ep. 71: Chazon Ish: The Founding Father of the Modern Yeshiva World (Part Two: Making the Spiritual Desert Bloom)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 58:23 — 26.7MB)

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In 1933, Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz – the Chazon Ish – moved to British Mandate Palestine. Prior to his departure, the recognized leader of the Torah world, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky of Vilna had sent a letter to the leaders of the Yishuv informing them that a Torah giant was coming. Employing classic Talmudic phraseology, he wrote that “a lion is arising from Babylon”, and a respectable delegation of rabbis and community leaders arrived at the shores to greet him. It is hard to overstate the impact that this lion from Babylon will have over the Yishuv in the Land would have over the next 20 years. From his hometown of Bnei Brak, the Chazon Ish spearheaded the opening of dozens of Torah institutions, rooted in a vision of the Land of Israel, revived and blossoming, with Torah dominating every aspect of the lives and culture of the people.

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This Jewish History Podcast is sponsored in loving memory of Zelda Chaya Nechama Bat Sarah by her loving family who wish to remain anonymous. May her soul merit an elevation in Heaven

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!

Contact Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe: Apple Podcasts

Ep. 70: Chazon Ish: The Founding Father of the Modern Yeshiva World (Part One: Torah Renaissance Man)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 57:26 — 26.3MB)

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The destruction of European Jewry during the Holocaust decimated more than the thousands of Jewish communities of Europe. Europe had been the epicenter of Ashkenazic Jewish life for 1,000 years, and with the destruction of the 6 million Jews, came everything that generations of Jewish communities had built over the millennium. A world of Jewish infrastructure – shuls, Jewish schools, mikvaos, yeshivos, giant Torah sages and their students – ceased to exist.

If we were around to assess the state of the nation after WW2, it would be very hard to construct an optimistic outlook. But look at where we are now: The Jewish communities reestablished themselves in the USA and in the newly founded State of Israel, and in some ways, certain parts of Jewish life – and particularly Torah life – are stronger than they were before the Holocaust. Prior to the Holocaust, there were maybe a couple of thousand Torah scholars in the yeshiva world of Europe; today, in the largest yeshiva in the world – the Mir yeshiva – a yeshiva that I am a proud graduate of, there are nearly 10,000 full-time Torah scholar students, and that’s only one of hundreds – maybe thousands – of such institutions in the world. Prior to the war, the Torah-centric world within Jewry was in decline, and now it is an ascendant juggernaut. Where did all this come from? Who founded this world? Perhaps there are several answers to that question. But certainly in Israel we can point to one man and declare that he spawned this revolution, and that is Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, universally known as the Chazon Ish after the eponymous title of his works – and he is going to be the subject of this Jewish History podcast and the one that follows

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This Jewish History Podcast is sponsored by my dear friend, Yigal Rifkind, in honor of Caileigh Weiss on the occasion of her birthday. Happy Birthday, Caileigh, and thank you Yigal for your support and friendship.

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!

Ep. 69: The Yom Kippur War (Part Four: Ceasefire and Aftermath)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 53:55 — 24.7MB)

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The turning point in the trajectory of the State of Israel was the Yom Kippur War. In almost every way, the history of the State can be divided into two eras, before and after this pivotal conflict. In the fourth and final installment on the Yom Kippur War, we tell the stories of the war’s final days and assess the seismic changes that the State of Israel has undergone in the four and a half decades since this conflict.

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This Jewish History podcast is sponsored by Mike Fisher in loving memory of his father, Meier ben Feitl v’ Shayneh Yente, who passed away this past year on the 19th of Av.

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!

Contact:
Websites: Personal: RabbiWolbe.com; TORCH: Torchweb.org
Twitter: Personal: @RabbiWolbe; TORCH: @TORCHWEB
Facebook: Personal: Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe; TORCH: TORCH Centre
Email: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Podcasts Links:

This Jewish Life – A Podcast About Jewish Philosophy: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Jewish History Podcast – The podcast telling the Remarkable story of the Jewish Peoples: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
The Parsha Podcast – A Weekly podcast of analyzing and Exploring the Parsha: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
TORAH 101 – A Podcast about the Divinity of Torah and the relationship between the Written and Oral Torah: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher;
Eternal Ethics – The Pirkei Avos Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Android, Stitcher.
The Mitzvah Podcast – Surveying the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah: Apple Podcasts

Ep. 68: The Yom Kippur War (Part Three: The Tide Turns)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 58:48 — 26.9MB)

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The Yom Kippur War is – at least from a military perspective – a tale of two conflicts: The early stages of the war were completely one-sided, with the combined Arab armies of Syria and Egypt dominating the battlefields and making huge gains and inflicting punishing blows to the Israelis. But the tide dramatically turned, and ultimately – though with substantial loss of life and materiel – the Israelis gained the upper hand and produced an incredible military victory, albeit with very meager gains after the diplomatic and political dust settled.

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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!

Ep. 67: The Yom Kippur War (Part Two: Israel on the Brink)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 1:01:16 — 28.0MB)

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The first few days of the Yom Kippur War were among the most disastrous and devastating days in Israel’s history. Thanks to unprecedented intelligence failures that we detailed in the previous episode, they were ill-prepared for the simultaneous surprise attacks from the Syrians in the Golan Heights in the North, and the Egyptians in the Sinai in the South. The Israeli losses in terms of manpower and territory and positions were staggering. In the North, the Syrians breached Israeli defenses and captured much of the Golan Heights. In the South, the Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal by the tens of thousands, smothered and bypassed the fortifications along the Bar Lev Line and established very large – and continually expanding – beachheads on Israeli soil. The Israeli response was often confused, uncoordinated, insufficient and lackluster. If there was ever a time in Israel’s history where it was on the brink of destruction, it was the first few days of the Yom Kippur War.

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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!

Ep. 66: The Yom Kippur War (Part One: Prelude to War)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 1:03:46 — 29.2MB)

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On October 6th, 1973 – on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar – a coordinated, surprise attack was launched on the State of Israel by its two great adversaries: Egypt in the South and Syria in the North. The Yom Kippur War would go on to be the bloodiest, and most consequential war in Israeli history since its founding. In Part One of our series on the Yom Kippur War we study the period between the Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973: We outline the 3-year War of Attrition that was conducted immediately following the Six Day War; examine the factors contributing to the outbreak of hostilities; assess the military and strategic strength of the adversaries; and discuss the severe Intelligence failures that led Israel to be so unprepared for war.

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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!

Ep. 65: The Era of the Judges (Part Three: Samson the Mighty) + ANNUAL FUNDRAISER

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 1:06:02 — 30.2MB)

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Support TORCH and The Jewish History Podcast TODAY during our only annual fundraiser.

https://www.charidy.com/torch/History

EVERY DONATION IS QUADRUPLED

Today, TORCH needs your help!!

Today YOU can support the thousands of Jewish Houstonians who learn and get inspired at TORCH Torah classes every year!
Today YOU can support the 18 Houston area Congregations spanning from The Woodlands to Clear Lake and from Cypress to Sugar Land who have weekly TORCH Shalhevet Classes!
Today YOU can help us send local Young Jewish Professionals and students on life-changing trips to Israel!
Today YOU can partner with us in the largest and most downloaded Jewish Podcast Network (The Jewish History Podcast, This Jewish Life, The Parsha Podcast, TORAH 101, Eternal Ethics)!
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Today YOU can Connect Jews and Judaism!

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The final Judge to lead the people in the Book of Judges was the most unique one of them all – a mighty warrior who single-handedly faced a formidable enemy, a controversial man with a miraculous beginning and a tragic end – Samson the Mighty. During this nearly 400 year history, the nation did not have the centralized authority of a king, and was in effect self-governed, ruled by God and punished by Him. When they adhered to Torah, their enemies vanished as if by divine edict, when they strayed, their enemies arose to persecute them as a function of divine chastisement. The role of the Judges was to nudge the people back to their fidelity to God, but not to compel or enforce as a monarch. This system worked nearly flawlessly for the duration of the Era of the Judges. The Book of Judges ends with two glaring exceptions; two tragic instances where the nation would have greatly benefited from a strong centralized authority of a king.

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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!

Ep. 64: The Era of the Judges (Part Two: Gideon and Yiftach)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 52:10 — 23.9MB)

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We pick up the story of the Judges after the miraculous destruction of the enemies of Israel – Yavin and his star general Sisera were vanquished, peace reigned for forty years, but as we have seen previously, the period of the Judges is marked by ebbs and flows: When the Jews are behaving as they should they are unmolested by foreign enemies; when they sin and adopt the idolatrous ways of their Canaanite neighbors, subjugation is swift and brutal.

NEW! The Mitzvah Podcast – by Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe. Link to podcast on iPhone – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mitzvah-podcast-by-rabbi-yaakov-wolbe/id1446819937

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The Jewish History Podcast is sponsored in honor of my dear friends, and stalwart supporters of TORCH, Peter and Becky Botvin.

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!

Ep. 63: The Era of the Judges (Part One: Osniel to Deborah)

Podcast (history): Download (Duration: 57:37 — 26.4MB)

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After the passing of Joshua, the Jewish nation – newly settled in the land of Canaan, the land of Israel – confronted new realities that spawned new challenges. The leadership of the nation was greatly diminished – their future leaders were not of the caliber of Joshua and certainly not of Moses. They were surrounded by various mighty Canaanite enemies who posed existential military and religious threats. They became exposed to new temptations that their antecedents had never encountered. Sadly, at certain junctures, the nation yielded to these temptations, and sinned, and were swiftly punished by God for their behavior. But our nation has always been very resilient, and God always sent us leaders who helped us navigate the challenges of each generation. A remarkable group of fifteen different leaders, called Judges, skillfully lead the nation during the 3 and a half century era of the Judges, spanning from Joshua until Samuel and the anointing of the first king of Israel, Saul. The nation’s ups and downs, the stories of their oppressions and salvations, the accounts of the villains who sought our downfall and of the heroes who brought us back on track is told in the Book of Judges, and is the subject of this podcast – The Era of the Judges (Part One: Osniel to Deborah)
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The Jewish History Podcast is sponsored in honor of a beacon of the Houston Jewish community, and a personal friend and friend of TORCH, David Harris.

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!