Jewish History Uncensored

This week’s episode is dedicated in honor of the Magid Shiur of the Daf Yomi Shiur in Kehilas Bais Yisroel in Cedarhurst 

  In this week’s episode we look at the issue of the Authorship of Yeshaya.  The second part of the Sefer has a very different set of topics it deals with. Why is this true?

  Similarly, this issue used to be heavily discussed and was a live issue. Today the discussion abou...

 This week’s episode is dedicated לעילוי נשמת הרב אהרן דוד בן הרב מאיר חדש, the Moshgiach of the Mir tzl by a talmid.  

This week’s episode looks at the American attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities. How surprising was this? How much of a departure from standard US policy was this? What historical precedents are there for this? How do we understand what is motivating the Iranian policy?

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This week’s episode is dedicated by BZ and Hadassah as a zchus for all of those in danger and especially in Israel to be safe.  And also as a zchus for the IDF and all the Israeli security forces to have success and safety.

 In this episode we look at the current Israel Iran conflict.  How do we understand the level of the conflict? Is this an operation, a battle, or a war?  How normal is to be frightened ...

  We start by discussing the primary reason that most Talmidei Chachomim feel challenged by Neviim Achronim. What is the proper way to understand the Prophecies that seem to be repeating the same things over and over. 

  We also discuss the theme of Sefer Yeshaya. Yeshaya is the most important Sefer in order to understand the Basics of the Revelation of the Moshiach. We also look at the structure of the fi...

  In this episode we look at the theme of Melachim. The best way to accurately synopsize the Sefer in one clear phrase is that Melachim is, ‘The Book of Olam HaZeh.’  Why is this the way I think Melachim should be described. 

 We start by examining the basic challenges we have in understanding the Sefer.  Many would try to use contemporary political phenomena to understand the Sefer. However this is deeply...

   In this episode we take a closer look at why Rashi understands that the key theme of Shoftim is developing the Mishkan. How do we reconcile this idea with the main narrative of the Sefer that talks about the problems of the times with Avoda Zara? We also discuss Chazal attributing authorship of the Sefer to Shmuel. How did they know this? What does this teach us about the Sefer?

  Similarly, we look at ...

   In this episode, we continue looking at the challenge of understanding the Sifrey Tanach at the Sefer level. We also discuss the importance of properly understanding the classics and how much time we should be willing to invest in this. And similarly we discuss the issue of not forcing our ideas on Tanach, rather patiently developing the intrinsic ideas. 

  We also look at the Sefer level theme of Sefer...

  In this episode, we look at one of the most challenging aspects of understanding Tanach, the journey between parsha level understanding to Sefer level understanding. Part of this process is the necessity to divide the Sefer into major sections. While a small number of sefarim have clearly defined subdivisions, most don’t. Similarly we discuss when one can use a statement of Chazal to understand the theme of a Sefer. 

 In this week's episode, we look at how to understand Moshiach and what effect the coming of Moshiach will have on the world. Similarly we look at how the Rambam and Ramban discuss the issue of identification of Moshiach. What are the Tanachic parallels to Moshiach and what can we learn from them? 

Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, with a nine minute shiur ...

  In this episode we look at the general debate amongst Historians about how to understand the German’s motivations for the Holocaust. Were the people directly involved in implementing the Holocaust deranged, similar to those who perpetrate school shootings?

  How long had German intellectuals been discussing what was called, ‘The Jewish Problem’? How long had the solution of extermination been discussed f...

In this episode, we look at how the modern world defines freedom. We also examine why there is such turmoil and conflict in the USA at the present time. What are the key factors driving this deep turmoil and conflict? Are there any historical parallels to the present situation? What lessons should we learn from this? 

Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, with ...

In this episode, we look at the key theme of Pesach, freedom. How does this connect with eating matza on Pesach? Is matza, ‘poor bread’, or , ‘poor man’s bread’? How can a poor basic food be considered a symbol of freedom? How do we understand freedom in Torah? How do practically relate to this facet of the Mitzva?

Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, with a n...

This week’s episode is dedicated in honer of the wedding of Eliyahu David and Nechama Besser 

In this episode, we look at the tumult in the American Yeshiva world about if one should participate in the elections for the WZO. What is the Historical context of this issue? How does the Ausritt controversy affect this issue? Are there any significant differences in this issue between today and when it original...

In this episode, we look at the phenomenon of the slightly different Parsha systems that are found in different Tanachs. We also discuss the major controversy about how one should write Neviim. Why was this controversy specifically focused on Neviim and not other sefarim?

  We also start looking at the issue of repetitive phrases in Tanach. How do understand this phenomenon? What does it usually show us ab...

This week’s episode is dedicated לעילוי נשמת אפרת בת אושרה 

 In this episode we look at a couple of examples of how taking Parsha flow in account changes the way we understand the different elements of the Parsha. We also look at the more complicated issue of when to thematically connect two different Parshios. 

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This week’s episode is dedicated לעילוי נשמת ר אליהו ב״ר יוסף

In the first part of this episode, we properly examine the issue of how the basic principles of Propecy relate to the writing of Nach. What do the basic requirements for Prophecy teach us about the writing of Tanach?

  We also continue looking at how Rashi clearly utilizes the Parsha system and how this effects how he explains the i...

 In this episode, we take a more careful look at how Rashi uses the parsha system in his commentary. How much of a factor is this in Rashi? We similarly examine why it is so important to maintain a connection to the classic understanding of Tanach. We also examine the issue of how to understand the writing of Tanach.

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Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five...

 In this episode, we look at how the Parsha system should affect the way we understand Tanach. What is the difference between the Parsha system, which is the organic division of Tanach and the chapter system which was created by English monks in the 1100’s. We also look at how Rashi subtly uses the Parsha system.

Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, with a nin...

In this episode we examine the claims that Rashi’s commentary to Tanach isn’t a Pshat based commentary.  How should we view the concept that we should attempt to understand Tanach only via the text of Tanach? Who was the originator of this idea? What does this tell us about this conception? What makes Rashi’s accomplishments in Tanach unparalleled? How seriously have Talmidai Chachomim throughout the generations taken ...