Jewish History Uncensored

   In this week's episode, we discuss the election of Mamdani as Mayor of New York City. How surprising was his victory? What were the main factors in why he was elected? What were the main flaws of the Coumo campaign? What lessons can we learn from this? How concerned should we be because of his election? Are there any historical parallelisms to his election?

 In this week's episode we discuss the basic challenge of understanding the Sefer Level structure of Koheles. What makes Koheles so difficult at Sefer level? What do we definitely know? We also discuss how I decided to break the Sefer down into subsections. 

    In this week's episode we look at more of the lessons of the Gaza War and the Ceasefire.  How do we understand the phenomenon of party politics? Where did this develop? How should one ideally react to party politics? Did the founding fathers of the Constitution think this would occur in the United States? 

  In this episode we look at the Ceasefire Agreement and also look back at the two years of this war. What lessons can we learn from this? What happened to all the National Unity that existed in the beginning of the war? How should Israel deal with diplomatic pressure? Are there any specific references to this war in Tanach? Why do so many people think there should be references to this in Tanach? 

  In this episode, we look at why Koheles is a controversial Sefer in Tanach. Chazal weren't sure if Koheles should be included in Tanach, why is this true? Is there a connection in how we understand this issue and the machlokes in Chazal if Koheles was authored with Ruach HaKodesh? 

In this week's episode, we look at what is called the replication crisis. This academic crisis questions the accuracy of accepted psychological studies. In order to properly understand this phenomenon, we look at how the deep changes in society have affected how we view authority. Similarly, we look at the different levels of obligation we find in Chazal. And we also look at how people react very differently when chall...

  In this week's episode, we look at one of the deepest expressions of the Human Soul - man's quest for cohesive narrative.  What part of human behavior do we see this from? What can we learn from this? Where is this phenomenon properly explained in Torah? What is the ultimate potential of this phenomenon?

  In this episode we look at the deep dualism of Rosh HaShana. On one hand it is a chag, on the other hand it is a time of Divine Justice. How does this connect to the fact that Rosh HaShana is the day Man was created. 

   In this episode, we look at one of the most puzzling stories of Bayis Shani, the story of Sukkos. The possuk seems to imply that this was the first time they kept Sukkos since Yehoshua. How do we understand this?

  We also look at the basic dynamics of the times of Moshiach. How does the dynamic between Israel and the other nations change? And similarly we discuss the Ingathering of the Exiles. 

   In this week's episode, we start by revisiting the Kinos and the difficulty they pose. Is there a way to turn the Kinos into a normal davening experience? We take another look at why we try to relate to the Churban in this complicated fashion. 

  We look carefully at the Bayis Shani era and how to understand the narrative. How do the possukim describe the Rosh HaShana or Ezra and Nechemia? What was caus...

  In this week's episode, we take a closer look at why people from the Yeshiva world have significant problems relating to the issues of Moshiach. How much of this issue is clearly discussed in Shas? Where in fact is this issue discussed?

  We also examine the question of is there any reason to think the structure of Bayis Shlishi should be similar to Bayis Shani?  And we also discuss  the structure of Bay...

  In this episode, we take a careful look at how the Halacha looks at ultimate loss based on Hilchos Availus. We also look at how people generally speaking react to this situation. And similarly, we discuss how this should affect how we relate to The Bais HaMikdash and Moshiach. 

  We also start looking at the basic structure of Moshiach based on the parallelisms in Tanach. What are the basic parallelisms ...

   This week's episode is sponsored in honor of the magid shiur by an old friend who is one the great askanim of our times.

In this episode, we take a careful look at how the Halacha looks at ultimate loss based on Hilchos Availus. We also look at how people generally speaking react to this situation. And similarly, we discuss how this should affect how we relate to The Bais HaMikdash and Moshiach. 

  In this episode, we look at one of the key issues we have relating to the Moshiach issues, grasping the National Level situation. Where do people have a greater level of understanding the lack of the Jewish People's national status, in the USA or in Israel? Why is this true? How does this relate to understanding the importance of Moshiach? 

  We also examine the phenomenon of why people tend to drift to ...

  In this episode, we look at the basic challenge we have in understanding and relating to what the concept of Moshiach really means. One of the key concepts we have to understand is what does Shchina and Prophecy mean. Why don't we aspire to that lofty goal? Is this a mistake? 

  We also discuss the issue of when it is proper for a person to take on lofty spiritual acts. 

Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein's ...

   This week's episode is sponsored לעילוי נשמת עלקא עליזה בת ר יעקב 

   In this week's episode, we look at the last part of Yechezkel. What is the common theme of these Prophecies? What makes this section of Prophecies unique, the topics covered or the presentation? 

  We also take a careful look at the issue of Chronology in Tanach. What are the basic approaches to this issue? Which among th...

 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 basic structure of Sefer Yechezkel. Yechezkel is the most clear of Neviim Achronim. Why is this true? Similarly, we find a number of Prophecies repeated almost identically in the Sefer, why does this happen? What is the basic difference betw...