The Jewish History Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

The Jewish History Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe started The Jewish History Podcast in 2016 with the goal of making Jewish History interesting and accessible. Over the course of the years, episodes have covered the vast expanse of Jewish history, from Abraham to Moses and Joshua, to great Sages in modern times, to Israeli wars. Each episode is dedicated to either a theme of Jewish history, a great personality of Jewish history, an era of Jewish history, or a transcendent event of our people’s history. We learn about our people’s triumphs and high-points, and of course, our nadirs. The Chosen People have experienced an unprecedented 4,000 year story, and it is gloriously retold in The Jewish History Podcast. Please email any questions, comments, or feedback to rabbiwolbe@gmail.com.

Episodes

Ep. 86: Chofetz Chaim: A Portrait

March 9, 2025 • 69 mins
The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hakohen Kagan, was one of the most renowned and influential Jews of modern times. He did not serve in any official capacity, and his influence reverberated the world over. His personal piety was legendary. He was a saint, a veritable angel walking amongst men. His literary contributions altered the […]
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Ep. 85: Ark of the Covenant: History and Current Whereabouts

February 2, 2025 • 64 mins
The Ark of the Covenant was the holiest and most iconic vessels of the Tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple. It was placed in the Holy of Holies and visited only once a year by the holiest person, the High Priest, on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. Inside the Ark were the Tablets […]
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The Purim Story (Rebroadcast)

March 21, 2024 • 98 mins
TORCH Annual Fundraiser  Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This is a matching campaign and every donation will be DOUBLED. Please support the Jewish History Podcast right now at giveTORCH.org The website for the Fundraiser is giveTORCH.org Click and donate to support the Jewish History Podcast in 2024 We need your […]
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Ep. 84: Two-State Solution Part 2: A Century of Doomed Proposals

March 13, 2024 • 74 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 83: Two-State Solution Part 1: The Peril and Naivete of Promoting a Palestinian State

March 10, 2024 • 51 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 82: Valor and Violence: Jews and Arabs in 1920s British Mandate Palestine

December 18, 2023 • 67 mins
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 […]
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The History of Chanukah: Hellenism, Heroism and Hasmoneans (Rebroadcast)

December 7, 2023 • 48 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 81: Hostage Rescues and Ransoms in Jewish History and Law

November 21, 2023 • 73 mins
The Jewish people are at war. Our brethren in Israel are in midst of a fierce war in Gaza against the terrorist organization Hamas. The objectives of the campaign are the complete elimination of Hamas leadership and infrastructure, and the safe return of the more than 200 hostages captured by the terrorists on the brutal […]
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Ep. 80: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Historical Background

November 13, 2023 • 69 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 79: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 3: Roman Rule and Rabbinic Reconciliation)

April 13, 2021 • 53 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 78: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 2: Hasmoneans, Herod, and Hillel)

March 30, 2021 • 47 mins
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; […]
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Ep. 77: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 1: From Moses to Men of the Great Assembly)

March 23, 2021 • 65 mins
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 […]
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TORCH Fundraiser: A Conversation with our Board President, Dan Kullman

March 4, 2021 • 24 mins
Please support The TORCH Podcasts and the annual TORCH fundraiser at giveTORCH.org Every donation will be TRIPLED Show your support for TORCH and the TORCH Podcasts and donate to the annual fundraiser at giveTORCH.org – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
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Start 2021 Right with The Parsha Podcast

January 3, 2021 • 62 mins
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to record more episodes of The Jewish History Podcast in 2021. If you may indulge me, I would like to suggest to the audience to sample my Parsha Podcast in 2021. In this episode which covers Parshas Shemos, you can take it for a test drive to see […]
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Ep. 76: JC in Jewish Sources: Exploring the Censored Text

December 21, 2020 • 56 mins
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, […]
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Ep. 75 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part Two – Restoring the Crown of Sephardic Jewry to its Former Glory

October 21, 2020 • 75 mins
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 […]
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Thanks a Million!

September 9, 2020 • 32 mins
Of all the episodes that I have recorded over the years, this will be perhaps the most unique one. For one, it will be released simultaneously on all 6 channels that I am fortunate enough to host: The Parsha Podcast, The Jewish History Podcast, The Mitzvah Podcast , This Jewish Life, The Ethics Podcast, and […]
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Ep. 74 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part One – The Prince of Torah

August 5, 2020 • 44 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 73: Rabbi Avraham Grodzinsky: The Exemplar of Slabodka

July 14, 2020 • 57 mins
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 […]
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Ep. 72: Chazon Ish: Part Three – On Politics and the Conflict of Religion and State

March 3, 2020 • 44 mins
Please support TORCH and The Jewish History Podcast TODAY during our only annual fundraiser giveTORCH.org Support The Jewish History Podcast – https://www.charidy.com/torch/History EVERY DONATION IS QUADRUPLED Today, TORCH needs your help!! Today YOU can partner with us in the largest and most downloaded Jewish Podcast Network (The Jewish History Podcast, This Jewish Life, The Parsha […]
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