Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

The four obstacles to building a "Straight Road to Hashem"כְּנֶגֶד הָאַרְבַּע גָּלוּיוֹת?

The "war-crime" of Amaziah King of Judah re: mistreating the Edomite POWs

Were the pleas of Moses rejected out of anger? Because the request was premature? Out of a sense of Divine "pain?"

What is the difference between heresy and unbelief? Which more accurately applies to the חִלּוֹנִים in Israel today?

"You were not spared because you are righteous! In fact, God hates your so-called mitzvos!"

He is rebuking the CHILDREN of the sinners, not the sinners themselves. The challenge of rebuking constructively

Why is וּלְמַלְשִׁינִים juxtaposed to עַל הַצַּדִּיקִים?

The big difference between Judaism and Christianity re: Proselytizing. Origin of the Talmudic concept of עֵרֶב רַב?

You abandoned land which contained a natural spring of fresh water for arid land supplied by collected rainwater only to find the cistern which was supposed to hold the water had a leak!

בַּעַל הַ"מוֹדֶה וְעוֹזֵב יְרֻחָם"

The peculiar moral characteristics of a "War of Revenge" - נְקֹם נִקְמַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֵת הַמִּדְיָנִים

What does רשב"ג mean when he says (שבת י"ג ע"ב) אֵין אָנוּ מַסְפִּיקִין?

The Fall of Jerusalem to the Crusaders in 1099 and the accompanying massacres of Jews

His Divinely-ordained career of musar and tochechah begins in the middle of King Josiah's radical (and unpopular!) campaign to exterminate idols in the Kingdom of Judah

Were the 24,000 who perished Jews? Or erev rav?

How were the Crusader-Related events in Eretz Yisroel that took place in the 12th century interpreted by the Baalei Tosfos and their Jewish contemporaries? As עִקְבְתָא דִּמְשִׁיחָא!

What exactly is הַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם אֱלֹהֶיךָ?

Bil'am the spinmeister could have (through his rhetorical skills) united the various kingdoms into an anti=Jewish Alliance...

What is the difference between the זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל and the אֲצִילֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל?

The survey of the אוֹר הַחַיִּים of the opinions re: the sin of Moses and his critique of all of the opinions

The ר"ש מִשַּׂאנְץ as a participant in The Maimonidean Controversies of the late 12th century. His sober and balanced approach.

The Controversial Quadripartite Atonement Scheme of R Ishmael & Co. Historically Considered

Was it an insulting dumping of a righteous prophet? Or was it rather a legitimate concern re: who would take-over after the prophet's death?

The Third of the Three Great Rabbis who produced the Tosafos

Does כְּבַד פֶּה mean Moshe had a speech impediment? Or does it mean he was not quick and sharp in political give-and-take?

The interesting arguments between the 13th century Hebrew Translators of the מוֹרֵה נְבוֹכִים

The man who converted 12th C. Fench Lomdus into Tosafos

Taking seriously the concept of גֵּר שֶׁנִּתְגַּיֵּר כְּקָטָן שֶׁנּוֹלַד דָּמֵי

The bizarre denouement in 1295

The impetus to do תְּשׁוּבָה comes from the יֵצֶר טוֹב but the יֵצֶר הָרַע often inserts itself in the implementation of the repentance

When G-d so disposes, even enemies of the Jews come to their aid

Also, why did he marry the Cushite woman at this particular time?

From the case of the מְשִׁיחַ שֶׁקֶר of Avila (in 13th century Spain)

Is the course of Propaedeutics for the purpose of intellectual comprehension? Or is it to elicit the proper emotional response?

Did Manoah and is wife encounter an angel, or was it a (prophetic) dream? If a dream, who had the dream, Manoah or his wife?

A tricky person can manipulate the Sotah rules...

Keep an eye on the following two relationships: a.) Syria-China b.) Syria-Hezbollah

Two trends in Jewish Memory - The Reception-History of The giving of the Torah in Jewish Mesorah.

Was David worried that the halachic שְׁאֵלָה of מוֹאָבִי וְלֹא מוֹאָבִית would be raised against him in future generations, who might choose to pasken גַּם מוֹאָבִי וְגַם מוֹאָבִית לֹא יָבוֹאוּ בִּקְהַל הַשֵּׁם and retroactively disqualify his entire dynasty?

The רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם sends a message from the Active Intellect to the rational faculty (hopefully to filter out error) and from thereto the imaginative faculty. But what does this mean?

Was this a reaction to the concentrated Christian theological attack on Judaism and its nomianism that reached its peak in the 13th century?

The Left-Wingers vs. the (non extreme) Right Wingers among the "מְפָרְשֵׁי הַ"מוֹרֵה נְבוֹכִים

The Rabbi preaches about Zionism but the (anti-Zionist) בַּעֲלֵי בַּתִּים hear what they want to hear

Who were the member of Moshe's secretariat? Who kept the records of the Jewish People's vital statistics?

How could the women of Israel SING the praises of Saul and David as they passed by in triumph, what about אִסּוּר קוֹל בְּאִשָּׁה עֶרְוָה?

A brilliant explication of the Tannaic dispute re: whether or not Moses did the right thing when he "hid his face" rather than look at God.

What is the meaning of the statement of חֲזַ"ל that the בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ pre-existed the physical-universe?

They are punished but do not repent. By the end of the תּוֹכֵחָה the punishments have been ratcheted-up 2400 times (7x7x7x7)!

A tale from the era of problematic הֶכְשֵׁרִים from leading רַבָּנִים וְתַלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים

Throughout Jewish History, גְּדוֹלֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל followed the policy of R Yehudah, not R Shimon, though the Jewish People in its folk-wisdom came to celebrate the frank expressions of R Shimon bar Yochai. They admired the one who "called a spade a spade" even though in practice they imitated R Yehudah

Throwing clothes onto a coffin was an (incorrect but emotionally understandable) practice in Talmudic days expressing an excess of grief. With Rashbi (described as ascending to Heaven in a Pillar of Fire), the tossing of clothes morphed into burning them to celebrate his unique petirah.