The Jewish History Podcast

Shiurim

• Ep. 15: Heresy, Hedonism and Hatred: The Rise of The Sadducees

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Sadducees were a sect of Jews that splintered away from the mainstream during the 2nd Century BC. They are erroneously portrayed as conscientious opposers to a rabbinical overreach by the Sages. In truth, their heresy was not ideologica

• Ep. 10: Great Jewish Personalities: Hillel

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Hillel the Elder was a transcendental Jewish figure whose name and influence towers above Jewish life until this day. In this podcast we explore the remarkable life, visionary leadership and legendary personal piety of this great man. ———-

• Ep. 20: The Rise of the Muslims

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  After the Talmud was codified and sealed, the Jewish communities worldwide came under protracted assault. There were several interconnected contributing factors to the conflict and turmoil that consumed the world: The Roman Empire was in lo

• Ep. 42: Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Part Two: The Mussar Ideology)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The burgeoning yeshiva movement today, and indeed the fact that yeshivos did not go extinct a century ago, is due to Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, known the world over as the Alter of Slabodka, more than any one person. He was the first to comb

• Ep. 32: A History of False Messiahs

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Belief in the coming of Messiah is a critical component of Jewish faith that is enshrined in Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith. Sadly, ignorance of what exactly Messiah is, what he supposed to do, and how to vet him, coupled with peo

• Ep. 58: Abraham: The Birth of Monotheism and the Origins of the Jewish Nation

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The story of the Jewish people – and truthfully the story of all monotheists, Christians and Muslims too – begins with Abraham. Abraham is of course the progenitor of the Jewish nation via his son, Isaac and grandson, Jacob, and his other s

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

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Start 2021 Right with The Parsha Podcast

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 Shem

• Ep. 29: A History of Halacha

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Halacha is the aspect of Oral Torah that teaches the practical instructions of fulfilling the mitzvos. It addresses questions like: What is allowed what is forbidden? What is kosher what is unkosher? Who is liable and who is innocent? For t

• Ep. 3: Rabbis, Renaissance and Reclamation: Jewish History of the Mishnaic and Talmudic Eras

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Our story begins with a battered and depressed nation in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy Temple. They experienced tragedy and devastation on a scale never seen before. Immediately after the destruction the process

• Ep. 4: Violence, Vicissitudes and Valiancy: Jewish History in Medieval Times

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  The Medieval period would bring enormous changes to the Jewish communities worldwide. It was an era marked by tremendous scholarship and advancement of Torah. Some of the greatest leaders and luminaries that the Jews have ever seen – such a

• Ep. 82: Valor and Violence: Jews and Arabs in 1920s British Mandate Palestine

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Ep. 77: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 1: From Moses to Men of the Great Assembly)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 mo

• Ep. 1: Foundations, Fathers and Faith: Jewish History From Adam to Moses

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In this maiden episode of The Jewish History Podcast with Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe, we begin a five part overview of Jewish History. This format is not an exhaustive accounting of all the copious details of Jewish history; rather we seek to highl

• Ep. 28: A History of Zionism

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  69 years ago, the State of Israel was declared. For the first time since the arrival of Pompey and the Romans in 63 BC, Jews had sovereignty over their homeland; the Land promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Land from which they were tw

• Ep. 75 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part Two – Restoring the Crown of Sephardic Jewry to its Former Glory

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 R

• Ep. 11: Great Jewish Personalities: Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai was the leader of the Jewish people during a most critical and vulnerable time period. His visionary decisions and foresight assured that Torah and the nation will persevere and flourish in the aftermath of traged

• Ep. 60: Moses: The Quintessential Jewish Leader

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Moses was the greatest human of all time. His resume is replete with superlatives: He was the greatest prophet of all time, both qualitatively and quantitatively; He was the humblest man to grace the earth; He ascended to Heaven, negotiated

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

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 th

• Ep. 46: The Purim Backstory

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Purim is a holiday celebrated by Jews worldwide on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and in Jerusalem and walled cities on the fifteenth day of Adar. It commemorates the story of the salvation of the Jewish nation from the genocidal plans

• Ep. 81: Hostage Rescues and Ransoms in Jewish History and Law

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

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

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 Jew

• Ep. 54: The Entebbe Raid

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  On the 6th of Tammuz, July 4th 1976, a team of Israeli commandos flew 2500 miles undetected across hostile countries, raided the Entebbe airport in Uganda and rescued 100 Jews who were being held hostage after their commercial plane was hij

• The Purim Story (Rebroadcast)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 r

• Ep. 41: Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Part One: The Slabodka Revolution)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, known the world over as the Alter of Slabodka, was and is the greatest builder of Torah of the last several centuries. The burgeoning yeshiva movement today, and indeed the fact that yeshivos did not go extinct a c

• Ep. 30: The Six Day War Part 1

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In June of 1967, the third Arab-Israeli war, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East, erupted. The Arabs had advantages in terms of numbers of troops, tanks, planes; they had a broad coalition and international support; and their geog

• Ep. 79: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 3: Roman Rule and Rabbinic Reconciliation)

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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

• Ep. 26: A History of Christian Anti-Semitism Part 2

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In this podcast we detail a shortened version of the shameful history of Christian anti-semitism over the last 500 years. We learn about the ruthless Portuguese Inquisition; the decrepit ghettos of Italy; the horrific massacres of Chmielnit

• Ep. 85: Ark of the Covenant: History and Current Whereabouts

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 t

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

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  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 simulta

• Ep. 31: The Six Day War Part 2

  Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe

  In the morning of June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force launched Operation Focus, an all out assault on Egyptian air bases. 50 minutes later, Israel began a massive coordinated ground attack on the entrenched Egyptian fortified positions in S