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 […]

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

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 […]

The History of Chanukah: Hellenism, Heroism and Hasmoneans (Rebroadcast)

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 […]

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

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 […]

Ep. 80: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Historical Background

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 […]

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

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; […]

Ep. 78: The History and Development of Oral Torah (Part 2: Hasmoneans, Herod, and Hillel)

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 […]

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

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 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]

TORCH Fundraiser: A Conversation with our Board President, Dan Kullman

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 […]

Start 2021 Right with The Parsha Podcast

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, […]

Ep. 76: JC in Jewish Sources: Exploring the Censored Text

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 […]

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

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 […]

Thanks a Million!

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 […]

Ep. 74 – Chacham Ovadia Yosef: Part One – The Prince of Torah

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 […]

Ep. 73: Rabbi Avraham Grodzinsky: The Exemplar of Slabodka

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 […]

Ep. 72: Chazon Ish: Part Three – On Politics and the Conflict of Religion and State

In 1933, Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz – the Chazon Ish – moved to British Mandate Palestine. Prior to his departure, the recognized leader of the Torah world, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky of Vilna had sent a letter to the leaders of the Yishuv informing them that a Torah giant was coming. Employing classic Talmudic phraseology, he wrote […]

Ep. 71: Chazon Ish: The Founding Father of the Modern Yeshiva World (Part Two: Making the Spiritual Desert Bloom)

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 Jews, came everything that generations of Jewish communities had built over the millennium. A world of Jewish […]

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

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 the Yom Kippur War, we tell the stories of the war’s […]

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

The Yom Kippur War is – at least from a military perspective – a tale of two conflicts: The early stages of the war were completely one-sided, with the combined Arab armies of Syria and Egypt dominating the battlefields and making huge gains and inflicting punishing blows to the Israelis. But the tide dramatically turned, and ultimately […]

Ep. 68: The Yom Kippur War (Part Three: The Tide Turns)

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 simultaneous surprise attacks from the Syrians in the Golan Heights in the North, and the Egyptians in the Sinai […]

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