History

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our History resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

16 | Rabbinic Letters

Dr. Marc Shapiro

Welcome to a Jewish History Uncensored with Dr. Marc Shapiro. This season we are covering the story of Dr. Shapiro’s most recent book.–a collection of letters from some of the great Rabbinic figures of our day. The correspondences between Dr.…
Podcast

e-TiM: Orthodox Conversion to Judaism in American Responsa Literature (Part 6)

Rabbi Adam Mintz

Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah (Part 5)

Yosef Lindell

This week's topic: Is Nirtzah Really a Step of the Seder?The Seder ends when we drink the fourth cup of wine. But then there’s another “step,” Nirtzah, which is a curious collection of songs. We will explore this final, enigmatic section of the…
Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah (Part 4)

Yosef Lindell

This week's topic: Why Don’t We Talk More About the Korban Pesach at the Seder?Following the destruction of the Temple, our Sages grappled with how to have Pesach without its central feature, the Pesach sacrifice. The way they reconstructed the…
Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah (Part 3)

Yosef Lindell

This week's topic: Why is the Seder So Disorderly?For a ritual that means “order,” the Seder is remarkably disorganized. The Haggadah does not tell a coherent version of Exodus story and is missing significant parts of the tale. Yet maybe this is a…
Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah (Part 2)

Yosef Lindell

This week's topic: How Many Questions are in Ma Nishtana? Are They Even Questions?Everyone knows the Ma Nishtana. But figuring out how many questions are being asked, or if they were really meant to be questions at all, is an interpretive puzzle…
Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah (Part 1)

Yosef Lindell

This week's topic: Are You a Karaite If You Leave Out Avadim Hayinu?In the 800s, Rav Natronai Gaon in Babylonia polemicized against what he called a Karaite version of the Haggadah that was missing the paragraph of Avadim Hayinu andother sections.…
Class

From the Mishnah to Maggid: Case Studies in the Development of the Haggadah

Yosef Lindell

Every year we read the Haggadah at the Seder, and every year we ask the same questions about it. We wonder about the same odd turns of phrase and are puzzled by the same aspects of how it tells the story of the Exodus. This year, however, let’s try…
Program

58. Scholem's Postmortem | Dr. Noam Zadoff (Shabbetai Tzevi #5)

J.J. Kimche

J.J. and Dr. Noam Zadoff methodically demistify Gershom Scholem's iconoclastic but influential views about Sabbateanism and its causal connection to just about every contemporary element of Jewish life. 
Podcast

15 | Rabbinic Letters

Dr. Marc Shapiro

Welcome to a Jewish History Uncensored with Dr. Marc Shapiro. This season we are covering the story of Dr. Shapiro’s most recent book.–a collection of letters from some of the great Rabbinic figures of our day. The correspondences between Dr.…
Podcast