This class takes us inside the Jewish wine economy of earlier centuries. We will see communities enforcing price ceilings, outlawing seller collusion, and appointing assessors to protect community members from being overcharged. In some places, the system became so aggressively strict: monopoly-style selling rights, blind tastings, barrels sealed by wine assessors, community-owned measuring jugs, and stiff fines for anyone who tried to sell wine off the books.

Wine: Blind Tastes, Price Controls, and the Most Regulated Wine Market You’ve Ever Seen

In the mid-1860s, a wave of rabbinic correspondence swept across central and eastern Europe as leading rabbis grappled with a vexing dilemma: how to respond to an antisemitic trial that touched directly on core points of Jewish theology. This case pitted antisemites against Jews, and within the Jewish community, enlightened progressives against traditionalists. Navigating this reality proved deeply contentious.

Isaiah 53 on Trial: The 1863 Vienna Case That Split Jewish Leadership

In this final class of the series, we explore the Rebbe’s comments about Israel’s lopsided hostage deals during the late 1970s and 1980s, alongside the perspectives of other poskim during that period.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part IV (Israel, 1979–1987)

In this class (third of a four-part series), we look at the halachic debate over freeing hostages as it unfolded in Israel during the 1970s. After the September 1970 triple hijacking, several poskim weighed in on whether it was permitted to meet the terrorists’ demands. The discussion resurfaced a few years later after the Yom Kippur War, and then again in the wake of the famous Entebbe raid in 1976.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part III (Israel, 1970–1976)

Today, we’re returning to the topic of hostages in Jewish history. Last time, we spent most of our attention on the exceptions to the rule. This time, we’re looking at cases where the Mishnah’s ban on overpaying played at least a partial role in shaping actual halachic decisions and communal policy. And yet, as we will see, the overarching conclusion that we reached in the prior class will hold: overpaying often occurred. And it’s all a step closer to discussing this dilemma in the contemporary context, which we will do in an upcoming class.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part II

This class takes up one of the most challenging moral questions in Halachah: how far should we go to redeem captives? We’ll look at how this issue unfolded in Jewish communities around the world during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries—what actually happened, and how the poskim grappled with the Mishnah’s rule against paying more than market value. In a future class, we’ll revisit this topic in the modern context of Israel and its ongoing struggle against terrorism.

The Hostage Dilemma: Part I

In this class, we’ll trace how the sale of mitzvos in shul began, why it caught on, and how it spread across the Jewish world. We’ll look at halachic debates about selling on Shabbos and Yom Tov and at the fiery disputes that erupted over bidding rights, auction miscommunications, and the occasional auctioneer mischief. We’ll also hear from the voices who opposed the practice and what their protests reveal about their communities and times.

Bidding Wars: Inside the History of Selling Shul Honors

Ever feel like some piyutim just don’t flow right, as if the stanzas are out of order? Join us for a historical detective journey as we trace the piyut V'chol Maaminim and explore its possible connection to the enigmatic poet Yannai, whose true genius was hidden for centuries. We’ll uncover forgotten clues from the Cairo Geniza and reveal the song’s original, elegant structure. Finally, we’ll explore how key ideas from Chasidus unlock profound messages within its stanzas—a perfect way to enter the new year.

We’ve Been Singing It All Wrong? Solving the V'chol Maaminim Mystery

Jews have been talking in shul for centuries, and rabbis and communities have tried countless ways to stop it. From twelfth-century Cairo to the Lower East Side in the early 1900s, this struggle has played out across Jewish communities worldwide. This class offers a light yet thoughtful examination of the history of “shul chatter” and how Jews have navigated it through the ages.

The Saga of Shul Shmoozing: A Historical Look at Talking in Shul Across the Centuries

In 1827, Czar Nicholas I decreed that Jewish boys and young men be conscripted into the Russian army, a policy that shook Jewish life in Russia to its core. Communities debated and attempted various strategies to confront this crisis, and in that context, the Tzemach Tzedek was asked whether a particular approach was permissible. In this class, we’ll explore the historical backdrop, unpack the Tzemach Tzedek’s responsum, and work together to understand its meaning.

The Cantonist Crisis