Jewish History

00:00 – Daryavesh, king of the Chaldeans, conquers Bavel (Babylonia).

*07:58 – Why a person should daven (pray) in a place where he can see the sky through a window.

13:34 – Comparison between Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den and the selling of Yosef HaTzaddik. “Save me from the hand of man.”

14:40 – Why is a scorpion more dangerous than a snake?

19:20 – King Daryavesh discovers that Daniel is still alive in the lion’s den. Daniel relates how an angel protected him from the lions, and that the Navi Habakuk had stayed with him as well.

21:32 – Habakuk was chosen to stay with Daniel because he is a symbol of techiyas hameysim (revival of the dead).

24:05 – The story of Daniel describes, in a hidden way, the process of the revelation of Moshiach.

24:19 – Why does a person suffer? “HaTeva” is, b’gematria, “Elokim”.

28:59 – How would a person go about performing miracles? What is nature?

32:14 – The main teaching of Rebbe Nachman is simple faith.

*35:39 – Maintaining simple faith, even in the difficult times before Moshiach is revealed. This is done through learning Torah and turning Torah into tefilah.

00:00 – The second dream of Nebuchadnezzar.

03:31 – Daniel’s response to hearing the vision of the tree.

05:08 – The meaning of the dream.

07:07 – Any type of yisurim (difficulties) can be redeemed through tzedakah (charity).

10:02 – Question of whether the State of Israel should accept reparations from Germany. How should these reparations been viewed? As nothing more than partial repayment for stolen property.

12:39 – Nebuchadnezzar is transformed into an animal for seven years. (Daniel 4:25-35). This occurrence is the origin of the concept of a werewolf. The Gemara describes mermaids, mermen, and other strange beings that actually did (or still do) exist.

17:01 – Nebuchadnezzar is restored to human form and makes amends for his treatment of the Jews.

17:36 – The death of Nebuchadnezzar and the reign of his son, Belshazzar.

20:21 – The vessels of the Beis HaMikdash were used at the feast of Belshazzar. The handwriting on the wall appears.

27:44 – There are four opinions in the gemara on how the handwriting on the wall was encoded: 1) Rav: in the gematria form of AtBaSH.

29:10 – 2) Rabbi Yochanan’s opinion: the words were written backwards. 3) Rav Ashi says the first two letters of each word were written order.

29:48 – 4) The Amora, Shmuel, says the letters were written in a different order than the code presented by Rav Ashi.

31:29 – Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai ז”ל asks about the meaning of echoes in the mesifta in Shemayim .

32:29 – Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai asks for a description of Gan Eden for women.

33:24 – The encoding of the handwriting on the wall as explained in the Zohar HaKodesh.

37:20 – The message for all generations in these accounts is that harm done to Am Yisrael is always punished.

00:00 – Brief review of previous shiur in Sefer Daniel.

02:29 – Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar‘s dream. Daniel is elevated to the highest post in Bavel and the king recognizes and acknowledges the absolute supremacy of Hashem.

06:10 – Introduction to the miracle of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the fiery furnace. Why did Nebuchadnezzar stop believing in Hashem? This questions applies to all nations that attempt to harm Am Yisrael. Similarities between Hitler and Roosevelt יש”ו – both were against the Jewish People, but went about causing harm in different ways.

14:05 – The word gematria means “numerical value”. Refugees from Korea were accepted but the Jews during World War II were not.

16:53 – During the Sinai Campaign in 1956 the United States united with Russia against Israel.

19:13 – Anti-semitism results in suicidal behavior.

22:09 – Nebuchadnezzar built a statue based on his dream and commanded everyone to bow down to it. By forcing the Jews to do this, his goal was to prevent the fulfillment of his dream, in which Moshiach ultimately triumphed over his kingdom.

28:37 – Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah speak to the king about the self-sacrifice of the frogs during the ten plagues.

34:47 – Introduction to Nebuchadnezzar‘s dream of the tree.

00:00 – Historical background of Sefer Daniel.

09:47 – Daniel, Mishael, Chananiah, and Azariah are renamed Belshezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

12:02 – Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

*18:45 – The hisbodedus (personal prayer) of Daniel. How and why Hisbodedus can save your life.

27:38 – The elements of hisbodedus – gratitude, request, praise.

28:27 – Power over the rain and all the other weather elements are reserved by Hashem Himself.

29:14 – The four worlds, the greatest perceivable light of Hashem is in keser.

31:46 – Daniel offers to reveal the king’s dream.

35:54 – Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: statue with feet of clay and head of gold (Babylonian empire), chest and arms of silver (Greek empire), hips of bronze (Greek empire), legs of iron (Roman empire). (Daniel 2:32-35).

00:00 – Archival recording of the LaG B’Omer shiur of 5735 (1975).

04:32 – How does the Zohar HaKodesh protect the Jew in every generation?

13:35 – Rebbe Nachman’s explanation of the debate in the gemara (Shabbos 139a) about the Torah being forgotten.

21:53 – How can a regular person living now connect with the light of the Torah and tzaddikim?

24:26 – Rabbi Rosenfeld introduces an archival recording of the LaG B’Omer shiur of 5733 (1973).

29:13 – [Recording becomes more audible.] Gahl Eyd – mound of stones – Gahl is LaG.

31:11 – The gemara (Shabbos 139a) states that the Torah will be forgotten, so how can Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai contradict this? Hashem assures Am Yisrael that He will “forget” the Egel HaZahav – sin of the Golden Calf.

*36:32 – חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם – “renew our days as in previous time” (Eicha/Lamentations 5:21). The power of beginnings.

37:04 – Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai achieved the same Ohr Panim – radiance of face – as Moshe Rabbeinu.

39:38 – The power of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s ability to remember is renewed every LaG B’Omer. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said “Now I am here, too, to add to this power.”

00:00 – Review of previous shiur – overview of Iyov’s life and suffering.

02:55 – Iyov’s fourth friend, Elihu.

08:31 – Hashem Himself responds to Iyov.

11:34 – Hashem describes His ongoing creation and sustenance of every creature.

24:24 – Hashem’s punishment of Eliyahu HaNavi for failing to defend the Jews.

28:57 – When a person is in pain, his mind is affected. Words spoken in pain can be forgiven, but only up to a point.

31:15 – In the latter part of Iyov’s life he was rewarded, living an addition 140 years beyond his age (70) when his suffering began.

36:05 – Pharaoh had three advisors: Bilaam, Yisro, and Iyov.

03:23 – The Satan praises Avraham Avinu and Hashem praises Iyov (Job).

07:04 – Hashem proposes a trial for Iyov.

08:26 – Why did the Satan praise Avraham Avinu?

10:24 – The Satan is the “m’od” of “tov m’od” in the account of creation.

13:55 – Iyov responds to all his devastating losses: “Hashem gives and Hashem takes away.”

19:09 – The Arizal reveals that Iyov was a gilgul of Terach and his wife was a gilgul of Dinah bas Yaakov.

27:30 – Iyov’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

31:21 – No person today knows astrology.

00:00 – Jewish history resembles the waxing and waning of the moon: there were fifteen generations from Avraham Avinu to Shlomo Hamelech and the Beis HaMikdash.

12:12 – There are two kinds of wisdom – upper and lower.

13:02 – Following Shlomo Hamelech were 16 generations to Galus Bavel (the Babylonian exile).

20:52 – Gan Eden and Gehinnam are separated by a very thin, almost imperceptible boundary.

24:00 – How anger destroys a person’s soul.

25:37 – The importance of answering אמן to a blessing.

28:00 – Hashem rewards good deeds far more than He punishes for mistakes.

33:09 – Why two people can never be compared.

34:16 – The waning of the moon resembles the thin boundary between Gan Eden and Gehinnam. The decline of Am Yisrael in the generations after Shlomo HaMelech. While the nations that conquered Israel eventually disappeared, Am Yisrael is compared to the phoenix.

35:58 – Blessing of the new moon.

*37:41 – “For a person who has daas – it’s as if the Beis HaMikdash is rebuilt in his days” (Sanhedrin 92a).

00:00 – Review.

02:32 – The evil king Amon is assassinated and his righteous son Yeshayahu becomes king of Yehudah.

08:10 – Chuldah HaNaviyah (Huldah the Prophetess) is consulted by the king when a sefer Torah is discovered hidden in the heichal (chamber) of the Beis HaMikdash.

09:37 – To encourage teshuvah (repentance) among the People of Israel, Yeshayahu funded an especially festive celebration of Pesach.

13:22 – When Yeshayahu Melech Yehudah is killed in battle, his son Yoachaz becomes king for 3 months.

19:06 Tzidkiyahu tried to escape from the siege of Jerusalem through a tunnel, but was captured. His sons were killed in front of his eyes, and then he was blinded. The Arizal reveals that Tzidkiyahu was a gilgul (incartnation) of Shimson HaGibor (Samson).

24:05 – The walls of Jerusalem were breached on Tisha B’Av and the Kadosh Kadoshim (Holy of Holies) was set on fire.

25:29 – Gedaliah was made ruler of the kingdom of Yehudah but was assassinated the day after Rosh Hashanah. He is commemorated through Tzom Gedaliah, a public fast day.

26:08 – On Rosh Hashanah there are two days of din (judgement) – the first day is called Dina Kashya (strict judgement) and the second day is called Dinah Rafya (lenient judgement).

27:53 – The rise of Bavel (Babylonia) and the destruction of Yerushalayim, end of Sefer Melachim (Book of Kings).

32:03 – The blood of Zechariah HaNavi seethed up from the ground and would not rest.

35:51 – A ger (convert to Judaism) is judged by the status of Am Yisrael at the time of his conversion.

03:28 – Chezkiyahu HaMelech asks to marry the daughter of Yeshayahu HaNavi.

12:15 – A son is not named after his father if his father is still alive.

17:00 – The tests of Cain, Bilaam, and Chezkiyahu HaMelech.

19:21 – After the passing of Chezkiyahu HaMelech, his son, Menashe, became king. He spread idol worship among the Jews and “filled Yerushalayim with a river of blood” by killing Yeshayahu HaNavi.

25:37 – The question of Menashe – “Do we make the blessing hamotzei on the crust of bread or the soft, inner part?” The blessing is made on the crust, since it’s the part of the bread that’s baked first.

27:59 – Why did Menashe ask this particular question about making HaMotzi?

32:29 – Rav Ashi gives a Torah shiur in the name of Menashe ben Chezkiyahu.

*36:22 – Menashe repented for his sins but how could Hashem forgive him after the crimes he committed? Even though all the angels in heaven tried to block his teshuvah, his prayer was heard and accepted by Hashem. This account is an encouragement for every Jew, a reminder that the path of return is always open.

39:00 – Hashem carved out a tunnel under His Throne to allow for Menashe’s return.