Jewish History Soundbites

By Yehuda Geberer

History Religion & Spirituality Judaism

What's Jewish History Soundbites about?

Listen to noted Tour Guide, Lecturer and Yad Vashem Researcher of Jewish History Yehuda Geberer bring the world of pre-war Eastern Europe alive. Join in to meet the great personages, institutions and episodes of a riveting past.

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The Vurke Chassidic Dynasty...

03.12.2023

The Vurke chassidic dynasty took a leading role in Polish Jewish life of the 19th century, and spawned several prominent offshoots such as Amshinov, Aleksander and Strikov among others. Established by Rav Yitzchak Kalish as a faction of Pshischa, it ...

Jewish History Soundbites episodes:

03.12.2023 The Vurke Chassidic Dynasty & Jewish Political Leadership The Vurke chassidic dynasty took a leading role in Polish Jewish life of the 19th century, and spawned several prominent offshoots such as Amshinov, Aleksander and Strikov among others. Established by Rav Yitzchak Kalish as a faction of Pshischa, it ...
03.04.2023 Chasam Sofer Part IV: From Frankfurt to Exile Born into a prestigious Frankfurt family in 1762, Rav Moshe Sofer, the Chasam Sofer, would carry the Frankfurt legacy for the rest of his life. His teachers included the local rabbi Rav Pinchas Horowitz, the Haflaah, as well as a ...
02.20.2023 Tourbites: Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin was the grand vision of its founder Rav Meir Shapiro. Following a long fundraising campaign, it opened in a grand ceremony in 1930. Rav Meir Shapiro set the goal of the yeshiva with its very name Chachmei ...
02.12.2023 Marriage Age in Jewish Eastern Europe of the 19th Century Matchmaking and marriage has always been a part of the Jewish story. What was the age of marriage at different times in Jewish history? How did one’s socioeconomic background impact the age of marriage? Did rich and scholarly family marry ...
01.24.2023 The Last Nazarite: The Life of Rav Dovid Cohen, ’Rav Hanazir’ In honor the Daf Yomi cycle commencing the study of Maseches Nazir, Jewish History Soundbites is proud to present in conjunction with the All Torah platform https://alltorah.org/ the story of the ‘Rav Hanazir’ Rav David Cohen (1887-1972). Having grown up ...
01.19.2023 Tourbites: The Chozeh of Lublin As the oldest Jewish cemetery in Eastern Europe, the old cemetery in Lublin contains some historical treasures and great personalities. One of the prominent ones we visit on trips is Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, the Chozeh of Lublin (1745-1815). One ...
01.02.2023 Aleksander the Great Chassidic Dynasty Based in the Lodz suburb of Aleksandrow, the Aleksander chassidic dynasty was one of the largest and most prominent in prewar Poland. Established as a branch of Vorka-Peshischa in the mid 19th century, it grew under the dynamic leadership of ...
12.20.2022 Holy Crown in Brownsville: The Life & Times of Rav Moshe Rosen Rav Moshe Rosen - the Nezer Hakodesh (c.1870-1957) was an early leader of American orthodoxy. Having served as a communal rabbi in Lithuania for three decades, he was the one who discovered the Chazon Ish as a young man in ...
12.12.2022 Early Secularization in Jewish Europe The expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century was a period of great upheaval, as a Spanish-Portuguese diaspora formed in Western Europe and the Mediterranean basin. At the same time, many conversos ...
12.03.2022 Jerusalem Odyssey: Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap (1882-1951) was an important rabbinical leader in Yerushalayim during the first half of the 20th century. A product of the Old Yishuv, he was a student of Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, Rav Hirsh Mechel Shapiro and ...
11.26.2022 The US & The Holocaust: A Review The story of the confrontation of the US and the Holocaust is done well in the recently produced Ken Burns documentary ‘The US & the Holocaust’. It purports to cover the entirety of the Holocaust from an American perspective, and ...
11.15.2022 Founder of a Dynasty: The Bais Halevi Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik - the Bais Halevi (1820-1892) was the founder of the Soloveitchik/Brisk dynasty. Following his studies in Volozhin and a short stint as a rosh yeshiva in Minsk, he was appointed assistant rosh yeshiva in Volozhin alongside ...
11.08.2022 Jews, Sports & Identity Jews and sports is an exploration of Jewish identity and integration in the modern world. This was expressed as Jews became fans of sports teams, with the most famous baseball fan in history being an eccentric Jewish woman named Hilda ...
11.06.2022 Organizing Orthodoxy: The Story of the Agudath Harabonim Part I The Agudath Harabonim of the US & Canada was founded in 1902 with the goals of strengthening traditional Jewish observance in the country. Its membership was primarily composed of Eastern European immigrant rabbis, and they focused on the areas of ...
11.02.2022 Our Grandfathers Came to this Land The Great Immigration was the population movement of millions of Jews primarily from Eastern Europe to the United States and other countries over the course of a half century between 1875-1924. Although the process, scope, catalysts, challenges of the immigration ...
10.30.2022 Feivels Going West: Jews in the Wild West The German Jewish immigration of the mid 19th century caused a demographic explosion of the American Jewish community from a mere 5,000 in 1830 to approximately 250,000 in 1880. Economic opportunity, the California Gold Rush and a general American migration ...
10.24.2022 Chasam Sofer Part III: A Pressburg Situation Rav Moshe Sofer (1762-1839) - the Chasam Sofer - led the Pressburg Jewish community for 33 years. From the time of his initial appointment he faced struggles and challenges from progressive elements within the community. Even as the Chasam Sofer ...
10.02.2022 Chasam Sofer Part II: Old Traditions, New Message “Chadash Asur Min Hatorah” - Anything new is forbidden, has become a slogan in defense of Jewish tradition confronting the challenges of modernity. Formulated by Rav Moshe Sofer (1762-1839) the Chasam Sofer and longtime rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava), he has ...
09.18.2022 United We Split: The Leadership of Rav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky Rav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (1867-1948) was the rabbi of the Eidah Chareidis community in Yerushalayim & headed the branch of Agudas Yisrael in that country for 15 crucial and tumultuous years. Having grown up in Hungary, he had previously served ...
09.10.2022 The Royals & The Jews The Jewish People have had a long relationship with British royalty. From the expulsion of the Jews from England by King Edward I in 1290 to the resettlement which continued despite King Charles II returning to the throne in 1660. ...
09.04.2022 On the Cusp of Modernity: The Noda B’yehuda The Jewish world of the 18th century was at the nexus of internal and external transformative events which would lead into the modern era. Political changes included the effects of the Seven Years War in central Europe and the partitions ...
08.17.2022 A Light in the Darkness: Rav Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Rav Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson, served as rabbi in Yekaterinoslav in the Soviet Union. As he valiantly attempted to maintain traditional Jewish life under increasingly challenging conditions under the communist regime, ...
08.13.2022 1897: A Year of Transition Though change is generally a gradual process through history, it’s worth noting how several momentous events which were indicators of a dynamic Jewish community all occurred during the year 1897. The first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, the founding of ...
08.05.2022 The Working Group & its Desperate Rescue Attempts The Slovakian Working Group was likely the most heroic attempt at Jewish rescue during the Holocaust. Dealing directly with the SS and their Slovak collaborators, members of the Working Group bribed the perpetrators, smuggled goods and Jews across borders and ...
07.28.2022 From Young Rosh Yeshiva to Senior Sage: Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer Part II Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1953) was a great Torah leader of the 20th century, whose life story spanned eras and continents. As a young teenager he studied in the vaunted Volozhin Yeshiva, then married into the prestigious Frank family of ...
07.25.2022 From Slabodka to Slutzk: Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer Part I Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1953) was a great Torah leader of the 20th century, whose life story spanned eras and continents. As a young teenager he studied in the vaunted Volozhin Yeshiva, then married into the prestigious Frank family of ...
07.17.2022 Jewish Saviors of the Holocaust Part III: The Sobibor Revolt Within the framework of Operation Reinhard, the Nazi extermination of Polish Jewry, the SS built three death camps in Eastern Poland - Belzec, Treblinka & Sobibor. The latter was the smallest of the three, and a quarter of a million ...
07.14.2022 Jewish Saviors of the Holocaust Part II: From a Tunnel in Novogrudok to the Bielski Partisans On the night of September 26, 1943 232 Jews escaped through a tunnel from the Novogrudok Ghetto. Nearly 170 survived, primarily by joining the Bielski partisans who operated nearby in the Naliboki forest. This was likely the greatest escape in ...
07.07.2022 Growth & Consolidation: The Lev Simcha Rav Simcha Bunim Alter (1898-1992), the Lev Simcha of Ger, was a leader during a time period of growth and consolidation. Having grown up in Poland and emerged as a great Torah scholar, he moved to Palestine in 1934, and ...
07.05.2022 Jewish Saviors of the Holocaust Part I: Monsieur & the Belgian Orphans Jewish History Soundbites is proud to launch a special series entitled ‘Jewish Saviors of the Holocaust’. It will explore the narratives of Jews under Nazi occupation risking their lives to save others during the Holocaust. Each unique profile will explore ...
06.27.2022 An Enlightened Song: The Story of Shir Prague has had its fair share of characters throughout its storied history, yet Shlomo Yehuda Rapoport (1790-1867) or Shir as he was known was definitely one of the more interesting ones. Born into a rabbinic family in Lvov, Shir married ...
06.19.2022 Captain from Kovno: Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor Perhaps the most acclaimed leader of Russian Jewry of the 19th century was Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (1817-1896). A long-time Rabbi of Kovno, his impact reached the far reaches of the Russian Empire and beyond. He served as the leading ...
06.12.2022 Frum Politics: Rav Yehoshua of Belz, Rav Shimon Sofer & Machzikei Hadas Founded in 1879 the Rav Yehoshua of Belz and Rav Shimon Sofer, the Machzikei Hadas political party was the first Orthodox political party in Jewish history. The unique status of Galician Jewry of the 19th century, as a heavily traditional, ...
06.03.2022 Shavuos Musings & Uri Zohar Tribute The recent passing of Uri Zohar is an opportunity to pay tribute to this unique individual who made the journey from the apex of the Israeli entertainment world to embracing religious observance. With Shavuos approaching, it’s an opportunity to reflect ...
05.22.2022 A Chassid in Krakow: The Maor Veshemesh Rav Klonymous Kalman Halevi Epstein (1751-1823) is known by his posthumously published work the Maor Veshemesh. Born into a poor family, he spent the bulk of his childhood selling bagels in the streets of Krakow to support his family. He ...
05.16.2022 Shylock & Friends: The Jews of Venice Jews have lived in Venice for more than a millennium. In 1516 the Jewish community of Venice was restricted to one area of the city, and this came to be known as the Ghetto, the first of its kind in ...
05.07.2022 Hungarian Royalty: The Chasam Sofer & His Family One of the most influential Torah leaders in the modern era was Rav Moshe Sofer, the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839). Rabbi, rosh yeshiva, posek, prolific author, and most of all, a charismatic leader who confronted the challenges of modernity, and led ...
05.02.2022 Get it? The Strange Story of the ’Get of Cleves’ The strange story of the Get of Kleve (or Cleves) rocked the rabbinical world of the 1760’s. What commenced as an innocuous question regarding a young man’s mental faculties, and his resulting capability of participating in a divorce ceremony, soon ...
04.25.2022 More than a Miracle Worker: Rav Eliyahu Guttmacher Rav Eliyahu Guttmacher (1796-1874) was a German rabbi who gained renown as a miracle worker during his tenure in the rabbinate of Gratz (Greiditz). Thousands from Poland and all over Europe would petition him asking for his blessings and prayers ...
04.14.2022 From Rugby to the World Stage: Rav Avigdor Miller Part III With his appointment as congregational rabbi of the Young Israel of Rugby in East Flatbush in 1947, Rav Avigdor Miller embarked on the most famous aspect of his storied career. He saw his role as rabbi primarily as a teacher ...
04.07.2022 Rabbi & Educator: Rav Avigdor Miller Part II Rav Avigdor Miller assumed the rabbinate of Walnut Street Shul in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1939, and would remain there for six years. Seeking better educational opportunity for his children, he moved to East Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1945 and would remain ...
04.03.2022 The Maharal of Prague The Maharal of Prague (c.1512-1609) was more legend than reality. His teachings and diverse scholarship seem to grow more popular with time, but who was he and what was the world that he lived and operated in? The Maharal was ...
03.31.2022 Baltimore meets Slabodka: Rav Avigdor Miller Part I Rav Avigdor Miller (1908-2001) was a unique and influential rabbinical leader on the American scene of the 20th century. With his life spanning most of the tumultuous 20th century, his life story is somewhat a microcosm of Jewish life during ...
03.25.2022 The History of Soviet Jewry Part III: Refuseniks & Immigrants Soviet Jewry in the 1970’s and 80’s was a large community which was struggling to define its Jewish identity. Following the Six Day War in Israel, the Refusenik movement gained traction, with many young Soviet Jews applying for exit visas, ...
03.20.2022 The History of Soviet Jewry Part II: Destruction & Memory The Molotov-Von Ribbentrop non-aggression pact ultimately led to the annexation of large swaths of territory into the Soviet Union. The Jews of eastern Poland and the Baltic States now had to acclimate to the realities of Soviet Jewish life. With ...
03.13.2022 The History of Soviet Jewry Part I: From the Pale to the Revolution The Russian Revolutions of 1917 drastically transformed the lives of the largest Jewish community in the world. Emancipation was finally achieved, the hated Czar was finally deposed and they could finally reside outside the Pale of Settlement. With the founding ...
03.01.2022 Brisk Management: Another Look at Rav Chaim Brisker Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, known as Rav Chaim Brisker (1853-1918), has enjoyed an outsized influence on the methodology of Talmudic study and the development of the modern Torah world. As a historical figure he was not only influential but beloved as ...
02.23.2022 From Slonim to Tverya: The Nesivos Shalom Part II Rav Shalom Noach Berezovsky was appointed Slonim Rebbe shortly prior to his father in law’s passing in 1981. As he had served as the rosh yeshiva of Slonim for decades, this enabled him to enjoy a close relationship with his ...
02.17.2022 A Teacher from Slonim: The Nesivos Shalom Part I The Slonim Rebbe, Rav Shalom Noach Berezovsky (1911-2000) was known by his popular work the Nesivos Shalom. Having grown up in Baranovich in the center of the Slonim chassidic dynasty, he was appointed by the rebbe the Bais Avraham to ...
02.12.2022 From World War to Revolution: Iranian Jewry Part II Iranian Jewry in the 20th century saw much upheaval. The rise of the Pahlavi dynasty brought much hope to the Persian Jewish community. Iran served as a center of some important events of World War II with the Anglo-Soviet invasion ...

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