Jewish History Soundbites

By Yehuda Geberer

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.

For speaking engagements or tours in Israel or Eastern Europe

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Jewish History Soundbites episodes:

04.14.2024
Beyond the Pale: Russian Jewry outside the Pale of Settlement
The Russian Czarist government restricted Russian Jewry to the western provinces of the empire through a series of legislative acts, which came to be known as the Pale of Settlement. Starting in the 1850’s, provisions were enacted which enabled certain...
03.28.2024
The Yeshiva Elite in 19th Century Lithuania
A dominant feature of religious life of the 20th century has been the centrality of the Yeshiva institution for intensive Torah study. The modern yeshiva is a direct byproduct of its antecedents in the Russian Empire of the 19th century....
03.09.2024
Censorship in Czarist Russia
The Czarist government implemented a policy of censorship of all published material in the empire, whether it was imported or printed locally. Though this was a general policy, there were unique particularities regarding the censorship of Jewish works. In the...
03.03.2024
Cantonists & The Czarist Military (+ Recap of a Trip to Ashkenaz/Germany) Featuring Dovi Safier
In 1827 Czar Nicholas I implemented the military draft on the Jewish community of Russia as a means of integrating Jews into Russian society. The Jewish kahal was required to supply the young recruits, who then generally served for 25...
02.20.2024
The Chassidic Movement in the Russian Empire
The cradle of the Chassidic movement was in the areas of the Polish Kingdom which were soon annexed to the Russian Empire during the partitions of Poland in the last quarter of the 18th century. This took place just as...
02.12.2024
Russian Jewry under the Czars 1881-1914
The aftermath of the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881 was a watershed time period in Russian Jewish history. A reactionary phase led to the passing of the infamous May Laws which restricted Jewish life, and reversed many of...
02.03.2024
Russian Jewry under the Czars 1772-1881
From the time of the first partition of Poland in 1772, until the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Czarist Russian Empire was host to the largest Jewish population in the world. The generally antisemitic Romanov dynasty early on formulated solutions...
01.27.2024
Galician Greatness: Rav Shlomo Kluger
World renowned posek of the 19th century, prolific author and courageous leader, Rav Shlomo Kluger (1785-1869) achieved immortality in the Torah world through his nearly half century tenure as Magid and Av Beis Din in the prominent Galicia town of...
01.18.2024
The Legacy & Impact of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
As the architect of Orthodoxy in the modern era, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) has an outsized impact on the Torah world until this very day. In his own lifetime his leadership of German Jewry overall and in particular his...
01.11.2024
The Life & Legacy of the Aruch Hashulchan
One of the leading halachic authorities of the 19th century, Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1908) achieved immortality through his indispensable magnum opus Aruch Hashulchan. He grew up in Bobruisk in the Russian Pale of Settlement, and served for a decade...
01.02.2024
A Dream to Rebuild: The Early Years of Ponovezh Yeshiva
After losing his family, community and yeshiva in Ponovezh, Lithuania during the Holocaust, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (1886-1969), the Ponovezh Rav, endeavored to rebuild what was lost in the Land of Israel. He was a dreamer who carried out his...
12.23.2023
The Machal Fighters of 1948
A special place in Jewish history is reserved for the Machal fighters of 1948. These were primarily World War II veterans, who volunteered to fight for Israel during its War of Independence, and their participation served a key role in...
12.16.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part X
In this final installment of ‘The Great Shanghai Escape’ series, we explore the story of the refugees stay in Shanghai during the war years. While integrating with the local Jewish community in Shanghai, the refugees remained there for the duration...
12.09.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part IX
The refugees stay in Japan lasted much longer than their brief transit visas had initially allowed for, with the imperial government allowing them to remain for several months. Though some refugees made it to the United States or other countries,...
12.02.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part VIII Featuring Dovi Safier
As part of our ongoing series about the Great Shanghai Escape, I had a conversation with my friend and collaborator Dovi Safier, who is a known expert on this topic, as well as having done some original research highlighting new...
11.28.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part VII
The Soviets charged the refugees exorbitant fees for the exit visas and travel expenses. The Joint and the Vaad Hatzalah provided funds for these costs, with Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz investing herculean efforts to ensure the Mir contingent were able to...
11.19.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part VI
Once one was in possession of a destination visa, came the most challenging phase of the escape – applying for a Soviet exit visa. Applying for an exit visa from the ‘communist paradise’ was potentially requesting for a one way...
11.14.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part V
As thousands of Jewish refugees scrambled for Curacao ‘visas’ and Japanese transit visas, many others were skeptic regarding the visa scheme, while others thought it a downright dangerous maneuver. Not only were the Curacao visas dubious at best, but the...
11.06.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part IV
The summer of 1940 brought a measure of desperation in the search for visas in order to escape the clutches of the Soviet Union. Two Dutch citizens stranded in Lithuania independently contacted the Dutch consul in Riga LPJ de Decker,...
10.30.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part III
With the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in the summer of 1940, the search for visas to destination countries turned into a desperate endeavor for thousands of refugees who wished to escape a life under the communists. In order to execute...
10.27.2023
Bonus Episode: With Dovi Safier & Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein
In this special bonus episode of Jewish History Soundbites, Dovi Safier and Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein join me in discussing our article in Mishpacha Magazine about Rav Yonah ‘Minsker’, the famed Alter Mirrer who was killed by the Nazis...
10.22.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part II
As thousands of refugees streamed into Vilna in the fall of 1939, a humanitarian crisis ensued, with neither local authorities nor the local Jewish community capable of providing for the throngs of refugees. The situation was especially acute for the...
10.15.2023
The Great Shanghai Escape Part I
In this new series launched by Jewish History Soundbites, we’ll explore the story of the escape to Shanghai from war torn Europe during the early stages of World War II. Among the thousands of Jewish refugees who obtained visas was...
10.08.2023
Rebbe Under Communism: The Ribnitzer Rebbe
Jewish History Soundbites podcast is back after a long hiatus. Lots of great content, explorations of Jewish history and ongoing series will be posted on a consistent basis in the coming months. Stay tuned. The yahrtzeit of Rav Chaim Zanvil Abramovitz...
08.19.2023
The Jews of Sighet Part II
The Jewish history of Sighet is almost synonymous with its long line of rabbis from the Teitelbaum family. This rabbinic and chassidic dynasty dominated Orthodox life of Sighet for nearly a century prior to the community’s destruction in the Holocaust. It...
08.17.2023
The Jews of Sighet Part I
Though only settled in the 18th century and flourishing in the 19th, the town of Sighet made its mark on Jewish history and its legacy accompanies Jewish life until this very day. Nestled in the Maramaros district in Transylvania, it...
08.03.2023
The Life & Times of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt
Rav Yitzchak Aryeh (Zekl Leib) Vormser, known as the Baal Shem of Michelstadt (1768-1847) was a prominent rabbi and kabbalist, who lived in Germany in the 19th century. Having studied under Rav Nosson Adler in Frankfurt, he gained renown as...
07.24.2023
The Mirrers Who Didn’t Make It
It’s well known that the Mir Yeshiva collectively and successfully escaped war torn Europe, being stranded first in Kobe, Japan, followed by a long exile in Shanghai, China. While mostly true, there were students who were unable for one reason...
07.20.2023
Medicine & the Holocaust
The challenging and nearly impossible situations confronting Jewish victims during the Holocaust presented many varied moral dilemmas. This episode will explore some of those stories and dilemmas faced by members of the medical profession - physicians, nurses and healthcare providers....
07.14.2023
From the Ashes to the Hilltops: Rav Yehuda Amital
Rav Yehuda Amital (1924-2010) was a unique leader and builder of Torah of the 20th century. Born in Grosswardein, he survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the Land of Israel where he studied in the Chevron Yeshiva. While teaching at...
07.03.2023
Chasam Sofer Part V: Halacha & Leadership in a Changing World
Rav Moshe Sofer the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839) was both a leader and halachic decisor throughout his long rabbinical career. As he confronted a changing world where traditional Jewish life faced developing challenges of modernity, his vision, brilliance and sense of...
06.24.2023
Antisemitism Part III: The Road to Racial Antisemitism
One of the enduring antisemitic tropes has been the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ forgery. Fabricated in Czarist Russia in the early 20th century, it was later exported to Western Europe and the United States. Jews have responded to...
06.15.2023
Antisemitism Part II: Nationalism & Modern Antisemitism
The 19th century brought the rise of nationalism in European society along with the idea of emancipation and equality among the nation’s citizenry. In Western Europe the Jewish population ultimately became beneficiaries of Emancipation, but nationalism generally precluded including the...
06.12.2023
Antisemitism Part I: Old & New; Religious & Racial
Antisemitism or anti-semitism or anti-Semitism or Jew hatred or hatred of the Jewish People has been around since antiquity. Expressing itself in various ways over time and place, it has remained a salient feature of Jewish history often with tragic...
05.27.2023
Chassidic Influencers: Mashpi’im & Recurring Themes of Chassidic History
The Chabad & Breslov chassidic dynasties have always had Mashpi’im - influencers or teachers - who taught chassidic thought and inspired their communities. In recent years there’s been a growing popularity of Mashpi’im around the entire chassidic world and even...
05.18.2023
Live From Prague with Dovi Safier & Nachi Weinstein of Seforim Chatter Podcast
An unscripted conversation with Dovi Safier and Seforim Chatter podcast host Nachi Weinstein summarizing an amazing trip to Central Europe with the Daf Yomi Chaburah of Reb Sruly Borenstein and Eli Slomowitz of E&S Tours. This casual discussion covers the...
05.18.2023
Get Out! Get & Divorce in Jewish History
As long as there has been marriage, there has been divorce throughout history. The legal procedure of providing a ‘Get’ to terminate a marriage under Torah law, has often provided a window into the wider context of social and communal...
05.11.2023
Jewish Population Growth Through the Ages
Jewish population growth has fluctuated over the millennia. Unique circumstances of Jewish history have impacted Jewish demographics in a variety of ways, often adversely affecting Jewish growth through the ages. This episode will attempt to explore some basic elements of...
04.23.2023
80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
On April 19, 1943 the SS attempted the final liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, with the goal of deporting the last Jews of the Ghetto to the gas chambers at Treblinka. Most entered their bunkers and the fighters began firing...
04.09.2023
Soviet Chassid: The Story of Rav Mendel Futerfas
Rav Mendel Futerfas (1907-1995) was a Lubavitch chassid who emerged as a leader under the most challenging circumstances in the Soviet Union. He was active in one of the greatest exit attempts for Jews from the Soviet Union under the...
03.30.2023
I’ve Got a Lovely Jewish Name: First Names in Jewish History
What are some of the sources and trends in Jewish first names over the centuries? Where do double names come from? How do names differ from community to community? How are Biblical names used? What about naming for ancestors? What...
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...

What's Jewish History Soundbites about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Jewish History Soundbites episodes:

Beyond the Pale: Russian Jewry outside the Pale of Settlement

The Yeshiva Elite in 19th Century Lithuania

Censorship in Czarist Russia

Cantonists & The Czarist Military (+ Recap of a Trip to Ashkenaz/Germany) Featuring Dovi Safier

The Chassidic Movement in the Russian Empire

Russian Jewry under the Czars 1881-1914

Russian Jewry under the Czars 1772-1881

Galician Greatness: Rav Shlomo Kluger

The Legacy & Impact of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch

The Life & Legacy of the Aruch Hashulchan

A Dream to Rebuild: The Early Years of Ponovezh Yeshiva

The Machal Fighters of 1948

The Great Shanghai Escape Part X

The Great Shanghai Escape Part IX

The Great Shanghai Escape Part VIII Featuring Dovi Safier

The Great Shanghai Escape Part VII

The Great Shanghai Escape Part VI

The Great Shanghai Escape Part V

The Great Shanghai Escape Part IV

The Great Shanghai Escape Part III

Bonus Episode: With Dovi Safier & Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein

The Great Shanghai Escape Part II

The Great Shanghai Escape Part I

Rebbe Under Communism: The Ribnitzer Rebbe

The Jews of Sighet Part II

The Jews of Sighet Part I

The Life & Times of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt

The Mirrers Who Didn’t Make It

Medicine & the Holocaust

From the Ashes to the Hilltops: Rav Yehuda Amital

Chasam Sofer Part V: Halacha & Leadership in a Changing World

Antisemitism Part III: The Road to Racial Antisemitism

Antisemitism Part II: Nationalism & Modern Antisemitism

Antisemitism Part I: Old & New; Religious & Racial

Chassidic Influencers: Mashpi’im & Recurring Themes of Chassidic History

Live From Prague with Dovi Safier & Nachi Weinstein of Seforim Chatter Podcast

Get Out! Get & Divorce in Jewish History

Jewish Population Growth Through the Ages

80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Soviet Chassid: The Story of Rav Mendel Futerfas

I’ve Got a Lovely Jewish Name: First Names in Jewish History

The Vurke Chassidic Dynasty & Jewish Political Leadership

Chasam Sofer Part IV: From Frankfurt to Exile

Tourbites: Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin

Marriage Age in Jewish Eastern Europe of the 19th Century

The Last Nazarite: The Life of Rav Dovid Cohen, ’Rav Hanazir’

Tourbites: The Chozeh of Lublin

Aleksander the Great Chassidic Dynasty

Holy Crown in Brownsville: The Life & Times of Rav Moshe Rosen

Early Secularization in Jewish Europe