In this episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim look to the Gedolei Yisrael of the 20th century for chizzuk in times of crisis and tzara. They discuss chassidishe men being drafted to the Russian army in the early 1900’s, and Chofetz Chaim’s sefer Machane Yisrael, which directly addresses yidden going to battle. Is the zchus of soldiers saying shema enough? Why are secular soldiers seeing Yad Hashem and unity more than ever before? How did Rav Elyashiv and Rav Shlomo Zalman come to answer army teshuvos? And why did Rav Goren, Chief Rabbi of Israel, join a paratrooper brigade?

In part two of this episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim speak further about the Chazon Ish, and what he accomplished for the Chareidi world in the last two decades of his life.

In part one of this two-part episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim talk about the Chazon Ish, Rav Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, and try to define the vast influence of the Chazon Ish on the frum world, and his impact on the conditions that allowed the Chareidi world in Israel to flourish.

In Part Two of this episode about Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky discuss Rav Ovadiah’s fearless willingness to take on forces greater and older than he was, even from an extraordinarily young age. They discuss his passionate arguments in his teenage years against the prevalent view that the Ben Ish Chai should be considered the final authority in the Sepahrdi world. They discuss Rav Ovadiah’s rebbetzin, Rabbanit Margalit Ovadiah, who sacrificed everything for Rav Ovadiah’s Torah, both in Eretz Yisrael and in Cairo. Hear about halachic shoulders broad enough to free 950 agunos after the Yom Kippur War, and to give the heter for giving land for peace in Israel, despite Rav Ovadiah’s alignment with the political right. Learn what the single sentence was that Maran said to convince his wife to marry him, and why a shochet from Cairo hired an assassin to kill him.

In Part One of a two-part series, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky talk about Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the legendary posek and preeminent leader of the Sephardic world. Rav Ovadiah’s unique geonus and malchus were powers that were able to galvanize those around him to channel their energies into an untold number of efforts on behalf of the klal, leaving a legacy of the Sephardic baal teshuvah movement, the Sephardic chinuch movement, and a rich heritage of Torah and leadership in the rapidly growing Sephardic world. They discuss Rav Ovadiah’s involvement in the Shas party and his message of restoring Sephardic dignity to the public. Find out which gedolim prevented Rav Ovadiah Yosef from becoming a Machaneh Yehudah shopkeeper, and how Rav Ovadiah’s last name became his first name.

In this episode, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky discuss the impact that the visionary Ponevezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, had on the Torah world, and how he brought Torah to the masses in Eretz Yisrael. They discuss the Rav’s revolt against the mussar movement in his early life, and how his stance on mussar changed over the course of his life. How did the Ponovezher Rav redeem 700 Jewish prisoners of war? When is a dreamer also a visionary? And they answer this important question: Are all the shtreimel wearers in Eretz Yisrael chassidish?

In Part Two of this series on Rav Aharon Kotler, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky delve into the creation of Lakewood. Today, it is a bastion of Torah; how did Rav Aharon build this incredible Ir Torah from a summer zeman of 14 “bench squeezers”? They discuss Rav Aharon’s legacy of Torah Umesorah and Jewish day schools as well, all of which were instrumental in making the pursuit of limud Torah lishmah a serious and legitimate endeavor in the modern age. Also: Find out why many gedolim in England are called dayan and whether the yungeleit of Lakewood ever considered a side job of canning vegetables.