Jewish History with Rabbi Dr. Dovid Katz

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Genazym is offering the Prague 1595 edition of the famous Ramban theological essay דְּרָשַׁת "תּוֹרַת הַשֵּׁם תְּמִימָה" Aug 31, 2025

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In this essay, Ramban analyzes the grandeur of the Written Law , the תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, refuting Christlogical readings and the skepticism of Spanish Jewish אֶפִּיקוֹרְסִים. This is the edition published in the Prague of the Maharal Era.

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Haftarah Shoftim: "סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל תִּגְּעוּ" Aug 28, 2025

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What kind of cultural "baggage" will Jews bring with them from their exiles when they return to Eretz Yisroel?

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Parshas Shoftim: What is the actual meaning of "צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף"? Aug 27, 2025

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There's צֶדֶק - justice in the sense of social-contract. Then there is צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, which is Justice with a capital J, the attainment of judicial righteousness, which is an ideal to be pursued (תִּרְדֹּף"), though never quite attained.

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Psalm # 2 and Israel's Losing of the Current Propaganda War Aug 26, 2025

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Read this Kapitel and you will see the relevance to Israel's floundering in the current war of ideas and information. Israel is not successfully countering the demonization efforts of its enemies.

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Genazym: The First Printing of the classic בֵּית מֵאִיר (1787), the author's own copy with extensive handwritten glosses on the sides! Aug 25, 2025

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Rabbi Meir Posner of Danzig (1725-1807), one of the leading poskim of the entire 18th century. R Akiva Eger used to send him his questions! A classic אב"ד of the "Old School"

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A recent find of of an ancient coin in Jerusalem, and thoughts about the Messianic Era . Some "dirt" re: Ptolemy III and Berenice II Aug 24, 2025

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For some obscure reason, Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy III's invasion of Syria (246 BCE) to rescue his sister Berenice from a crazed mob is mentioned by the Angel Gabriel in Daniel Chapter 11 as being relevant to the events of יְמוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ. The other day, a coin of Ptlemy's Queen Berenice II was discovered under a Jerusalem parking lot.

The weird world of archaeology...

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Genazym is auctioning the 15h century classic of Talmudic Methodolgy - הֲלִיכוֹת עוֹלָם, first complete edition (Constantinople 1510) Aug 21, 2025

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This methodological intro to the Talmud was held in high esteem, and R Yosef Karo wrote a commentary (סֵפֶר כְּלָלֵי הַגְּמָרָא) on it. One of the first Hebrew books ever printed

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Moses' warning: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל can easily become a קְלָלָה! Aug 20, 2025

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To prevent human sacrifce by the uneducated, the Temple is located on the Mountain of the עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק

The Remarkable R' Meir Bumsla (1703-1769): A סְמִיכַת חָבֵר from the tension-laden Golden Age of Prague, the Era of the Noda BiYhudah- An item being auctioned by Genazym Aug 19, 2025

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A close student of R Yehonasan Eibeschutz, Bumsla nevertheless got along with the Noda BiYhudah, and the latter had a "prophecy" about Bumsla which he shared at the latter's funeral.

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Haftarah Re'eh: A future without fear? Really? Aug 18, 2025

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Isaiah 54:15 - difficult to translate convincingly

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