Jewish History Soundbites

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 Jews on an ideological level. And thus modern Antisemitism was born. Emancipation stated that Jews are now part of society, and nationalism generally rejected them from society. The term Antisemitism was born in Germany, was quite prominent in France and was brought to the full brunt of its expression in Imperial Russia of the Czars where its massive Jewish population didn’t even receive emancipation. In the closing decade of the 19th century and the opening decade of the 20th, two major antisemitic trials rocked the Jewish world. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was a Jewish officer on the French general staff, who was falsely accused of espionage. The controversy surrounding his innocence and wrongful conviction divided French society. Mendel Beilis was a superintendent of a factory in Kiev and was falsely accused of ritual murder. The virulently antisemitic trial which ensued attempted to frame the entire Jewish People and was reminiscent of medieval anti Jewish expression. 

 

This series on the history of Antisemitism has been sponsored by the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies, a leading academic program in Jewish Studies that equips students with the tools to search out their own unique path into the study of Jewish history and scholarship. For more information on admission to the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies, including scholarship opportunities, please visit https://gsjs.touro.edu/ or call 212-463-0400, ext. 55580

 

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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 consequences. While the Middle Ages is often associated with religious/Christian/Church anti Jewish discrimination, which often culminated in expulsions, pogroms, crusades, forced conversions and ritual murder charges, the 19th century is more associated with a manifestation of antisemitism in a modern form, at the nexus of nationalism and Jew hatred. This was followed by racial antisemitism with its most deadly expression in the Nazi Holocaust.

Despite the seemingly orderly chronological sequence of the development of antisemitism over the millennia, it was often a confluence of factors - religious, economic, racial, nationalistic - through which anti Jewish policies were implemented throughout history. This three part series will explore some of the distinctive features of Jew hatred, with a focus on modern antisemitism of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This series on the history of Antisemitism has been sponsored by the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies, a leading academic program in Jewish Studies that equips students with the tools to search out their own unique path into the study of Jewish history and scholarship. For more information on admission to the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies, including scholarship opportunities, please visit https://gsjs.touro.edu/ or call 212-463-0400, ext. 55580

For sponsorship opportunities about your favorite topics of Jewish history contact Yehuda at:  yehuda@yehudageberer.com 

Subscribe To Our Podcast on: PodBean: https://jsoundbites.podbean.com/

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You can email Yehuda at yehuda@yehudageberer.com 

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 beyond. Where does the idea of a chassidic mashpia originate from? Does it have historical precedent in the chassidic movement? Is history repeating itself? How did the chassidic movement maintain its vitality so successfully over the centuries? This episode will attempt to provide a macro view with some recurring themes over the course of nearly three centuries of the history of the chassidic movement. In a seemingly cyclical fashion, the chassidic movement’s demographic growth and communal successes have led to institutionalization and a danger of losing the initial spiritual vitality so essential to its essence. At several junctures in its storied history, the chassidic movement has successfully rejuvenated itself in creative ways, never losing its spark or its mission despite external challenges and internal struggles.

 

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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 people and places we saw - Vienna, Bratislava (Chasam Sofer), Mikulov (Nikolsburg), Holesov (the Shach) & Prague. As we review this exciting trip, we attempt to provide some historical background and analysis, while it is constantly accompanied by light banter as well.

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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 life throughout Jewish history. The intricate laws of Gittin have been the backdrop of rabbinical leadership, communal crisis and halachic creativity. In honor of the Daf Yomi commencement of Maseches Gittin, this episode will explore some curious angles and anecdotes in which a Get appears as the player in Jewish history.

This episode is sponsored by Daf Yomi with Shaul C. Greenwald, a fast-moving energetic daf shiur, delivered with clarity and intensity. The shiur is available daily on all podcast platforms, All Daf and Torah Anytime. https://alldaf.org/series/5677/  

 

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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 Jewish demographics, fluctuations as well as salient features, and examine the numbers and their significance. The great Jewish demographic story of the Modern Era is the population explosion of Eastern European Jewry in the 19th century, with the tragic and sudden demographic contraction as a result of the Holocaust.

 

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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 on the SS who had entered the Ghetto in order to commence the deportation. The SS retreated and their commander Jurgen Stroop resorted to burning down the entire ghetto which eventually crushed the uprising and the survivors were deported to Treblinka and Majdanek. 

This episode will attempt to clarify some of these events and explore some of the questions that hindsight affords the luxury of speculating. Was the armed resistance an exercise in futility? Would perhaps more have survived had they not resisted the attempt to deport the last ones to Treblinka?

 

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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 cover of the repatriation agreement signed between the Soviet Union and Poland in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Under the terms of the agreement Polish citizens were permitted to return to Poland, and some Soviet Jews utilized the opportunity to forge Polish documents and finally exit the Soviet Union. Rav Mendel was arrested in the operations aftermath and sentenced to eight years of hard labor in Siberia. Upon his release, he embarked on a heroic attempt at igniting the fire of Yiddishkeit and Chassidic life in the post Stalinist Soviet Union until he finally was able to reunite with his family in England in 1964. The last decades of his life were spent as the central mashpia at Kfar Chabad in Israel until his passing during a visit to London in 1995.

 

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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 was the status of non-Jewish names in Jewish life? What is the source of some common Yiddish names? First names have been a fascinating cultural and sociological phenomenon throughout history. In this episode of Jewish History Soundbites, we’ll explore some of the trends in Jewish first names as well as tracing some of the origins of some names and naming customs.

 

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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 flourished among his descendants and students in central Poland. Rav Yitzchak of Vurke (1779-1848) was a great chassidic leader, and earned renown as a pioneering ‘shtadlan’ or lobbyist, effectively ushering in a new era of Orthodox Jewish politics. In this capacity he represented the entire Jewish community of Poland, as his activities weren’t limited to Vurke or chassidim in general.

Rav Yitzchak was succeeded by both students and sons, with his younger son Rav Menachem Mendel remaining in Vurke, and known as the ‘Silent Tzadik’. He in turn was succeeded by his son Rav Simcha Bunim who eventually moved to the Land of Israel. Most of the Vurke community and leadership was decimated in the Holocaust.

 

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