Nov 24, 2022
In this episode we look at the challenge of being involved in conflict and the basic pattern of conflict. We take a quick look at the basic historical outline of the events of the Besht and Magid of Mezritch. When did they live? Who were their primary talmidim? Why is the Magid of Mezritch considered the Besht’s...
Nov 17, 2022
In this episode we look at one of the other challenges in understanding Jewish History, the Jewish Historians. The early Jewish Historians were either of German background or Marxist background. This generally speaking created clear cultural or political attitude that was usually projected onto their work.
Nach...
Nov 13, 2022
In this episode we look at the basic challenge of Historical objectivity. We also look at the specific challenge of objectivity in Jewish History. Are there any factors that specifically complicate the challenge of objectivity in Jewish History?
Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a...
Nov 3, 2022
In this episode we look at the famed statement of R Kook that there is a relationship between Spinoza’s pantheistic ideas and the Besht’s ideas. How do we understand this? Does this fit in to the classic way the Besht’s ideas are understood? We also look at the controversy about is it proper to allow someone to...
Oct 27, 2022
In this episode we take a deeper look at the relationship between National Identity and Religion. How was this classically understood in the world? We also look at how this specifically applies to the Jews. How long did it take for Spinoza’s plea for tolerance to become accepted? How did this affect the Jews in...