Dec 30, 2021
In this episode we continue looking at the tragic story of Uriel de Costa. De Costa moved to Hamburg where he wrote two controversial books about his position on Rabbinic authority and immortality of the soul. We look at how the community responded. R' Yehuda Aryeh de Modena also responded. R Yehuda Aryeh de Modena is...
Dec 23, 2021
In this episode we continue looking at the tragic story of Uriel De Costa. Some time after De Costa moved to Amsterdam and reverted to Judaism, he became disenchanted with the Rabbinic Judaism that was being practiced. He claimed to be shocked by this discovery. How should he look at his claims? Are there good reasons...
Dec 16, 2021
In this episode there is more response about the Yeshiva Curriculum issues.
We look at the very important issue of how to see when a society looks at an issue as reality. How does this effect us? What can we learn from this phenomenon?
We also start looking at Uriel De Costa. De Costa was of Portuguese...
Dec 9, 2021
In this week’s episode, we look at one of the other major Rabbis of Amsterdam in this era, Rabbi Yitzchak Abuav de Fonseca. Rabbi Abuav had a unique background, he was born in Portugal to a prominent Rabbinical family. In the 1630’s the Jewish Community of Amsterdam was engulfed in a major controversy about how to...
Dec 2, 2021
In this episode we address the recent comments of R' Moshe Weinberger about the Yeshiva curriculum and its effectiveness. Why did the Yeshivas choose this curriculum? What makes it effective? Is there a connection between Shas and Machahava and Chassidus? How does learning Shas affect a person’s core relationship with...