Yehudah Halevi was the poet of a generation, and perhaps the most celebrated poet of medieval Spain. He also swam against the tide of philosophical rationalism and invited his readers to experience the Torah from the inside. But how did the national poet of Jewish Spain die outside the walls of Jerusalem? Want to help…
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The 10th and 11th centuries of Jewish life in Al Andalus were so rich and productive that they were known as the Golden Age. The Jews struck root deeply in the soil of Muslim culture, and produced warriors, philosophers and poets. In this time of passion, it was not clear what would define Am Yisrael…
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Spanish Jewry viewed itself as the nobility of the Jewish people, whose roots were in the legendary past. This episode traces history of the community from the fall of Rome until the rise of the Muslim Kingdom of Al Andalus and the linguistic origins of the Golden Age of Spain. Want to help tell the…
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There is a debate whether great individuals shape history or history shapes them, but there is no argument about the role which R’ Saadia Gaon played in shaping the Jewish Middle Ages. A mastery of poetry, polemics, Bible and language R’ Saadia revolutionized Jewish literature. Nevertheless. his quest to reconcile reason and revelation sowed the…
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It as been quite a long while since R’ Yochanan fled the Roman siege of Jerusalem, but now after seven hundred years the Jews have been united under what can be definitively called Judaism. But the birth of unified identity is itself what invites schism into the world. Want to help tell the Jewish Story?…
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The rise of Islam will offer new opportunities and pose new challenges for the survival of Am Yisrael. On one hand, the struggle to claim the title of true Israel which dominates life in the Christian world will be absent. On the other, the ease of cultural fusion with Islam will cause confusion about where…
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Identity is always a battle. In this episode Rav Mike explores the struggle between Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity, as well the inner struggle of Am Yisrael to preserve its unique voice in the text of the gemara. These two together will fix the topic of our conversation for some time to come. Want…
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It is the end of an era. In this episode Rav Mike explores rabbinic chronology, textual evolution and socio-political context in order to illustrate the shift between the time of the Tanaim and the time of the Amoraim. Want to help tell the Jewish Story? Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/mfeuer
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R’ Yehudah HaNasi redacted the Mishna but he inherited its form and content from R’ Akiva. In this episode, R’ Mike explores the nature of the mishna and traces its development in the hands of R’ Akiva’s students. Want to help tell the Jewish Story? Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/mfeuer
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The ruins of the Temple were still smoldering when Judea burst into the flames of rebellion once again. In this episode Rav Mike discusses the final two rounds of the Roman Jewish wars. Filled with brutal bloodshed and failed messiahs, this is the time period which convinced Rome that the Jews were the indigestible element…
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