History for the Curious - The Jewish History Podcast

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This 2-part series discovers the dramatic life of Rabbi Yosef Karo, which was lived far beyond the pages of his famous legal code, the Shulchan Aruch.

 

Born into the upheaval of the 1492 Spanish Expulsion, he fled across borders from Lisbon to Cairo to Greece and eventually to Eretz Yisrael and was instructed by a spiritual maggid. But the 16th century of mass migrations threatened to fracture Jewish tradition into "countless Torahs". So he embarked on a monumental mission to write a master legal framework and unite the diaspora, which fundamentally reshaped our lives.

 

His story included an attempt to hasten the Messianic era, that led to him being banned from the main synagogue of Tzfas and a son born to him in his old age.

 

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro & dedication
02:20 Who was Rabbi Yosef Karo?
05:57 Tzfas: The rise of a holy city
16:46 Karo’s authority in Tzfas
21:08 What was Smicha and why revive it?
26:25 The 1538 Smicha controversy
35:44 Challenges to reviving Smicha
40:57 Rabbi Yosef Karo and Smicha
45:29 Why Karo wrote the Beis Yosef & Shulchan Aruch
50:19 Why the Tur? Karo’s method of codification
54:33 Ashkenazi vs Sephardi practice & local Minhag
57:38 Modern implications & the post-Holocaust world
1:00:23 Closing & Part 2

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Be Courageous, be Honest, be a Jew. Those were the words with which a parent took leave of his son during the Holocaust. 
 
However much we are aware of the terrible years that befell our People, the words and testimonies shake us and make us rethink Faith & Suffering
 
Mrs Zahava Ungar & Mr Yisrael Diamond are living proof to the tragedies and perseverance that took them through 5 years of torment. They are both heads of a families today which have continued the Yiddishkeit of pre-war generations. Their words need to be heard.
 

Timestamps:

[0:00:00] – Survivor vignette: sneaking out for water, sister taken

[0:00:38] – Podcast introduction and dedication

[0:01:50] – Framing the episode: from numbers to personal stories; link to Tisha B’Av

[0:03:33] – Reading and discussion of the three Holocaust letters (to ~[0:07:30])

[0:07:37] – Introduction to Mrs. Sahava Unger

[0:08:17] – Early life, Nazi occupation, father taken to labor

[0:10:28] – Ghetto, deportation to Auschwitz

[0:13:47] – Birkenau, living conditions, selection, loss of sister

[0:18:47] – Liberation, aunts in “Canada,” uncle in Sonderkommando, journey after the war

~[0:24:27]–[0:29:00] – Reflections on fear, hunger, cold; her later life and family

[0:29:00] – Introduction to Mr. Yustral Diamond

[0:29:23] – Leaving Antwerp; journey to Montpellier, south of France

[0:31:08] – Round-up orders; warning and help from French gendarmerie chief

[0:38:21] – Hiding in villages, resistance environment, daily terror

[0:45:32] – Post-war: yeshiva, return to Antwerp, move to Golders Green, religious perseverance

[0:48:07] – Introduction to Rav Yeshua Grunwald

[0:49:57] – Excerpts from his writings; Holocaust suffering as “mizbeach” / Kodesh Kodashim

[0:53:29] – His closing prayer for justice and redemption

[0:54:17]–end – Host’s closing words and Tisha B’Av message

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George Mandel-Mantello was one man on his own, a Jew living in Switzerland, who ignited an international outcry against the destruction of Hungary’s Jewish community and stopped the deportation of the last 250,000 Jews. Mantello’s weapon was not a gun or an army — it was information.  

With extraordinary courage and ingenuity, he forged papers, sent a courier into Hungary to gather first-hand reports about Auschwitz and forced the allies to react. But for decades afterwards, the actions of this saviour were deliberately minimised and censored.  

Meanwhile in nearby Germany, the brother of the highest ranking member of the SS, was helping Jews escape the Nazi inferno. His courage also went unheralded for many years. 

 

Timestamps:

[0:03:55] – George Mantello – An Overlooked Hero of the Holocaust

[0:15:14] – The Auschwitz Protocols & Mantello’s Information Mission to Hungary

[0:26:30] – Emergency Meeting in Switzerland & Decision to Act

[0:29:12] – Breaking Swiss Censorship & Media Avalanche

[0:33:31] – Global Political Impact & Halting the Hungarian Deportation Trains

[0:37:08] – Raoul Wallenberg and the International Ghetto in Budapest

[0:38:45] – Arrow Cross Takeover, Death Marches & Survival of Budapest Jewry

[0:41:08] – Post-War Rescue Operations and Salvadorian Papers Reused

[0:49:42] – Reinhard Heydrich – Architect of the Final Solution

[0:54:40] – Heinz Heydrich – The Brother Who Turned Rescuer

[0:58:25] – Lina Heydrich & Persistence of Nazi Ideology

[1:00:45] – Closing Reflections & Recovering Mantello’s Legacy

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This two-part podcast explores what sets the Holocaust apart from other atrocities in history, focusing on its intent and ideological foundations and providing two unsettling responses.
 
It then turns to the United States. By 1942, news of the genocide had reached American shores—but to what extent were Americans made aware of its scale and purpose? 

 
How do we explain why the story of mass murder was often minimized, buried, or delayed by the major American newspapers? What did that relative silence ultimately mean for the Jews of Europe?
 

Timestamps

00:00 – **Liberation Shock & Media Blindness**  

00:41 – **Intro, Dedication & 5-Year Anniversary**  

01:57 – **New WhatsApp Community**  

03:34 – **What Makes the Holocaust Unique?**  

06:04 – **Ideology, WWII & Other Victim Groups**  

23:24 – **Dehumanization, Cruelty & Practical Uniqueness**  

31:26 – **From Discrimination to the Final Solution**  

35:06 – **How American Media Failed the Jews**  

45:06 – **NYT, Assimilated Elites & Hashkafic Lessons**

Exploring the lives of three Jewish doctors. Living in very different settings, yet linked by a common thread: compassion. They left a lasting mark on medicine and Jewish history and were dedicated to the strong belief that every fragile life matters.

In New York, Dr Martin Couney helped save thousands of babies. His sideshow displays were controversial, but at a time when incubator technology was widely doubted, his exhibits brought life-saving technology into the public eye.

Dr Mary Gordon was born in Lithuania and her trailblazing career as a pioneering female physician who was deeply connected to Jewish life, allowed her to carry her medical calling into some of the hardest moments of the twentieth century, in Palestine, in detention camps in Cyprus and through world wars.

Dr Shlomo Adler’s reputation in London as a beloved doctor and trusted medical confidant to Gedolim and Torah leaders as well as to thousands of patients, rested on his complete commitment to care, innovation and halacha. We also hear from his son Dr Yossi Adler - who has continued a 3 generational family legacy - about AI and other issues confronting medicine today

 

Timestamps:

- **0:00:00 – 0:01:13** – Podcast intro, series context (Medicine Part 2), and mention of guests (Rabbi Tatz & Dr. Yossi Adler)

- **0:01:13 – 0:02:16** – Introduction of Mary Gordon; granddaughter of Reb Eliezer Gordon; name changes (Miriam → Mary, Sara → Sylvia)  

- **0:02:16 – 0:03:49** – Background on the Gordon family, Telshe Yeshiva, and Reb Eliezer Gordon’s leadership and social conscience (matzah bakeries)  

- **0:03:49 – 0:06:21** – Fire in Telshe (1908), Reb Eliezer Gordon’s fundraising trip to England, his death, funeral, and Mary receiving apology from the Chief Rabbi  

- **0:06:21 – 0:09:00** – Mary’s struggle to enter university, re-doing exams in England, brilliance and speed of study, financial help from Rabbi Moishe Hirsh Siegel, graduation as a physician  

- **0:09:00 – 0:10:27** – Status of women doctors in England; WWI, shortage of male doctors; Mary becomes first female medical student allowed to practice in the army  

- **0:10:27 – 0:12:57** – Move to South Africa; reuniting with family; pioneering practice in Johannesburg General Hospital; treating rich and poor, all races; miners’ strike of 1922  

- **0:12:57 – 0:15:30** – Plans to move to Palestine; WWII intervenes; army medical role, rank of captain then lieutenant colonel; final move to Palestine (1946)  

- **0:15:30 – 0:18:18** – Postwar DP situation; Anglo-American committee, Truman’s proposal for 100,000 DPs; British refusal; Cyprus detention policy and harsh camp conditions  

- **0:18:18 – 0:21:06** – Mary chosen by the Jewish Agency to serve in Cyprus; tiny medical team; overwhelming numbers, disease, births; her legendary dedication; quote about measuring temperature vs pain  

- **0:21:06 – 0:22:28** – New Year’s 1948 story (two big ships arrive, many pregnant women and newborns); Mary persuades nurses to stay; later work in Israel with Yemenite immigrants; return to South Africa, work in Soweto clinics, death and legacy  

- **0:22:28 – 0:24:04** – Introduction of Dr. Yossi Adler; recognition that “Dr. Adler” was a global communal institution  

- **0:24:04 – 0:26:24** – Growing up in a house that doubled as a practice; constant stream of patients; balancing family meals with emergencies, especially before Hatzalah  

- **0:26:24 – 0:28:18** – What made Dr. Adler’s practice unique: long-term relationships, personalized care, deep sense of responsibility, readiness to innovate  

- **0:28:18 – 0:32:24** – Early roots of his father’s connection to Gedolim (Gerrer Rebbe, Imrei Emes); later relationships with Gedolim and Rebbes (Stipler, R’ Shach, Satmar, Klausenburger, etc.)  

- **0:32:24 – 0:36:24** – Stories illustrating kavod from Rebbes (“Malach Refael goes with Dr. Adler”), and equal importance of all patients; how he handled treating Gedolim without intimidation  

- **0:36:24 – 0:40:21** – Lessons Dr. Yossi learned: time use, achrayus (responsibility), integrating halacha and derech eretz into medicine; a few character-defining stories  

- **0:40:21 – 0:44:04** – Role of a frum doctor today: giving clear medical facts for Rabbanim, especially in end-of-life, surgery, fasting, and shidduch situations; why doctor ≠ posek  

- **0:44:04 – 0:49:05** – Community health issues:

  - Vaccine hesitancy and mistrust of authorities  

  - Halachic support for following broadly accepted medical guidance  

  - SIDS reduction through “back to sleep” and risk of complacency  

- **0:49:05 – 0:53:59** – Discussion on modern weight-loss medications (semaglutide, tirzepatide): when benefits outweigh risks (severe obesity) vs mainly cosmetic use  

- **0:53:59 – 0:56:51** – Google and patient information: opportunities and dangers; importance of joint doctor–patient interpretation rather than self-treatment  

- **0:56:51 – 0:57:40** – Rabbi Tatz introduction, playful comment about trying to “one up” Rabbi Hirsch with an unknown medical figure  

- **0:57:40 – 0:59:37** – Background of Dr. Cooney (Mikhail Kohn): Jewish origins in Prussia, medical studies, interest in premature infants and early incubators  

- **0:59:37 – 1:03:10** – Move to America; transformation into “Dr. Cooney”; sideshow incubator exhibits at fairs and Coney Island; hospitals giving up on babies, parents bringing infants in shoeboxes; high survival rates  

- **1:03:10 – 1:05:00** – Framing ethical and halachic questions: doing something risky to save life; early incubators as both spectacle and lifesaving tool  

- **1:05:00 – 1:08:32** – Classic halachic scenario: terminal/“Ha’ei Sha’ah” patient offered high-risk procedure with chance of cure vs certain shorter-term survival; introduction to “Lo chosheshin lechayei sha’ah” in this context  

- **1:08:32 – 1:12:08** – Majority view:  

  - If chance of success >50%, patient *should* generally accept.  

  - If <50%, still may choose, but more complex.  

  - Rav Moshe Shapira’s insight: if it’s more likely to kill than to save, it may not even count as “medicine.”  

- **1:12:08 – 1:14:52** – Range of poskim on how low the chance of success may be (e.g., R’ Elyashiv vs Chasam Sofer); need for sound mind and emotional stability in such decisions; Israeli law on compelling treatment when clearly in patient’s best interests  

- **1:14:52 – 1:18:02** – Emotional/psychological suffering as halachically weighty; will to live; R’ Moshe Feinstein on strong pain relief that may hasten death when pain is severe  

- **1:18:02 – 1:18:36** – Question about recent international medical–halachic conferences  

- **1:18:36 – 1:21:01** – HeidiD Conference overview; AI in medicine as the standout theme; examples in radiology and an AI-driven ER intake system at Soroka Hospital; patients rating AI as more “empathetic” than human doctors; Rabbi Tatz’s mixed feelings (excited and worried)  

- **1:21:01 – 1:21:31** – Why we daven Refa’einu when healthy: life as ongoing miracle; link to Bris Milah; physical and spiritual aspects of illness; power of davening for others  

- **1:21:31 – end (~1:22:00)** – Rabbi Hirsch notes he did not know about Dr. Cooney (historic moment); teaser for upcoming three-part Holocaust series; thanks to guests and listeners; email given for feedback