Rabbi Dovid Katz

Parshas VaYechi: What was the “Acharis HaYamim” that Yaakov wanted to reveal to his sons?

R Katz analyzes the current Arab-Israeli conflict in in the face of the giant water crisis threatening the entire Middle East

"The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to…

Why does a shofar have to be davka from a שְׁפוֹפֶרֶת, from a horn whose inside layer can be removed?

The symbolism of וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם , removing the layer of "foreskin" on the "heart." A difficult task indeed. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Why is Rosh Hashanah decribed as “covered up” or obscure? תִּקְעוּ בַחֹדֶשׁ שׁוֹפָר בַּכֵּסֶה לְיוֹם חַגֵּנוּ?

What if you hold the world was created in Nissan? And anyway, the story of Moshe Rabbenu pleading before Hashem a third time (Elul-Tishrei) is very unclear in the text of the Chumash.

“הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת כִּי תֵּצֵא תשפ”ה – “הַרְחִבִי מְקוֹם אֲהָלֵךְ!

Isaiah predicts the expansion of Israel in the Messianic Era. Will Israel annex Turkey and Spain?! https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Genazym is offering a personal letter from R Ovadia Yosef to R Shlomo Zalman Auerbach re: High Israeli Politics concerning the Shas Party

The bitter politics surrounding the 1992 Knesset Elections (which led to the Oslo Agreement) and the bitter politics in the frum world surrounding the Shas Party's disobeying the political directives…

פָּרָשַׁת כִּי תֵּצֵא תשפ”ה – יְפַת תֹּאַר בְּעוֹלַם הַקַּבָּלָה

How can "Righteous Soldiers" (like King David) lust on the battlefield? A mystical take. https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Genazym is offering the Prague 1595 edition of the famous Ramban theological essay דְּרָשַׁת “תּוֹרַת הַשֵּׁם תְּמִימָה”

In this essay, Ramban analyzes the grandeur of the Written Law , the תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, refuting Christlogical readings and the skepticism of Spanish Jewish אֶפִּיקוֹרְסִים. This is the edition…

הַפְטָרַת פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ”ה – “סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל תִּגְּעוּ!”

What kind of cultural "baggage" will Jews bring with them from their exiles when they return to Eretz Yisroel? https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

פָּרָשַׁת שׁוֹפְטִים תשפ”ה – What is the actual meaning of “צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף”?

There's צֶדֶק – justice in the sense of social-contract. Then there is צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, which is Justice with a capital J, the attainment of judicial righteousness, which is an ideal to be pursued…

Psalm # 2 and Israel’s losing the current propaganda war

Read this Kapitel and you will see the relevance to Israel's floundering in the current war of ideas and information. Israel is not successfully countering the demonization efforts of its enemies.…

Genazym: The First Printing of the classic בֵּית מֵאִיר (1787), the author’s own copy with extensive handwritten glosses on the sides!

Rabbi Meir Posner of Danzig (1725-1807), one of the leading poskim of the entire 18th century. R Akiva Eger used to send him his questions! A classic אב"ד of the "Old School"…

A recent find of of an ancient coin in Jerusalem, and thoughts about the Messianic Era . Some “dirt” re: Ptolemy III and Berenice II

For some obscure reason, Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy III's invasion of Syria (246 BCE) to rescue his sister Berenice from a crazed mob is mentioned by the Angel Gabriel in Daniel Chapter 11 as being…

Genazym is auctioning the 15h century classic of Talmudic Methodolgy – הֲלִיכוֹת עוֹלָם, first complete edition (Constantinople 1510)

This methodological intro to the Talmud was held in high esteem, and R Yosef Karo wrote a commentary (סֵפֶר כְּלָלֵי הַגְּמָרָא) on it. One of the first Hebrew books ever printed…

Moses’ warning: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל can easily become a קְלָלָה! Parshas RE’EH

To prevent human sacrifce by the uneducated, the Temple is located on the Mountain of the עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק

Parshas Re’eh: Keep the booze out of the house of the fellow in recovery

?אַבֵּד תְּאַבְּדוּן אֶת הַמְּקוֹמוֹת – How does one destroy a place

Moses and the Bones of Joseph: Two different models of Jewish leadership? Parshas Eikev

Joseph was the personification of Traditionalism. Moshe was the personification of chinuch https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

Pirkei Avos, Ch. 4: Why is the phrase אַל תִּפְרֹשׁ מִן הַצִּבּוּר associated with the Tanna R’ Tzadok?

Did the Rabbis of Eretz Yisroel learn the lesson of שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם in the wake of the Destruction of the Bais HaMikdash?

Parashas Eikev: The Wild Beasts

Why was the Conquest of the Land supposed to proceed slowly? Who are the "Wild Beasts?"

Parshas VaEschana: Zachor or Shamor? Is the Sabbath theology or history?

Why is a nochri punished so severely for shemiras Shabbos?