Best Rabbi Arnie Wittenstein Podcasts (2024)

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#190 - Korczak, Heroism & Kiddush Hashem 52:36

24m ago52:36

52:36

In this episode we at Korczak’s life and how in many places he had very classic Jewish reactions to things despite his lack of Jewish education. We look at his refusal to wear the Jewish star. And also of course look at his legendary Kiddush Hashem. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, wit…

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#189 - October 7th, The Holocaust, Heroism, & Korchak 52:02

5d ago52:02

52:02

In this episode we look carefully compare and contrast the events of October 7th and the Holocaust. How much do they have in common? Is it proper to add the events of October the seventh to Holocaust Day? We also look how to define heroism. How do we understand the greatest of Human accomplishments? Where should this apply? We start looking at the …

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#188 - Challenges & Lessons of Egyptology 47:40

11d ago47:40

47:40

This week’s episode is dedicated in honor of Rav Dr Howie Apfel In this episode we take a closer look at the basic challenges of understanding the History of Ancient Egypt. How deeply is the Ancient Egyptian documentation connected with Egyptian Avoda Zara? How much will this connection complicate our attempts to understand the documentation? What …

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#187 - Egyptology & History 59:07

22d ago59:07

59:07

In this episode we take a deeper look at why the phenomenon of Egyptology has such an attraction to people. Why are people more interested in Egyptology than Greek and Roman History? Similarly, we look at how to reconcile Egyptology with Tanach? Did the ancient Egyptians value History? How does this affect the way we understand Ancient Egyptian His…

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#186 - Understanding Reality: Egyptology & Reality 52:13

27d ago52:13

52:13

In this episode we look at how perception of reality affects our lives. We also look at how different people have different perceptions of reality. Why do some people pursue brochas from Rabbanim more than others? We also start looking at how people in the world at large have out of proportion interest in Ancient Egypt. What are the basic reasons f…

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#185 - Final Complications: R' Avrohom Kalisker vs Baal Tanya 56:46

1M ago56:46

56:46

In this episode, we look at the basic methodology of how to examine Historical stories. When should we accept a story as factual and when should we reject a story. We also look at how and why the machlokes of R Avrohom Kalisker and the Baal HaTanya was never resolved. And what part did Elazar of Disna play in this complicated situation? Similarly w…

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#184 - The Challenge & Limits of Education 51:11

1M ago51:11

51:11

In this episode we take a deeper look at the challenges and limits of education. How do we understand the ideal of education? How does an ideally educated person see himself? What lesson should most of us take from the basic challenge of true education and knowledge? How does this relate to the machlokes between R Avrohom Kalisker and the Baal HaTa…

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#183 - R' Avrohom Kalisker vs the Baal HaTanya 50:08

2M ago50:08

50:08

In this episode we look at R' Avrohom Kalisker’s part in establishing the Ashkenzi community in Israel. We look at why R' Avrohom Kalisker initially attacks R' Shnuer Zalman. We similarly look at how this was part of a greater question of how the average Chassid should focus his efforts in Avodas Hashem. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi o…

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#182 - Charisma and Leadership: R Avrohom Kalisker & the Vilna Gaon 49:17

2M ago49:17

49:17

In this episode we take a more careful look at the part charisma plays in communal leadership. We also discuss why the Rambam tried to avoid communal leadership. We take a careful look at R Avrohom Kalisker time with the Vilna Gaon. And we similarly discuss why R Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk didn’t try to bring him to his attempted meeting with the V…

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#181 - Charisma, Rabbinic Decisions & Leadership 50:04

2M ago50:04

50:04

In this episode we look at the part that charisma plays in History. Was every great Rabbi by definition a charismatic figure? Is it possible that charisma was a significant factor in the Vilna Gaon’s decision not to meet with R Menachem Mendal of Vitebsk and the Baal HaTanya in 1772? Was charisma a factor in R Avrohom Kalisker’s leadership? Nach Yo…

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#180 - The Vilna Gaon’s Theory of Incongruent Actions - A Deeper Look 53:42

2M ago53:42

53:42

In this episode we take a more careful look at the Vilna Gaon’s theory of, ‘Incongruent Actions’? How many places does he apply this to? Is there a difference between where this concept is working at a behavioral level and when it is working at the Nefesh level. We also examine the issue of when we can say that History can be a proof to questionabl…

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#179 - The Vilna Gaon’s Theory of Incongruent Actions 50:23

3M ago50:23

50:23

The main topic of this episode is the Vilna Gaon’s theory about, ‘Incongruent Actions’. The episode starts with a quick synopsis of my comments of the crisis of solution in the Gaza War. What was the real cause of Nathan of Gaza’s fall? Was the entire issue a result of the lack of commitment to Torah and similarly lack of Yiras Hashem? Or is there …

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#178 - Gaza War - Israel & the World 1:00:43

3M ago1:00:43

1:00:43

In this episode we look at the deep complexities of how the world relates to the State of Israel. What are the main elements of this very complicated phenomenon? How should that effect how Israel should conduct its Foreign Policy? We also look at the basic tension that exists in a Democratic country between popular will and responsible governance. …

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#177 - The Gaza War - Understanding the Governmental Crisis 51:20

3M ago51:20

51:20

In this episode, we look at the basic structure of how modern government works, and how this creates a challenge in governance. We also look at why specifically there is a challenge now. We also discuss where in Torah we can find information that can give us direction in these issues. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn…

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#176 - Gaza War - Accomplishments & Crisis 53:59

4M ago53:59

53:59

In this episode we look at the Historical factors than have enable Israel to largely conduct this war in a successful way. How is it that the IDF has become such a trusted institution? Which policies brought it to this place? Who was involved in making these decisions? We also look at the cause of lack of trust in the motivations of some of the maj…

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#175 - Gaza War - The Looming Crisis 52:00

4M ago52:00

52:00

In this episode we take a look at how our understanding of this event has been affected over the last months. We examine the unique facets of this conflict as opposed to the other Israeli Arab conflicts. We also look at the looming crisis that is brewing on how to deal with this conflict. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We l…

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#174 - Zman Tefila & The Vilna Gaon’s Opposition to Chassidus 51:23

4M ago51:23

51:23

In this episode we examine more of the technical details of zman Tefila. How late is one allowed to start Shachris? What defines starting Shachris? We also start taking a new look at the Vilna Gaon’s opposition to Chassidus. How many elements were there to his opposition to Chassidus? What was the Vilna Gaon’s attitude to practical Kaballa? Does th…

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#173 - Nusach HaTefila & Zmanai Tefila 54:16

4M ago54:16

54:16

In this episode we take a more in depth look at the origins of the different Nusachs. Can someone change from Ashkenaz to Sefard, or from Sefard to Ashkenaz? What is the issue connected to? We also look at the issue of does Chassidus have any antinomian element to it? Where does the practice of davening after, ‘the time of Tefila’, come from? Nach …

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The Sabbatean Accusations Against Chassidus 50:54

4M ago50:54

50:54

In this episode we take a more in depth look at the second arrest of the Baal Tanya. We look at how the Russian government generally dealt with the Jewish community in those times and how this affected this story. We also focus on the Sabetian accusations. Why would the Czarist government consider this a serious accusation? Nach Yomi: Join R' Witte…

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Release of the Baal Tanya & the Second Arrest 56:33

5M ago56:33

56:33

In this episode we look at why the Russians decided to release the Baal Tanya. We similarly look at the second arrest. What caused the second arrest? Why was it shorter than the first one? We similarly look at some of the Baal Tanya’s statements on tefila. Similarly we look at his expert leadership in dealing with the issue of separate minyanim. Na…

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The Arrest of the Baal Tanya 52:36

5M ago52:36

52:36

In this episode, we look at the first arrest and imprisonment of the Baal Tanya. What events caused this to happen? Where was he held in jail? Why was he held in jail for so long? How much danger was he in? How involved was the Csar Paul involved in the case? We also clarify what I mean when I refer to the theological machlokes between the Gra and …

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Kissinger - Youth & Legacy - Baal HaTanya - His Involvement in The Machlokes 52:00

5M ago52:00

52:00

In this episode, we examine Kissinger’s youth more carefully based on a documentary produced by people in the KAJ community. We also look at the challenge of morality. We also look at R Shnuer Zalman of Liozna’s part in the machlokes between the Chassidim and the Misnagdim. What affect did R Shneur Zalman have on this machlokes? When did he become …

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Henry Kissinger - Legacy, Lessons & Controversy 1:00:43

5M ago1:00:43

1:00:43

Henry Kissinger was one of the most important American diplomats of the twentieth century. He aroused very strong feelings and opinions in many circles. Why is this true? What is his key legacy? What lessons can we learn about life from Kissinger and his legacy? Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five day…

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Torah Lishma - Synthesizing the Gra and R' Chaim Volozhin 51:50

6M ago51:50

51:50

In this week’s episode we take a deeper look at how to properly understand R Chaim Voluzhin’s comments on the issue of Torah Lishma. We also discuss how to synthesize the comments we saw from the Vilna Gaon with R Chaim Voluzhin’s presentation Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days a week, with a ni…

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Torah Lishma - The Vilna Gaon’s Approach 48:50

6M ago48:50

48:50

Many assume that R Chaim Volozhin completely argues with the Tanya about how to understand Torah Lishma. In this episode, we take a closer look at the issue. We specifically look at a number of statements from the Vilna Gaon in Mishley that discuss the issue. How does this affect how we understand R Chaim Volozhin’s comments on the issue? We also t…

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Tanya - Torah Lishma: A Deeper Look 52:20

6M ago52:20

52:20

In this episode we take a deeper look at the potential benefits of proper Torah learning. How does this have the potential to give us the tools to deal with the challenges of maintaining commitment in our times? We also look at how there are parallelisms between Tanya and Nefesh HaChaim in their understanding of high level Avodas Hashem. We also ex…

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Tanya - Torah & Dveikus 50:24

6M ago50:24

50:24

In this episode we look at how Tanya understands the process of learning Torah and how this is connected to Dveikus. According to the Tanya, how do we understand the ideal of focusing on Dveikus when learning Torah? According to Tanya is there a connection between the process of understanding a sugya and Dveikus? We also look at the Ramchal’s state…

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Torah Lishma and Focused Direction in Avodas Hashem 57:06

7M ago57:06

57:06

In this episode, we start looking at the famed machlokes between the Tanya and Nefesh HaChaim about Torah Lishma. In order to properly understand R Chaim Volozhin’s approach it is necessary to understand what place, ‘Avodas Hashem’, plays in the Misnagdic world. How important did the Vilna Gaon and R Chaim Volozhin think this was? We similarly exam…

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The Tanach Translations 1:04:39

7M ago1:04:39

1:04:39

Most of this episode looks at the basic challenge of translation. The beginning of the episode has some important insights into the issues we have discussed about the Gaza war. We examine why the challenge of translation is even more difficult when translating from Hebrew to English. We also examine the major English translations of the last hundre…

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The Gaza War, Politics & Relating to News 52:53

7M ago52:53

52:53

In this episode we more carefully examine why Israel is calling this a war. We take a look at one of the basic parts of politics, compromise. Is compromise a necessary evil, or is it a standard part of national cohesion and cooperation? We also look at the basic challenge of understanding the news and how to properly relate to news. What are the ba…

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#160 The Gaza War 54:40

7M ago54:40

54:40

In this week’s episode we look at how to understand The Gaza War. What lessons can we learn from this war? What is the difference between this and the Yom Kippur War? What major factor will play a significant part in determining how long this war goes on for? Is this part of the War of Gog? What tools do we have to cope better with the difficulties…

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#159 - The Spinoza Documentary 1:03:39

8M ago1:03:39

1:03:39

In this week’s episode we look at the recent documentary about Spinoza. Spinoza made the news a couple of times in the last couple of years because of this documentary. What level tool of knowledge is a documentary? What are the limits of a documentary in general? How does this documentary do in terms of the limits of a documentary? Nach Yomi: Join…

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158 - Vilna Gaon on Beinonim - Definition & Advice 1:06:49

8M ago1:06:49

1:06:49

In this week's episode we take a deeper look at how the Vilna Gaon understands Tzadikim, Banonim and Reshaim. How much of a difference is there between the Vilna Gaon and Tanya on this topic? We also look at the basic advise and recommendations the Vilna Gaon has for us on these topics. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We lea…

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#157 - Confrontation of 1771, Vilna Gaon on Tzadikim,Beinonim & Reshaim 58:43

8M ago58:43

58:43

In the first half of this episode we look at some of the legends that people say about the famed confrontation between the Vilna Gaon and R Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and the R Shnuer Zalman of Liozna. Is it possible that the Vilna Gaon challenged R Menachem Mendel to a debate? In the second half of the episode we go back to look more at the Vilna …

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#156 - Relating to the Judgment of Rosh HaShana 59:00

8M ago59:00

59:00

In this week’s episode, we look at some of the key events of this year, the tumult of the reforming of the Israeli Supreme Court and the advances of AI. What lessons can we learn from these events? How can we use these lessons to improve or ability to relate to Rosh HaShana? Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a…

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#155 - Tanya - Beinoni & Tzadik + Vilna Gaon on Beinoni 49:15

9M ago49:15

49:15

In this week’s episode, we take look at the Tanya’s distinction between the level of Banoni and the level of Tzadik. Is there a practical way to know who is has a soul that is the level of Tzadik? Why is it that people are so interested in this? We start looking at the Vilna Gaon’s statements in Mishley on these issues. Was the Vilna Gaon directly …

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#154 - Tanya and the Definition of "Beinonim" 53:15

9M ago53:15

53:15

In this episode we look at the issue of how to define the term, ‘Banoni’. Tanya has a well known and fascinating way to define the term. In order to understand the issue better, we examine the different places in Shas that this term is used and also look at how the term was classically defined. We specifically take a deep look at the sugya of, ‘The…

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#153 - Tanya - Importance of Lishma 52:06

9M ago52:06

52:06

In this episode we take a deeper look at how the Tanya explains the importance of doing a mitzva properly. We also look at the response of R Chaim Volozhin to this. We also take a practical look at when a person should be adding on extras to their mitzva performance. Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day fiv…

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#152 - Tanya, Authority, Neo Chassidus & Pursuit of Perfection 56:50

9M ago56:50

56:50

In this week’s episode we look at how the Tanya explains the importance of doing a mitzva lishma. We also look at why there is more interest in what are called, ‘pnimius of Torah’, today than there was in the past. How is authority and duty viewed today? How did it used to be viewed in the past? How does this affect our commitment to Torah? We also…

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#151 - Tanya as Philosophy 56:30

9M ago56:30

56:30

In this episode we discuss the statement found in many contemporary publications that call Tanya, Chassidic Philosophy. Is this an accurate description of Tanya? What is the basic difference between how people in the Chassidic world and people in the Litvish world will try to improve their fulfillment of mitzvas? How does this relate to the basic d…

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#150-The Tanya Controversy 56:22

10M ago56:22

56:22

In this episode we look some of the basic issues that Tanya discusses. We similarly look at how commonly are the Tanya’s statements included in general discussion of these issues. One of the Vilna Gaon’s greatest historical legacies is the primacy of the sugya. How does the Vilna Gaon define the sugya? Should the Tanya be included in the sugya in t…

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#149 - Relating to Tisha b’Av & the Kinnos 56:30

10M ago56:30

56:30

In this episode we look at some of the key reasons we have difficulty relating to Tisha b’Av. We also look at why we find the Kinos so difficult to relate and even to say. We also look at some tools we can employ to better relate to both Tisha b’Av and the Kinos. This is the link to the Kinos shiurim in Rabbi Menachem Spira’s shul in Passaic: https…

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#148-Chassidic Reaction to AI & R' Shnuer Zalman 51:44

10M ago51:44

51:44

In the episode, we look at how contemporary Chassidic groups have reacted to the AI advances. Why have the American Chassidic groups reacted and not the Israeli ones? We continue looking at R Shnuer Zalman development as a leader. What was one of his deepest hesitations to becoming a Chassidic leader? What important innovations did he come up with?…

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#147 - R' Shnuer Zalman - Ascension to Leadership 51:44

10M ago51:44

51:44

In this episode we look at the process of R Shnuer Zalman of Liozna becoming the founder of what is called today Chabad Chassidus. When did R Shneur Zalman actually found a Chassidus? Did this happen immediately after the petira of the Maggid of Mezritch? What caused R Shnuer Zalman to become a Chassidic Rebbe? How long of a process was it? Nach Yo…

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#146 - AI - Challenges to Amailus & Society 1:08:07

11M ago1:08:07

1:08:07

In this episode we take a different look at the way AI is different from human intelligence and how this creates a challenge for us at a very basic level. We also look at how AI is affecting the economy and office work and how this will probably affect productivity. We conclude by examining one of the key issues here in terms of our attitude to AI …

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#145 - AI - Understanding the Depth of the Challenge 1:04:47

11M ago1:04:47

1:04:47

In this episode, we look at how the advances in AI will affect us in a deep way. Is there any ways that AI has similarity to kishuf? One of AI’s greatest strengths is its ability to produce a clear and convincing presentation. How will this ability complicate life? How is this related to the basic core definition of what defines man as man? We also…

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#144 - AI & Human Accomplishment 57:04

11M ago57:04

57:04

Podcast Sponsored by Otzar HaChochma 30% OFF Summer Sale! Click here! In this episode we take another look why many are deeply unsettled by AI. We also look at the key differences between AI and Human Intelligence. How does Aristotle define the ultimate Human Accomplishment? How did the Rambam modify this concept? What is the ultimate goal of Human…

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#143 - Understanding Reaction to AI & ChatGPT 53:49

11M ago53:49

53:49

Podcast Sponsored by Otzar HaChochma 30% OFF Summer Sale! Click here! In this episode we look at the new innovation of AI, Chat GPT. Why do people feel threatened by this development? Does this have anything in common with the fear of nuclear warfare during the Cold War? How close to human intelligence is this? What is the very basic difference bet…

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#142 - R' Shnuer Zalman & The Shulchan Aruch HaRav 46:24

11M ago46:24

46:24

In this episode we look at one of R Shnuer Zalman’s most important accomplishments, writing his commentary on Shulchan Aruch. Why did he do this? Did this have any connection to the general machlokes between Chassidim and Misnagdim? What is the basic stylistic difference between R Shnuer Zalman’s Shulchan Aruch and the Vilna Gaon’s commentary on Sh…

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#141 - A Synopsis of the Sabbetian Background & R' Shnuer Zalman in Liozna 46:15

12M ago46:15

46:15

In this episode we take a quick look at the Sabbetian and Frankist movements and how this flavored the machlokes between the Chassidim and Misnagdim. We also look at R Shnuer Zalman’s move to Liozna. Why did he move? Is this connected to his becoming a Chassid? Nach Yomi: Join R' Wittenstein’s Nach Yomi on WhatsApp. We learn a perek a day five days…

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