Claim OwnershipThe Kotzk Podcast
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© Rabbi Gavin Michal
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Join Rabbi Gavin Michal for a look at some of the lesser-known events, books, and people in Jewish history. New episodes weekly based on articles from the Kotzk Blog, www.kotzkblog.com. This podcast was originated as conversations between Rabbi Gavin Michal and Dr Jordan Wosnick.
82 Episodes
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This episode examines how the race to publish first, often shaped the scholarly priorities and study material of future generations. (Kotzk Blog 540)
This episode looks at the resurgence of interest in Reb Shayele of Kerestir who had emerged the de facto protector of thieves and swindlers. (Kotzk Blog 539)
This episode—drawing extensively on the research of ProfessorEmanuel Tov, former Editor-in-Chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project[1]—examinesthe rabbinic rules for writing a Sefer Torah. (Kotzk Blog 538)
This podcast explores an interesting idea known as Halachic fiction, that may have become a legal methodology in recent times (Kotzk Blog 536)
Was Judaism enriched by the radical thought of Maimonides, or narrowed by the conservative pragmatism of Yeshaya di Trani? (Kotzk Blog 535)
Did the early rabbinic tradition understand the Seven Laws of Noah as a model for a universal religion for non-Jews? (Kotzk Blog 533)
This episode explores the shifting cosmologies surrounding the mezuzah from Talmudic times to this day. (Kotzk Blog 534)
Part II now turns the focus on its head and examines, theoretically, how Maimonides might view contemporary Judaism as we know it. (kotzk Blog 532)
This episode examines how Maimonides was viewed by the rabbinic world (Part I), and how, in turn, Judaism as we know it today might (theoretically) be viewed by Maimonides (Part II). This creates a ‘dialogue of vision. (Kotzk Blog 531)
How early layers of text from the Zohar and Bahir may shed light on the authorship, milieu, geography and dating of these two fundamental mystical works. (Kotzk blog 530)
Is it possible that Maimonides (1138-1204) had an unspokenmentor who has been largely overlooked by history? This ‘mentor’ may have been the twelfth-century philosopher, translator, and historian Avraham Ibn Daud (c. 1110–1180). “[H]istory has been rather unkind” (Fontaine 2023:1) to Avraham Ibn Daud. Yet, it seems that Maimonides was not the first to engage with Arabic Aristotelian rationalists, because just decades before, Avraham Ibn Daud emergedas the pioneering rabbinic thinker who made: “the first attempt to integratethe teachings of the Muslim Aristotelians into a Jewish philosophic theology”(Fontaine 2007-8:23). (Kotzk Blog: 529)
In this episode: It’s commonly assumed that Jewish belief in G-d has remained consistent throughout history. In truth, Jewish perceptions of the have been strikingly diverse, shaped and reshaped across centuries, cultures, and theological currents.(Kotzk Blog: 528)
This episode explores the intellectual legacy of Abu Ya'qub Isḥāq ibn Sulaymān al-Israeli—also known as Yitzchak ben Shlomo haYisraeli (c.855–c.955)—a pioneering yet largely overlooked figure in early Medieval Jewish philosophy. Through a counterintuitive comparison between Yitzchak haYisraeli’s tenth-century philosophical writings and contemporary *Chassidic* thought rooted in *Kabbalah*, the study reveals an unexpected conceptual convergence between the two thought systems. (Kotzk Blog: 527)
Kotzk Podcast 068: Tashlich, water and 'bribing' demons (Kotzk blog 525)texts, of demons and spirits inhabiting bodies of water, and how they can be manipulated by knowledgeable practitioners. These texts may relate to the notion of Tashlich originally being instituted to bribe the Satan into not revealing human sins before G-d.
Radical Rabbinic models of universalism (Kotzk blog 523)This episode explores four radical rabbinic approaches to universalism from the sixteenth century to R. Adin Steinsaltz.
Editing Jewish texts: Between reverence and revision (Kotzk blog 524)This episode examines how Isaac Benjacob's edition of 'Shem haGedolim' by the Chida, completely reworks the ethos of the original work. Benjacob's editorial methodology is then highlighted against that of Maimonides.
Italian letters: The battle over the Zohar (Kotzk Blog 522)This episode explores the recently translated - and highly charged - correspondence between two nineteenth century Italian rabbis on the authenticity and importance of the Zohar.
Confronting or Escaping? -Beyond the "Back of the Wagon of the Baal Shem Kotzk Blog 521This episode challenges the widespread belief that the Baal Shem Tov offered a straightforward, one-step path to joy. Rather than promoting effortless happiness, he appears to have called for profound and often unsettling introspection—urging individuals to confront their deepest fears and vulnerabilities. Joy, in his view, was not guaranteed, but perhaps only attainable through a rigorous inner journey.
'Creating' sacred sites: Who is buried there, and does it matter? (Kotzk Blog: 520)This episode examines the sometimes-spontaneous emergence of burial sites attributed to Sages and biblical figures, raising the question of whether historical accuracy should play a role in how such sacred spaces are recognized.
When rabbis dared to challenge the Divine: The case of Midrash Tehillim (Kotzk Blog: 519) This episode—based extensively on the research by Professor Dov Weiss[1]— examines the rise and decline of rabbinic protest theology. It looks at the audacious attempts by some Mishnaic rabbis to defy a general ethos of protest prohibition, particularly upheld by the schools of R. Akiva and R. Elazar. By tracing the gradual evolution of rabbinic protest theology through the Talmudic period to its peak in post-Talmudic times, Weiss maps a distinct theological arc that eventually waned and merged into modern times as a subdued tradition.
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