Originally from New York, Rabbi Spiro's education includes a degree in Russian Language and Literature, graduate studies at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow, a Masters Degree in History, and rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children where he works as a senior lecturer and researcher for Aish HaTorah outreach programs, and is a licensed tour guide.
As persecution and unrest forced Jews to leave Israel, an influential Torah giant decided to record the Oral Law for posterity. Following the compilation of the Mishna, a companion opus - the Talmud - evolves from scholarly discussions to explain the Mishna. Far from being a collection of 'hairsplitting' arguments, the Talmud can rightly be called the 'encyclopedia' of Jewish existence.
Life in exile also had a few very bright moments. For 1,500 years, the officially sanctioned leader of the Babylonian Jewish community claimed direct lineage from the House of King David. The brilliant rabbis of the Babylonian period produced the Talmud that we still learn today. Another Jewish breakaway sect, the Karaites, threatened to dominate the Jewish world, and how Rav Sa'adiah Gaon offset their erroneous set of beliefs.
The Moslem control of Spain produced a golden age of opportunity for the Jews, who excelled in science, medicine, trade, skilled crafts, and scholarship. After the Berber invasion drove the community out 400 years later, the Rishonim age began with magnificent scholarship from the Rambam in Egypt and Rashi in France.
The expansion of the Church in Medieval Europe brings us face to face with the Crusades. It was a time of kings, knights, and chivalry - as well as brutality, slaughter and pillage which decimated half of the Jewish population in Europe . Constant, unrelenting oppression and persecution forced the Jews to leave one country after another. Two horrendous lies propagated most of the massacres: blood libel and The Black Death.
Just as Judaism inspired early Christian religionists, it was also a stepping stone for a young Arab named Mohammed, whose vision was to impose ethical monotheism on his pagan desert culture. Even though Jews rejected his claim of prophecy, Mohammed succeeded to implant Islam within the Arab heart. When Arabia declared jihad on Christianity, hear how the Jews survived within Moslem territory as a separate, albeit as an inferior race.
When the battle field between the Church and Islam moved into Europe, the Jew of course were the first to suffer. The same Ferdinand and Isabella who sent Columbus on his voyage of discovery are the same Ferdinand and Isabella who instituted the bloody Spanish Inquisition - driving Jews out to the wolves. Hear how the Jews uplifted Spanish economic and political success, and how the backlash of anti-semitism brought Spain to a sudden decline.
As Poland grew, it counted on the Jews to build its economy and administer its vassal estates in the Ukraine and Belorussia. The Golden Age of Polish Jewry boasted of great scholars and talented leaders. Tragically, it is wiped out 300 years later by murderous hordes of Cossacks, led by a genocidal anti-semite on par with Hitler: Bogdan Chmielnicki.
Under the benevolent rule of the Ottoman Empire, thousands of Jews were allowed to return to Israel. The northern city of Tzfat gave rise to the study of Kabballah, spearheaded by the esoteric scholarship of Rav Moshe Cordevero ('the Ramak') and Rabbi Isaac Luria ('the Ari'). Meanwhile, low morale throughout the Jewish world explodes into messianic fever as Shabbetai Tzvi claims to be 'the Redeemer' and how the ensuing fiasco backlashes against the Kabbalists.
Dispel the "ultra-Orthodox fanatic" image of Chassidim with an amazing review of how the movement rescued the persecuted Jews of the 18th century and how it strengthens Judaism even today. Meet some of the famous Chassidic personalities, and hear why the Vilna Gaon was opposed to Chassidus at that time. Hear how immorality and decadence in the Christian world spawned the Protestant Reformation and the venomous anti-Semitism of Martin Luther, whose vicious "suggestions" were actualized by the German Nazis.
During the Enlightenment, the less religious the Western world became, the better it treated its Jews. Jews were freed from the ghettos, welcomed into trades and professions and given civil rights. But even with this newfound freedom, Jews were still looked down upon. The Reform Movement of Judaism embraced this new ideology by totally divorcing itself from God and Torah - which led to a majority of German, French and Italian Jews who either assimilated or converted to Christianity.