The Builders - Mishpacha

Spirit and Struggle

In this episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim look to the Gedolei Yisrael of the 20th century for chizzuk in times of crisis and tzara. They discuss chassidishe men being drafted to the Russian army in the early 1900’s, and Chofetz Chaim’s sefer Machane Yisrael, which directly addresses yidden going to battle. Is the zchus of soldiers saying shema enough? Why are secular soldiers seeing Yad Hashem and unity more than ever before? How did Rav Elyashiv and Rav Shlomo Zalman come to answer army teshuvos? And why did Rav Goren, Chief Rabbi of Israel, join a paratrooper brigade?

The Builders: The Chazon Ish Part 2 - Creating the Chareidi World

In part two of this episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim speak further about the Chazon Ish, and what he accomplished for the Chareidi world in the last two decades of his life. They discussed the fervor of the athiest Zionist movement was in those days, and how the Chazon Ish opposed Zionism and formulated a way forward for frum Jews. Was the Chazon ish the machmir on shmitta that people thought he was? What prompted R’ Chatzkel Levenshtein to say that the Chazon Ish had a once-in-a-generation siyata dishmaya to give psak? What was the Chazon Ish’s method of protesting the government? And find out which flaw the Chazon Ish said a young R’ Gershon Edelstein had.

The Builders: The Chazon Ish Part 1 - The Quiet Lion of Vilna

In part one of this two-part episode, Gedalia and Rav Ephraim talk about the Chazon Ish, Rav Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, and try to define the vast influence of the Chazon Ish on the frum world, and his impact on the conditions that allowed the Chareidi world in Israel to flourish. They discuss the Chazon Ish’s early life and family, and how a young masmid with virtually no yeshiva background could become the gadol that he was. Why didn’t the mussar movement resonate with the Chazon Ish? What was his marriage like, and why did he enter it knowing he would never have children? Find out how the Chazon Ish could identify a person’s yiras shomayim without meeting them and why he once took a bite of an apple without making a bracha.

The Builders: Rav Ovadiah Yosef Part 2 - “Maran”: The rise of a Halachic Revolutionary

In Part Two of this episode about Rav Ovadiah Yosef, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky discuss Rav Ovadiah’s fearless willingness to take on forces greater and older than he was, even from an extraordinarily young age. They discuss his passionate arguments in his teenage years against the prevalent view that the Ben Ish Chai should be considered the final authority in the Sepahrdi world. They discuss Rav Ovadiah’s rebbetzin, Rabbanit Margalit Ovadiah, who sacrificed everything for Rav Ovadiah’s Torah, both in Eretz Yisrael and in Cairo. Hear about halachic shoulders broad enough to free 950 agunos after the Yom Kippur War, and to give the heter for giving land for peace in Israel, despite Rav Ovadiah’s alignment with the political right. Learn what the single sentence was that Maran said to convince his wife to marry him, and why a shochet from Cairo hired an assassin to kill him.

The Builders: Rav Ovadiah Yosef Part 1 - Restoring the Crown: Shas and Sephardi Pride

In Part One of a two-part series, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky talk about Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the legendary posek and preeminent leader of the Sephardic world. Rav Ovadiah’s unique geonus and malchus were powers that were able to galvanize those around him to channel their energies into an untold number of efforts on behalf of the klal, leaving a legacy of the Sephardic baal teshuvah movement, the Sephardic chinuch movement, and a rich heritage of Torah and leadership in the rapidly growing Sephardic world. They discuss Rav Ovadiah’s involvement in the Shas party and his message of restoring Sephardic dignity to the public. Find out which gedolim prevented Rav Ovadiah Yosef from becoming a Machaneh Yehudah shopkeeper, and how Rav Ovadiah’s last name became his first name.

The Builders: Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman - The Wide-Awake Dreamer

In this episode, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky discuss the impact that the visionary Ponevezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, had on the Torah world, and how he brought Torah to the masses in Eretz Yisrael. They discuss the Rav’s revolt against the mussar movement in his early life, and how his stance on mussar changed over the course of his life. How did the Ponovezher Rav redeem 700 Jewish prisoners of war? When is a dreamer also a visionary? And they answer this important question: Are all the shtreimel wearers in Eretz Yisrael chassidish?

The Builders: Rav Aharon Kotler Part 2 - Transplanting Torah to America

In Part Two of this series on Rav Aharon Kotler, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky delve into the creation of Lakewood. Today, it is a bastion of Torah; how did Rav Aharon build this incredible Ir Torah from a summer zeman of 14 “bench squeezers”? They discuss Rav Aharon’s legacy of Torah Umesorah and Jewish day schools as well, all of which were instrumental in making the pursuit of limud Torah lishmah a serious and legitimate endeavor in the modern age. Also: Find out why many gedolim in England are called dayan and whether the yungeleit of Lakewood ever considered a side job of canning vegetables.

The Builders: Rav Aharon Kotler Part 1 - Prewar Europe’s Youngest Rosh Yeshiva

In Part One of a two-part series, Gedalia and Rabbi Galinsky discuss the gadlus of Rav Aharon Kotler 60 years after the petirah of prewar Europe’s youngest rosh yeshivah. Whether in his mastery of Torah or in his dealings with a simple yeshivah cook, the stories of Rav Aharon have the power to change your perspective on how to live Torah. They delve into Rav Aharon’s influence in Europe and even in Eretz Yisrael, and what the world looked like throughout Rav Aharon’s childhood. They discuss how Rav Aharon’s gadlus and leadership allowed him to push himself beyond his nature, and ultimately, they try to quantify: Who built Rav Aharon, and how can we define the empire that Rav Aharon built?