The Builders - Mishpacha

Nov 22 2023 8 ep. 41 mins 7

The Builders - Mishpacha Podcast artwork

The Gedolim Who Created Movements and Shaped Our World With Gedalia Guttentag & Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Galinsky

Religion & Spirituality History

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Spirit and Struggle

Nov 22 2023 35 mins

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 se

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

Sep 26 2023 40 mins

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 peo

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

Sep 06 2023 43 mins

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

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

Mar 20 2023 37 mins

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

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

Mar 12 2023 36 mins

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 teshuva

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

Jan 23 2023 43 mins

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 redee

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

Dec 21 2022 45 mins

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 o

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

Dec 20 2022 45 mins

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