Rabbi Moshe Bamberger's "Great Jewish History" Featured on JM in the AM

Well, it's no secret that Rabbi Yosha Bamberger is among our favorite guests here at JMA. He's got a brand new book, which I which I have trouble holding. That's how big and heavy and incredible this book is. It's entitled Great Jewish History, Major Events from Creation Until Today is seen through the eyes of Torah Personalities. To those of you who were tuned in early this morning, I've already addressed with I bamburger the uh the 1967 uh Kotel Harabayat uh preference that I have and that the staff of the single network has been obsessed with for the last 40 years. So, we've gotten that out of the way. I want everyone to note he was very receptive to our comments. Very, very receptive as you'd expect because Robberger is an absolutely amazing person. Anyway, those of you who go to artsgirl.com to get the brand new book, make sure to use promo code radio. Go to artsgirl.com, make sure to use promo code radio. And this is an amazing uh Kanuka gift coffee table book. I I can't recommend it highly enough. Rabbi Mosha Bamberger, a pleasure to welcome you back to JM in the AM. >> No, it's an absolute pleasure to be here again and again, and I I love spending time with you. >> I appreciate that. I don't know how you do this. the research that's required to put together an almost 400page book on major events in Jewish history. You know earlier we were discussing the whole thing with the the book in 1967 etc. So one of the things I said was that we always had this dream here at JM and the AM to create one of those like NCAA brackets of most important events in Jewish history. And I and we we always said the automatic four seeds you the automatic um four number one seeds have got to be like you know mitim and matan Torah and I mean for us certainly you know creation of the state of Israel and uh and building there's like there's almost automatically you know but you you don't leave it to four or 64 you have countless countless incredibly important events that have happened in our history and and and the research on this must have been insane and and then you sometimes downplay it, but I have to assume that you were just completely obsessed with this topic for months. >> Yeah, it's pretty accurate. It was definitely uh I had to get reintroduced to my family at the end of the project and um it was definitely a big uh a big job and a big undertaking but it was a labor of love and when you do something that you love doing you don't even count the hours and you don't even notice all of the uh you know the exertion that goes into it because it's truly what I love doing. So I'm very lucky. look and and the artwork and pictures phenomenal. And I assume I mean you'll tell me if I'm wrong because so many you know you've made books of different sizes and you've dominated the like the miniature book space. Can I assume that that a book like this because of its size and how thick it is like you had no choice but to make it into a a really you know heavy coffee table book size. >> Yeah. You know, we have uh we dominated the space of the smaller books of Bahasha. We also dominated the coffee table books. We have about uh six in all now of the large coffee table book. >> I didn't even realize >> we have and you you've interviewed me for probably all of them actually. Um you know the letters and the speeches, the journeys, the classics, the treasures, different covering the gel you saw from different angles. Um but this is a very unique book. This is a book that uh really was always a dream of mine because I love history but I always felt that there was a gaping hole in the genre in the sense that you know history requires like a pirish just like you know the terra require you can't just readish and without rashi without any of the math because you would be grossly misunderstanding it. So when you know history itself also requires commentary because without commentary we could totally get the wrong ideas. So what I did was that I took like you said every major event not just in Jewish history but in world history right >> and I and I added uh first we g I wish I could show the you know your listeners what the actual layout of the of each spread is but basically it's a headline as you pointed out that I was I stand corrected about the headline about the 1967 war and I apologize profusely for that no problem >> but the Um, >> trust me, trust me, trust me, most people don't make an issue of it >> and then I put a picture of the event and then like a a paragraph about the event so you get like a feel for it. I put on the bottom of that paragraph a Ramban or Rambam just a oneline quote from Gdau is just to get like a feel for what really is the essence of that event to take away. But then on the right side of the spread I have different gad like in three different let's say uh you know different blocks on the page bars on the page I have you in a three gadylm and what they said about that event with full color pictures and a lot of interesting sidebars and historical footnotes and uh so many you know you'll walk away from this book after you finish it with a wealth of information that I think you know, really you'll be happy with like just from every >> Yeah. >> No, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> No, I was going to say that first like first first of all the um the fourth number one seed for us was kusher. So that you have on page 100 just to clarify that. But the halavai based on what you just said, halavai, if every adult and child in our community would just be familiar, you know, forget about delving into every little aspect of each event, uh, which you do brilliantly and, you know, it's certainly worthwhile, you know, examining and reading through, etc. But just if you're making people aware of important events that have happened in the history of the world and the history of the Jewish people, for that alone, it's a major victory. Yeah. Yeah. Hashem, we have a you know on the on the top leftand corner we have the year that everything happened. So you'll be able to get like uh you know really like a panorama of history and be able to fit a lot everybody knows Kaneka, right? We're have we're right upon Hanukkah now. A few days um from now. Yeah. >> Everybody knows Kaneka. Everybody likes him in there. Everybody talks about the Mcabes and but how many people know when Kaneka took place in history? I would love to do like a man on the street interview and find out when people think >> right >> approximately Sonica took place. And I I would venture to say that many many of us would not know. >> And here you have a book that really just is able to put every >> every event in history into the proper place. You'll just be able to know, you know, what took place in what order. That alone is a very big accomplishment. Plus, you get, you know, so much more. a million pictures all colorized. Um, you have what is said. You walk away with a hashkafa, you know, with a with a Torah outlook on everything and it's just uh it's a breathtaking I mean I don't like to, you know, speak about myself, but I I think and it's really and it's really not me. I promise you it's not. You know, somebody asked me, you know, how did you do it? And I said, I literally don't know. I said like Hashem gives me the idea. He lets me sit by Hashem by a computer and do some research. I do a little here, a little there, and uh and all of a sudden the book comes out from art school. >> Well, the the bottom line is it's brilliant. And the early part, by the way, gives everyone an opportunity to become even more familiar with some of the parios we have. You have, you know, Mama being buried near Bedl. I mean, you have Yoseph resisting temptation. I mean, we're talking about parios that literally we're going through right now and Yoseph becoming the head of Egypt, etc., etc. I mean even those you're putting in historical context and not that it's a bad thing that I obviously it's not a bad thing it's a very good thing when people learn about these events through but when you do it from the perspective of the way you're presenting it I think it gives people a different angle and as you said the commentaries that you include and the tidbits that you include all those you know make it a more enhanced experience which I think is amazing also some non-events get into your book for instance when Moshe is denied entry to Israel, which is a major event or nonevent as it goes. Um, you know, these are really important, significant things that a lot of people just gloss over and it may not even mean much to them when they're going through the par hearing Laney, but you paint it as a major historical event and I think that's a key. >> Yeah. I also feel like it's it's important that I you know I basically kept you know I have a great graphic artist Raisy Zitter so we work closely together to like make sure that you know all of the headlines and they're like a New York Times font so it looks it makes it look it gives a feel on a gray background and makes it feel like you know you're sort of reading a paper in a certain way but the same size font from Bria from all the way down the lineat Spanish Inquisition, uh, the Holocaust, you know, the COVID, everything from beginning to end has the same size fund. So, it's like, you know, we don't we're we're just basically reading through history. History, you know, is there's no Hashem is running the world like he did from Mount Tyra from, you know, from Mim all the way till the 1967 war, the 1973 war. Akaresh is the same that's always been watching over the Jewish people and he he loves us and he he creates miracles for us and we we live through miracles. There's no other way to explain it. >> Ah someone here is paying careful attention to page 92 where you talk about the moragib another very very sensitive topic here at the seagull network. I'll have to get back to you. here. We're going to examine it with a fine tooth comb and get back to you. And of and of course I'm having fun with you cuz you're one of those guests we can have fun with. Um, by the way, it's no secret. It's a reality. And this goes all through the community. I'm not picking on the left wing of the community. I'm not picking on the right wing of the community. I'm not picking on anybody specifically. It It's a known fact that we don't spend enough time studying Na'vi. And at least here, and I'm not saying that this is a replacement for the study of Na'vi, but you have to admit, at least here, if someone would go through the major events in the Vim and Kuvim that you have here, they'd be much more in many cases, they'd be much more familiar with that part of Jewish history than they are at the at the present time. >> A thousand%. I mean I must admit I am also you know a little I went through the yeshiva system and I love the yeshiva system and I I bashem flourish there but you know one of the one of the you know if you could say it that way is that we really girls get to spend I think a lot of time on nave and boys don't so we know and through gra you know if the gra clos then you know you'll you'll know it but really you know we should all be much more knowledgeable in so everybody is you know really fluent there with it I think but you know in America we really we focus more on and then we jump to but there's very you know it's so this is hopefully going to give people at least the appetite to look into the actual original text of of Daniel and of Yeshua and of you know that itself is very valuable >> Bamberger is with us the book is called great Jewish history I'm highly recommending it. Go to artsgirl.com. Make sure to use promo code radio. And I know you emphasized this before, but I've got to reiterate. Uh you talk about historical events that are not necessarily Jewish. And a reminder again, no matter what, no matter where in the community one may be, um the reality is there's always a Torah perspective. There's always a a way for a a rabbi who we respect to view specific events. In this case, I'm looking at at your page about Apollo 11 where man steps on the moon. There is a a a Torah perspective of that, even though obviously it's not a quote unquote Jewish event. And I know you have others as well in the book, but this is the one I saw at the moment. So, I think that I think it's really that's an important message that everyone has to realize that that there's a world perspective and there's a Torah perspective. >> Yeah. You know, there's there was a famous uh Torah personality. His name was Mendel Kaplan. He's not one of the household name personalities, but he's very, you know, he's he's well known. He was a a tremendous. He was a in in Europe and then he escaped the war. He came to America. He became a a rashiva in Skoi and Rashiva in Philadelphia. And you know, he was a brilliant man. Arts Girl put out a book about him called Remendal and his wisdom. Also highly recommended. And he when he first came to America he was Arabian Skopi in you know in Chicago and he had a a room from full of American boys and he he didn't really speak English. He certainly didn't read English and you know he was trying to communicate with them but they weren't receptive to him because they didn't understand you know his language. They he didn't understand theirs and he was trying to teach them gamarra and they weren't interested and and he basically said one day to them he said listen he says he brought in a Chicago Tribune newspaper he puts it on the desk and he says boys if you teach me how to read English I will teach you how to read a newspaper and what he meant by that was that you know that he had to learn English but he wanted to teach them that every event in not just Jewish history but in world history you take any event that's happening today in any part of the world. If you have a Torah outview and you know outlook on things, you'd be able to understand it in a way that's unique and is and is accurate. You know, we we see everything through the eyes of some writers in the New York Times or New York Post or, you know, or whatever. And we're not so we get their slanted, you know, very biased perspective on news and we don't, you know, we don't understand what's really going on behind the scenes. And you know some of those talid that he had ended up being besides for great they were great historians. One of them the most notable of them was wine. He became a noted historian and his one of you know his great contributions was he was able to take events in history and really bring them to the masses through all of his tapes and all of his shirim and all of his and you know this is something that he gained from Aendel Kaplan and his brilliance in showing the boys how to understand every event through the eyes of Tyra. >> Amazing. Absolutely amazing. The building sections, the Mishkan, the but mikdash, were those more difficult than the others or like any other? No, I think they were like any other because you know when I had so much to work with because um you know there there's a lot of commentary there's a lot of math that speak about all these events you know it was the the NI section I think for me was a little bit more uh challenging just because there's fewer medashim and fewer uh maybe gdylum that weighed in on that we don't have as much uh in terms of commentary to Na'vi I'm not just talking about the early commentators talking about even the most recent commentators. So that was I think the most challenging and of course you know the more recent uh events in history you know the you know the wars and the in Israel and the um you know and co and uh you know the more the more recent events where but there were always we always have had the you know the benefit of having great rabbis who uh who who shared their lessons and their guidance with us and and so besides forgetting an actual detail of the event you also a little able to walk away from it with seeing things a little clearer, some takeaways, some historical um patterns that we see other events similar to CO and how the good in past, you know, past decades, past centuries dealt with uh the plagues of Europe and, you know, everything, you know, has its place and we have an index in the back so you can really find anything. There's a lot of also interesting tidbits like you said before that scattered peppered throughout the book that also is in in itself very valuable like for example and I'm not going to explain it because the viewers should be should the listeners should uh you know be feel free to look at the book themselves and find all these things but like where did a mingid come from is that you know how did that become the symbol of the Jewish people what's the you know what's the background story of that you know and then Um the sn there's a snare stone. I don't know how many people are familiar with it, but there's a rock that was found. Um and it was and whenever you break it open, it always has a picture of the snare that Mishraenu met Hakuru for the first time at and uh and what's the background of that? What do I say about that stone? And you know, there's so many of these little tidbits that are, you know, I love those, you know, those those little juicy uh ideas that um you know, that that make classes so interesting. This is I think by the way aside for being a beautiful Hanukkah present for your loved ones, it would also be great and I can't stress this enough you know the you know that if every every school every you know high school you know in the uh in the Jewish high school system in America would have this book as their you know instead of the world history books the non-Jewish world history books that my kids you know study from your kids probably studied from that you know I don't know if you you know if you remember it or you've ever looked through it, but I've helped my kids, you know, go through studying for tests and things and, you know, they they bring home these books and they have Greek mythology, they have the Chinese uh culture, you know, Confucious and all of his fmas and then they have um, you know, Egyptian a desarus and you have to study for this, you have to do this for the regents and you're literally bringing like Ga, you know, a des literally like an issa to study this stuff, but they have to study it's on the curriculum and, you If this book could somehow either supplement or substitute, you know, those textbooks in our in our children's classroom, you know, they would really besides for, you know, what do you walk away from those other books from? This would actually our children would be able to have the benefit of knowing the panorama of Jewish history and a depth in Jewish history and being able to understand you know the events through the eyes of Tyra through what Gdel said and all the fascinating you know parts of our own heritage. Why do we have to study other other you know countries that are even non-existent heritage like when we can when we can study our own and like you know besides like you said before you know we don't really study Na'vi enough we don't study Jewish history enough we don't understand the I you know what what what happened to our nation you know we don't see the the the actual sweep of history we don't understand what anything is where anything belongs and what does it mean for us in our existence and you know famously said that the greatest miracle of all the miracles he said more than more than and all the years that we spent in the midbar and more than creasams and you know the splitting of the sea is the greatest miracle of all is not those it's the miracle of our endurance in gulus the fact that for 2,000 years we've been away from the makama mikdash we haven't had the shina with us and yet we're somehow able with all of the persecutions and all of the torture and all of the the tragedies that mark our nation's history were somehow able to not just survive but we're thriving. There's there's no room in the anymore. There's no room in the Bakov. There's no room in the Kyan. There's you know we have Hatsah and we have and we have you know such great organizations and and from a people that were left for dead you know just 70 80 years ago and look at us today. This is the greatest miracle of all. Rabbi Mosha Bamberger, he has dominated the small uh uh the the miniature small Jewish book space and the Jewish coffee table book space. And this one belongs in the latter. It is an amazing brand new large uh coffee table book from Arts Girl. Great Jewish history. It's a great Hanukkah gift, a great bar mitzvah gift. And as Rabbi Bamberger recommended, uh, high schools and schools in general should really think about, um, incorporating this into their curriculum. Major events from creation until today is seen through the eyes of Torah personalities. Ry Mosha Bamberger. It is at artscroll.com. Make sure to use promo code radio. artscroll.com. Promo code radio. Any reaction? I don't know how many days this has been out. Ry Bamber, any reaction yet? >> People are really, really, really loving it. I mean, I I've gotten so many emails, so many texts, so many uh people from all walks of life that are really enjoying it. You know, there's so much to this book that, you know, people of all age, children of all ages, as they say, you know, have have what to take away from. Some people said their kids are addicted to it. They just keep on reading it again and again and looking at the pictures even if they can't read yet. They're looking at the colorized pictures. We have literally, you know, many, many, many hundreds of pictures. Many of them have never been even printed in, you know, yet in history. Um, certainly not in a colorized way. And, you know, there's so many aspects from great Russas to the smallest of children and everything in between. We have, you know, people are really appreciating it. This is really what they what they describe as a gamecher. You know, there's something like you can actually have in one volume the entirety of Jewish history from creation until today and get a really good perview point and with all the gifts with all the benefits, you know, on the side, the tidbits and the pictures and the and like you said, you know, all of the uh the important events of history, but everything in one volume. And you know, it's really I really believe that if you would bring this into your house, you'd bring you bring into your house because you know, there's no greater braha than the gift of knowledge and the gift of understanding one's own past and one's own future. And I think that this book will really provide all of that. >> Well, like I said, we're highly recommending it. What's doing in Queens? Do you still have an overflow crowd shot this morning in your synagogue? Yes, but you promised that you'd come back and speak by Charliff from Lander College and I'm I'm going to hold you to that. >> And you're serious about that. >> I really appreciate that. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you very much. >> You have to go back to your to your daughter, I think, for shallow, but it but we tried. >> Well, no, I'm going to try my best. I uh I take that I take that invitation with tremendous humility and with the intention of hopefully actually making good on it one day. Ra Mosha Bamber, everybody. Great Jewish history is the name of the book. Go to artscroll.com and enjoy. Perfect for Kaneka. Great gift in general. It's a coffee table book that will enhance your home. All right, Bamber. I take this opportunity to wish you and thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> Just one thing I just want to thank you for all you do for the Jewish community at large. Everybody, you know, gets so much from you. When I was a kid, I remember my mother, you know, who can I know her in her mid '9s, she used to drive to work and or drive us to school and Malcolm was always on the radio and, you know, from then on, you know, you you've given Cla so much positivity, so much physic, so much and enjoyment and seeing you have a gen your heart is genuinely full of love and and it comes through so clearly for Medina, for Kalisel, for the Tyrus Suselle And uh I just want to wish you many many years and to keep doing exactly what you're doing. Don't ever think of changing because you're doing perfect. >> Amate Thank you so much. We were wondering how you were raised so well. Now we know the secret JM and the AM. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> Thank you so much. Much appreciated. And your words are uh are really really appreciated. All right. Mosha Bamberger. Everybody go to artscroll.com. Order. He can order all his books, the small ones, the big ones. Every one of them has great text and great pictures. A lot of work must have gone into this. I think he I think he underplayed just how much research and how many months and how uh how devoted he had to be to this project to really uh make it what it in fact is. So uh a real tribute to the incredible effort by Bamburger. Get all his books, go to artscroll.com and of course you know the rule, always use promo code radio. More coming up. It's a Thursday, believe it or not, and you're listening to JM in the A.M.