History for the Curious - The Jewish History Podcast

The 1800s was an era when medicine sat at the crossroads of science, ruses and discoveries. New vaccines and medical impostors competed for public trust. People broke with tradition and created a new landscape.

Mordecai Wolff Haffkine Haffkine stood out as an almost legendary figure. A Jewish bacteriologist, he developed and tested vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague, putting his life repeatedly at risk and fighting to save the lives of millions of people.

Whereas Dr. Samuel Solomon showed how skilful wording and suggestion could build a reputation and a fortune. Although his contribution to public service is rather unknown, Liverpool remembers him to this day - on par with some of their other legends.

We also look at what happens when medicine and surgery produce unexpected outcomes. What are the halachic ramifications?

And how did the BBC cover a re-election campaign in Kentucky?

 

Timestamps:

- 0:00:00–0:00:31 — Opening advertisement read (Dr. Solomon).

- 0:00:31–0:03:47 — Hosts intro: series overview and upcoming guests.

- 0:03:47–0:08:36 — Start of Mordechai Wolf Hafkin biography (education, expulsion, Pasteur Institute).

- 0:08:36–0:12:33 — Hafkin self‑inoculates and early cholera vaccine work.

- 0:12:33–0:15:43 — Hafkin’s large vaccination campaigns in India; plague vaccine development.

- 0:15:43–0:23:00 — Political opposition, 1902 tetanus deaths, inquiry and character attack.

- 0:23:00–0:31:44 — Scientific exoneration, later life, return to Orthodoxy, philanthropy, death (1930).

- 0:31:44–0:45:06 — Dr. Samuel Solomon biography: origins, balm of Gilead, marketing, bought MD.

- 0:45:06–0:46:44 — Solomon’s social status, legacy, and mixed moral assessment.

- 0:46:44–0:53:33 — Halachic case: wrong‑kidney removal that saved the patient; discussion of intent vs. outcome and liability.

- 0:53:33–0:58:34 — Media segment: critique of BBC coverage of Thomas Massie’s election loss.

- 0:58:34 — Episode close; call for listener feedback ([email protected]) and preview of part 2.

With the advent of Napoleon and emancipation, Jews were given an offer they found hard to refuse and the Reform movement made significant inroads.
 
Across many countries a war was waged for the soul of the Jew and many voluntarily even converted to Christianity. Shuls, marriage, Shabbos and Bris Mila were all subjected to question.
 
How did the Chasam Sofer Rav Samson Refoel Hirsch and others deal with the critical issues that faced them? Why was Orthodoxy driven to the defensive? And what lesson can we take from it nowadays?
 

Timestamps:

- 0:00 — Introduction & dedication  

- 0:36 — Podcast intro; Mendelssohn recap  

- 1:36 — Reform emergence; 17th–18th c. precursors (Sabbatai Zevi, Spinoza)  

- 4:07 — Napoleon’s emancipation & identity shift  

- 6:24 — Conversions & assimilation (Heinrich Heine example)  

- 10:25 — Reform tactics: Bible over Talmud; “prophetic Judaism”  

- 18:59 — Jacobson/Westphalia reforms (state control of rabbis, synagogue changes)  

- 24:53 — Berlin vs. Hamburg differences; home services vs. public temples  

- 29:41 — Abraham Geiger’s ideology; opposition to circumcision noted  

- 34:49 — Philippson/Magdeburg — services, Sunday shift  

- 36:49 — Rabbinical conferences (1844–46) & intermarriage stance  

- 41:27 — Orthodox responses: Safer Berneis, Rav Ettlinger, haram strategy  

- 48:47 — Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Neo‑Orthodoxy response  

- 57:13 — Modern implications: erosion of minhagim; academia vs. masorah  

- 59:05 — Closing takeaway: small changes can lead to large identity shifts

Moses Mendelssohn was raised in an orthodox family, attended yeshiva for a decade of his life and was involved in Kehilla life for many years afterwards. But he is remembered for his translation of Chumash, defined as a philosopher and linked to the beginning of the German Reform movement. 
 
What did he do to create a storm of controversy? And how did the Chasam Sofer relate to his writings?
 

Timestamps:

- 0:00:00 — Opening

- 0:02:42 — Introduction to Moses Mendelssohn; early life and background  

- 0:07:03 — Education, secular learning, and early writings  

- 0:11:32 — Rise to public prominence and influence with non-Jewish intellectuals  

- 0:14:46 — Controversies: public challenges (Lavater) and the Halonas Hamas (burial) debate  

- 0:19:18 — Mendelssohn’s German Chumash translation/commentary and rabbinic opposition  

- 0:23:09 — Political engagement and Enlightenment connections; push for improved Jewish status (context of Joseph II’s reforms)  

- 0:31:03 — Arguments in Jerusalem: rationalist defense of Judaism, limits of communal coercion, and state jurisdiction over public law  

- 0:33:16 — Impact on Jewish education: introduction of secular subjects, changing communal autonomy, and long-term consequences  

- 0:39:09 — Mixed legacy: civil rights and assimilation pressures leading toward Reform; personal practice vs. societal outcomes  

- 0:47:07 — Hasidic/rabbinic responses and the disputed reference to Mendelssohn in the Hassam Sefar’s will; closing reflections

Born in 1930, she lived through many challenging events. Raised a family and was a regal figure. Yehi zichroh boruch

Rabbi Aubrey Hersh’s mother was niftar on Tuesday 27 Nissan, aged 95.

Rabbi Hersh is sitting shiva at Eagle Lodge, Golders Green Road.

Messages can be sent via WhatsApp to +44 7973 178 236, or by email to [email protected].

We wish him chayim aruchim and send our collective nechama.