The Real Rayna Basia: The True Legacy of Rebbetzin Berlin
Host Rabbi Mordechai Becher interviews Dr. Rayna Basia, who reveals the true legacy of Rebbetzin Berlin, challenging historical portrayals and restoring her lost glory.
17 Dec 2025
Not Yoshe Kalb: Meet Yentele Rosenfeld, Modern Rabbinic History’s Most Famous Agunah
The dramatic story that sent shockwaves throughout Eastern Europe: the son of the Shedlovtze Rebbe disappears months after his marriage, only to resurface 16 years later, as Yoshe Kalb, the simple smith's apprentice. Learn how Rabbanim fought to free Yente Rosenfeld from the chains of her marriage, and what she did with her freedom.
30 Sept 2025
Minipod: The Truth about Women Learning Torah–Sarah Schenirer’s Singular Achievement pt. 2 of 2
Why (and how!) women learn Torah today, through the words of the Tana'im, Amoraim, The Rambam, the Prisha and the Chofetz Chayim.
30 Sept 2025
Reb. Vichna Kaplan Principal of Faith (ft. Reb. Leibowitz) pt. 1 of 2
Rebbetzin Kaplan was the visionary who shaped Jewish education for girls in America. Through her warmth, kindness, and dedication, she transformed countless lives and left a lasting mark on the community. Rebbetzin Danielle Leibowitz joins us to explore her pioneering work and the legacy that continues to inspire new generations.
19 Aug 2025
Minipod: Who's Your Mama? pt. 2 of 2
A turn-of-the-century orchard bears fruit in the Satmar Rebbe's groundbreaking psak.
12 Aug 2025
Zelda in Poetry and Pathos (feat. Baila Olidort) pt. 1 of 2
Zelda Schneersohn Mishkovsky is highly lauded for her contributions as a Hebrew poet, but virtually unknown in her circle of origin. In a real and stimulating conversation, Tzipora and Baila discuss that disconnect, the essence of Zelda’s impact, and the integrality and relevance of art in the chassidic woman’s experience.
5 Aug 2025
Minipod: From Monty to Mondshine: Har HaBayis in Halacha and History pt 2 of 2
29 Jul 2025
AI Judith Montefiore: History’s First Jewish “Lady” (feat. Reb. Tugendhaft) pt. 1 of 2
All but forgotten, Judith Montefiore was a devout and intriguing figure whose contributions to Jewish society shaped the way modern Jewish women perceived themselves. Learn about the life of a woman whose legacy was obscured by the achievements of the grand and great Sir Moses.
In conversation with Rebbetzin Shoshana Tugendhaft.
22 Jul 2025
Veiled Reference Unveiled: Your Questions Answered (+Tzipora Fixes the Mistaken Identity in Noda BeYehuda)
In this Season Two Premiere, Tzipora Weinberg excavates Ladino melodies, unearths forgotten kinos AND explodes the consensus on Levi Barent Cohen.
16 Apr 2024
MINIPOD: Shabtai Zvi, Birkas Kohanim, and the Path Away from the Kosel
2 Feb 2024
Glikl Unveiled: Reading the Memoir through a Master's Lens (Feat. Dr. Elisheva Carlebach)
Glikl of Hameln is a familiar and beloved character to Jewish history enthusiasts. In this episode, we dive beneath the surface of Glikl’s words to deeply appreciate the forces at play for women of her era.
In conversation with Professor Elisheva Carlebach.
Dr. Carlebach is the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture, and Society, at Columbia University.
18 Jan 2024
MINI-POD: Staying Jewish in Spain: Rivash, the Chasid Yaavetz and More
The Rivash and the Chasid Yavetz on women's challenges and triumphs in Spain, 1391-1492.
8 Jan 2024
Who was Joanna of Burgos? (Feat. Yael Krumbein)
The Silent Strength of Joanna of Burgos
Joanna is a name most people won’t recognize, but her story is one for the ages. This episode describes one woman’s faith under fire, in the aftermath of the 1391 massacres in Spain, and the ways women kept their faith throughout the years of the Spanish Inquisition.
In conversation with Yael Krumbein.
Yael teaches European History at Touro College’s Lander College for Women in New York City and Jewish history at Bais Yaakov Machon Ora High School in Passaic, NJ
2 Dec 2023
MINI-POD The Calendar Controversy: R’ Saadia Gaon and R’ Aharon Ben Meir
22 Nov 2023
Women of the Cairo Geniza (feat. Professor Eve Krakowski)
In this episode we unpack the hidden riches of the Cairo Geniza, the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world, focusing primarily on Jewish women’s stories as they emerge directly from Geniza documents.
In conversation with Eve Krakowski, Professor of Near Eastern Studies and the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University.
5 Oct 2023
MINI-POD: The Responsa on Doña Gracia’s Legal Conflict
4 Oct 2023
Doña Gracia Part 2: Her Reach and Legacy
Welcome to Veiled Reference!
I’m Tzipora Weinberg — teacher, writer, and explorer of remote and dusty archives. Captivated by tanach, intrigued by history, I’ve been finding my joy in Torah literature that combines the two.
Join us as we listen closely to voices that still echo from our nation’s past — distant, even obscure, but all the more exciting for that mystery. It’s the place where fascinating women discuss fascinating women’s histories.
In part 2, Miriam Wielgus and I continue our discussion about the exceptional Doña Gracia Mendes Nasí. We discover the extent of Doña Gracia’s power in every sphere of influence during the era, and the way she used her vast wealth to improve the welfare of her Jewish brothers and sisters in multiple countries. We also get a peek into an intriguing legal and halachic conflict between Doña Gracia and her own sister, which is referenced in our sources several times, and still studied today.
** The full discussion of the halachic sources referenced in the episode can be found here. (https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-rv4cm-14c2952)
I hope you enjoy, and welcome your feedback: podcasts@mishpacha.com (mailto:podcasts@mishpacha.com)
27 Sept 2023
Doña Gracia Part 1: Her Rise to Glory
Welcome to Veiled Reference!
I’m Tzipora Weinberg — teacher, writer, and explorer of remote and dusty archives. Captivated by tanach, intrigued by history, I’ve been finding my joy in Torah literature that combines the two.
Join us as we listen closely to voices that still echo from our nation’s past — distant, even obscure, but all the more exciting for that mystery. It’s the place where fascinating women discuss fascinating women’s histories.
I invite you into a deep dive into pockets of history preserved in our Torah sources. With each episode, we'll travel back in time to discover and re cover stories of women who might have otherwise been lost to us. Piecing together the tales of these women of old can help us to understand periods of time that we've only hazily conceived of before.
It's time to let these women's voices rise to the surface through the sources left to us and to learn about the lives they led and maybe draw inspiration and strength to empower each one of us on our own journeys.
It’s absolutely appropriate to begin our quest with a remarkable woman, Doña Gracia Mendes Nasí, who was nothing short of exceptional. And I’m thrilled to dive into her incredible story with Miriam Wielgus, who is pretty incredible herself.
In part 1 of this 2 part episode, we explore Doña Gracia’s rise to power, amid the political, cultural, and religious landscape of her era.
I hope you enjoy, and welcome your feedback: podcasts@mishpacha.com (mailto:podcasts@mishpacha.com)
Inside a recent episode
The Real Rayna Basia: The True Legacy of Rebbetzin Berlin
Published 18 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Up until this very moment, the yeshiva remains a way of life that expresses the sanctity of the Spirit and the dedication to what is most essential. So as for the mother of all yeshivas, the velazhin yeshiva, it was called that emha yeshivas not because it was the first, but because it became the symbol and model that all subsequent yeshivas sought to emulate. Around the year 1802, Rav Chaim, the greatest Talmud of the Vilna Gaon, established a yeshiva in the small town of Elishan, situated on the main road between Vilna and Minsk. Rav Chaim founded the yeshiva with a crystal clear perspective on the impact, the centrality of Torah study. […]
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