The maggid and his stories
Rabbi Paysach Krohn is best known as a storyteller. A mohel by profession and the author of ArtScroll's widely read "Maggid" series, he has spent decades collecting true stories from Jewish life and retelling them from the podium. His talks rarely stay with the story for its own sake; each one is a delivery system for a point about honesty, kindness, or emunah. That method — a memorable story that lands a mussar lesson — is the signature of his recorded talks.
The approach makes his shiurim unusually accessible. A listener does not need a background in Gemara to follow a Krohn talk, only a willingness to see how an ordinary encounter can carry a Torah idea. This is why his recordings reach such a wide audience, from seasoned learners to people just beginning to explore their heritage, and why the same story can move a child and an adult sitting in the same room.
Teshuvah and the Days of Awe
Much of his recorded material gathers around the Yamim Noraim. Talks such as "Gaining Passion and Introspection in the Days of Awe," "Teshuvah, Tefillah, Tzedakah," and "Teshuvah — Part of Hashem's Master Plan" walk listeners into the season of judgment. He frames teshuvah not as a burden of guilt but as an opportunity built into creation — a chance Hashem designed for a person to reset and return.
In these talks he tends to reach for the practical: what a person can actually change, and how a small resolution kept honestly outweighs a grand one abandoned by Cheshvan. Titles like "Searching Inward While Reaching Upward" and "Rebuilding the Mikdash Within" capture the direction — turning the outward drama of the High Holidays into inward, personal work a listener can begin the same day.
Mussar for Shabbos and everyday life
Beyond the festival season, his talks turn to Shabbos and to steady self-improvement. He speaks about the atmosphere of a Shabbos table, the way parents shape children through small moments, and the everyday middos that quietly define a home. Here too the lesson usually arrives wrapped in a story he heard or witnessed, which keeps lofty ideals grounded in real people.
Running through all of it is a consistent message: growth in Yiddishkeit is made of small, human choices, and the stories of ordinary people are worth preserving because they teach. For families, his recordings work well as shared listening — a single talk can open a conversation at the table about character, gratitude, and how to treat the people around us.
Finding kosher Torah video for your family
FilteredTube is a kosher video service built for Jewish families — every single video is approved against one written standard before it can appear, with no open feed, no comments, and no surprises. It is a calm, safe place to look for the Torah and Jewish music you love.
If your family enjoys teachers like Rabbi Paysach Krohn, search FilteredTube for the speakers and topics that matter most to you. With a daf yomi shelf, a weekly parsha shelf, topic shelves, audio-only listening for the car, and a kids mode with a PIN, kosher Jewish video is easy to reach — and the approved catalog keeps growing every day.
At a glance
Key takeaways
- Rabbi Paysach Krohn is a mohel and the author of ArtScroll's popular "Maggid" story series.
- His talks use true stories to teach mussar — lessons in character, kindness, and emunah.
- A large share of his recordings focus on teshuvah and the Days of Awe.
- His storytelling style makes his shiurim accessible to listeners of every background and age.
- Search FilteredTube for kosher, approved Torah video — the catalog grows every day.