Tisha B'Av: Introduction to Kinnot - The Rise and Fall of the Desert Fox

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Daniel Glatstein’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

morning on Tisha B'Av. The Desert Fox was approaching and all of Palestine was in great terror. On February 12th, General German the German General Erwin Rommel, known as a Desert Fox, arrived in North Africa with his reputation preceding him. During the lightning-fast six-week German push that swallowed France whole in 1940, Erwin Rommel was the first German panzer tank commander to reach the English Channel. Already back in 1917, when Germany was fighting against Italy, Rommel led a group of only 300 men to capture an entire Italian brigade, which was situated all the way up a mountain 5,400 ft in the air. With only 300 men, he was successful in capturing the entire brigade. He took some extra troops. He captured another 2,000 Italian soldiers. The next morning, with only two other officers and a few of his well-trained Alpine infantry, he rushed into a camp of the Italian Salerno Brigade and he took another 1,500 prisoners. He didn't stop for sleep. He pushed his men all the way up the mountain, finishing off the strongholds of the last defenders. Rommel was considered the world's greatest general. 1934 when Hitler came to power, Rommel took an oath of allegiance to the Führer. Churchill would often say of Rommel, "He is a very daring and skillful opponent, and may I say a great general." The British were enamored with Rommel. They were intimidated of Rommel. They were terrified of Rommel. They had nightmares of Rommel. Joseph Goebbels, the Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda, minister, wrote in his diary, "The English press are making him the

Jump to a moment

1. 0:30morning on Tisha B'Av. The Desert Fox was approaching and all of Palestine was in great…
2. 3:34planning technique, they were using therapy to deal with Rommel. More than the Nazis, more than…
3. 6:351940, King of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia swore allegiance to Rommel and Hitler. 1941, Egypt swore…
4. 9:38a time may come in this world where there won't be too many Jews left. The…
5. 13:11and she hears great cries, otherworldly cries, emanating from the Western Wall, and she would ask…
6. 16:16And then the Or HaChaim HaKadosh says something earth-shattering. Says the Or HaChaim HaKadosh, "If Klal…
7. 19:20Olam wanted there to be a she'eiris. So he allowed the yeshuv in Eretz Yisrael to…
8. 23:00occurred that changed the fate of the Jewish population in Palestine. He writes the following. I…
9. 26:09He chose the latter. Rommel went in, spoke to his wife for a few moments, spoke…
10. 29:20one thing that we know that all of us sitting here today have in common is…

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