Was he crazy? Or just JEWISH?

What does Don Quixote have to do with Avraham Avinu and being a Jew? In this excerpt from the Thursday Night Call-In Show, Rabbi Shais Taub explores a surprising theory about Don Quixote, Jewish identity, and the pursuit of truth. Drawing connections between Cervantes' famous knight, Avraham HaIvri, and the Jewish vision of redemption, Rabbi Taub argues that those who refuse to accept a broken world often appear irrational to everyone else. Is Don Quixote a fool chasing windmills—or a truth-teller pursuing an impossible dream? A word of warning: this is not a polished lecture. It is a clip from a live, unscripted, three-hour call-in show. The conversation meanders through literature, Chassidus, crypto-Jews, teshuvah, Broadway musicals, and more than a little singing. In other words, exactly the sort of tangent-filled journey that occasionally happens when thinking out loud together in real time. Watch the full episode: https://youtube.com/live/vb1qu4uEeuY **00:00** — Don Quixote Was a Madman. Or Was He? **01:18** — Was Cervantes Secretly Jewish? **01:54** — The Hidden Meaning of "Kishote" **02:25** — Abraham: The Original Outsider **02:59** — What Does "HaIvri" Really Mean? **03:28** — Jewishness as Seeing Reality Differently **04:16** — Was Don Quixote Actually Right? **05:20** — Why Man of La Mancha Feels So Jewish **05:41** — "To Dream the Impossible Dream" **06:04** — Teshuvah: Righting the Unrightable Wrong **07:12** — Where Baalei Teshuvah Stand **07:35** — Rant About Genius Lyrics **08:25** — "To Love Pure and Chaste From Afar" **09:07** — Reaching the Unreachable Star **09:35** — I Sing to Express My Soul **10:14** — Back to Rehearsal --- *For more classes from Rabbi Shais Taub:* 🌐 *Website:* https://www.soulwords.org/ *Follow Rabbi Shais Taub:* 📸 *Instagram:* https://www.instagram.com/rabbi_shais_taub 🎥 *TikTok:* https://www.tiktok.com/@rabbi_shais_taub 🐦 *X (Twitter):* https://www.x.com/ShaisTaub 📘 *Facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573478244968 💼 *LinkedIn:* https://www.linkedin.com/in/shais-taub-81a95466/ 🎧 *Listen to the SoulWords Podcast:* 🎵 *Spotify:* https://open.spotify.com/show/51E7XHWFDbZCGJQz7CoAZP 🍏 *Apple Podcasts:* https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soulwords-full-library/id1450892501 *Support Our Work:* 💳 *Donate:* https://www.soulwords.org/donate/ 💰 *PayPal:* https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/soulwordspayments 💵 *CashApp:* https://cash.app/$soulwords 🪙 *Venmo:* https://venmo.com/u/soulwords *About SoulWords:* SoulWords is a virtual community hosted by Rabbi Shais Taub, where people come together to explore the spiritual insights of Torah and discover their unique purpose. This platform is here to facilitate your spiritual growth by sharing the mystical teachings of Judaism in contemporary language—making deep wisdom accessible and relevant to your life.