Take it away, Stuart.

There's a fascinating figure who has long represented to Americans courage in the face of fear.

Daniel.

Daniel.

Daniel's biblical tale is often overlooked, but it's strikingly inspiring.

It's incredible narrative of unabashed faith in the face of a fearsome foe.

So fearsome, in fact, that the foe was animalistic.

But briefly about Rabbi Halpern, he's currently based in Israel and also the United States, bouncing back and forth, but with Yeshiva Yu, if I'm not mistaken, and an expert in this area i uh i don't know i don't know what else to add so i i don't want to get to the material so with that rabbi halpern

just add that i'm thrilled to be here and and honored very much looking forward to learning with you all today so if i could speaking of the city of david i want to spend a few minutes talking about who that city is named you might have noticed over the past couple of years year and a half or so that every few months there seem to be these protests proclaiming that Americans stand strongly against kings, citing, of course, the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, emphasizing we, the people.

And we know, of course, as the founding fathers, the preamble to the Constitution, excuse me, we, the people.

As the founding fathers put it in the Declaration, the history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.

In other words, the very enterprise of America stands strongly against kings.

Now, whether you attend those rallies or you think the people that attend those rallies are totally wrong, you would probably, if you stopped and thought about it, agree with those on the other side that you are against the institution of monarchy.

And yet you might be surprised to find out that the aforementioned King David has actually inspired the American story from our country's very founding to the present day.

Beginning with Rabbi Dr. Halperin, as one of the co-editors of the volume, I'm going to ask you one of my favorite questions to always ask people when I'm asking them about books, I normally ask them, you know, why did you write the book? But in this specific question, what led you and your co-editor to think that this was a book that was needed, this was the right time? Was there sort of a specific reason why you guys put this book together at this time?

Take it away, Stuart.

Anyone who's ever been to a Passover Seder might have noticed a rather curious ritual.

Over the course of the evening, which celebrates the liberation of the biblical Israelites from the clutches of the tyrannical Pharaoh, the Jews attending get up out of their chairs and open the door to the room in which they are eating.

They ceremoniously welcome an often overlooked figure from an often overlooked biblical book as if he is entering the room at that moment.

Elijah from the Book of Kings.

This meal is a symbol of an eventual redemption to come.

That, of course, is the arrival of the Messiah, as believed in by the Jewish people.

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.

Take it away, Stu.

So the rumor long persisted that Uncle Sam was actually based on a real-life figure.

That figure was a fellow by the name of Samuel Wilson.

Now, Wilson... lived in the late 1700s.

He was born outside of Boston in 1766.

And during the War of 1812, fought by the United States against Britain, Wilson was a popular and impactful figure.

He provided barrels of meat to American troops, and the barrels were stamped with the sign US.