Lectures in Jewish History and Thought. No hard questions, please.
Just returned from two intense days meeting with the amazing AvenueJ faculty. Great group of dedicated, enthusiastic experts in their fields with a passion for teaching! Can’t wait to get started working with these really inspirational professors.
Claiming descent from the long-lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Eldad was a ninth-century traveler with a fantastic story: beyond the “River Kush” lay an intact civilization of Jews who enjoyed political sovereignty, in preparation for their eventual return to the Land of Israel in messianic times. Surviving shipwreck, cannibals and attack from fire-worshipping pagans, Eldad’s story of the mystical river Sambatyon and the Jews who lived there captivated the Jewish mind for centuries, and had a lasting impact on the development of Christian thought as well. But was he for real?
Emerging from a cave after twelve years of isolated Torah study, Rabbi Shimon Yohai went on to become one of ancient Israel’s most celebrated Kabbalists and leaders of the Jewish people.
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Rolling her precious documents and carefully wrapping them in a leather pouch tied with twine, Babatha buried her entire legal history in the floor of the cave she shared with Bar Kochba’s rebels. They would remain entombed in that desolate refuge for 1800 years until their discovery by archaeologist Yigael Yadin, and then the life of an otherwise forgotten 2nd-century woman suddenly came to light: her marriages, custody battles for her son, property disputes, and much more. The Babatha archive constitutes an amazing source of information for the history of Jewish women in ancient Israel.
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The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 defined, for the purposes of the Nazi regime, exactly who was considered a Jew. This was an essential element in the unfolding of the Holocaust, as the Nuremberg Laws allowed the Nazis to first identify, then exclude, and finally attempt to eliminate Jews from German society. Part of the “This Week in Jewish History” series by Dr. Henry Abramson. More videos available at http://www.henryabramson.com
Briefly but notoriously mentioned in both Josephus and the Gospels, Salome was the granddaughter of King Herod who is best known for a salacious performance that resulted in the execution of John the Baptist. Who was Salome, and does her bit part play a significant role in the representation of Jews and Judaism in medieval Christian thought? Part of the Jewish Biography as History series by Dr. Henry Abramson at http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org.
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Books by Henry Abramson
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (d. c. 85 ce) was one of the most influential figures in ancient Jewish history. Emerging from the ruins of the destroyed Temple, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai led the Jewish people through the dangerous first years after the devastation of the last remnants of their state by the Romans. A disciple of Hillel, he was of the “national-realist” school that favored tactical surrender to the overwhelming power of the Roman Empire. In his most famous act, he arranged to fake his own death in order to escape his enemies among the Zealots to negotiate a peace treaty with Vespasian, who would later become Emperor. “Give me Yavneh and its scholars,” asked Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, setting in place the foundation for the existence of Judaism after the Temple could no longer serve as the center of Jewish religious life. Part of the Jewish Biography as History series available at http://www.jewishhistorylectures.com.
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I’ve been selected as a presenter to speak about my latest book, The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Tomer Devorah (The Date Palm of Devorah). Please check out the Limmud’s Facebook Page or website for more information (the full schedule and list of presenters will be live in December).
Hope to see you there on February 22, 2015!
![Depiction of Host Desecration in Sternberg, Germany (1492). Diebold Schilling the Younger [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/henryabramson.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/schilling_hostienfrevel_ausschnitt.jpg?ssl=1)
Breaking the history of antisemitism into four major periods (Ancient Xenophobia, Early Christian Anti-Judaism, Medieval Jew-hatred, and Modern Antisemitism), Dr. Abramson focusses on the third period to look at the ideological basis for the false charges of ritual murder, blood libel, and desecration of the host, ending with a discussion of the Judensau image.