Please join this new online course on the History of the Holocaust, free and open to the public. YouTube lectures supplemented with self-testing quizzes and other materials.

Lectures in Jewish History and Thought. No hard questions, please.
Please join this new online course on the History of the Holocaust, free and open to the public. YouTube lectures supplemented with self-testing quizzes and other materials.

A discussion of the ubiquitous dedicatory plaques in Synagogue history. Fourth in the “What is a Synagogue?” series connected with the upcoming annual dinner at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst.

Please click here for Aryeh’s fundraising page.


Thank G-d, the hostages in Colleyville, Texas, have been released to safety. Jews all over the world breathe a sigh of relief, and express gratitude to the law enforcement officers for their protection. After the attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh in 2018 and Poway in 2019, the need for Synagogue security is demonstrated once again. Many thanks to the guards at my Shul. These three videos on the topic of What is a Synagogue? are especially relevant at this moment. Four more are planned for coming weeks.

Tomorrow is the tenth of Shvat, an important day of the calendar of Chabad Hasidim. On this day in 1950 the 6th Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, passed away; one year later his son-in-law Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson took over the leadership of Lubavitch Hasidim. His role at the helm of Chabad was truly transformational, not only for his immediate followers but also for the Jewish world as a whole.
Please join me at 12 noon tomorrow (New York time) for a retrospective look at the life and work of this remarkable Jewish leader.
Moses Maimonides was one of the greatest scholars of medieval Jewish history, yet his works were hardly without controversy in his day. This video (48m) surveys his life and work, with emphasis on the subsequent controversies and their resolution.
Good morning fellow students of Jewish History!



My wife Ilana and I are proud to serve as the Guests of Honour (note the Canadian spelling, very considerate of them) at the time 41st Annual Dinner of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, together with the Young Leadership Awardees Gila and Alan Goldberg.
We are enthusiastic participants in YILC, a wonderful community resource under the leadership of Rabbi Ya’akov Trump. Please click here or on the image below to participate!

Our teenage son Aryeh is 27% of the way to his goal! We are proud that he is training to represent Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem. Got to love the youthful energy in his promo video. Click here to participate!



Proud to address the famous Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst Teshuvah Haburah (at first I thought they were all about repentance, but in reality it’s a group of highly intelligent people who gather to discuss Rabbinic Responsa, also good).
Please join in person tonight at 9pm ET or via zoom: bit.ly/YILCSHUT, passcode is yilctorah.
Good morning fellow students of Jewish history! Please join me at 11:30 am ET for a half-hour discussion of the emancipation of the Jews of Western Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
I’m very proud of our teenage son Aryeh, selected to participate in the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem as part of Team USA, competing in Shotokan Karate. He’s raised almost a quarter of the funds he needs to make his goal. Please visit his fundraising page and help him out!
Very proud that this week marked the registration of the 54th student in the new, experimental Biblical Jewish History course! I am especially grateful to the many students who have made comments on the draft chapters of my forthcoming book, The Jewish People: A History, which serves as the online textbook for this video-heavy course. Thinking of joining us? Click on the image below for more information and registration instructions!

Hello fellow students of Jewish history! Here’s something historic, at least in terms of the Abramson family: our teenage son Aryeh has been selected to represent Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem! His sport is Shotokan Karate.
It’s a kind of a family tradition now: his older sister Aliza competed four years ago and brought home four silver medals in the same sport!
Here’s Aryeh’s promo video:
Please consider sponsoring him! Please click here.