Tonight at YILC: a deeper discussion of the Maccabean Revolt, from Antiochus’ inferiority complex to fissures between Jewish factions under Yehudah Maccabee’s role. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly) relevant issues for our own times.

What else are you doing tonight? Join us at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst at 7:30 for a timely talk on Chanukah. Free and open to the community.

With about 4,000 students a day in my internet classroom, it’s hard to have meaningful interaction with anyone. But here’s an exciting new development: because the channel grew so large, YouTube recently enabled the creation of three levels of optional memberships to facilitate more meaningful conversation about key topics in Jewish history. Sounds interesting? Please click on this link to learn more. Have a fantastic day!

Note: not intended for undergraduates currently enrolled in my classes. This is for the “vorld vide veb.”

Always distracted but historical minutiae, I don’t think I was ever going to be a great Talmud student. Now, with the introduction of the amazing All Daf app (slated for launch on December 22), there’s finally a place for my approach to Talmud!

Please enjoy this brief video from the recent Torah NY conference at CitiField. Best viewed with the Prezi that accompanied the lecture, which is available here.

7:30 pm Wednesday, December 25 at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. Free and open to the members of the community.

Looking forward to tonight’s opening session of the XIIIth Annual Torah and Science conference in Miami, and seeing some friends from our years in south Florida! If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello! My presentation is scheduled for Sunday afternoon (here’s a link to the Prezi, and the full program of fascinating papers is here).

The Internet is a strange and often wonderful place. Here’s a personal story from last week.

When I first wrote The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction seven years ago, Theodore Sternberg wrote one of the sharpest Amazon reviews of the first edition: “Too much about Henry Abramson, not enough about the Talmud.”

Ouch! That stung.

But in reality, that’s what the book is about: like the subtitle says, it’s a “brief and personal introduction,” which alternates between basic facts about the Talmud–its authorship, where it was written, its content and so on–and the story of my own encounter with this glorious text, the amazing teachers and incredible study partners I’ve had, and so on. I haven’t counted up the words in each section, but I aimed for about a 50-50 split between “Henry Abramson” and “the Talmud.” Mr. Sternberg was obviously hoping for a different balance.

So when I wrote the second edition–which is free on Kindle this week, by the way–I thought I should help clarify that for potential readers by reading some of the negative reviews, including Mr. Sternberg’s. Here’s the video, check timestamp 3:00.

Now the fun part: Theodore Sternberg watched the video! After he heard me read his review, he wrote a beautiful comment: “I appreciate your sense of humor. If there is anything I can do to help promote the second edition, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Thank you, Mr. Sternberg, for your generosity of spirit! I’m taking advantage of it right now.

So that–along with a surprising tweet from Jewish rapper Nissim Black–was one of the highlights of my week on the Internet.

Anyway, if you’re interested in some light, and hopefully entertaining reading, please enjoy a free copy of The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction for your e-Reader. I had fun writing it, and revising it for this second edition, and I think it’s a useful warm-up to the Siyum ha-Shas coming this January!

Hello fellow students of Jewish history!

I’m pleased to announce that the second edition of The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction is now available in a second, revised edition, in commemoration of the upcoming Siyum ha-Shas!

From Sunday December 8 through Thursday December 12 the Kindle ebook edition will be available for free. Please click here on those days to download a copy, or click here for the paperback.

Meanwhile, here’s a brief but fun video (fun for me, at any rate) in which I read some negative reviews of the first edition. I also read a few positive reviews too. Enjoy in good health!

Featuring papers by Alex Friedman on the Israeli Space Program, Rabbi Professor Avraham Steinberg on Genetics, Rabbi Professor Moshe Tendler on Halacha and Experimental Drugs. Words of welcome from my colleague Professor Nathan Katz, and lots of inspiration from Rabbi Sholom Dovber Lipskar, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, and many others. My small contribution will be on the impact of postmodernism in the era of the Internet.

Really looking forward to an inspiring and stimulating Chabad Shabbat and conference. Please come by and say hello!