July brought new tribulations upon the Jewish community as the Nazis, energized by their victories on the western front, formally eliminated virtually every non-governmental organization in the General Government. Charitable agencies, cultural leagues, and of course political groups were abolished, for both Jews and Poles. The ghetto population increased by tens of thousands as Jews…

My fourteen-year old son was the first to see the damage, and you gave me the precious opportunity to teach him some ancient truths about our long-standing relationship.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Zev Brenner of the famous Talkline last week; really pleased that there’s a lot of interest in the work of the Piaseczno Rebbe. The broadcast was aired last Saturday night and will be rebroadcast again tonight at 8pm EST on WSNR AM 620. Here’s the link to the…

Dean Boylan has been a mentor of mine since I joined Touro in 2006. Proud to be with him this morning at the Harvard Club as he receives the Education Update Outstanding Educator of the Year Award. With Dean Moshe Sokol of Lander College for Men and Executive Dean Robert Goldschmidt of the Mighty Avenue…

Is it possible for a person to be struck and not experience physical pain?

Meet Mr. Hunter Ross Loren, a precocious 13-year old who, together with his uncle Alan Loren, contacted me this week to discuss Jewish history. Hunter is an avid fan of Jewish history–especially, of all things, the Jews of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth–and he is probably my youngest student online. As a follow-up to his Bar Mitzvah,…

Video from “Ukraine in the World” conference, Harvard University, May 2018.

Colleagues, I’m pleased to post a version of my new experimental course online for the public good. Please visit bit.ly/survivejewishhistory to access the course. The course is divided into twelve Existential Crises, covering historical eras from the Hellenistic to the Spanish Expulsion. Undergraduate students are required to complete several academic exercises to “survive” each level and…

Nonetheless, I proclaim my faith in God, that God is beyond limitation and nature, that God will save us. Let us go up and take it over, beyond reason and beyond logic.

Hello Jewish History fans– Here’s a new project you might find interesting. A few months ago I came across the work of Ken Bain (What the Best College Teachers Do), which inspired me to take a dramatic new look at the way I’ve been teaching a bread-and-butter course for a long time: History of the…

“It is not sufficient for a person to merely perform a commandment to fulfill one’s duty as a Jew, rather one must transform one’s self into a Jew in the sense of and you will be a nation of priests unto Me, and a holy nation.”

Was the Rebbe’s faith “broken” by the Holocaust?

SPIRITUAL HEROISM AND TRAGIC MARTYRDOM IN THE WARSAW GHETTO.

Get a head start on the first lecture by watching these intermittently interesting videos while peeling potatoes.

Good morning fellow students of Jewish History! Really excited to be starting the Spring Semester of Jewish History Lectures next week–it’s going to be a busy February, but I’m certainly looking forward to speaking with you about these fascinating topics! Here’s a quick list of what, where, and when. Unfortunately not all of these lectures…

Hello fellow students of Jewish history! I am delighted to inform you that, beginning in April 2019, we will embark on a pilot project to explore the historical aspects of the Talmud as part of the incredible OU Daf Yomi Initiative led by Rabbi Moshe Schwed. We will start with tractate Bechoros and, with favorable…

Hello everyone–it’s still a while till our first public lecture on campus, but I was so fascinated by this topic I had to talk about it with you. I hope you enjoy the video! Don’t forget to print out and post the Spring 2019 Schedule of Lectures on your refrigerator of your home, or wherever…

The Jews of Italy Lectures in Jewish History (Spring 2019) The Origins of Italian Jewry Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto: Persecuted Genius Tuesday, February 12, 7:00 PM Sponsored by the Chaim Yaakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies The Shul, 9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside FL 33154 Torah from the Years of Wrath: The Warsaw Ghetto Writings of…

Brief overview of the earliest settlement of Jews in the Italian peninsula, up to the first Roman-Jewish War.

The Jews of Italy Lectures in Jewish History (Spring 2019) Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto: Persecuted Genius Tuesday, February 12, 7:00 PM Sponsored by the Chaim Yaakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies The Shul, 9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside FL 33154 Who Was Josephus the Jew? Monday, February 25, 7:00 PM Touro College Main Auditorium, 1602 Avenue…

Weighing only 90 pounds, his first act upon liberation was one that would characterize the remainder of his life: he presented the American commanding officer with a list of names of war criminals to be apprehended for prosecution.