The Jews of Bukhara (Sunday in Denver); the Maimonidean Controversy; Save the Date for Roslyn NY

Really looking forward to speaking to the Or Avner community in Aurora, CO!

The Maimonidean Controversy

Save the Date: Shabbaton in Roslyn NY, December 20-21

Monday Night: Rabbi Eli Mansour on The Cairo Geniza! Me too. At The WELL

Henry Abramson

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The Window at Pomeranz! Gan Eden?

Henry Abramson

Wow–just heard that Torah from the Years of Wrath got promoted to the window display at M. Pomeranz Books in Jerusalem! Thanks to my friend Dr. Mike Chigel for plugging the book to MR. POMERANZ HIMSELF, shown here just outside the display!

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Sephardim and the Holocaust

Henry Abramson

In commemoration of Yom Ha-Shoah, our Jewish History lecture on Monday night will be dedicated to a topic frequently overlooked in discussions of the Holocaust: the experience of Sephardim. Please click here for details. Most of my own published work on the Holocaust has been in the Askhenazic world, notably my recent study of the…

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With Rabbi Eli Mansour for The WELL

Henry Abramson

Very honored to be speaking with Rabbi Eli Mansour for The WELL, a wonderful new institution dedicated to women’s education in the Sephardic community. Please spread the word! This lecture is open to men and women.

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Ukrainians and Jews in Revolutionary Times, 1917-1920

Henry Abramson

Available from Amazon Hardcover 15% off at Lulu After the fall of the Russian Empire, Jewish and Ukrainian activists worked to overcome previous mutual antagonism by creating a Ministry of Jewish Affairs within the new Ukrainian state and taking other measures to satisfy the national aspirations of Jews and other non-Ukrainians. This bold experiment ended…

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7th Day of Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto

Henry Abramson

After several weeks without recording a drashah, perhaps related to the horrendous typhus outbreak of the late winter of 1941, the Rebbe delivered a series of powerful derashot for the Passover holiday. On the Seventh Day of Pesach he turned his attention to the subject of Torah learning. The memoirs of Chaim Kaplan, a former principal, describe…

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Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto: Inspiration for the Second Seder

Henry Abramson

Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto: Inspiration for the Second Seder Taken from Torah from the Years of Wrath (Aish Kodesh) אני מבקש ומתחנן לפני כל אחד מישראל שילמוד בספרי, ובטח זכות אבותי הקדושים זצוקלל״ה יעמוד לו ולכל ביתו בזה ובבא “I request and plead every person of Israel to study my works—surely the merit of…

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Who Was Judah Touro? The Sephardic Diaspora pt. 6

Henry Abramson

Brief lecture on the life and work of Judah Touro, an important 19th-century American philanthropist for whom, together with his father Isaac, Touro College was named.

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The Piaseczno Rebbe on Shabbat Ha-Gadol in the Warsaw Ghetto (April 5, 1941)

Henry Abramson

School principal Chaim Kaplan recorded the bleak mood in the Warsaw Ghetto on the eve of Passover of the Hebrew year 5701 (1941): Like the Egyptian Passover, the Passover of Germany will be celebrated for generations. The chaotic oppression of every day throughout this year of suffering will be reflected in the days of the…

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A ‘NOVUM IN THE HISTORY OF THE COSMOS:’ Dr. Norman Ravvin on The Piaseczno Rebbe

Henry Abramson

Really nice to see that readers in my native Canada are encountering the Piaseczno Rebbe: Here’s a new review by Dr. Norman Ravvin, appearing in the current Canadian Jewish News. Note to my dear readers: the book is in Judaica stores, on Amazon and Kindle, but my favorite (and the best value) is the beautiful…

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Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld on the Aish Kodesh

Henry Abramson

I’m grateful to Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld for his kind and thoughtful review of Torah from the Years of Wrath, which appeared in this month’s Jewish Action. Please click here to read his thoughts on the work of the Piaseczno Rebbe.

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Who Was Daniel Mendoza?

Henry Abramson

Brief lecture on the life and times of Daniel Mendoza, a Sephardic Jewish champion boxer of the 18th and early 19th century.

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November 29, 2024 0

The Jews of Bukhara (Denver, CO); The Jews of the Lesser Antilles; Varieties of Crypto-Jewish Identity; Wait, Alexander Hamilton was Jewish?

Looking forward to a wonderful Shabbat in the Denver Jewish community!

Our Itinerary of Discovery in the Western Caribbean

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Rav Sherira Gaon: The Jews of Babylon (Next Week: Sa’adia Gaon)

Henry Abramson

Who, exactly, wrote down the foundational texts of the Oral Torah? Who is responsible for the compiling of the Talmud? These were some of the questions addressed to Sherira Gaon, the Rosh Yeshiva of the great city of Pumbedita in Babylon in 987 by a young Rabbi in Tunisia. His famous response, preserved for over…

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Hannah Szenes: Poet-Martyr of the Resistance (This Week In Jewish History)

Henry Abramson

Hannah Szenes was a young Hungarian Jewish woman who joined the resistance in 1943, parachuting into Nazi-occupied territories with British support. She was captured and tortured, but did not divulge secret information on her colleagues. Her poetry, including the classic “Blessed is the Match,” survive and add to her legacy.

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Paul of Tarsus: The Origins of Christianity in Jewish Context

Henry Abramson

Credited with the popularization of Christianity, Saul (later Paul) of Tarsus was influential in mediating Jewish ideas to an increasingly Gentile audience. Combining appealing concepts such as life after death and a personal Deity with a relaxed approach to the requirements of Rabbinic Judaism, the former Pharisee succeeded in spreading Christianity well beyond its narrow…

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Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky (This Week in Jewish History)

Henry Abramson

Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940) was one of the most influential political thinkers in the first half of the twentieth century, founder of the Revisionist movement.

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The Mishnah: Creating a Portable Judaism HIS 155 Lecture 1.5

Henry Abramson

Compiled by Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi in an exceptionally difficult time for the Jewish people, the Mishnah created the possibility of creating a “portable Judaism.” After the destruction of the Temple in 70 and the dramatic escalation of the diaspora, the Mishnah allowed Jews to define their religion within an intellectual and textual context, outside of…

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Philo Judaeus of Alexandria: Jews in the Greek World

Henry Abramson

Virtually ignored by Jewish philosophers, Philo of Alexandria represented the high point of synthesis between Greek and Jewish thought in the ancient world, and had a huge influence on early Christian thinkers. A prominent representative of the Egyptian Jewish community to the Roman Emperor, and well-respected in his day by his coreligionists, he nevertheless had…

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Jewish Biography as History: Schedule of Lectures for Fall 2013

Henry Abramson

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The Dreyfus Affair (This Week in Jewish History)

Henry Abramson

Wrongly accused of espionage, Captain Alfred Dreyfus was sentenced to Devil’s Island on the basis of remarkably tenuous evidence. May critics, including the famous writer Emile Zola, argued that Dreyfus was unfairly charged simply because he was a Jew in the French army. As evidence mounted that another officer was guilty, the Dreyfus Affair exposed…

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Who Was Josephus?

Henry Abramson

Captured by the Romans, Josephus was a Jewish general who ultimately served as a military advisor to General Titus. Josephus recorded his first-hand observations of the destruction of the Temple, and went on to a brilliant literary career in Rome, describing Jews and Judaism to a wider audience. Who was Josephus–traitor to his people or…

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Rembrandt and the Jews (This Week in Jewish History)

Henry Abramson

Rembrandt is well-known for his depictions of Jewish subjects, both as contemporary portraits and as models for Christian biblical characters.

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Who Was Josephus? Fall 2013 Lecture Series in Jewish History Resumes This Week

Henry Abramson

Photo: Aryeh Abramson looks out over Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada, where he spent the Sukkot vacation visiting his grandparents. Captured by the Roman General (and later Emperor) Vespasian while defending the Galilee, Josephus ultimately turned against his coreligionists and served as an advisor to the forces besieging Jerusalem during the first Roman-Jewish War. His first-hand…

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Free Download of Maimonides on Teshuvah by Dr. Henry Abramson

Henry Abramson

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) was one of the greatest minds the Jewish people ever produced: philosopher, jurist, physician, and an extremely prolific writer who left us classics like The Guide for the Perplexed and the Mishneh Torah. For several years I have been in the habit of reviewing his Laws of Repentance in the weeks leading up to the…

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