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

Honored to receive this Review by the Kosher Bookworm

Henry Abramson

Please click here to read the review at The Jewish Star. By Alan Jay Gerber The name and history of the Aish Kodesh in our community is well known. This legacy from the tragedy of the Warsaw Ghetto of one of its towering leaders, Rebbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira, the Aish Kodesh, has been taught to us…

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Kristallnacht Lecture and Book Signing

Henry Abramson

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Thank you.

Henry Abramson

I was deeply moved by the kind support of my research into the life of the Aish Kodesh at the book launch this week. By all accounts, it was a wonderful evening–we had such a diverse crowd in attendance, from pious Hasidim well familiar with the Piaseczno Rebbe to students who knew nothing about his…

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Piaseczno Visualization Exercise

Henry Abramson

Thanks to Rabbi Pesach Sommer for recording my brief comments at the conclusion of the hilula (74th anniversary of his martyrdom) for Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira at The Shtiebl in Williamsburg, NY. SHOW MORE

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Review by Rabbi Pesach Sommer

Henry Abramson

Very grateful to Rabbi Pesach Sommer for writing a kind and generous review of Torah from the Years of Wrath! My favorite passage is at the end: “Dr. Abramson has written a book which is destined to lead to an increase of study of the rebbe’s Torah and thought in both the academic and Jewish…

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How often does THIS happen?

Henry Abramson

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What Torah from the Years of Wrath is All About

Henry Abramson

Please watch this brief video. Really hoping you will join us for the book launch on Monday, October 30! Please visit bit.ly/aishkodesh to RSVP and for more information.

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Deciphering the Rosetta Stone of the Holocaust

Henry Abramson

The Aish Kodesh died 74 years ago, martyred in the Trawniki labor camp. Now, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira is at the center of a surge of new research into the most profound questions surrounding the Holocaust. A new critical edition, prepared with phenomenal scholarly energy by Daniel Reiser, demonstrates that we have just started…

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Hilula for the Piaseczno Rebbe

Henry Abramson

Conducted in darkness according to the Piaseczno custom, Rabbi Weinberger presided over a moving Hilula last night in honor of the Piaseczno Rebbe’s 74th yahrzeit. Visit http://www.aishkodesh.org/ and scroll down to watch the recording, featuring beautiful music by Yosef Karduner and of course the words of Rabbi Weinberger. He begins speaking at 1:00, and his opening joke…

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Who Was Yehudah Ha-Levi?

Henry Abramson

Brief overview of the life and work of the great Sefardic poet and thinker, Yehudah ha-Levi.

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Really Proud of this Photo

Henry Abramson

This moment made me feel really great–standing with two great Hasidim of the Piaseczno Rebbe! On the left is R. Yoel Rubin, center (the amud ha-emtsa’i) is R. Weinberger of Kehillas Aish Kodesh, and there’s me on the right (out of uniform again). R. Weinberger just gave a great shiur on Rav Kook, and we…

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With Rabbi Ari Silverstein @ Judaica Plus!

Henry Abramson

Really happy to see the new book joining the impressive display of Piaseczno Hasidic works at my favorite local Jewish bookstore! Here I am (out of uniform, sorry) with Rabbi Ari Silverstein at Judaica Plus in Cedarhurst.

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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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Premiering at 10am ET

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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