We’re starting on Monday! Please visit http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org for details on the schedule. Free and open to the community, Monday nights at 7:00 pm at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College, 1602 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230. Call (718) 535-9333 or write to me at henry.abramson@touro.edu. Some sponsorships are still available ($250 per lecture),…

Searching for an escapee from the notorious Pawiak Prison, the Nazis arrested 255 Jewish leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto, holding them hostage and demanding that the community turn over the 21-year old resistance fighter Andrzej Kott. The rebel was not found. The Jewish hostages were eventually killed.  The Rebbe was forced to spend that Sabbath…

  Just got my first copy of the hardcover edition of Torah from the Years of Wrath: The Historical Context of the Aish Kodesh. Special thanks to Mr. Sam Sapozhnik for making this possible! The hardcover edition hasn’t migrated yet to Amazon, but the good news is that I can offer my students, colleagues and friends 20%…

I’m really thrilled to be cruising the Douro River this summer with Kosher Riverboat Cruises, lecturing on the history of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry (my wife plans to come along, which means I really have to bring my A-game). I just learned that there’s only 18 cabins left, so if you’re interested, please click the…

On Parashat Beshalah (January 20, 1940), a young rebel escaped from the notorious Pawiak Prison, located not far from the Piaseczno Bet Midrash. Andrzej Kott, the 21-year old leader of the military wing of a resistance movement called the Polish People’s Independence Action, was a child of assimilated Jewish parents who had converted to Christianity.…

The recent translation of the work of Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (Rav Shagar, 1949-2007) promises to elevate his distinctive thought to a broader audience of readers (Faith Shattered and Restored: Judaism in the Postmodern Age), many of whom will resonate with Dr. Yitzchak Mandelbaum’s comment on his discovery of Rav Shagar: “I knew I had…

The Rebbe’s entry for Parashat Bo (January 13, 1940) is unusual. Recorded in the scribe’s careful hand, with minimal annotation, it has two bold diagonal lines drawn through the center of the text, indicating that the Rebbe rejected it altogether. A brief and uncharacteristic first-person comment is appended: “more of what we said I do…

Really nice to meet with Jésica Neuah of Editorial Perspectivas to work on the tentative cover and book design of the Spanish edition of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness! Great to work with her and the whole team. G-d willing the book will be released in the summer of this year.

I had chills listening to Rabbi Shlomo Katz review the Rebbe’s words on this week’s parashah. I am grateful for his kind words of praise for my recent book on the historical context of the Aish Kodesh, but to tell the truth, I hardly recognized my own words from the masterful treatment they received from…

Chaim Kaplan recorded the mood in the Warsaw Ghetto in January 1942:  The cold is so intense that my fingers are often too numb to hold a pen. There is no coal for heating and electricity is sporadic or nonexistent. In the oppressive dark and unbearable cold your mind stops functioning. Yet even in such…

Five months into the Nazi occupation, the Jews of Warsaw struggled to keep up with the barrage of administrative decrees inflicted upon them by the Germans. When the Rebbe spoke on Parashat Vaera, which fell on January 6, 1940, the worst was still far off. The Nazis had replaced the leadership of the Jewish Council…

Really thrilled to meet the Queens Jewish Center community! Please come by and say hello if you’re in town. Very honored by this invitation from the History, Classics and Religion Graduate Students Association of the University of Alberta! Please join us in person (if you’re in Edmonton, eh?) or via Zoom (RSVP at http://www.bit.ly/JEWISHUK1000). Channel…

The Ambassador warned the King: “Pay Lopo Ramirez on time.” Was there a Jewish Dark Age? Exploring some Fascinating Archaeological Finds Welcome New Students! Draft Text of Volume 1 Included in the Biblical Jewish History course: please send me your feedback! Shabbos in Queens! Come by and say hello.

Forthcoming from Koren Publishers, Jerusalem The Jewish People A History Second Draft February 5, 2023 Forthcoming from Koren Publishers, Jerusalem Henry Abramson DRAFT: Please do not reproduce or circulate. Copyright Henry Abramson 2023 Volume One: Biblical Israel (1760 BCE to 200 CE) Introduction Bibliographic Essay: On Covenantal History Photo Credits Acknowledgments Imagine that, while browsing…

This is a really fascinating topic. Here’s a brief follow-up presentation related to The Jews of Africa lecture. Enjoy in good health! Was there a Jewish Dark Age? A “studio” version–meaning a recording of me talking into my iMac–is forthcoming, once I have a few moments to concentrate. For now, here’s the unedited/uncensored recording of…

Final Episode of Season One, and it’s PHENOMENAL. I feel so honored to have worked with this amazing team at Unpacked on the Jewish History Unpacked podcast. We are thrilled that it has received such a positive response, ranking #1 in Judaism podcasts for the first few weeks and remaining in the top ten ever…

Can’t wait to discuss this fascinating but little-studied period of Jewish history! Yael and Schwab discuss the tragic story of Uriel D’acosta in this amazing episode of Jewish History Unpacked The Saga of Dutch Jewry Really pleased to speak to some of my amazing Touro University students at the Yeshiva of South Florida last week!…

Join us for this free webinar! Speaking in Miami this Shabbos: Please drop by and say hello if you’re on Williams Island! Paul of Tarsus (aka St. Paul) Schwab and Yael explore this fascinating topic that is, believe it or not, a big part of Jewish history!

The Saga of Dutch Jewry (live webinar: please join us!) Premiering at Noon ET. Class delivered to The Habura in London A Tribute to Professor Michael Marrus ע׳׳ה from a Student

Some personal memories and appreciation of Professor Michael Marrus, a master instructor who taught at the University of Toronto for 49 years.

What an amazing history! Who Were the Radhanites? The Hebrew Hammer: The True Story of Hanukkah The Synagogue and the Church Emergent (Jewish Encounter with Rome series)

If you’re in the neighborhood of Shaarei Shomayim, please come by on Saturday or Sunday morning, would be nice to say hi.

Students of Daf Yomi! This one’s for you. Who are the Jews of Africa? Join me for Shabbat at Shaarei Shomayim, Toronto!