Sunday, January 10, 8pm. Sponsored by Congegration Darchei Noam of Fair Lawn, NJ. Register at dno.am/5781/webinar.

Some historical reflections on the Fast of the 10th of Tevet.

Definitely not intended for children.

Thanks to Laura Adkins and Philissa Cramer for really strong edits in today’s article in JTA. (JTA) The intermediate days of Sukkot in the holy city of Brooklyn are normally a time of singing, prayer and communal fellowship. This year the celebrations were marred by violence.  Egged on by a rabble-rousing individual who literally wore a political bumper sticker on…

Hasidism, Suffering, and Renewal: The Prewar and Holocaust Legacy of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira. Forthcoming June 2021.

Some thoughts on what the pandemic means for Jewish history. Welcome to the Future, Third Time Around Historians Will Mark 2020 as a Revolutionary Year for Higher Education October 05, 2020 Dr. Henry Abramson Dr. Henry Abramson, historian and dean of Touro’s Lander College of Arts & Sciences, puts the transition to remote learning into…

Really honored to speak to Ms. Kathie Larkin’s bright, motivated 8th graders today about the Holocaust. Thank you Pace Academy for giving me the opportunity to interact with some wonderful young minds! Here’s a brief article on the talk.

Genesis 22–the description of the patriarch Abraham’s binding of his son Isaac and the angelic intervention that followed–is a key text in the Jewish tradition, and forms part of the Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah. Join philosopher Dr. Michael Chighel (Milton Friedman Egyetem, Budapest) and historian Dr. Henry Abramson (Touro College, New York) for a…

Please join this new online course on the History of the Holocaust, free and open to the public. YouTube lectures supplemented with self-testing quizzes and other materials. Why was Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Persecuted by Fellow Jews?

A discussion of the ubiquitous dedicatory plaques in Synagogue history.

What is a Synagogue? 3. A Place of Rejoicing (Dura Europos and YILC) Thank G-d, the hostages in Colleyville, Texas, have been released to safety. Jews all over the world breathe a sigh of relief, and express gratitude to the law enforcement officers for their protection. After the attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh in 2018…

Tomorrow is the tenth of Shvat, an important day of the calendar of Chabad Hasidim. On this day in 1950 the 6th Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, passed away; one year later his son-in-law Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson took over the leadership of Lubavitch Hasidim. His role at the helm of Chabad was truly transformational,…

Moses Maimonides was one of the greatest scholars of medieval Jewish history, yet his works were hardly without controversy in his day. This video (48m) surveys his life and work, with emphasis on the subsequent controversies and their resolution.

Good morning fellow students of Jewish History! The Jews of Hungary (A Very Quick Survey!) The Remarkable Wooden Synagogue of Gwoździec, Poland Aryeh at 29%! Great Progress towards his Goal of Representing Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem!

My wife Ilana and I are proud to serve as the Guests of Honour (note the Canadian spelling, very considerate of them) at the time 41st Annual Dinner of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, together with the Young Leadership Awardees Gila and Alan Goldberg. We are enthusiastic participants in YILC, a wonderful community resource under…

Proud to address the famous Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst Teshuvah Haburah (at first I thought they were all about repentance, but in reality it’s a group of highly intelligent people who gather to discuss Rabbinic Responsa, also good). Please join in person tonight at 9pm ET or via zoom: bit.ly/YILCSHUT, passcode is yilctorah.

European Jews Achieve Citizenship Good morning fellow students of Jewish history! Please join me at 11:30 am ET for a half-hour discussion of the emancipation of the Jews of Western Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Help Aryeh achieve his goal! I’m very proud of our teenage son Aryeh, selected to participate…

Hello fellow students of Jewish history! Here’s something historic, at least in terms of the Abramson family: our teenage son Aryeh has been selected to represent Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem! His sport is Shotokan Karate. It’s a kind of a family tradition now: his older sister Aliza competed four years…

Very honored to serve as a Scholar-In-Residence this Shabbos, parshas Vayehi, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, New York. Please view the video for the planned public talks (which will not be recorded, of course). Friday Night, December 17, 8pm Rabbis Who, If they had the Temerity to Show up in Our Shuls today……

Good morning fellow students of Jewish history: please join me for this week’s series of video premieres (with live chat), live in-person and zoom classes. We’ll be looking at the 18th century with some forays into Jewish art history and the controversy that led the Jews of France to torch Maimonides’ works in 1232. Here’s…