Some thoughts on COVID-19 in a Jewish context, recently published in OU Torah. Judaism, as we know it today, bears the scars of multiple plagues throughout history. Perhaps the largest is the weeks-long period known as sefirah, which commemorates the death of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century. The Rabbis of the…

Hello students of Jewish history! I hope you will have the opportunity to join me in one of three public presentations coming up. Here’s the relevant dates and times! Please click on the images for the links: The State of Israel: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY, PT. XI Monday night, May 3 at 8PM EST, YouTube…

Now open to non-Touro College faculty! Please RSVP to James.Ligorski@touro.edu.

Part XI of the I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY series. If you have attended the previous Zoom classes, the link is still active; if not, please write me directly for the password.

Live chat moderated by The Shomer. Join us for a look at this very difficult period in Jewish history.

Pleased to host this Virtual Open House for Machon L’Parnasa Institute for Professional Studies, together with Director Esther Braun, on Tuesday April 28 at 11:00 am. Click on the image or visit http://machon.touro.edu/events/list/virtual-open-house-42820.php to RSVP!

Hello students of Jewish history– I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY resumes Wednesday night at 7:30 pm EST with a lecture on the Holocaust. The Zoom link is protected, please email me directly for the password.

Henry Abramson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORYTime: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/936125057?pwd=dGhaVGY4bCtLSk1oTjNOTk5Ddk95dz09 Meeting ID: 936 125 057Password: 000153

Tonight at 7:30 pm EST: Part VIII of the I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY SERIES, looking at the birth of Hasidism in the context of 18th and 19th century Russian history, the reaction of the Mitnagdim, and the influence of the Haskalah. Zoom information (note password: 000153): Topic: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY Wednesday, March 25, 7:30…

How could it hurt?

Part Four of the Jews of the Danube series. Filmed in a new location without my usual technical support–sorry for the lower video and audio quality, but the lecture is ok. To see the visuals better, please click here.  Next week we are back at our usual location with IT support!

Taught Freud a thing or two.

New location next week: corner of J and Ocean.

A scholar and a fighter, the Hatam Sofer articulated a definition of Orthodoxy for the modern era.

Brief video lecture on the life and work of Isaac of Vienna (c. 1180-c. 1250), author of the important Or Zaru’a.

We begin our discussion of the Jews of the Danube with the question: “Who Was Isaac of Vienna (the Or Zaru’a)?”

Unexpected and unexplained, a phalanx of glass obelisks emerge silently from the earthen mound, punctuating the atmosphere above what appears to be an anonymous tel. Some are transparent, others pebbled and translucent, but all glow with a faint green hue. Unyielding, they stand in rigid formation on the angled surface of the earth. These mute…

When the Hungarians purchased their alphabet, vowels were on sale (also plastic sofa coverings and chandeliers). By the time the Poles came around, all that was left were the consonants. This helps explain why we anglophones are so challenged by both languages: in the case of Hungarian, there are just way too many umlauts and…

Abandoned Nazi trucks were discovered by children playing in the shallows of the diminished Danube.