Really looking forward seeing my friends at YILC!
RESURGENCE in Jewish History (Shabbaton at YILC, 5 Towns); Intrepid Rabbi-Explorers of the 3rd Century; Sephardic Diaspora in the New World
Eurafrican Jews in the Caribbean; Jewish Caribbean Migration Patterns; and a retrospective mini-documentary
Hard to believe such beautiful places exist!
Jewish Caribbean Migration Patterns
Eurafrican Jews in the Caribbean
The Sephardic Diaspora: Europe
Want to learn more Jewish History? Try one of these online courses!
Saga of Sephardic Jewry (New Online Course!); Volume II:Chapter 2 now online; Benjamin of Tudela; Guide for the Perplexed; Review of Koren’s New Mikraot Hadorot
Jewish History Lab Report: Friday, January 3, 2025
Benjamin of Tudela, Great Jewish Explorer of the 12th Century!
The Saga of Sephardic Jewry: New Course Now Online!
Stunning new work of Torah Scholarship: The Koren Mikraot Hadorot
Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed: Battle of the Translators
Shabbat in Rosyln, NY; Hello from Jerusalem;
Really looking forward to meeting this community!
Message recorded from Jerusalem last week
Medieval Antisemitism and the Spanish Inquisition
Invitation to LCM Breakfast; Caribbean Jews and the History of Chocolate; Spanish Disputations and the Pogroms of 1391
Please join me at our First Annual Breakfast!
Jews and Chocolate! Who knew?
Disputations and the Pogroms of 1391
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
-
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon: Maimonides
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1135-1204) was a towering figure in medieval Jewish history, and continues to cast a long shadow into the Jewish present. Nevertheless, the work of the philosopher-physician endured significant controversy, including an especially sad episode in which Jews actually consigned his works to the flames.
-
HIS 155 1.6 Jewish Communal Structure: The Kehillah
To view the Prezi associated with this lecture, please click here.
-
Jacob Frank and the Burning of the Talmud (This Week in Jewish History)
One of the more colorful false messiahs in Jewish history, Jacob Frank made a career of conversion–first to Islam, then to Christianity, all the while leading a neo-Sabbatean movement that emphasized antinomian “purification through transgression.” His appeal to the Church in 1757 resulted in a modern-day disputation over the Talmud, and ultimately the burning of…
-
The Jews of Khazaria
In one of the most bizarre episodes in Jewish history, the Central Asian kingdom of Khazaria converted to Judaism in the eighth century. Multiple sources confirm the conversion, yet the entire story remains a mystery. What was the nature of their Judaism? More importantly, what happened to them?
-
Sa’adia Gaon: Jews and Jewish Philosophy in the Islamic Context
Sa’adia Gaon was an important Jewish philosopher and communal leader of the 9th and 10th centuries, famous in particular for his massive Book of Beliefs and Opinions. A child prodigy to rose to the highest ranks of Jewish scholarship, his thought left an indelible imprint on the Jewish spiritual tradition.
-
New Teaching Technologies! A Workshop for Teachers in Jewish Schools
Wondering how to harness the power of the Internet for effective teaching? Confused and maybe alarmed by all the talk about using social media as a pedagogic tool? Sign up for these three workshops for teachers by visiting http://www.miamijewisheducators.org! A project of Touro College South and The Shul.
-
The Martyrs of Mumbai (This Week in Jewish History)
Pakistani terrorists attacked the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, 29th of Heshvan, 5769 (26 November 2008). Part of a concerted attack that killed 179 and wounded hundreds, they murdered the young Chabad emissaries running the house, Rabbi Gavriel and Mrs. Rivky Holtzberg. Their infant son, who turned two the day after his parents…
-
Rav Sherira Gaon: The Jews of Babylon (Next Week: Sa’adia Gaon)
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…
-
Hannah Szenes: Poet-Martyr of the Resistance (This Week In Jewish History)
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.
-
Paul of Tarsus: The Origins of Christianity in Jewish Context
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…
-
Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky (This Week in Jewish History)
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.
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
Channel Members
Premiering at 10am ET
-
Tonight in Budapest, Hungary
Hello fellow students of Jewish history! Today our exploration of Jewish heritage along the Danube River valley begins in Budapest, home to one of the largest concentrations of Jews at the turn of the 20th century. I’m really thrilled to be together with so many people who share my passion for the amazing story of…
-
The Saga of Danubian Jewry: Part One of The Jews of the Danube Series (Fall 2018)
Part One of The Jews of the Danube series (Fall 2018). Several lectures to be presented live in Europe this month, planning to return to Brooklyn for more live lectures beginning November 5. Enjoy in good health!
-
The Murdered Piaseczno Rebbe Had No Dynasty. How Did He Build A Huge Modern Following?
This article appeared, in slightly abbreviated form, in today’s Forward. So many colleagues and friends–fellow students of the Rebbe–contributed moving quotations on the Facebook page dedicated to the Rebbe. Laura Adkins’ editorship at the Forward is really great, and the final version is certainly more appropriate for the wider audience. If you would like to…
-
Jewish History Lectures Resume!
The Jews of the Danube Fall 2018 Lecture Series Lectures in Europe: October 2018 Lectures in Brooklyn: November-December 2018 From its headwaters in Germany’s Black Forest to its final destination in the Black Sea, the Danube River flows through ten countries and over ten centuries of Jewish history. Great cities like Vienna and Budapest punctuate…
-
I want ten students.
Hello friends and colleagues: Thank you for your consistent support and enthusiasm. I am delighted that so many people share my passion for Jewish history and thought, and consider it a rare privilege to share my research with you online and in person. I wish you all a blessed New Year of spiritual and material…
-
Free Online Resources for the Ten Days of Repentance
Hello everyone! Please visit this site for my translation of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s classic Tomer Devorah (The Kabbalah of Forgiveness), a text often studied at precisely this time of year as we strive to improve our relationships with each other, with G-d, and with ourselves. The site also features a series of brief videos on each…
-
The Jews of the Danube (Fall 2018 Lecture Series)
The Jews of the Danube Fall 2018 Lecture Series From its headwaters in Germany’s Black Forest to its final destination in the Black Sea, the Danube River flows through ten countries and over ten centuries of Jewish history. Great cities like Vienna and Budapest punctuate its course through East-Central Europe, the cradle of much of…
-
In Search of the Crypto-Jews of Portugal (What I did over my Summer Vacation)
The invisible yet palpable echo of the crypto-Jewish tradition resonates through Portugal like the far side of a conversation faintly overheard in another person’s cell phone. A rush of sibilants or an exclamation of laughter confirms the reality of the distant interlocutor, even though we do not see her before us. The history of Portugal’s…
-
Learn Maimonides on Teshuvah with me this year!
Join me in this global effort to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year!
-
Camp Guard Associated with the Murder of the Piaseczno Rebbe Extradited to Germany
Hasidim of the Aish Kodesh should take note: this is likely the face of one of the murderers of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira hy”d. Jakiw Palij, a longtime resident of Queens, New York, was recently extradited to Germany for filing false information while immigrating to the United States after World War II. Palij served as…
-
Two Public Talks on Tisha B’Av
Hello students, friends and colleagues– We still have a few hours before the onset of Shabbat and the possible arrival of Mashiach, but if we have to make it through another Tisha B’Av– If you are in Fort Lee, NJ Sunday morning or Crown Heights, Brooklyn Sunday afternoon, please join me for presentations on the…
Visits to Synagogues in Bordeaux and Libourne (France); Another Open Letter to Jewish Participants in anti-Israel Protests re: Amsterdam; Conference Presentation on Sheptytsky and WW II
Fantastic Voyage of Discovery with Kosher River Cruises
A Difficult Conversation
Recent Conference Presentation in Toronto
Wait, Christopher Columbus was Jewish? Documentary on Roman-Jewish War now Online
Surprised how much attention this got.
Herod’s Tragic Reign
The Fatal Conflict
How Jewish Culture will Thrive after October 7; The Jews of Al-Andalus Part II
Henry Abramson 