Thanks to Ben Rothke for this kind review of Torah from the Years of Wrath in this week’s Jewish Link of New Jersey. I am very grateful to be a part of the community that values and spreads the teachings of the Piaseczno Rebbe; nice to see positive reviews! Keeping the Faith By Ben Rothke…

  Hello everyone– My father’s yortsayt is coming up next week, and as in previous years I hope to begin another cycle of study of Maimonides on Teshuvah. Please visit the Maimonides on Teshuvah page page to learn more about how to participate in this free, Global Study of Maimonides program. Posts will also appear…

Their screams suffuse the entire universe, and yet the universe does not revert to primordial waters. It continues to exist as if completely unaffected, Heaven forbid.

It was about this time of year, five hundred years ago, when we were refugees seeking asylum in Portugal. Then they seized our children. If we don’t care about what has been happening to migrant families today—shame on us.

Hoping that Moshiach will arrive before July 22. If not, then this is a great time to listen to the insights of Rabbi Zev Goldberg on the traditional Kinot. I’ll provide historical context. We did this last year and it was really meaningful. Hopefully this is the last Tisha B’Av we will have to mark…

July brought new tribulations upon the Jewish community as the Nazis, energized by their victories on the western front, formally eliminated virtually every non-governmental organization in the General Government. Charitable agencies, cultural leagues, and of course political groups were abolished, for both Jews and Poles. The ghetto population increased by tens of thousands as Jews…

My fourteen-year old son was the first to see the damage, and you gave me the precious opportunity to teach him some ancient truths about our long-standing relationship.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Zev Brenner of the famous Talkline last week; really pleased that there’s a lot of interest in the work of the Piaseczno Rebbe. The broadcast was aired last Saturday night and will be rebroadcast again tonight at 8pm EST on WSNR AM 620. Here’s the link to the…

Dean Boylan has been a mentor of mine since I joined Touro in 2006. Proud to be with him this morning at the Harvard Club as he receives the Education Update Outstanding Educator of the Year Award. With Dean Moshe Sokol of Lander College for Men and Executive Dean Robert Goldschmidt of the Mighty Avenue…

Is it possible for a person to be struck and not experience physical pain?

Meet Mr. Hunter Ross Loren, a precocious 13-year old who, together with his uncle Alan Loren, contacted me this week to discuss Jewish history. Hunter is an avid fan of Jewish history–especially, of all things, the Jews of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth–and he is probably my youngest student online. As a follow-up to his Bar Mitzvah,…

Good morning students of Jewish History! Just a reminder that we will not be meeting tonight; classes will resume on Monday May 7.  You can always use the extra time to catch up on some reading! Click here for a few suggestions.  Looking forward to learning with you next week, the penultimate lecture in the…

Good morning– Just a quick note to those who attend in person at the Mighty Avenue J campus: we will not be meeting this Monday, April 30. Planning to reconvene on Monday, May 7 with the penultimate lecture of the season–the history of the Crypto-Jews. Fascinating stuff, I think. H P.S. Seeking sponsors for the…

Can’t see the video? Please click here.

Here’s the video of the talk I gave at The WELL, my favorite institution of Sephardic Studies in New York. Really wonderful audience. Having difficulty seeing the video? Click here.

In early April 1940, Warsaw Jews were distressed to witness the initial construction of walls in several parts of the city. Up until this point, the concentration of Jews in certain parts of Warsaw was effected by administrative decree, with few permanent physical structures demarcating the boundaries of the ghetto. Debates raged within the Nazi…

Can’t see the video? Please click here.

Happy to see this Spanish translation of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness forthcoming in the next few weeks! The cover is really striking. Thanks to Jésica Neuah at Editorial Perspectivas!

Wow–just heard that Torah from the Years of Wrath got promoted to the window display at M. Pomeranz Books in Jerusalem! Thanks to my friend Dr. Mike Chigel for plugging the book to MR. POMERANZ HIMSELF, shown here just outside the display!

In commemoration of Yom Ha-Shoah, our Jewish History lecture on Monday night will be dedicated to a topic frequently overlooked in discussions of the Holocaust: the experience of Sephardim. Please click here for details. Most of my own published work on the Holocaust has been in the Askhenazic world, notably my recent study of the…

Very honored to be speaking with Rabbi Eli Mansour for The WELL, a wonderful new institution dedicated to women’s education in the Sephardic community. Please spread the word! This lecture is open to men and women.

Available from Amazon Hardcover 15% off at Lulu After the fall of the Russian Empire, Jewish and Ukrainian activists worked to overcome previous mutual antagonism by creating a Ministry of Jewish Affairs within the new Ukrainian state and taking other measures to satisfy the national aspirations of Jews and other non-Ukrainians. This bold experiment ended…