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
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Reminder: No class tonight, resume next week
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…
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No Jewish History Lecture Monday April 30
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…
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The Secret Treasure of the Cairo Geniza (Talk at The WELL)
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.
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The Walls of the Warsaw Ghetto: The Rebbe on Parashat Metsora, 1940
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…
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The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: Spanish Cover!
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!
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Monday Night: Rabbi Eli Mansour on The Cairo Geniza! Me too. At The WELL
Can’t see the video? Try clicking here.
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The Window at Pomeranz! Gan Eden?
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!
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Sephardim and the Holocaust
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…
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With Rabbi Eli Mansour for The WELL
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.
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Ukrainians and Jews in Revolutionary Times, 1917-1920
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…
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
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Interview on JRouteradio.com April 4/16
Here’s the interview Pesach Charney and Nissim Lazari conducted at jrouteradio.com on April 4. Hope you enjoy it!
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The Soviet Campaign to Eliminate Passover
http://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Soviet-Campaign-to-Eliminate-Passover.html The Soviet Campaign to Eliminate Passover by Dr. Henry Abramson “Red Haggadahs” were published in the 1920s with the explicit goal of replacing belief in God with faith in Communist Russia. One of the most unusual episodes in the long history of anti-Semitic persecution is the Soviet anti-Jewish campaign of the 1920s. Utilizing formerly…
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American Jewish History (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)
Brief overview of the history of Jewish immigration to the United States and demographic developments to the beginning of the 21st century.
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Who Was R. David Sintzheim?
Appointed as the head of Napoleon’s Grand Sanhedrin, respected Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva David Sintzheim created a political modus vivendi for Jews in modern Europe. Click here for the Prezi associated with this video.
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Tractate “Prohibition” (Purim Torah)
Tractate “Prohibition”People of the Book: Great Works of the Jewish Tradition Dr. Henry Abramson “Reverend” Gershon Kiss of Brooklyn captured the spirit of Purim brilliantly in his 1929 parody of the Talmud, “Tractate Prohibition,” which pokes fun at both Rabbinic dialectic and American society. Written in a combination of Hebrew, Aramaic and the occasional Anglicism…
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Who Was R. Yaakov Emden?
Intimidated by neither power nor position, Rabbi Yaakov Emden left a remarkable literary legacy in the form of his autobiography, Megilat Sefer. This brief lecture provides an overview of his life and work, including his epic controversy with Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschutz. R. Yaakov Emden, Megilat Sefer People of the Book: Great Works of the Jewish…
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Who Was R. Moshe Hagiz?
Detractors and admirers alike called him a “zealot, the son of a zealot” a fitting title for arguably the most divisive figure in early eighteenth-century Jewish history. A native son of Jerusalem, Rabbi Moshe Chagiz (1671-1751) originally journeyed to Europe to raise funds for his beleaguered Yeshiva. Within a short period of time, however,…
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Who Was R. Pinhas Hurwitz?
Two hundred years ago, Sefer Ha-Brit was a fixture in the library of every educated Jewish home. First published anonymously in 1797, this hugely popular 800-page tome appeared in forty editions, including translations into Ladino and Yiddish. It was widely read by Ashkenazim and Sefardim, western and eastern European Jews, Hasidim, Mitnagdim and Maskilim…
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Sefer Ha-Heshek
People Of The Book: Classic Works Of The Jewish Tradition This article originally appeared in the Five Towns Jewish Times on March 3, 2016. Click here for a video lecture on the topic. By Dr. Henry Abramson Working in the abandoned Judaica collection of the Kiev Vernadsky Library during the immediate post-Soviet period, a brilliant…
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Who Was Hillel Ba’al Shem?
A mysterious figure of the early 18th century whose work, recently discovered by Dr. Yohanan Petrovsky-Stern, sheds light on the world of popular culture from which Hasidism emerged.
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Tanya: People of the Book
People Of The Book: Classic Works Of The Jewish Tradition By Dr. Henry Abramson This article appeared in the February 25, 2016 edition of the Five Towns Jewish Times. The appearance of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi’s Tanya at the turn of the 19th century represented a sea change in Eastern European Jewish history. With…
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March 2016 Lectures: Jews of the 18th Century
Jewish History @ Avenue J A Community Project of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences 1602 Avenue J Monday Nights, 7-8pm Free and Open to the Community Lectures by Dean Henry Abramson No hard questions, please. March 7: R. Pinhas Hurwitz Author of the influential Sefer Ha-Brit, the work of Rabbi Hurwitz represented 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 