Really looking forward seeing my friends at YILC!

Lectures in Jewish History and Thought. No hard questions, please.





A presentation of the life of Golda Meir (1898-1978), spanning her immigration to Israel in 1921 through the end of her term as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel in 1974. The lecture will discuss the foundations of the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community, and touch on the major social and military conflicts that Israel…

Evgenia Ginzburg (1904-1977) was a Jewish woman who endured the horrors of the Stalinist Gulag. Charged and convicted of anti-Soviet activity in 1937, she was sent to the infamous work camps of Siberia for nearly two decades until her case was reviewed two years after Stalin’s death. She was ultimately rehabilitated, and published her memoirs…

An examination of the life and work of Emanuel Ringelblum (1900-1944), the heroic Polish scholar who organized the underground Oneg Shabbat society in the Warsaw Ghetto. Ringelblum recognized the extreme and unprecedented nature of the Nazi onslaught early in the war, and brought together a group of highly dedicated volunteers who recorded every aspect of…
Part I: Part II: Part III: Solomon Mikhoels (1890-1948) was one of the most prominent actors and directors in early Soviet Russia. His career coincides with the brief flourishing of Yiddish culture under the policy of korenizatsiia, or “indiginization,” when the Communist authorities sought to develop folk culture as a means of developing loyalty to the…

Shimon Dubnow (1860-1941), a noted historian and activist whose theories of Jewish survival in the diaspora were extremely influential in the shaping Jewish identity in the modern world, from the future of Russian Jewry to the establishment of the modern Federation movement in the United States. Dubnow’s scholarship was inextricably intertwined with the effort to…
Moses Mendelssohn was a hugely influential thinker in 18th-century Germany. An unusually gifted intellect, he became the primary spokesperson for the emancipation of Jews in the 18th century, and his cause was championed by many non-Jewish liberals of the era. Heralded as the founder of the Reform movement even though Mendelssohn himself maintained an observant…

Nathan of Hanover is best known for his moving chronicle of the Khmel’nyts’kyi (Chmielnicki) Rebellion. Entitled Yeven Metsulah (“The Abyss of Despair”), it records with remarkable fairness the social, political, economic and religious background of the mid-17th century Ukrainian movement against the Poles, along with the horrible pogroms perpetrated in the context of that violent…

Here’s the Torahcafe.com edited version, in one piece, with the PPTs integrated. A little easier to watch.


The Fourth Level: Remember the Family “In the Same Boat (Remember We are Family),” illustration of Level 4 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Fourth Level: Remember the Family Translator’s Introduction The Fourth Level of Mercy calls attention to the fundamental connectedness of humanity. The Jewish people in particular maintain a strong familial…

The Third Level: Take Care of it Personally “Part of the Process (Take Care of it Personally),” illustration of Level 3 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Third Level: Take Care of It Personally Translator’s Introduction The Third Level of Mercy addresses the personal role that God plays in the process of forgiveness. Rather…

The Second Level: Let it Go for Now “Whose K’tegors are These? (Let it Go)” Illustration of Level 2 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Second Level: Let it Go for Now The second of the Thirteen Levels, “Who Bears Sin,” describes a degree of mercy that is even more profound than…

The First Level: The King who Endures Insult “The Insulted King,” illustration of Level 1 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily Translator’s Introduction Rabbi Cordovero’s discussion of the Thirteen Levels of Mercy begins with an awesome depiction of human sin from God’s perspective. Given that all power in the Universe has God at…

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New for the Season of Repentance: a translation and modern commentary on Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s classic of Jewish ethics, the Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah). Learn the Thirteen Levels of Mercy and discover how to forgive others (and yourself). Please visit http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org and click on “The Kabbalah of Forgiveness” for excerpts and videos. Publication date:…

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) articulated a strategy to allow Jews their traditional observances while participating actively in the modern world. Criticized from both the left and the right, his thought remains highly influential into the 21st century.

Founder of the famous Yeshiva of Volozhin, Rabbi Hayim ben Yitshad was one of the most influential proponents of traditional Talmudic study of the early 19th century. The author of Nefesh haHayim, he articulated a cogent response to the growing Hasidic movement.

In 1240 Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity, engaged in a public debate with his former teacher, Rabbi Yechiel of Paris. Donin charged that the Talmud was a noxious document that prevented the Jews from embracing Christianity, and brought a total of 35 distinct accusations against this ancient holy text. Ultimately, 24 carriage loads…

Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) celebrates the unification of Jerusalem in the context of the Six-Day War of June 1967. This dramatic military achievement represented a victory that was both political and symbolic, giving Jews control over the the Old City and the Temple Mount after nearly 2000 years of exile.

Alexander has done well with his fundraising efforts to participate in the Boys Israel Leadership Training (BILT) program run by the National Council of Synagogue Youth. He’s already raised $858 toward his goal of $3,000! To all of you who participated, thanks very much. If you haven’t yet had a chance, please do so quickly,…

Rabbi Moshe Isserles was an exceptionally important Polish Jew of the 16th century. His commentary on the Code of Jewish Law brought Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewry together to an unprecedented degree, and established the ascendancy of Polish Jewry over the older German community.