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

  • Day 1: Confession.

    Day 1: Confession.

    Day 1 ל׳ אב ראש חודש אלול Tuesday, August 22, 2017 כָּל הַמִּצְווֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה, בֵּין עֲשֵׂה בֵּין לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה—אִם עָבַר אָדָם עַל אַחַת מֵהֶן, בֵּין בְּזָדוֹן בֵּין בִּשְׁגָגָה—כְּשֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה תְּשׁוּבָה וְיָשׁוּב מֵחֶטְאוֹ, חַיָּב לְהִתְוַדּוֹת לִפְנֵי הָא–ל בָּרוּךְ הוּא:  שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר “אִישׁ אוֹ–אִשָּׁה כִּי יַעֲשׂוּ מִכָּל–חַטֹּאת הָאָדָם למעול מעל בה‘ ואשמה הנפש ההיא וְהִתְוַדּוּ, אֶת–חַטָּאתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ” (במדבר ה,ו–ז), זֶה…

  • August 2017 Update

    August 2017 Update

    Please click here for the latest news: The Jews of Sepharad lecture series, our new Global Maimonides Project, and other cool things.

  • The Liturgy of Anguish

    The Liturgy of Anguish

    ‪Hopefully this event will be cancelled with the arrival of Moshiach, but just in case, I am really looking forward to hearing Rabbi Goldberg speak about the Kinot. ‬

  • What is Teshuvah?

  • New Series! How to Speak Like a Mensch

    New Series! How to Speak Like a Mensch

    This is a little different: my Jewish take on SPLN 101: Fundamentals of Speech, our required undergraduate course at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College. Let me know what you think!

  • Why I Wrote Maimonides on Teshuvah

    Why I Wrote Maimonides on Teshuvah

    Dedicated to the memory of my father: A new translation and commentary of Moses Maimonides’ classic work on repentance. Softcover, 253 pages, illustrations. $18 after August 3, pre-order now for special price of $9 plus shipping. 5th edition (2017) Visit bit.ly/ordermot for more details.

  • Maimonides on Teshuvah

    Maimonides on Teshuvah

      Dedicated to the memory of my father: A new translation and commentary of Moses Maimonides’ classic work on repentance. Softcover, 253 pages, illustrations. $18. Click here to order.

  • The Jews of Sepharad: Fall 2017 Lectures

    The Jews of Sepharad: Fall 2017 Lectures

        All lectures will be held in the Main Auditorium of the mighty Avenue J Campus 7:00 PM Free and Open to the Community Touro College 1602 Avenue J Brooklyn, NY 11230 September 11 September 18 September 25 October 2 No Class October 9 October 16 October 23 October 30 November 6 November 13…

  • Study Jewish History in Moscow!

    Study Jewish History in Moscow!

    This amazing trip is now open to non-matriculated, visiting students! Join us–it promises to be a fantastic experience.  Email me at abramson@touro.edu for more information.

  • Who Was Rabbi Moshe Cordovero?

      The sixteenth century witnessed a phenomenal, short-lived explosion of Jewish spiritual creativity, centered in the sleepy Galilean town of Safed (Tsfat). Along with greats such as Rabbi Yosef Karo, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero was one of the founders of that unusual place, attracting still more Rabbis and especially Kabbalists to the mountaintop community, including Rabbi…

  • Who Was Nahmanides?

    A brilliant 13th-century scholar of Rabbinic thought, Nahmanides’ defense of Judaism in a forced Church-sponsored debate earned him exile from his native Spain. An elderly sage, he emigrated to the Land of Israel, where he found a tiny Jewish community, desperately hanging onto the traditions of their ancestors. Summoning upon an immense reserve of energy,…

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


  • The Jews of the Danube (Fall 2018 Lecture Series)

    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)

    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!

    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

    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

    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…

  • Ben Rothke Review in Jewish Link

    Ben Rothke Review in Jewish Link

    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…

  • What is the Global Study of Maimonides Project?

    What is the Global Study of Maimonides Project?

      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…

  • Parashat Matot in the Warsaw Ghetto (July 11, 1942)

    Parashat Matot in the Warsaw Ghetto (July 11, 1942)

    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.

  • When we were illegals, and they took away our children.

    When we were illegals, and they took away our children.

    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.

  • Tisha B’Av Kinot with Rabbi Zev Goldberg

    Tisha B’Av Kinot with Rabbi Zev Goldberg

    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…

  • Parashat Pinhas in the Warsaw Ghetto (July 20, 1940)

    Parashat Pinhas in the Warsaw Ghetto (July 20, 1940)

    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…

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


Jewish Life in Visigothic Spain; Commemorating October 7

This is one of the most bizarre periods of Jewish history, and that’s saying a lot.

Dropping on Sunday, September 22 at 10am ET. 70 minutes.


A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz

New Lecture Series: The Sweep of Sephardic History; Faith in Times of Crisis: Commemorating the Tragedy of October 7

New Lecture Series: The History of Sephardic Jewry

Public at 10 am ET. Duration: 72 minutes.
Channel Members: Duration 70 minutes.
Channel members: 44 minutes.

Shabbat in Silver Spring; The History of Sephardic Jewry; Jews, Wine, and Bordeaux; Napoleon’s 1808 Decree on Jewish Names

Stories of Personal Transformation for Elul


Napoleon’s 1808 Imperial Decree on Jewish Names


The History of Sephardic Jewry (Lecture, 75 minutes)

Jews, Wine, and Bordeaux (7 minutes)


A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz

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