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

  • “Give me Yavne and its Sages!” Lectures resume this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai

    “Give me Yavne and its Sages!” Lectures resume this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai

    The Jewish Biography as History series at the Young Israel of Bal Harbour continues this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, a major figure whose bold and heroic leadership rescued the Jewish people from the threat of national oblivion in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century. Lectures…

  • Jews in the Medieval Economy (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    Jews in the Medieval Economy (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    An introductory lecture on the role of Jews in the medieval economy. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series.

  • Liked the Free Download of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness? How about writing a review?

    Liked the Free Download of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness? How about writing a review?

    I’m so glad that so many of you decided to download my latest book, “The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah).”  I’m also very grateful that many of you have found this work meaningful, especially in the rare moment of the season of…

  • The Rishonim (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    The Rishonim (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    This lecture serves as an introduction to the Rishonim, a body of Rabbinic scholars associated with the 9th through the 15th centuries of the common era. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

  • Fall 2014 Lectures in Jewish History at Young Israel

    Fall 2014 Lectures in Jewish History at Young Israel

      Wednesday Nights at 8:00 pm   October 22: Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai October 29: Salome November 5: Bar Kokhba November 12: Shimon bar Yochai November 19: Abaye’s Mother November 26: Eldad the Danite December 3: Aaron of Lincoln December 10: Amnon of Mayence December 17: Abraham ibn Ezra December 24: Qasmunah   All lectures…

  • The Chofetz Chaim (This Week in Jewish History)

    The Chofetz Chaim (This Week in Jewish History)

    Brief video highlighting the life and work of Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (1838-1936), one of the most influential Rabbis of the 20th century.  Better known as the Chofetz Chaim (*one who desires life,” taken from Psalm 34).    

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: Conclusion

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: Conclusion

    Conclusion “The Insulted King,” Illustration of Level 1 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily Rabbi Cordovero’s Conclusion עַד כַּאן הִגִּיעַ שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מִדּוֹת שֶׁבָּהֶן יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם דּוֹמֶה אֶל קוֹנוֹ שֶׁהֵן מִדּוֹת שֶׁל רַחֲמִים עֶלְיוֹנוֹת וּסְגֻלָּתָן כי כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הָאָדָם מִתְנַהֵג לְמַטָּה כָּךְ יִּזְכֶּה לִפְתֹּחַ לוֹ מִדָּה עֶלְיוֹנָה מִלְמַעְלָה מַמָּשׁ כְּפִי מַה שֶּׁיִּתְנַהֵג כָּךְ מַשְׁפִּיעַ מִלְמַעְלָה…

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Thirteen: The Moment of Innocence

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Thirteen: The Moment of Innocence

    The Thirteenth Level: The Moment of Innocence “The Moment of Innocence,” illustration of Level 13 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Thirteenth Level: The Moment of Innocence Translator’s Introduction The Thirteenth and final Level of mercy carries an absolute guarantee: one who masters this level can forgive anyone. The Thirteenth Level renders all…

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Twelve: Remember Where They Came From

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Twelve: Remember Where They Came From

    The Twelfth Level: Remember Where They Came From “Family Tree (Remember Where They Came From),” illustration of Level 12 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Twelfth Level: Remember Where They Came From Translator’s Introduction              The final element of the triad is Level Twelve.  In Level Ten we…

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Eleven: Do More for Those Who Do More

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Eleven: Do More for Those Who Do More

    The Eleventh Level: Do More for Those Who Do More “Serve and Protect (Do More for Those Who Do More),” illustration of Level 11 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Eleventh Level: Do More for Those Who Do More Translator’s Introduction  The second part of the triad of Levels Ten, Eleven and Twelve…

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Ten: Do the Right Thing Anyway

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Ten: Do the Right Thing Anyway

    The Tenth Level: Do the Right Thing Anyway “The Hook (Do the Right Thing Anyway),” illustration of Level 10 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Tenth Level: Do the Right Thing Anyway Translator’s Introduction  The Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Levels together comprise a triad of strategies for forgiving others, particularly people with whom…

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Nine: Bury the Past

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Level Nine: Bury the Past

    The Ninth Level: Bury the Past “The Scapegoat (Bury the Past),” illustration of Level 9 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily The Ninth Level: Bury the Past Translator’s Introduction  The Ninth Level of Mercy addresses a principal common to both Kabbalah and physics: energy never dissipates of its own accord; rather it is redirected…

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


  • Monday Night: Rabbi Eli Mansour on The Cairo Geniza! Me too. At The WELL

    Can’t see the video? Try clicking here.

  • The Window at Pomeranz! Gan Eden?

    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!

  • Sephardim and the Holocaust

    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…

  • With Rabbi Eli Mansour for The WELL

    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.

  • Ukrainians and Jews in Revolutionary Times, 1917-1920

    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…

  • 7th Day of Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto

    7th Day of Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto

    After several weeks without recording a drashah, perhaps related to the horrendous typhus outbreak of the late winter of 1941, the Rebbe delivered a series of powerful derashot for the Passover holiday.  On the Seventh Day of Pesach he turned his attention to the subject of Torah learning.  The memoirs of Chaim Kaplan, a former principal, describe…

  • Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto: Inspiration for the Second Seder

    Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto: Inspiration for the Second Seder

    Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto: Inspiration for the Second Seder Taken from Torah from the Years of Wrath (Aish Kodesh) אני מבקש ומתחנן לפני כל אחד מישראל שילמוד בספרי, ובטח זכות אבותי הקדושים זצוקלל״ה יעמוד לו ולכל ביתו בזה ובבא “I request and plead every person of Israel to study my works—surely the merit of…

  • Who Was Judah Touro? The Sephardic Diaspora pt. 6

    Who Was Judah Touro? The Sephardic Diaspora pt. 6

    Brief lecture on the life and work of Judah Touro, an important 19th-century American philanthropist for whom, together with his father Isaac, Touro College was named.

  • The Piaseczno Rebbe on Shabbat Ha-Gadol in the Warsaw Ghetto (April 5, 1941)

    The Piaseczno Rebbe on Shabbat Ha-Gadol in the Warsaw Ghetto (April 5, 1941)

    School principal Chaim Kaplan recorded the bleak mood in the Warsaw Ghetto on the eve of Passover of the Hebrew year 5701 (1941): Like the Egyptian Passover, the Passover of Germany will be celebrated for generations.  The chaotic oppression of every day throughout this year of suffering will be reflected in the days of the…

  • A ‘NOVUM IN THE HISTORY OF THE COSMOS:’ Dr. Norman Ravvin on The Piaseczno Rebbe

    A ‘NOVUM IN THE HISTORY OF THE COSMOS:’ Dr. Norman Ravvin on The Piaseczno Rebbe

    Really nice to see that readers in my native Canada are encountering the Piaseczno Rebbe: Here’s a new review by Dr. Norman Ravvin, appearing in the current Canadian Jewish News. Note to my dear readers: the book is in Judaica stores, on Amazon and Kindle, but my favorite (and the best value) is the beautiful…

  • Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld on the Aish Kodesh

    Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld on the Aish Kodesh

    I’m grateful to Rabbi Josh Rosenfeld for his kind and thoughtful review of Torah from the Years of Wrath, which appeared in this month’s Jewish Action. Please click here to read his thoughts on the work of the Piaseczno Rebbe.

  • Who Was Daniel Mendoza?

    Who Was Daniel Mendoza?

    Brief lecture on the life and times of Daniel Mendoza, a Sephardic Jewish champion boxer of the 18th and early 19th century.

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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