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

The Talmud in National Geographic!

The Talmud in National Geographic! Specifically, the tsnuami of 115 CE and the famous debate over the oven of Akhnai. Just a teaser in this little trailer for the second season (see if you can identify my voice!), the whole podcast is scheduled for release later this month. Was really a lot of fun to…

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A Haredi Rosh Yeshiva Wrote a Novel under a Pseudonym. It’s pretty good.

Here’s my review, published in the Life section of the OU.org blog: A Rosh Yeshiva Wrote a Novel Under a Pseudonym. It’s Pretty Good. Dr. Henry AbramsonSeptember 24, 2019 In the highly-polarized environment of contemporary Jewish culture, it’s easier to imagine a rosh yeshiva banning fiction than writing it. Imagine my surprise when I received a copy…

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Crash Course in Jewish History IV: Contemporary Period

Final installment of the Four-Part Crash Course in Jewish History. Thanks to everyone at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, especially the very receptive audiences. Wishing you all a Shana Tovah!

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Crash Course in Jewish History, Part III now Online!

Good morning students of Jewish history! Here’s part III of the Crash Course in Jewish History, looking at the Modern period. Thanks to everyone who came out to hear it live! Please click here for the recordings of the first two parts, and information on the final class, scheduled for Wednesday, September 25 at 7:30…

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TONIGHT: Part III, Crash Course in Jewish History

Good morning students of Jewish History! Looking forward to seeing you for the third installment in our fairly popular Crash Course in Jewish History. We’re grateful for the positive response from the live audience, not to mention an unusually large number of online views: as I write this post, the first two parts have been…

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Please Join Me at Torah NY!

Good morning students of Jewish history! I hope you have Torah NY on your calendar for Sunday, September 22, at Citi Field NY. I’m really thrilled to be speaking there on my newest project, the rather audacious Jewish History in Daf Yomi podcast, which is part of the exciting All Daf app currently under construction…

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Crash Course in Jewish History, Part II

Thank you all for coming last night. Hope you enjoy this video recording of the lecture, which covers Medieval Jewish History in a hopelessly superficial rush, from the close of the Mishnah in the 3rd century to the Spanish Expulsion in the late 15th century. Next week’s lecture will look at Modern Jewish History, picking…

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Tonight! Crash Course in Jewish History Part II

Good morning students, colleagues, and other lovers of Jewish history! Tonight (Wednesday, September 11) we are scheduled to resume our Crash Course in Jewish History with Part II, focusing on the medieval period from the compilation of the Mishnah at the turn of the 3rd century through the Spanish Expulsion of 1492. Young Israel of…

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Monday Night! Dr. Daniel Reiser and Henry Abramson at Touro College

Touro College is honored to welcome a great Israeli scholar to the Mighty Avenue J campus this Monday night at 7:00 pm sharp. Dr. Daniel Reiser, winner of the Yad Vashem Prize for Holocaust Research and the World Union of Jewish Studies Prize for the Best Book on Jewish Thought, will speak about his pathbreaking…

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Ancient Israel (Crash Course in Jewish History, Pt. 1)

Please enjoy this recording of the first in our new four-part series, Crash Course in Jewish History, offered this month at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. More information available by clicking here.

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Optional Readings for Crash Course in Jewish History

Crash Course in Jewish History (for very intelligent people) Extra Credit Readings for First Class: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 (privileges will be revoked for anyone who asks hard questions) Ancient History Wednesday, September 4, 2019 What is Jewish History? Peter Steinfels, “Salo Baron, 94, Scholar of Jewish History, Dies,” New York Times, November 26, 1989. 2.…

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Message to Faculty from Dean Abramson

Two brief thoughts on the momentous occasion of the beginning of the new Academic Year.

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November 29, 2024 0

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

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Who Was Saadia Gaon? LettersFlyingFree Part III

Henry Abramson

Responding to the attraction of Islamic philosophy to Jews living in Muslim lands, Sa’adia composed a highly influential work in the 10th-century Kalam style that influenced generations of thinkers. A pugnacious and principled thinker, he engaged in several heated debates with politically powerful rivals including David ben Zakkai, who forced Sa’adia into exile. When ben…

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Who Was Joshua?

Henry Abramson

The Bible describes how the Jewish people, emerging from Egyptian servitude and decades of wandering in the Sinai desert, followed Joshua’s military leadership to conquer the Land of Israel and establish the ancient foundations of their Torah-centered society. This lecture will survey the archeological and historical record to understand the larger context of the Biblical…

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Who Was Rav Kook?

Henry Abramson

Mystic and early Zionist, Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook’s challenging and eclectic philosophy has inspired generations of Jews since his passing in 1935. Often misunderstood, Rav Kook’s role as one of the principal Rabbinic figures of the era was foundational for establishing a religious ideology for the the modern, secular and democratic state of Israel.

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The Maimonidean Controversy

Henry Abramson

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Who Was Emma Goldman?

Henry Abramson

“If I can’t dance to it, it isn’t my revolution!” A fiery orator and fearless iconoclast, Emma Goldman was one of the most notorious and controversial left-wing thinkers of turn-of-the 20th century America.

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Who Was Franz Kafka?

Henry Abramson

Titled “poet of shame and guilt” by a recent biographer, Franz Kafka’s early twentieth-century writings have challenged generations of readers worldwide. Inspired in part by his early infatuation with his Jewish background, his haunting and opaque tales continued to be studied as statements of the modern condition.

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Who Was Janusz Korczak?

Henry Abramson

Heroic pioneer of modern educational theory, Henryk Goldszmit (who wrote under the pen name Janusz Korzcak) ran an orphanage in the beleaguered Warsaw Ghetto, ultimately accompanying his youthful charges to the gas chambers of Treblinka.

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Who Was the Chazon Ish?

Henry Abramson

Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant experts in Jewish law of the twentieth century, the Chazon Ish played a major role in the development of the modus vivendi between secular and religious Israelis.

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Who Was Elie Wiesel?

Henry Abramson

Elie Wiesel was a Nobel laureate for literature and a relentless champion of human rights. His best known work is Night, based on his experiences in the Holocaust.

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Who Was Abraham?

Henry Abramson

Named in the Torah as “the father of many peoples,” Abraham the Patriarch is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the original proponent of monotheism. This lecture will survey what the archeological and historical record reveals about the demographic, economic, and cultural environment in Israel when the Patriarchs and Matriarchs walked the land.

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Rashi (Letters Flying Free, Part 1)

Henry Abramson

Revered for centuries as Rabban shel Yisrael (“the Teacher of All Israel”), Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki’s writings on the Torah has earned primacy among all commentators: clear and straightforward enough for children yet sophisticated for the most learned elder. His spiritual leadership was tested at the end of his life with the tragedy and devastation of…

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Migrating Email Followers

Henry Abramson

Good morning everyone! For those of you who signed up to follow my lectures via email: I’m migrating your address to Constant Contact today. This will give you a much richer experience, with embedded videos and photos, eliminating a click or two. Don’t worry, I will delete your current email on this site, so you won’t…

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