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


  • Sefer Ha-Heshek

    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…

  • Who Was Hillel Ba’al Shem?

    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.

  • Tanya: People of the Book

    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…

  • March 2016 Lectures: Jews of the 18th Century

    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…

  • Who Was Sarah, Wife of Shabbetai Tsvi?

    Who Was Sarah, Wife of Shabbetai Tsvi?

    Orphaned by the Eastern European pogroms of 1648-49, the volatile Sarah became the spouse of the infamous messianic pretender. Her life, filled with controversy, illustrates the egalitarian elements in Shabbetai Tsvi’s antinomian message.   Here is a link to the Prezi.

  • Sarra Copia Sulem’s Manifesto

    Sarra Copia Sulem’s Manifesto

    Sarra Copia Sulam’s Manifesto People of the Book: Great Works of the Jewish Tradition Dr. Henry Abramson This article appeared in the February 17, 2016 edition of the Five Towns Jewish Times.  An unlikely literary duel in Venice took an unexpected turn in 1621 with the appearance of a slim volume entitled “The Manifesto of…

  • NO CLASS THIS MONDAY! PRESIDENTS’ DAY

    NO CLASS THIS MONDAY! PRESIDENTS’ DAY

    Feb 22. Sarah, wife of Shabbetai Tsvi Orphaned by the Eastern European pogroms of 1649-49, the volatile Sarah became the spouse of the infamous messianic pretender. Feb 29. Hillel Ba’al Shem A mysterious figure of the late 17th and early 18th centuries whose recently discovered work sheds light on the world of popular culture from…

  • The Tzemach David

    The Tzemach David

    The Tzemach David People Of The Book:  Classic Works Of The Jewish Tradition (This article originally appeared in the Five Towns Jewish Times on February 11, 2016.) David Gans (1541–1613) was a scientist and a rabbi in an age when the dual pursuit of these intellectual passions was a life-threatening occupation. He studied Torah under Rabbi…

  • Who Was Sarra Copia Sulem?

    Who Was Sarra Copia Sulem?

    When Sarra, a bright young poetry lover of 17th century Venice, wrote to a senior literary figure, she thought she was merely expressing her admiration for his literary work.  In the end, she was forced to defend publicly her refusal to leave Judaism. Click here for the Prezi.  Sarra Copia Sulam’s Manifesto People of the…

  • Who Was Rabbi David Gans?

    Who Was Rabbi David Gans?

    David Gans (1541-1613) was a Rabbinic scholar, historian, and astronomer.  A student of Rabbi Moshe Isserles and the Maharal of Prague, he collaborated actively with Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler and left behind important scholarly works.   Click here for the Prezi.    

  • Sefer HaChinuch (People of the Book)

    Sefer HaChinuch (People of the Book)

    People Of The Book: Classic Works Of The Jewish Tradition By Dr. Henry Abramson Written with a deep humility that nevertheless could not disguise the author’s brilliance,Sefer HaChinuch remains one of the most thought-provoking halachic studies some 800 years after it first appeared in the Iberian Peninsula. The deceptively simple title, “The Book of Education,” alludes to the anonymous…

  • Touro Dean Eyes Women’s Role in Kabbalistic Tzfat

    The Jewish Star, January 27, 2016 By Celia Weintrob On Rosh Chodesh Shevat, women who attended the Ohel Sara Amen Group in Lawrence enjoyed a lecture by the witty and informative Dr. Henry Abramson about the contribution of women to the Kabbalistic fellowship in Tzfat. Identifying himself as a “specialist in the history of ideas,”…

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

Four Jewish Survival Strategies in the Byzantine Era; The Strange World of Hebrew Abbreviations; Volume II of The Jewish People: A History Online; Shabbaton in Greater Washington

Jewish Resilience after the Bar Kochba Rebellion


New Series! Cool Things I Read in the Encyclopedia Judaica


YouTube Colleagues: Volume II of The Jewish People: A History now appearing online



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