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
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Conference on the Jewish Nakba Tomorrow; The Rise of Antisemitism in the US since October 7; Unpacked on “From the River to the Sea”
International Conference with Bar-Ilan University Please join us for a day-long conference on the subject of what has been called “The Jewish Nakba”: the mass displacement of Jews living in Arab and Muslim lands after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Part II of the Project Witness Webinar, premieres at 10am ET…
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Please pause and learn about these two causes dear to my family
Good morning fellow students of Jewish History! Renewal for Kidney Transplants Several years ago my wife read a notice about a woman in our neighborhood who was seeking a life-saving kidney donation. My wife didn’t know her, but she swabbed anyway with the Renewal organization. Initially she was matched, but secondary testing suggested not, so…
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Jewish Resilience in Queens; Historical Background to the Current Conflict; A New Form of Antisemitism?; Conference on the “Jewish Nakba”
Join me for a live, in-person lecture at the Queens Jewish Center. Premieres at 10am ET: Last week’s Project Witness webinar (Part I) Join me for Part II of the Project Witness Webinar on The Rise of Antisemitism in the United States after October 7
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Was the Bordeaux Pilgrim Jewish? Six Jewish States before Israel; Jews and Astronomy; Stages of Antisemitism; Live Lecture in Queens
This one is for the serious Jewish History Nerds Love working with the team at Unpacked! Lecture from Dallas on the Eclipse (click on link) https://torahanytime.com/lectures/293151 Stages of Antisemitism (Jewish Learning Institute) Upcoming Live Lecture in Queens
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The Jews and Their Stars: Solar Eclipse Lecture Livestream at 5:00 pm CDT (6pm ET)
Event begins at 3:00 pm, my slot is 5:00-5:30 CDT (6PM ET). Join us! Please click here for livestream
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The Jews in Israel before Modern Zionism; The Trial of the Masada Rebels; Shabbaton in Dallas
Really looking forward to the Eclipse Shabbaton in Dallas! Here’s some information. Even though this was a mock trial, I was nervous to testify! Jews of Israel before Modern Zionism
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Are All Jews Genetically Related?; The 14th century Foundation Stone of a Porto Synagogue; Astronomy, Astrology and Jewish History from Ibn Ezra to Einstein; Some Purim Torah? Maybe?
Love working with the team at Unpacked! What’s with this Bizarre 14th century Hebrew Stone from Porto? Getting Ready for Dallas! Happy Purim Everyone!!! This Persian video is either true (and good news), or it’s Purim Torah. Either way, appropriate for today…
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The Origins of the Jewish People (History of Ancient Israel in 36 minutes); Lectures on Jews and Astronomy in Dallas for the Eclipse in April
Video version of one of the lectures delivered in Vancouver last week, live chat at 10am ET Looking forward to speaking in Dallas, Shabbos and Yom Iyun before the Eclipse!
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Interview with JLI on COLIVE; First Live Ask Hard Questions Session; First Live Ask Hard Questions Session; Review of Ilan Pappe’s History of Modern Palestine
I enjoyed this conversation at the recent JLI Retreat. I thought this turned out okay. Looking forward to setting up the next one! Review of Ilan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine
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Israel and its People: Three Lectures in Vancouver, BC; Jewish Prayer during the Inquisition; The Strange Crypto-Jewish Inscriptions of Trancoso, Portugal; Competing Narratives in the Israel-Hamas War
Grateful to Beth Israel and the Jewish National Fund for the Invitation. Invitation-only lectures for students at the University of British Columbia and elsewhere: please contact Hillel BC for details. Jewish Prayer under the Inquisition The Strange Inscriptions of Trancoso, Portugal With Pyotr Kurzin of The Global Gambit New Episodes of Jewish History Nerds Podcast!…
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Ashkenazim and Sefardim in their Diasporas; What does “From the River to the Sea” really mean? What is Judaism without Rabbis or Texts
Part III of a lecture series delivered at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Beverly Hills, CA; What does “From the River to the Sea” Really Mean?; What is Judaism without Rabbis or Books? Crypto-Jewish Prayer in Portugal Very Proud to work with Unpacked on this sensitive topic What would Judaism be like without Rabbis and Texts?
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
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Albert Einstein: Time, Space and the Jewish People
A presentation on Albert Einstein (1879-1955), one of the best-known Jews of the twentieth century. Although he had a complicated relationship with Judaism, he maintained a distinct pride in his Jewish identity, and once said “A Jew who abandons his Judaism is like a snail that abandons its shell. It’s still a snail.” The lecture…
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Excerpt from The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Now Online
An excerpt from The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: A Reader’s Guide to Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s The Palm Tree of Devorah, a new translation and commentary on the 16th-century classic of Kabbalistic musar, is now available online. Anticipated publication date is August 2013. The Palm Tree of Devorah first appeared in 1588 and became and instant classic.…
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Stephen Samuel Wise and the Jews of America
A presentation on the life and work of Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949), an important American communal leader. The lecture will take a broader focus, looking at the history of Jewish settlement in the United States during the 19th century and the major issues facing this immigrant community through the middle of the twentieth century. The…
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Menachem Begin: A New Israel
A study of the life of Menachem Begin (1913-1992). A native of Poland, he was a proponent of Vladimir Jabotinsky’s Revisionist party that stood in dramatic contrast to the dominant left-wing tendency in the Zionist movement. A major figure in Israel’s struggle for statehood, and a founder of the Likud party, he was elected to…
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Mitnagdim, Hasidim, Maskilim: The Cultural Geography of Jewish Eastern Europe
This lecture presents a broad overview of the three main intellectual-religious trends present in 19th century Jewish Eastern Europe: the traditionalist Mitnagdim, the innovative Hasidim, and the modernizing Maskilim. Good as an overall introduction, although I go into more detail on all of these movements in other lectures on this website. Taped on April 21,…
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Golda Meir and the Foundations of Israel
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…
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Evgenia Ginzburg: Jewish Life Under Stalin
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…
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Emanuel Ringelblum: Heroic Scholar of the Warsaw Ghetto
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…
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Solomon Mikhoels: Jews and Jewish Art in the USSR
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…
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Shimon Dubnow: The Politics of Jewish Identity in the Modern World
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…
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Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah Movement
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…
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Nathan of Hanover and the Ukrainian Revolution of 1648-1649
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…
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
Wait, Christopher Columbus was Jewish? Documentary on Roman-Jewish War now Online
Surprised how much attention this got.
Herod’s Tragic Reign
The Fatal Conflict
How Jewish Culture will Thrive after October 7; The Jews of Al-Andalus Part II
Remarks at Lander College for Men
Maimonides and the Controversy over His Work
Jewish Resilience After October 7; American Jews, Post-Honeymoon; The Jews of Al-Andalus
Three Strategies
Jews under the Visigoths II; The Spanish Golden Age
Public at 10am ET (44 minutes)
Online Courses in Jewish History
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.
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
