The Murdered Piaseczno Rebbe Had No Dynasty. How Did He Build A Huge Modern Following?

This article appeared, in slightly abbreviated form, in today’s Forward. So many colleagues and friends–fellow students of the Rebbe–contributed moving quotations on the Facebook page dedicated to the Rebbe. Laura Adkins’ editorship at the Forward is really great, and the final version is certainly more appropriate for the wider audience. If you would like to […]

Jewish History Lectures Resume!

The Jews of the Danube Fall 2018 Lecture Series Lectures in Europe: October 2018 Lectures in Brooklyn: November-December 2018 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 […]

Our Esteemed Alumnus, Mr. Ari Fuld Hy”D: A Message from Touro College President Dr. Alan Kadish

I want ten students.

Hello friends and colleagues: Thank you for your consistent support and enthusiasm. I am delighted that so many people share my passion for Jewish history and thought, and consider it a rare privilege to share my research with you online and in person. I wish you all a blessed New Year of spiritual and material […]

Free Online Resources for the Ten Days of Repentance

Hello everyone! Please visit this site for my translation of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s classic Tomer Devorah (The Kabbalah of Forgiveness), a text often studied at precisely this time of year as we strive to improve our relationships with each other, with G-d, and with ourselves. The site also features a series of brief videos on each […]

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)

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 crypto-Jewish community is similarly measured by absences—a mezuzah scar on a doorway, a bolt-hole for a Torah scroll hidden behind a false wall, a disappeared Juderia marked, if at all, by a 21st century plaque.

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

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

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 […]