7:30 pm Wednesday, December 25 at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. Free and open to the members of the community.

Looking forward to tonight’s opening session of the XIIIth Annual Torah and Science conference in Miami, and seeing some friends from our years in south Florida! If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello! My presentation is scheduled for Sunday afternoon (here’s a link to the Prezi, and the full program of fascinating papers is here).

The Internet is a strange and often wonderful place. Here’s a personal story from last week.

When I first wrote The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction seven years ago, Theodore Sternberg wrote one of the sharpest Amazon reviews of the first edition: “Too much about Henry Abramson, not enough about the Talmud.”

Ouch! That stung.

But in reality, that’s what the book is about: like the subtitle says, it’s a “brief and personal introduction,” which alternates between basic facts about the Talmud–its authorship, where it was written, its content and so on–and the story of my own encounter with this glorious text, the amazing teachers and incredible study partners I’ve had, and so on. I haven’t counted up the words in each section, but I aimed for about a 50-50 split between “Henry Abramson” and “the Talmud.” Mr. Sternberg was obviously hoping for a different balance.

So when I wrote the second edition–which is free on Kindle this week, by the way–I thought I should help clarify that for potential readers by reading some of the negative reviews, including Mr. Sternberg’s. Here’s the video, check timestamp 3:00.

Now the fun part: Theodore Sternberg watched the video! After he heard me read his review, he wrote a beautiful comment: “I appreciate your sense of humor. If there is anything I can do to help promote the second edition, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Thank you, Mr. Sternberg, for your generosity of spirit! I’m taking advantage of it right now.

So that–along with a surprising tweet from Jewish rapper Nissim Black–was one of the highlights of my week on the Internet.

Anyway, if you’re interested in some light, and hopefully entertaining reading, please enjoy a free copy of The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction for your e-Reader. I had fun writing it, and revising it for this second edition, and I think it’s a useful warm-up to the Siyum ha-Shas coming this January!

Hello fellow students of Jewish history!

I’m pleased to announce that the second edition of The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction is now available in a second, revised edition, in commemoration of the upcoming Siyum ha-Shas!

From Sunday December 8 through Thursday December 12 the Kindle ebook edition will be available for free. Please click here on those days to download a copy, or click here for the paperback.

Meanwhile, here’s a brief but fun video (fun for me, at any rate) in which I read some negative reviews of the first edition. I also read a few positive reviews too. Enjoy in good health!

Featuring papers by Alex Friedman on the Israeli Space Program, Rabbi Professor Avraham Steinberg on Genetics, Rabbi Professor Moshe Tendler on Halacha and Experimental Drugs. Words of welcome from my colleague Professor Nathan Katz, and lots of inspiration from Rabbi Sholom Dovber Lipskar, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, and many others. My small contribution will be on the impact of postmodernism in the era of the Internet.

Really looking forward to an inspiring and stimulating Chabad Shabbat and conference. Please come by and say hello!

Third Lecture in the Episodes in Talmudic History series offered at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst.

I got chills reading pages from this record book of Bet Din decisions from Bergen Belsen. Read this great piece of journalism by Molly Boigon at The Forward. Proud to have been asked for some background information.

Tonight at YILC: the third and final lecture in the series on Talmudic history. I know it’s erev Thanksgiving, but I am especially looking forward to delivering this talk! Planning to discuss two bizarre stories related to the ambiguities of authenticity and authority: the appearance of the “lost” tractates of the Jerusalem Talmud at the turn of the 20th century, and Johannes Eisenmenger’s notorious antisemitic screed of the 17th century. While the previous two lectures focused on the tremendous potential democratization of Talmud learning in the Internet era, this lecture will examine how these two strange incidents shed light on the dangers of postmodernism in a time of almost unlimited connectivity.

7:30 pm prompt, free and open to the community. Maybe we will even put this lecture on the web later.

Hello fellow students of Jewish history! I’m so glad to have met many of you over the past Shabbos in the Aish Thornhill Community Shul. For those of you who don’t live in walking distance, please join us tonight for the First Annual David Shentow Memorial Holocaust Lecture. Mr. Eli Rubenstein of March of the Living Canada will deliver introductory remarks, and we will hear a moving personal recollection from Holocaust Survivor Lea Hochman.

My lecture is “Torah from the Years of Wrath: The Warsaw Ghetto Writings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (the Aish Kodesh),” based on my recent book which discusses the spiritual heroism of this incomparable leader.

Please join us–I anticipate that his will be a moving and meaningful event.

Stories You Never Learned in Yeshivah: Three Surprising Lectures in Talmudic History. Please come by and say hello!