NEW YORK (JTA) — “Pray for the welfare of the state,” Rabbi Hanina writes, “for if it were not for the fear thereof, people would swallow each other alive.” As cities around the nation burn with righteous indignation over yet another horrific incident of police brutality directed against a black man, Jewish leaders must reflect on our……

Looking forward to this special presentation at Congregation Ohav Emeth via Zoom: a look at the incomparable Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s last words to his students and an overview of his tragically brief yet incredibly important life, filled with contributions to the religious, scholarly and intellectual future of the Jewish people. In honor of Yom……

My favorite editor, Laura Adkins of JTA, asked me for some thoughts on what Jewish institutions of higher education might face in the post-coronavirus era. I’m really glad she did! Please click here for the article.

Please join me on Thursday at 2PM for “Plague and Pandemic in Jewish History,” a brief overview of the experience of epidemics and pandemics in Jewish history. Please visit bit.ly/pandemicjewishhistory for more information.

Please join me for a special webinar on The Response to Pandemics in Jewish History, scheduled for Thursday, May 14 at 2:00 pm EST. Participation is free and open to the community, but registration in advance is required to maintain security and prevent the unwanted intrusions of intellectual vandals. Please click on the image or……

Some thoughts on COVID-19 in a Jewish context, recently published in OU Torah. Judaism, as we know it today, bears the scars of multiple plagues throughout history. Perhaps the largest is the weeks-long period known as sefirah, which commemorates the death of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century. The Rabbis of the……

Hello students of Jewish history! I hope you will have the opportunity to join me in one of three public presentations coming up. Here’s the relevant dates and times! Please click on the images for the links: The State of Israel: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY, PT. XI Monday night, May 3 at 8PM EST, YouTube……

Now open to non-Touro College faculty! Please RSVP to James.Ligorski@touro.edu.

A brief overview of his courageous scholarship. I spoke about him at a recent Shabbaton in Teaneck, and someone from the UK was in the audience: Dr. Roth pronounced his first name SEH-sil, not SEE-sil. If I had realized this when I made the video I would have used the English pronunciation rather than the……

What is the Meaning of Jewish History? Very honored to be serving as a Scholar-in-Residence at Congregation B’nai Yeshurun. Three new lectures on “What is the Meaning of Jewish History?” will examine at the Ancient, Medieval and Modern periods with a view to understanding some of the complexities of interpreting the fascinating, profound history of……

Are you in the Five Towns over Shavuot? Please join us at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst for a remarkable series of classes in Jewish history! We’re starting at midnight and learning all night till dawn prayers. In keeping with our theme this year of “Transformation: Personal, Communal, Global,” I’ve chosen to look at the……

The final Ashkenazium lecture is now online! With this lecture, the online course A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz is now complete! Twelve Modules and 56 lessons in length (mostly videos). Enjoy in good health! Chapter Six of The Jewish People: A History Now Online! Over 200 pages of draft text are now available to students……

Formally emancipated in 1790-91, the rights of Jews as citizens were challenged a decade later. In his typically grandiose fashion, Napoleon addressed the question by reconvening the ancient Great Sanhedrin and asked the Jews of France twelve basic questions. The Holocaust in Ashkenaz Part 11 of The Ashkenazium Lectures, premieres today at 12:00 noon ET….…

Proud to work with Unpacked on this brief yet sophisticated discussion of a complex topic. New Draft Chapter in Biblical Jewish History now Online Very pleased to be receiving comments on the draft chapters in my forthcoming book with Koren Publishers! Students registered in the Biblical Jewish History course are welcome to read and critique….…

My friends, it’s almost Shabbos. Will you participate? Inscribe your name in the Book of Life by joining the list of donors to Renewal. Your contribution, large or small, will help them find a kidney for someone in desperate need. We can’t all be heroic altruistic kidney donors. But we can certainly be altruistic dollar……

900 years later, a document from the Cairo Geniza describes the tragic story of a French convert to Judaism during the Crusades Three years ago, my wife donated a kidney. Here’s why. Three years ago, on erev Yom Kippur, my wife Ilana donated a kidney to a total stranger. Although she literally gave someone the……

Here’s your opportunity to get an advance look at the first volume of my forthcoming The Jewish People: A History. Dear fellow students of Jewish History! I am in the last few months of producing the manuscript of volume one of my forthcoming book, The Jewish People: A History. I’ve been trying an experiment in……

Official languages of the seminar are Ukrainian and English, with simultaneous translation. The conference is open to the public. Here is a brief translation of the program with the full details in Ukrainian below. Petliura and “The Petliura Affair:” De(constructing) an Imperial Myth Friday, April 29, 2022, 10:00am-1:00pm ET Via Zoom: http://www.bit.ly/HREC-Petliura. Zoom address: 874……

Professor Norman Golb’s amazing, old-school discovery in the British Library collection of Geniza documents. The Sabbatean Episode (The Ashkenazium Lectures Part VI) New Chapters appearing in Biblical Jewish History Course