Really looking forward to meeting this community!

Lectures in Jewish History and Thought. No hard questions, please.




Very pleased to see this revised edition of my first book available. Includes a new foreword and afterword.

To the Hasidim steeped in the religious significance of the ritual calendar, the Sabbath known as Zakhor (March 23, 1940) must have seemed a cruel redundancy. Literally called “remember,” the Sabbath preceding the holiday of Purim is named for a few publicly read Torah verses (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) that memorialize the attack of Israel’s primordial enemy,……

Hey friends in Crown Heights! Please drop by and say hello.

(Well, not Yehudah Ha-Levi, but a lecture about the great Spanish-Jewish poet-philosopher of the 12th century). With Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum.

Sponsored by Brandon Sultan in honor of the Sultan and Benarroch Families, whose Sephardic roots are expressed in a desire to honor the Convivencia; and also in loving memory of Mrs. Jean Milstein, whose relentless optimism was an inspiration to all.
Just like that. Watch for our Shul President, Jeremy Chwat, and his wife–he apparently has an unusual motivation for coming to Shul three times a day, and she has a great, euphemistic comeback.

Someone told me that this was printed in The Vues. I’m not a Rabbi, but I’m kind of pleased that Ari Hirsch asked for my opinion anyway. Makes me feel like I actually belong in Brooklyn, somehow, if I’m included in this paper known as “the Heimishe Voice.”

The last weeks of winter 1942, ironically, represented a kind of plateau for the Jews of Warsaw. The typhus epidemic abated, and the Nazis had established some work facilities (“shops”) that led many to believe that through productive labor, the Jews would endure. The general feeling was, in the words of historians Barbara Engelking and……

The life and times of an important woman of the early post-Expulsion generation of Sephardic Jews. Can’t see the video? Click here please.

We’re starting on Monday! Please visit http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org for details on the schedule. Free and open to the community, Monday nights at 7:00 pm at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College, 1602 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230. Call (718) 535-9333 or write to me at henry.abramson@touro.edu. Some sponsorships are still available ($250 per lecture),……

Searching for an escapee from the notorious Pawiak Prison, the Nazis arrested 255 Jewish leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto, holding them hostage and demanding that the community turn over the 21-year old resistance fighter Andrzej Kott. The rebel was not found. The Jewish hostages were eventually killed. The Rebbe was forced to spend that Sabbath……

Just got my first copy of the hardcover edition of Torah from the Years of Wrath: The Historical Context of the Aish Kodesh. Special thanks to Mr. Sam Sapozhnik for making this possible! The hardcover edition hasn’t migrated yet to Amazon, but the good news is that I can offer my students, colleagues and friends 20%……


Survival Strategies: Confronting Hate in Jewish History Live at Congregation Ahavat Torah in Englewood at 9:30 am, Sunday August 3 Or join us via Zoom Webinar at 6:15 pm at Congregation Darchei Noam. Release date: Tuesday, August 5 Working as a mining engineer in a remote part of northern Portugual, Samuel Schwarz made a remarkable……

Something for the 9 Days Livestream: https://youtube.com/live/hNli4Id6wWA?feature=share YouTube members: a second presentation is planned for 6:15 pm via Zoom (interactive). Please see your Community Tab for the link. Release Scheduled for 11 Av/5 August

From a recent issue of the Queens Jewish Link (click here to read the full article) Hasidm, Mitnagdim and Maskilim (Lecture delivered at the JLI National Jewish Retreat) Tisha B’Av at Congregation Ahavat Torah, Englewood NJ Coming Soon: Discovering the Crypto-Jews of Portugal
Visiting my ancestral home in Lithuania, first family member in a century

Looking forward to discussing the history of Jerusalem!
Here’s a few notes on the Exodus that you might find useful. Have a wonderful holiday!

Our Annual Charity Campaign begins March 25! The 1642 Synagogue of Tykocin (Tiktin) A Lightning Survey of Russian Jewish History The Guide for the Perplexed: The Fruit of Haste is Regret The Jews of Ashkenaz Lectures

The Decline of Ashkenaz in the High Middle Ages From its Origins to the 20th century Maimonides on Biblical Metaphor

Join us for a live lecture at Touro University, Monday night! Difficult Topic. The Jews of Bukhara

Lecture open to the public! RSVP required Live Zoom link available to YouTube Channel Members, check your Community Tab for the link. The Elders of Kairouan Wondered: Is this guy for real? Jews and Commerce in Medieval Ashkenaz

Monday March 3: Please join me for this public lecture! Today: The Takkanot of Early Ashkenaz Resurgence of Antisemitism after October 7 (Project Witness Conference) Want to learn more?


