Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




Love Jewish history, especially when spiced with radical politics? Consider clicking right here to sponsor Monday night’s lecture on Emma Goldman, dubbed “the most dangerous woman in America” by the FBI! Here’s a video featuring a few of her comments after briefly returning to America fifteen years after she was deported to the Soviet Union. My favorite……

Hello fans of Jewish History! Just an important reminder that we will NOT be having a lecture in Brooklyn on Monday, November 14, 2016. I’ll be returning from Toronto, where I’m serving as a scholar-in-residence at the Westmount Shul and Learning Center. I’m honored that the paid events are sold out, but guests are welcome……

Mystic and early Zionist, Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook’s challenging and eclectic philosophy has inspired generations of Jews since his passing in 1935. Often misunderstood, Rav Kook’s role as one of the principal Rabbinic figures of the era was foundational for establishing a religious ideology for the the modern, secular and democratic state of Israel.

If you don’t see the image below, just click on the computer gibberish–it’s worthwhile, I think. https://prezi.com/embed/kav7clixcgsk/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=0&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0&landing_data=bHVZZmNaNDBIWnNjdEVENDRhZDFNZGNIUE43MHdLNWpsdFJLb2ZHanI0OUQvUVFudmV5bG9sK3hTY29TMUloYWJ3PT0&landing_sign=u34CgACTn0rcx2HUs61pv1gkchtDedyX2LT9yTgjNRg

Spiritual Leadership in Times of Controversy: Three Rabbinic Portraits Purified in the crucible of bitter opposition, the legacy of these three Rabbis endures despite the dissent that swirled around their major intellectual contributions. Wednesday, November 16 Burning Maimonides Wednesday, November 30 Ramchal and the Sabbatean Legacy Wednesday, December 7 Rav Kook at the Precipice 8:30……

Hello fans of Jewish history! I had a blast meeting with the Flatbush Honor Society students today–twenty-eight highly motivated, superbly acute and brilliant young women who are preparing to CHANGE THE WORLD. They are truly fantastic, and often thank the Almighty for the privilege of working with these young people, along with all my students….…
Please send your mailing address to abramson@touro.edu and I’ll be happy to send one right out to you.

Norm Robinson, a member of the Friends of Jewish History, sent me this interesting video clip that features Rav Avraham Isaac Kook for the first 23 seconds, along with several other rabbinic and political luminaries. Monday’s lecture promises to be especially fascinating for anyone interested in religious thought and Israeli politics. Please join us! Register……

Lecture delivered at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College on October 31, 2016 as part of the Jewish History @ J series. Zionist ideologue and multi-lingual journalist, Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky was one of the most influential political thinkers of the early twentieth century. Frequently swimming against the tide of dominant Jewish movements, Jabotinsky……

Here’s some amazing 1934 footage of Vladimir Jabotinsky discussing the status of the Jews in interwar Europe–and the crushing need for the establishment of the State of Israel. Jabotinsky was one of the few Jewish thinkers of the 1930s who anticipated, in one form or another, the Holocaust that would engulf European Jewry. He speaks in……

Thanks to all the parents who submitted their children’s names as candidates for the Internship in Jewish History. Unfortunately, I can only consider applications from people who are willing to take the job. Here’s the revised job description: Intern in Jewish History: Hard work, long hours, meager compensation. Chance at everlasting fame and glory, promoting……


Premiering today at 12:00 noon ET.

Preliminary remarks on the study of the Jews in Africa, followed by The Jews of Ethiopia (origins to 1862). Premiering today at 12 noon ET. Note: for some reason this particular topic attracts an unusual amount of inappropriate commentary. Scholarly, collegial discussion is welcomed here; but I intend to remove hateful remarks, and commentators who……

Some thoughts on the literary figure of Queen Esther on the eve of the holiday of Purim. Talk originally delivered to members of Project Makom on February 21, 2022. http://www.projectmakom.org

Jewish History Lab Report February 12, 2021 Jewish History Lab Lectures Scheduled for Next Week (Advance access for YouTube channel members at the Student Level) 49. Early Jewish Settlement in Spain (Scheduled for Sunday @ 1:00 PM ET) 50. Jews in Visigothic Spain (Scheduled for Monday @1:00 PM ET) Researchers: The Amazing Journey of Yisrael……
Jewish History Lab Report for February 5, 2021. Videos dropping next week (advance viewing for Students now available): Researchers video: Text version at JTA here. Colleagues Live Class on Wednesday: Jews in Visigothic Iberia Other Publications: The German Convert who Illustrated the Maxwell House Haggadah Have an excellent Shabbos! Looking forward to learning more Jewish……

Hello fellow students of Jewish History! Here’s this week’s Jewish History Lab Report. Dropping next week: Researchers Video: Who Illustrated the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695? Next Week: Under Christian Rule A Bird-Headed Haggadah (Why?) https://www.thejewishstar.com/Print_E…

A brief overview of some historiographic theory as it relates to Jewish history, also considering the impact of Postmodernism. Here’s a link to Rosman, Moshe. How Jewish is Jewish History?. United Kingdom: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2009. Another fairly recent and important work is Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim. Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory. United Kingdom: University of Washington Press, 2011.

Good morning fellow students of Jewish History! Do you watch the Jewish History Lab series? If so, please contribute your thoughts in this brief, anonymous survey. We’ll be starting the second semester later this month, and I value your opinion! https://bit.ly/jhljanuary2021

Sunday, January 10, 8pm. Sponsored by Congegration Darchei Noam of Fair Lawn, NJ. Register at dno.am/5781/webinar.

The Holocaust Writings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (The Aish Kodesh הי׳׳ד) Please join me on Sunday, January 10 at 8PM ET for a discussion of the Warsaw Ghetto experience of the Aish Kodesh, and what lessons we may glean for the present season of quarantine. http://dno.am/5781/webinar
Hello fellow students of Jewish history! I hope this message finds you and your loved ones healthy and secure. Just a brief note to let you know the website will have some reduced functionality over the next week or so. I like to take the turn-over of the Gregorian calendar to renovate and reorganize my……


