Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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



I enjoyed this conversation. Hope you find it meaningful as well!

Good morning fellow students of Jewish History! In a few hours we’ll premiere a video on a topic that receives very little attention in Jewish history: the experience of Jews in the Byzantine Empire. Just a brief video for now (12m), but I hope to expand it in the print version. Join me for a……
Good morning fellow students of Jewish history! Today is the Rosh Hodesh Elul, the beginning of the month of Elul, initiating the annual season of introspection leading up to the High Holidays. I’ve prepared this brief video that surveys some of the most important works of the literary tradition that make up the loosely-organized Mussar……
Join me at 12 noon (ET) for a live chat on this topic. Here’s the link to the controversial video (my part starts around 41:00).
My father passed away on the 11th of Av, seven years ago. I miss him.
1pm on YouTube (pre-recorded with live chat), 7pm live presentation at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst.

Good morning fellow students of Jewish history. In a few hours we will begin Shabbat Hazon, marking the last transition to Tisha B’Av, the most tragic day in the Jewish calendar. As in previous years, I hope to lecture on the history of the Roman-Jewish war that resulted in the destruction of the Temple. This……

I wasn’t surprised that YouTube censored my recent video as “Hate Speech.” It’s happened before.
Recording of today’s webinar; the introduction begins at 36:00 and the presentation begins at 42:00. Difficult topic.

No responsible teacher wants to teach students to “hate each other” or “hate America.” But we all participate in a sacred covenant with our students: They expect us to tell them the truth. Please click here to read this article on JTA.

Please join me on Sunday, July 11 for a panel discussion on the history of antisemitism, appropriate for the Nine Days. Discussants include Professor Adam Mendelsohn, director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies & Research and Associate Professor of History at the University of Cape Town, Professor Karen Milner, Gauteng Chair of the SA Jewish Board of……

Join us for a live chat alongside the lecture on the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry! Click on the image above for the address. Stay safe, stay healthy!

Out of an “abundance of caution” (the key phrase of the month), we’re going to move tonight’s lecture to an online platform. Please click on the image or here at for the lecture at 7:30-8:30 pm tonight. The password is YILC. Looking forward to seeing you tonight!

Join me tonight (Sunday 8pm) for a live chat and this lecture, looking at the experience of Jews under Islamic and Christian rule in the early medieval period. Click on the image above or use this link: https://youtu.be/X4JppODXdSY. Looking forward to learning with you!

Thanks to Laura Adkins of JTA for her superb editing, as always.

Origins of the Talmud: Premiere with live chat Monday night at 9PM EST. Join us!

Fellow students of Jewish history! Here’s an article I just published on JTA. about Nissim Black’s remarkable Mothaland Bounce. The genre is a little outside my comfort zone–I normally only write on Jewish history and thought–but I had a LOT of fun writing it. Thanks to my 18-year old son for explaining hip-hop to me….…

Good morning fans of Jewish History! We are scheduled to begin Series 2 of the “I Survived Jewish History” lectures, moving from the origins of the Talmud to the Golden Age of Spain. Live on Wednesday night, Members get the unedited video online sometime Thursday, and finally the Premiere of the edited version (cheesy jokes……
A tribute to the Founding President of Touro College on the occasion of his 10th Yohrzeit.

Good morning students of Jewish history! Here’s a planning note for your Presidents’ Day. Join me tonight for a lecture and live chat online at 9:00 pm EST. We will be discussing the Roman-Jewish Wars of the 1st and 2nd centuries: the initial rise of the rebellion against Rome, the intervention of Vespasian and the……


