Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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



This lecture was sponsored by Eva Zack de Waiser.
Lecture sponsored by Young Israel of Bal Harbour.
Lecture sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Leon Brum, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Wilinsky, Jay Farkas and Vivian Nemir.
This lecture was sponsored by Mali and Steven Schwartz.
Lecture sponsored by Mr. Eleazar Hirmes.
This lecture was sponsored by Eva Zack de Waiser and Aliza Abramson.

This lecture is sponsored by Mr. Daniel Sommer. The TorahCafe.com people later edited this video very nicely, although for some reason they keep removing my opening joke! Still, it’s great to have the PowerPoints integrated into the video, so here’s a slightly different version for your enjoyment. Click on the icon below for the……
Correction: the reference in the lecture was to the Pittsburgh Platform (not the Philadelphia Platform). Even that, however, was a mistake: I was thinking of the 1883 Cincinatti “Trefa Banquet.” Thank you for the clarification, Menachem!


“We were only a few broken Jews with two books, but…the day of the Siyum HaShas was my day of victory, the day of victory for all survivors, and the day of victory for every ‘Talmud Jew.’” The brick crematoria of Dachau had barely cooled when the surviving remnants of European Jewry were called upon……

I think Torah New York is going to be amazing! Please come by and say hello. I will be hanging out with Rabbi Moshe Schwed and Ec Birnbaum, talking about the launch of the amazing new AllDAf app for Daf Yomi study. Please click here for more information on this amazing event!
Brief discussion of the encounter of Provencal Jewry with the writings of the great Spanish thinkers and other Arabic-language material, and its impact on European Jewish history. Part of the Jews of the Rhone series, more at henryabramson.com.
https://youtu.be/F94bCi2hmBk Lecture delivered on Tisha B’Av 5779 (August 11, 2019) at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. The lecture is also posted here: https://www.torahanytime.com/#/lectures?v=88833

This is what I’m thinking about during the Nine Days. Click here to read the article. Thanks to Laura Adkins for her superlative editing.

Answering a question from Dr. Fred Samuels of Rechovot regarding Synagogue architecture, I noticed that The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe (Carl Hersh, 1999) is available online for free. I think it’s especially appropriate viewing for the Nine Days and Tisha B’Av. Beautifully narrated by Theodor Bikel, the film documents the beauty and grandeur……

Hopefully this event will be cancelled. If not, please join me at The Young Israel of Ft. Lee with Rabbi Zev Goldberg on Sunday, August 11 at 8:45 am or at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst at 6:00 pm. Lecture is free and open to the community.

This one’s for my mother. Book interior beautifully designed by Danit Mills.

The amazing legend, repeated in several medieval sources, of a Jewish kingdom in 8th century France. Part III of the Jews of the Rhone series.

I read the Mueller Report (yes, the whole thing). You should too. Here’s some useful shortcuts if you need them.


