Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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



Primo Levi died in Auschwitz–forty years later. (Elie Wiesel)

Good morning students of Jewish History! I am proud to announce a new pilot project: Jewish History in Daf Yomi, part of the Orthodox Union Daf Yomi Initiative under the leadership of Rabbi Moshe Schwed. Here’s the basic idea: brief (5-minute) videos discussing a historical issue raised in the world cycle of daily Talmud study……

“The Light of the Eyes” caused an intellectually seismic event whose aftershocks reverberate in the Jewish world 500 years later.

Who was the mysterious dark-skinned woman in the Sarajevo Haggadah?

Brief overview of the life and work of Shmuel David Luzzatto (ShaDaL), an important 19th-century Italian-Jewish thinker.

Brief description of the world’s oldest illuminated Hebrew manuscript–and a 700-hundred year mystery, solved recently by a 10-year old boy.

He survived the 1570 earthquake in Ferrara–and became the world’s first Modern Orthodox Jew.

Brief overview of the life and work of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinoro (Bartenura), best known for his commentary on the Mishnah but also an important communal leader in late 15th-early 16th century Jerusalem.

Hello everyone–here’s a brief historical article for this time of year that appeared in today’s JTA. Thanks to my daughter Raphaela and Laura Adkins at JTA for some amazing editing help. Enjoy in good health!

Connect yourself with the Rav for as long as there is an Internet.

The remarkable story of two powerful Jewish women from Spain and Portugal and the challenge to Pope Paul IV for his maltreatment of Portuguese Jews in Italy.

True, he wrote a dictionary, but cryptic hints in his autobiographical poem suggest a more complicated background.


Jewish History @ Avenue J, 7:00-8:00 pm. A community project of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences, 1602 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230. Admission is free.

Please enjoy this week’s People of the Book column in the Five Towns Jewish Times! http://5tjt.com/milchamot-hashem/
Celebrating Hanukkah! We are scheduled to resume on Monday, December 14 at 7 pm with a presentation on Dona Gracia Nasi.

Lecture on Avraham ben HaRambam, an important Jewish leader and scholar of 13th century Egypt. Best known as the son of the illustrious Maimonides, Avraham Maimuni was a brilliant thinker whose descendants led the Jewish community of Egypt for nearly 200 years. Here’s the link to the Prezi: http://prezi.com/3apfvk1ctjkg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

My son Alexander is once again running for Team Friendship in the Miami Marathon this January. Please enjoy this video that features his effort for this worthy cause, and support him at http://www.miami.teamfriendship.org/Alex!

By popular demand, I’ve set up a new playlist of my lectures that cater to students of the Jewish roots of Christianity and selected lectures on the experience of Jews living in Christian lands. Enjoy in good health!
Please enjoy this week’s column in the Five Towns Jewish Times, a discussion of the memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln, a remarkable woman from 17th-century Germany.

Live in Boca Raton! Looking forward to speaking at the Chabad of West Boca. Click here to RSVP!

Please enjoy this week’s article in the Five Towns Jewish Times. http://5tjt.com/chofetz-chaim/

Lecture on Count Emicho and the Jews of Germany during the First Crusade (1096). Here’s a link to the Prezi.
Please enjoy this week’s column in the Five Towns Jewish Times! http://5tjt.com/the-kuzari/


