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……


Free for the High Holiday Season: a free download of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness, a translation and commentary of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Tomer Devorah. Especially valuable reading in preparation for Yom Kippur! To download, visit https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/464044 and enter coupon code BQ57Y, valid through October 7, 2015. If you really must have a hard copy, visit Amazon……

Brief discussion of the anniversary of Tisha B’Av, the onset of World War I, and its implications for Jewish History.

In July of 1942 (coinciding with Av 5702), the Nazis began a major deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp. By September, 235,000 Warsaw Jews were murdered in the gas chambers.

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitshak) was a great 11th century commentator on the Torah. This brief video outlines his major scholarly contribution within historical context.

Viktor Frankl was a noted psychologist whose experience in the Holocaust formed the basis of logotherapy, his therapeutic approach to help people find meaning in suffering and in life.

A brief biography of Sigmund Freud, with emphasis on his Jewish background and identity. Part of the Jewish Biography as History Series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

An introduction to the major themes in modern antisemitic ideology (1880-present). Warning: not quite as nasty as the lecture on medieval antisemitism, but disturbing nevertheless. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, also known as “Der Frierdiker Rebbe” (The Earlier Rebbe) to distinguish him from his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was the sixth leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Living in tumultuous times, he shifted the center of the movement from its Eastern European origins to its current headquarters in the United States.

Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891) was the first encyclopedic historian of the Jewish people, and his massive 10-volume History of the Jews had a phenomenal impact on the way Jews saw themselves as a nation living in the diaspora. Looking forward to seeing you at Limmud this Sunday! Click the image below to learn more about my……

Imagine that, while browsing in the library, you come across one book unlike the rest, which catches your eye because on its spine is written the name of your family. Intrigued, you open it and see many pages written by different hands in many languages. You start reading it, and gradually you begin to understand……

One of the most creative, unusual, and controversial Hasidic leaders at the turn of the 19th century, Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav (Nachman of Breslov) continues to inspire generations of disciples. Part of the Jewish Biography as History series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.


