Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




Questions about college? Like to know more about our academic programs, financial aid and scholarships, earning college credit while learning in Israel? Attend our Virtual Open House, this evening from 7-8 pm! Please click here to RSVP (or visit las.touro.edu) and we will happily send you the link to view the presentation and participate in……

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

Students and parents! Interested in learning more about study at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College in Flatbush? Please join me in our Virtual Open House on Monday, January 11 at 7 pm! I’ll present some essential information on our academic programs and provide the basics on Financial Aid, Scholarships, and our very popular Israel……
Please enjoy this article from the Five Towns Jewish Times! http://5tjt.com/the-gates-of-holiness/

Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620) was the principal disciple of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal). Three days after the death of his master, Rabbi Vital received a vision in a dream that consumed his scholarly life for decades: preserving the mystical heritage of the great Safed tradition. Please click here for the Prezi.

Hey, my son Alexander is training to run in the Miami Marathon next month to raise funds for Friendship Center. This is a really great cause and I believe in it: they do fantastic work with kids with disabilities, with special emphasis on helping them develop social skills. Please check out his donation page https://miami.teamfriendship.org/Alex, and……

We’ll be looking at the life and work of Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620), the principal disciple of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal). Three days after the death of his master, Rabbi Vital received a vision in a dream that consumed his scholarly life for decades: preserving the mystical heritage of the great……

Really fascinated by the history of Portuguese Jews lately. Please enjoy this latest column for the Five Towns Jewish Times! http://5tjt.com/usques-consolations/

Hey! I even got my picture in the paper with this article. Enjoy in good health! http://5tjt.com/history-of-the-jews/

Lecture on the life and work of Dona Gracia Nasi (also known as Beatrice de Luna Mendes), a heroic Jewish woman of the 16th century. Fleeing the Inquisition in Portugal, she used her considerable wealth and courage to spirit converso Jews out of Europe to refuge in Ottoman lands. Here’s the Prezi for this lecture:http://prezi.com/ezegvhtrjraf/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy


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.


