Shabbat in Rosyln, NY; Hello from Jerusalem;

Really looking forward to meeting this community!


Message recorded from Jerusalem last week


Medieval Antisemitism and the Spanish Inquisition

Invitation to LCM Breakfast; Caribbean Jews and the History of Chocolate; Spanish Disputations and the Pogroms of 1391

Please join me at our First Annual Breakfast!


Jews and Chocolate! Who knew?


Disputations and the Pogroms of 1391

The Jews of Bukhara (Sunday in Denver); the Maimonidean Controversy; Save the Date for Roslyn NY

Really looking forward to speaking to the Or Avner community in Aurora, CO!


The Maimonidean Controversy


Save the Date: Shabbaton in Roslyn NY, December 20-21

  • Who Was Rabenu Bayha?

    Who Was Rabenu Bayha?

    This was a huge amount of fun. If you are into Duties of the Heart, I think you will like this lecture! The video has a reference to Despacito by The Maccabeats, link provided below. Enjoy in good health!

  • Lectures now on TorahAnytime.com

    Lectures now on TorahAnytime.com

    I’m really happy that TorahAnytime.com is including my lectures, starting with The Jews of Sepharad series! Sign up for a free membership–there are some amazing speakers at TorahAnytime.com.

  • Rabbi Efrem Goldberg on The Aish Kodesh

    Rabbi Efrem Goldberg on The Aish Kodesh

    I was stopped on my way in to davening this morning by someone who told me about the incredible shiur that Rabbi Efrem Goldberg of Boca Raton Synagogue gave on the Aish Kodesh this week. Here’s the excerpt–Rabbi Goldberg captures the agony of the Rebbe after the loss of his family in his typically powerful……

  • Tonight in the Five Towns

    Tonight in the Five Towns

  • Honored to receive this Review by the Kosher Bookworm

    Honored to receive this Review by the Kosher Bookworm

    Please click here to read the review at The Jewish Star. By Alan Jay Gerber The name and history of the Aish Kodesh in our community is well known. This legacy from the tragedy of the Warsaw Ghetto of one of its towering leaders, Rebbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira, the Aish Kodesh, has been taught to us……

  • Thank you.

    Thank you.

    I was deeply moved by the kind support of my research into the life of the Aish Kodesh at the book launch this week. By all accounts, it was a wonderful evening–we had such a diverse crowd in attendance, from pious Hasidim well familiar with the Piaseczno Rebbe to students who knew nothing about his……

  • Piaseczno Visualization Exercise

    Piaseczno Visualization Exercise

    Thanks to Rabbi Pesach Sommer for recording my brief comments at the conclusion of the hilula (74th anniversary of his martyrdom) for Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira at The Shtiebl in Williamsburg, NY. SHOW MORE

  • Review by Rabbi Pesach Sommer

    Review by Rabbi Pesach Sommer

    Very grateful to Rabbi Pesach Sommer for writing a kind and generous review of Torah from the Years of Wrath! My favorite passage is at the end: “Dr. Abramson has written a book which is destined to lead to an increase of study of the rebbe’s Torah and thought in both the academic and Jewish……

  • What Torah from the Years of Wrath is All About

    What Torah from the Years of Wrath is All About

    Please watch this brief video. Really hoping you will join us for the book launch on Monday, October 30! Please visit bit.ly/aishkodesh to RSVP and for more information.

  • Deciphering the Rosetta Stone of the Holocaust

    Deciphering the Rosetta Stone of the Holocaust

      The Aish Kodesh died 74 years ago, martyred in the Trawniki labor camp. Now, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira is at the center of a surge of new research into the most profound questions surrounding the Holocaust. A new critical edition, prepared with phenomenal scholarly energy by Daniel Reiser, demonstrates that we have just started……

The Jews of Bukhara (Denver, CO); The Jews of the Lesser Antilles; Varieties of Crypto-Jewish Identity; Wait, Alexander Hamilton was Jewish?

Looking forward to a wonderful Shabbat in the Denver Jewish community!


Our Itinerary of Discovery in the Western Caribbean


Channel Members


Premiering at 10am ET


  • Who Was Bar Kochba? Jewish Biography as History Lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson

    Who Was Bar Kochba? Jewish Biography as History Lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson

    “Akiva, grass will grow from your cheeks,” said the talmudic Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta, “and still the messiah will not have come.” A stinging rebuke for the most prominent supporter of Bar Kochba’s would-be messianic leadership of the Jewish people in his 2nd-century rebellion against the Roman oppressors. Who was Bar Kochba, and what did his……

  • Who was Salome? Jewish Biography as History lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson

    Who was Salome? Jewish Biography as History lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson

    Briefly but notoriously mentioned in both Josephus and the Gospels, Salome was the granddaughter of King Herod who is best known for a salacious performance that resulted in the execution of John the Baptist. Who was Salome, and does her bit part play a significant role in the representation of Jews and Judaism in medieval……

  • Who was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai? (Jewish Biography as History) Dr. Henry Abramson

    Who was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai? (Jewish Biography as History) Dr. Henry Abramson

    Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (d. c. 85 ce) was one of the most influential figures in ancient Jewish history. Emerging from the ruins of the destroyed Temple, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai led the Jewish people through the dangerous first years after the devastation of the last remnants of their state by the Romans. A disciple……

  • Really excited to be invited to present at Limmud Miami 2015!

    Really excited to be invited to present at Limmud Miami 2015!

    I’ve been selected as a presenter to speak about my latest book, The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Tomer Devorah (The Date Palm of Devorah). Please check out the Limmud’s Facebook Page or website for more information (the full schedule and list of presenters will be live in December). Hope……

  • Medieval Antisemitism (Essential Lectures in Jewish History) Dr. Henry Abramson

    Medieval Antisemitism (Essential Lectures in Jewish History) Dr. Henry Abramson

    Concise video lecture describing the four main expressions of antisemitic ideology in the medieval period.  Warning: images are disturbing.   Breaking the history of antisemitism into four major periods (Ancient Xenophobia, Early Christian Anti-Judaism, Medieval Jew-hatred, and Modern Antisemitism), Dr. Abramson focusses on the third period to look at the ideological basis for the false……

  • “Give me Yavne and its Sages!” Lectures resume this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai

    “Give me Yavne and its Sages!” Lectures resume this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai

    The Jewish Biography as History series at the Young Israel of Bal Harbour continues this week with a presentation on Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, a major figure whose bold and heroic leadership rescued the Jewish people from the threat of national oblivion in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century. Lectures……

  • Jews in the Medieval Economy (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    Jews in the Medieval Economy (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    An introductory lecture on the role of Jews in the medieval economy. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series.

  • Liked the Free Download of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness? How about writing a review?

    Liked the Free Download of The Kabbalah of Forgiveness? How about writing a review?

    I’m so glad that so many of you decided to download my latest book, “The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Levels of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah).”  I’m also very grateful that many of you have found this work meaningful, especially in the rare moment of the season of……

  • The Rishonim (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    The Rishonim (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)

    This lecture serves as an introduction to the Rishonim, a body of Rabbinic scholars associated with the 9th through the 15th centuries of the common era. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

  • Fall 2014 Lectures in Jewish History at Young Israel

    Fall 2014 Lectures in Jewish History at Young Israel

      Wednesday Nights at 8:00 pm   October 22: Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai October 29: Salome November 5: Bar Kokhba November 12: Shimon bar Yochai November 19: Abaye’s Mother November 26: Eldad the Danite December 3: Aaron of Lincoln December 10: Amnon of Mayence December 17: Abraham ibn Ezra December 24: Qasmunah   All lectures……

  • The Chofetz Chaim (This Week in Jewish History)

    The Chofetz Chaim (This Week in Jewish History)

    Brief video highlighting the life and work of Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (1838-1936), one of the most influential Rabbis of the 20th century.  Better known as the Chofetz Chaim (*one who desires life,” taken from Psalm 34).    

  • The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: Conclusion

    The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: Conclusion

    Conclusion “The Insulted King,” Illustration of Level 1 by Rebecca Odessa, Courtesy The Wisdom Daily Rabbi Cordovero’s Conclusion עַד כַּאן הִגִּיעַ שְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מִדּוֹת שֶׁבָּהֶן יִהְיֶה הָאָדָם דּוֹמֶה אֶל קוֹנוֹ שֶׁהֵן מִדּוֹת שֶׁל רַחֲמִים עֶלְיוֹנוֹת וּסְגֻלָּתָן כי כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הָאָדָם מִתְנַהֵג לְמַטָּה כָּךְ יִּזְכֶּה לִפְתֹּחַ לוֹ מִדָּה עֶלְיוֹנָה מִלְמַעְלָה מַמָּשׁ כְּפִי מַה שֶּׁיִּתְנַהֵג כָּךְ מַשְׁפִּיעַ מִלְמַעְלָה……

Visits to Synagogues in Bordeaux and Libourne (France); Another Open Letter to Jewish Participants in anti-Israel Protests re: Amsterdam; Conference Presentation on Sheptytsky and WW II

Fantastic Voyage of Discovery with Kosher River Cruises


A Difficult Conversation


Recent Conference Presentation in Toronto


Wait, Christopher Columbus was Jewish? Documentary on Roman-Jewish War now Online

Surprised how much attention this got.


Herod’s Tragic Reign

The Fatal Conflict

How Jewish Culture will Thrive after October 7; The Jews of Al-Andalus Part II

Remarks at Lander College for Men


Maimonides and the Controversy over His Work

Jews under the Visigoths II; The Spanish Golden Age

Public at 10am ET (44 minutes)


Online Courses in Jewish History

A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz

Jewish Life in Visigothic Spain; Commemorating October 7

This is one of the most bizarre periods of Jewish history, and that’s saying a lot.

Dropping on Sunday, September 22 at 10am ET. 70 minutes.


A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz

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