Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




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Responding to the attraction of Islamic philosophy to Jews living in Muslim lands, Sa’adia composed a highly influential work in the 10th-century Kalam style that influenced generations of thinkers. A pugnacious and principled thinker, he engaged in several heated debates with politically powerful rivals including David ben Zakkai, who forced Sa’adia into exile. When ben……

The Bible describes how the Jewish people, emerging from Egyptian servitude and decades of wandering in the Sinai desert, followed Joshua’s military leadership to conquer the Land of Israel and establish the ancient foundations of their Torah-centered society. This lecture will survey the archeological and historical record to understand the larger context of the Biblical……
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 I can’t dance to it, it isn’t my revolution!” A fiery orator and fearless iconoclast, Emma Goldman was one of the most notorious and controversial left-wing thinkers of turn-of-the 20th century America.
Titled “poet of shame and guilt” by a recent biographer, Franz Kafka’s early twentieth-century writings have challenged generations of readers worldwide. Inspired in part by his early infatuation with his Jewish background, his haunting and opaque tales continued to be studied as statements of the modern condition.
Heroic pioneer of modern educational theory, Henryk Goldszmit (who wrote under the pen name Janusz Korzcak) ran an orphanage in the beleaguered Warsaw Ghetto, ultimately accompanying his youthful charges to the gas chambers of Treblinka.
Widely regarded as one of the most brilliant experts in Jewish law of the twentieth century, the Chazon Ish played a major role in the development of the modus vivendi between secular and religious Israelis.


Recording of Live Lecture The Jews of Arles, France

Please join me for a discussion of this 16th c. Kabbalistic Work

The Miraculous Revival of the Middelburg Synagogue What is the Meaning of the Bleeding Pelican? A Remarkable Moment in an Antwerp Synagogue A Gute Herring!
This 17th century Dutch Jewish Financier gives the BEST Stock Tips!

Mock Trial held at the Jewish National Retreat Unpacked Riffs on the Golem A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz: 19 Videos Added! Click here to register for this online course! Get Ready for Elul with Maimonides on Teshuvah Click here to order your copy! Now on sale for Elul.

The Ashkenazi Migration to Eastern Europe Jewish Hero Saves 600 Children in Nazi-Occupied Amsterdam Tom Metcalfe on Elephants in Medieval Art in National Geographic Really honored to be interviewed for this fascinating National Geographic piece on the depictions of elephants in medieval art. Here’s the link to the article, although you might need to subscribe……

The Life of the original Nazi Hunter The Expulsion of the Jews from Medieval Ashkenaz The Roman-Jewish Wars, 66-135 CE Join me at the National Jewish Retreat! Really pleased to be joining a tremendous roster of speakers in Palm Springs this month for the National Jewish Retreat! Please click here for more information.

Surprisingly insightful look at the nature of Jewish humor At first I was concerned that this was released during the 9 Days, but it actually has a lot of relevance to this sad time of the year. Very proud–as always–to have had a small role in putting this together with the remarkable team at Unpacked….…

A Fascinating and Influential Movement in Medieval Ashkenaz Unpacked on a Morally Challenging Topic in American History


