Really looking forward to meeting this community!
Shabbat in Rosyln, NY; Hello from Jerusalem;
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
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History and Practice of Eating Donuts on Chanukah: A Book Review
Review of Reuven Melekh ben Binyamin Yitzhak Schwartz, Emek Ha-Sufganim: Iyunim u-beiurim be-inyan minhag akhilat sufganim be-yemei hanukah Israel: Sh. Vaynraikh, Hanukah 5780 (2019), 431 pages. For a copy, please contact your local Jewish bookseller or the phone numbers listed on the copyright page: (718) 253-2804; (516) 581-3597; (718) 501-3165. Interested in studying more deeply?……
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Elazar Maccabee and the Battle of Bet Zekharya; The Shtadlan in Jewish History
The Misnagdim Strike Back! Part II of the series on Hasidim, Mitnagdim and Maskilim: The Formation of Jewish Identity. Open to the Community at Beit Midrash of Teaneck, 70 Sterling Place, Teaneck NJ. Tuesday, November 30 at 11:45 am. Please write BMTeaneck@gmail.com for Zoom links. Take your learning to the next level: try a course!
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The Origins of American Jewry
We begin with 23 bedraggled refugees from the Inquisition, sailing into the harbor of what would become New York.
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Hasidim, Mitnagdim and Maskilim: The Shaping of Modern Jewish Identity
Three live lectures at Beit Medrash of Teaneck, 70 Sterling Avenue, Teaneck NJ 07666. Tuesdays November 23, November 30, and December 7. 11:45 AM ET. Please write BMTeaneck@gmail.com for Zoom information.
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Shabbetai Tsvi, False Messiah (Jewish History Lab)
A brief look at the life and times of one of the most notorious false messiahs of Jewish history.
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Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Wisdom (Torah and Science Conference Dec 8-11)
The Torah and Science Conference will be virtual this year, please visit http://www.torahscienceconference.org for details. I’m looking forward to speaking on “Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Wisdom: Postmodernism and the Digital Age,” Thursday December 9 at 1:45 pm ET. Join our class! Click here for course information and registration.
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What did the Menorah Actually Look Like?
On the one hand, Maimonides and later Chabad traditions. On the other hand, some archaeological examples. Here’s a brief look at what we know. Now online! A new course in Biblical Jewish History. Check it out here, and join us!
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Biblical Jewish History from Abraham to Bar Kochba
Really thrilled to have so many people sign up for this new online course! If it interests you, please click here to check out the syllabus, and join us!
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The Whole History of Antisemitism in 15 Minutes
If only it were over so quickly. My part of a Kristallnacht commemoration at YILC. Warning: some graphic images.
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New Online Course: Biblical Jewish History!
Ancient Jewish History from Abraham to Bar Kochba. Really excited to announce this new online course! Please click here for course information and registration.
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Judah Maccabee and the Battle at Emmaus
A brief overview of one of the major early battles in the Chanukah revolt in 166 BCE.
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A Thousand Years of Ashkenaz
Really looking forward to meeting students of the Ashkenazium in Budapest in January! Here’s the online course I set up to prepare them for the lectures. It’s open to the public as well. Enjoy in good health!
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
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The Pale of Settlement (This Week in Jewish History)
Officially banned in 1479, no Jews lived in the Russian Empire until Tsarina Catherine II conquered a major portion of Polish territory, instantly inheriting the largest single concentration of Jews in the world. Under her rule the Pale of Settlement was established, determining the region where Jews were allowed to reside, however tenuously, until the……
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Two Jews, Three Opinions: Jews and Judaism in the Year Zero (HIS 155 Lecture 1.2)
To view the Prezi associated with this lecture, please click here. Excerpt from “The Jewish Diaspora: A Brief History” Henry Abramson 2. Jews and Judaism in the Year Zero Two Jews, three opinions. The year zero was not nearly as auspicious or significant for Jews as it would later be for Christians. Jews observe a……
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“They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.” (HIS 155 Lecture 1.1)
Instructions: please watch the lecture, review the reading below, and kindly take the anonymous poll. Thank you! To view the Prezi associated with this lecture, please click here. Excerpt from The Jewish Diaspora: A Brief History Henry Abramson 1. What is Jewish History? “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.” So runs the……
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The Strange Story of Shabbetai Tsvi (This Week in Jewish History)
Devastated and demoralized after the violence of the Khmelnytsky rebellion, the Jews of Europe were astounded to hear that a young Kabbalist named Shabbetai Tsvi had proclaimed himself the long-awaited Messiah.
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The Jews’ Oath vs. Rothschild (This Week in Jewish History)
In 1847, the citizens of London elected its first Jew, Lionel de Rothschild, to the House of Commons. Rothschild, however, refused to take the Christian oath required of all members, and resigned without taking his seat in Parliament. He was immediately reelected a second and even a third time until the Jews’ Disabilities Act was……
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Janusz Korczak: Hero to Children in the Warsaw Ghetto (This Week in Jewish History)
Beloved for his children’s stories, Henryk Goldszmidt wrote under the pen name Janusz Korczak. A lifelong advocate for children’s rights, he ran an orphanage in Warsaw that was world-famous for his innovative pedagogic techniques. Imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto during the Nazi occupation, he continued to serve in this capacity until the terrible order……
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Jewish Biography as History: Course Trailer for JSH 481
This is a course trailer for JSH 481: Jewish Biography as History, scheduled for the Fall 2013 semester.
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The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara: This Week in Jewish History
In the summer of 1858, 6-year old Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, was forcibly taken from his home by Italian police acting at the behest of the Inquisition. It had come to the attention of the Church that a teenage non-Jewish servant girl had performed an “emergency baptism” on Edgardo several……
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The Pogroms of 1881-1884: This Week in Jewish History
For a larger discussion of the five historical narratives, please see my article The end of intimate insularity: new narratives of Jewish history in the post-Soviet era, in Acts of Symposium “Construction and Deconstruction of National Histories in Slavic Eurasia,” originally delivered at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, on July 10–13, 2002.
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This Week in Jewish History: The Jewish Badge
This is a new experiment, suggested by Elya at TorahCafe.com: a weekly, 3-minute “This Week in Jewish History” mini-lecture. I’m trying it out, let me know what you think! Please click here for the refined, edited version from TorahCafe.com.
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
Jewish Resilience After October 7; American Jews, Post-Honeymoon; The Jews of Al-Andalus
Three Strategies
Jews under the Visigoths II; The Spanish Golden Age
Public at 10am ET (44 minutes)
Online Courses in Jewish History
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.
Henry Abramson 