Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




Very proud to mark the completion of a cycle of Talmud study on Tuesday night. Here is the video that is scheduled for that morning, describing the process for the 100k+ viewers who follow Jewish History in Daf Yomi at http://www.alldaf.org. New Series! Jewish History in the Torah The Mystery of Michelangelo’s Hebrew Support this……

Who was Rudolf Samoylovich? Livestream of the Siyum ha-Shas (Completion of study of the Babylonian Talmud) October 21 A message from the great people at AllDaf.org: The Jews of Venice New Series! Jewish History in the Torah

Good morning fellow students of Jewish history: I’m very honored to be marking a Siyum ha-Shas (completion of a cycle of study of the Babylonian Talmud) and would love to share the celebration with you. I’ve been working on this since April 2019, producing one video per each folio of the Talmud (2,711 when I’m……
Please celebrate with me! Two Lectures from the Teshuvah Unlocked Series

Lecture Delivered after the Assassination of Mr. Charlie Kirk Question and Answer Session went long Azariah da Rossi and the Earthquake of 1570 New publication! Celebrating a completion of study of the Babylonian Talmud

Need something to read this Elul? Try one of these… Wednesday evening: “Mistakes were made (but not by me)”: A new approach to Vidui (confession) Thursday Evening: Webinar hosted by the University of Maryland

The “Other” Famous Medieval Jewish Explorer Wednesday Night: Rabbi Katz on Forgiveness! (My lectures are September 10, 17)

Personal Reflections on his Historical Contributions Starting this Wednesday Evening with Rabbi Katz! (I’m speaking on September 10 and 17) Thank you Charlotte R. Alexander!

What does Judaism look like with 400 years without Rabbis or Jewish books? Unpacked on Hasidism Teshuvah Unpacked with Rabbi Shua Katz
The remarkable survival of Jews forcibly converted to Islam in 1839
Very excited about this!


Here’s a new version of the Albert Einstein lecture, edited by the wonderful people at TorahCafe.com to include the PowerPoint. It’s basically the same, except without the lame jokes. Click on the icon below to watch the video.

This is a lecture I delivered at the University of Central Florida back in October 2004 (my hair was quite a bit darker and, well, there). Found the CD when I was cleaning out some old files. There’s a PPT that goes with this lecture, and I’m going to try to find a way to……

A presentation on the life and work of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), the Seventh Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. A native of Nikolaev, Ukraine, and educated in Germany and France, his leadership transformed his Hasidic followers into an international movement that continues to shape the lives of Jews world wide. The lecture was held……

A presentation on the life and work of Betty Friedan, a prominent American Jewish feminist leader. The author of the landmark The Feminine Mystique (1963), she later became the Founder of the National Organization of Women, and an important political activist for women’s rights. The lecture was held at the Young Israel of Bal Harbour on May 29,……

A presentation on Albert Einstein (1879-1955), one of the best-known Jews of the twentieth century. Although he had a complicated relationship with Judaism, he maintained a distinct pride in his Jewish identity, and once said “A Jew who abandons his Judaism is like a snail that abandons its shell. It’s still a snail.” The lecture……

An excerpt from The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: A Reader’s Guide to Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s The Palm Tree of Devorah, a new translation and commentary on the 16th-century classic of Kabbalistic musar, is now available online. Anticipated publication date is August 2013. The Palm Tree of Devorah first appeared in 1588 and became and instant classic….…

A presentation on the life and work of Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949), an important American communal leader. The lecture will take a broader focus, looking at the history of Jewish settlement in the United States during the 19th century and the major issues facing this immigrant community through the middle of the twentieth century. The……

A study of the life of Menachem Begin (1913-1992). A native of Poland, he was a proponent of Vladimir Jabotinsky’s Revisionist party that stood in dramatic contrast to the dominant left-wing tendency in the Zionist movement. A major figure in Israel’s struggle for statehood, and a founder of the Likud party, he was elected to……

This lecture presents a broad overview of the three main intellectual-religious trends present in 19th century Jewish Eastern Europe: the traditionalist Mitnagdim, the innovative Hasidim, and the modernizing Maskilim. Good as an overall introduction, although I go into more detail on all of these movements in other lectures on this website. Taped on April 21,……

A presentation of the life of Golda Meir (1898-1978), spanning her immigration to Israel in 1921 through the end of her term as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel in 1974. The lecture will discuss the foundations of the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community, and touch on the major social and military conflicts that Israel……

Evgenia Ginzburg (1904-1977) was a Jewish woman who endured the horrors of the Stalinist Gulag. Charged and convicted of anti-Soviet activity in 1937, she was sent to the infamous work camps of Siberia for nearly two decades until her case was reviewed two years after Stalin’s death. She was ultimately rehabilitated, and published her memoirs……

An examination of the life and work of Emanuel Ringelblum (1900-1944), the heroic Polish scholar who organized the underground Oneg Shabbat society in the Warsaw Ghetto. Ringelblum recognized the extreme and unprecedented nature of the Nazi onslaught early in the war, and brought together a group of highly dedicated volunteers who recorded every aspect of……


