Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




Part XI of the I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY series. If you have attended the previous Zoom classes, the link is still active; if not, please write me directly for the password.

Live chat moderated by The Shomer. Join us for a look at this very difficult period in Jewish history.

Pleased to host this Virtual Open House for Machon L’Parnasa Institute for Professional Studies, together with Director Esther Braun, on Tuesday April 28 at 11:00 am. Click on the image or visit http://machon.touro.edu/events/list/virtual-open-house-42820.php to RSVP!

Hello students of Jewish history– I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY resumes Wednesday night at 7:30 pm EST with a lecture on the Holocaust. The Zoom link is protected, please email me directly for the password.
Fight back against coronavirus! Join Team IMPACT as a volunteer online tutor and save the world, one hour a week. http://www.bit.ly/touroimpact

Henry Abramson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORYTime: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/936125057?pwd=dGhaVGY4bCtLSk1oTjNOTk5Ddk95dz09 Meeting ID: 936 125 057Password: 000153

Tonight at 7:30 pm EST: Part VIII of the I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY SERIES, looking at the birth of Hasidism in the context of 18th and 19th century Russian history, the reaction of the Mitnagdim, and the influence of the Haskalah. Zoom information (note password: 000153): Topic: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY Wednesday, March 25, 7:30……
The Spanish and Portuguese Diaspora, The Encounter with Science, Popular Uprisings and the False Messiah: Live chat and I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY lecture, Monday Night at 8pm.
I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Last night I had a great interview with Rabbi David Pardo on OU Live, talking about the current Coronovirus situation in Jewish history. I had a lot of fun (and really enjoyed listening to Shulem Lemmer afterward). My segment starts at about 30m, I am preceded……

Tonight at 7:30 PM EST! Topic: I SURVIVED JEWISH HISTORY Time: Mar 18, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/476508134?pwd=RFNmZVhvNHR1bEM3aUh2UHhYNlpYdz09 Meeting ID: 476 508 134 Password: 077143 One tap mobile +16465588656,,476508134# US (New York) +13126266799,,476508134# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 312……


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……


