Lectures in Jewish History and Thought. No hard questions, please.
Good morning everyone–
Here’s the latest piece from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Thanks to my daughter for editing the first draft, and the amazing Laura Adkins for making it ready for world-class JTA readers!
Shabbat Shalom,
HMA
Can’t see the link? Try this: https://www.jta.org/2019/03/29/opinion/how-an-italian-earthquake-in-1570-created-the-first-modern-orthodox-jew
The remarkable, amazing story of the glorious Sarajevo Haggadah.
Brief overview of the life and work of Shmuel David Luzzatto (ShaDaL), an important 19th-century Italian-Jewish thinker.
Brief description of the world’s oldest illuminated Hebrew manuscript–and a 700-hundred year mystery, solved recently by a 10-year old boy.
He survived the Ferrara earthquake of 1570, and went on to become the world’s first Modern Orthodox Jew.
Brief overview of the life and work of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinoro (Bartenura), best known for his commentary on the Mishnah but also an important communal leader in late 15th-early 16th century Jerusalem. Part VII of the Jews of Italy series.
Hello everyone–here’s a brief historical article for this time of year that appeared in today’s JTA. Thanks to my daughter Raphaela and Laura Adkins at JTA for some amazing editing help. Enjoy in good health!
Friends of Jewish History! I just finished putting together the lecture on Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro, known to centuries of Mishnah students as “The Rav” for his crystalline commentary. After doing the research, I have to say I had no idea how courageous he was! I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to speak about his life on Monday night at 7pm, and I hope you will be able to join me in person or online.
Meanwhile, it seems a shame that we haven’t received a sponsor for this lecture! Please consider making a donation to our Jewish History Scholarship Fund, which we use to support our students at Touro College. Send me an email before, say, 5pm on Monday, I’ll be able to add your name to the dedication page, and your generosity will be associated with the life of this incredible thinker and leader as long as there is an Internet. Please don’t forget to let me know if your dedication is in memory of someone or in honor of someone.
A full sponsorship is $500. Partial sponsorships are also welcome! All tax-deductible. Here’s the link:
Thank you!
The remarkable story of two powerful Jewish women from Spain and Portugal and the challenge to Pope Paul IV for his maltreatment of Portuguese Jews in Italy.
Please join us Monday night in Brooklyn for the next installment of the The Jews of Italy! We plan to look at the life and work of Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro, an Italian Rabbi who revolutionized the study of the Mishnah and had a major impact on the life of Jews in 15th century Israel.
7:00 pm sharp at the mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College. Free and open to the community. No hard questions, please.
Who knew that writing a dictionary was so important? (For those of you born after 1985: a dictionary is an actual paper book full of words and their meanings). Natan ben Yehiel of Rome (c. 1035-1110) left the world a remarkable scholarly achievement in the form of the massive Arukh, a Talmudic dictionary that defined terms in Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Persian, and even Slavic languages. We know little about his life other than a cryptic poem he attached to his magnum opus and the testimony of an 18th century Rabbi–but what little we know is fascinating.
Henry Abramson 