Hello friends and colleagues: Thank you for your consistent support and enthusiasm. I am delighted that so many people share my passion for Jewish history and thought, and consider it a rare privilege to share my research with you online and in person. I wish you all a blessed New Year of spiritual and material…

Hello everyone! Please visit this site for my translation of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s classic Tomer Devorah (The Kabbalah of Forgiveness), a text often studied at precisely this time of year as we strive to improve our relationships with each other, with G-d, and with ourselves. The site also features a series of brief videos on each…

The Jews of the Danube Fall 2018 Lecture Series From its headwaters in Germany’s Black Forest to its final destination in the Black Sea, the Danube River flows through ten countries and over ten centuries of Jewish history. Great cities like Vienna and Budapest punctuate its course through East-Central Europe, the cradle of much of…

The invisible yet palpable echo of the crypto-Jewish tradition resonates through Portugal like the far side of a conversation faintly overheard in another person’s cell phone. A rush of sibilants or an exclamation of laughter confirms the reality of the distant interlocutor, even though we do not see her before us. The history of Portugal’s…

Join me in this global effort to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur this year!

Hasidim of the Aish Kodesh should take note: this is likely the face of one of the murderers of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira hy”d. Jakiw Palij, a longtime resident of Queens, New York, was recently extradited to Germany for filing false information while immigrating to the United States after World War II. Palij served as…

Hello students, friends and colleagues– We still have a few hours before the onset of Shabbat and the possible arrival of Mashiach, but if we have to make it through another Tisha B’Av– If you are in Fort Lee, NJ Sunday morning or Crown Heights, Brooklyn Sunday afternoon, please join me for presentations on the…

Thanks to Ben Rothke for this kind review of Torah from the Years of Wrath in this week’s Jewish Link of New Jersey. I am very grateful to be a part of the community that values and spreads the teachings of the Piaseczno Rebbe; nice to see positive reviews! Keeping the Faith By Ben Rothke…

  Hello everyone– My father’s yortsayt is coming up next week, and as in previous years I hope to begin another cycle of study of Maimonides on Teshuvah. Please visit the Maimonides on Teshuvah page page to learn more about how to participate in this free, Global Study of Maimonides program. Posts will also appear…

Their screams suffuse the entire universe, and yet the universe does not revert to primordial waters. It continues to exist as if completely unaffected, Heaven forbid.

The Jews of Italy Lectures in Jewish History (Spring 2019) Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto: Persecuted Genius Tuesday, February 12, 7:00 PM Sponsored by the Chaim Yaakov Shlomo College of Jewish Studies The Shul, 9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside FL 33154 Who Was Josephus the Jew? Monday, February 25, 7:00 PM Touro College Main Auditorium, 1602 Avenue…

Weighing only 90 pounds, his first act upon liberation was one that would characterize the remainder of his life: he presented the American commanding officer with a list of names of war criminals to be apprehended for prosecution.

Proud to be included in this series–really hoping to see some of my Florida friends in February! Here’s a recent video on the same topic (really an introduction):

Hold off on the letters, please! Everything’s in.

Nominated for a Covenant Award—I need your support!

Twelve Lectures on Mesilat Yesharim, Lecture One. Offered in conjunction with a class I plan to begin this Shabbat at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst.

Brief overview of the life and works of Bertha Pappenheim. Although she is often recognized as “Anna O,” who had a huge influence on the history of psychoanalysis, most of her life was actually dedicated to the rights and protection of women and children.

Final lecture of the Fall 2018 lectures in Jewish History. No hard questions, please.

How could it hurt?

Part Four of the Jews of the Danube series. Filmed in a new location without my usual technical support–sorry for the lower video and audio quality, but the lecture is ok. To see the visuals better, please click here.  Next week we are back at our usual location with IT support!

Taught Freud a thing or two.