Really looking forward to meeting this community!

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




In July of 1942 (coinciding with Av 5702), the Nazis began a major deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp. By September, 235,000 Warsaw Jews were murdered in the gas chambers.

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitshak) was a great 11th century commentator on the Torah. This brief video outlines his major scholarly contribution within historical context.

Viktor Frankl was a noted psychologist whose experience in the Holocaust formed the basis of logotherapy, his therapeutic approach to help people find meaning in suffering and in life.

A brief biography of Sigmund Freud, with emphasis on his Jewish background and identity. Part of the Jewish Biography as History Series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

An introduction to the major themes in modern antisemitic ideology (1880-present). Warning: not quite as nasty as the lecture on medieval antisemitism, but disturbing nevertheless. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, also known as “Der Frierdiker Rebbe” (The Earlier Rebbe) to distinguish him from his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was the sixth leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Living in tumultuous times, he shifted the center of the movement from its Eastern European origins to its current headquarters in the United States.

Heinrich Graetz (1817-1891) was the first encyclopedic historian of the Jewish people, and his massive 10-volume History of the Jews had a phenomenal impact on the way Jews saw themselves as a nation living in the diaspora. Looking forward to seeing you at Limmud this Sunday! Click the image below to learn more about my…

Imagine that, while browsing in the library, you come across one book unlike the rest, which catches your eye because on its spine is written the name of your family. Intrigued, you open it and see many pages written by different hands in many languages. You start reading it, and gradually you begin to understand…

One of the most creative, unusual, and controversial Hasidic leaders at the turn of the 19th century, Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav (Nachman of Breslov) continues to inspire generations of disciples. Part of the Jewish Biography as History series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

One of the strongest critics of early Hasidism, Joseph Perl was a fervent advocate of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, in 19th century Galicia. Part of the Jewish Biography as History series by Dr. Henry Abramson, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com.

This is a more-or-less scholarly discussion of the origins of modern Jewish history in Enlightenment Europe. Warning: there are a few jokes in this video, but they only start around the 15 minute mark. The rest is more theoretical and historical. Part of the Essential Lectures in Jewish History series, more available at http://www.henryabramson.com. ****************…

Hello everyone! I’m excited and challenged to be taking a new position in New York this summer, but I’ll be very sorry to leave this community that has been my home for almost twenty years. One of the last rituals of departure will be a last series of classes for the Florence Melton School for…

Volume One: Ancient Israel available November 10! Dear students of Jewish history! I’m delighted to inform you that Volume One: Ancient Israel of my four-volume The Jewish People: A History is now published! Thank you all for the thousands of comments–both supportive and corrective–that you have provided as the Jewish History Lab series unfolded on…

Gold Award as well as the Listener’s Choice Award in the category of History! Thank you all so much for your support!

If you are planning to be in Queens next Shabbat, please drop by and say hello!

Tomorrow at 8:45 am at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, 6:45 pm at Darchei Noam and via Zoom.

Drop by and say hello! Happy to have had this conversation with JLI! In case the video doesn’t embed properly: https://youtu.be/URfkNuEJu1Y?si=ZFPNfxr_8BW_0c89

Really looking forward to speaking to the Ner Yisrael community this coming Shavuot! If you are in Hendon, please drop by and say hello.

Looking forward to speaking to the Fort Lee community. If you’re in town, please join us and say hello!

Looking forward to speaking in Ramat Bet Shemesh! New Series: Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Jewish History (and the Jewish Future)

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…


