Unfortunately, my usual recording setup failed the night I gave this lecture last week, but b”H we have a backup from the Young Israel’s livestream account! Enjoy in good health.
Rabbi Moshe Hayim Luzzatto and the Sabbatean Legacy
Janusz Korczak: Monday Night!
From Betty Jean Lifton’s biography, citing Korczak’s memoirs of his years working in the Jewish Orphanage of Warsaw (How to Love a Child):
An eight-year old boy woke with a toothache. Grabbing Korczak’s hand, he spilled out his anguish: “…then my mother died. Then I was sent to my grandmother, but she also died. Then I was taken to my aunt’s but she wasn’t home. It was cold. My uncle took me in. Very poor. I was hungry. His children were sick. He put me in the storage room so I wouldn’t catch anything. My teeth always hurt at night. Then a woman took me for a short time, but she walked me to a square and left me. It was dark. I was afraid. Boys started to push me. The a policeman took me to the station. Everyone was Poles. They sent me to my aunt. She shouted at me, and made me swear not to tell you everything that’s happened to me. Can I stay here? I can? Aren’t you cross with me for throwing the ball on the grass? I didn’t know it was forbidden.”
“He fell asleep,” Korczak noted. “It was strange, but for a brief moment I definitely saw an aura of light around his tired eight-year old head. I had seen such a phenomenon only once before.” And he added: “Even as I write this, I know that no one will understand. It is impossible unless one has been in large orphanage dormitory in the still of the night.”
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Last chance to sponsor this lecture: Please visit https://www.crowdrise.com/friends-of-jewish-history/fundraiser/avenuej to show your support.
Janusz Korczak, Heroic Defender of Children
“Korczak felt that within each child there burned a moral spark that could vanquish the darkness at the core of human nature.” (Betty Jean Lifton)
https://www.crowdrise.com/friends-of-jewish-history/fundraiser/avenuej
So is #givingtuesday a thing, or what?
If so, here’s two great causes to add to your list.
Jewish History @ Avenue J Scholarship Fund goes directly to support undergraduate students at the Mighty Avenue J campus of Touro College.
Friends of Jewish History supports the public Jewish history lecture series.
Nu? Make your Bubbie proud, do something good.
Thanks!
(Can’t see the links? Try these:)
https://www.crowdrise.com/dashboard/avenuej/avenuejawesomestudentscholarshipfund
https://www.crowdrise.com/dashboard/avenuej/friends-of-jewish-history
Franz Kafka and the Ramchal: The Week Ahead in Jewish History
Here’s an experimental introductory video–let me know what you think!
https://www.crowdrise.com/friends-of-jewish-history/fundraiser/avenuej
Here’s Your Chance to Be a Mentsch!
Friends and colleagues!
One of our core values is that high-quality, academic information on Jewish history should be FREE. We’re very proud of our altruistic approach, and we don’t want to change. At the same time, we have a Jewish History student intern to support, a shoestring advertising budget to spread the word, and of course hours invested in researching, delivering, filming and editing the videos for the world at large.
Help us out by joining the Friends of Jewish History! Sponsor a lecture for $250 or partially sponsor for whatever makes sense for your budget–we will include a message of thanks in the lecture. You can then forward the link to all your former friends to show them what a mentsch you are!
P.S. The hero picture above is of me (left) and the great Jewish historian Rabbi Berel Wein. I didn’t ask him if I could shamelessly use his photo to promote Jewish history. I figured he would approve.
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Who Was Emma Goldman? Video Now Online!
“If I can’t dance to it, it isn’t my revolution!” A fiery orator and fearless iconoclast, Emma Goldman was one of the most notorious and controversial left-wing thinkers of turn-of-the 20th century America.
Sponsor a lecture in the Jewish History @ J Series!
https://www.crowdrise.com/friends-of-jewish-history/fundraiser/avenuej
Donations from Max Sklar, Suzanne Parella; last chance for sponsors for Emma Goldman lecture
Good morning fans of Jewish History! Really pleased to have positive response on the beautiful Jewish History bookmarks we’ve been sending out (send your mailing address if you’d like one)! Thanks to donors Max Sklar and Suzanne Parella who recently contributed to the Jewish History Scholarship Fund for our students. Meanwhile, we’re still looking for a sponsor for the “Who Was Emma Goldman?” lecture scheduled for tomorrow night–please visit the Friends of Jewish History crowdfunding page to earn the eternal Internet gratitude of thousands of Jewish History fans!
https://www.crowdrise.com/friends-of-jewish-history/fundraiser/avenuej
The Maimonidean Controversy
Brief overview of the controversy that surrounded the writings of Rabbi Moses Maimonides. Lecture delivered at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst.
Henry Abramson 