“Sweet singer of Israel,” David was the poet-warrior King who led the Jewish people to political and cultural prominence. Denied his most cherished goal of building the Temple, he lived a life of great personal challenge and heroic resurgence from tragedy, and his biography left an indelible mark on the Jewish understanding of leadership.
Who Was Joshua?
The Bible describes how the Jewish people, emerging from Egyptian servitude and decades of wandering in the Sinai desert, followed Joshua’s military leadership to conquer the Land of Israel and establish the ancient foundations of their Torah-centered society. This lecture will survey the archeological and historical record to understand the larger context of the Biblical account. Part II of Israel: The Land and its People.
Who Was Rabbi Chaim Vital?
Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620) was the principal disciple of the great Kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal). Three days after the death of his master, Rabbi Vital received a vision in a dream that consumed his scholarly life for decades: preserving the mystical heritage of the great Safed tradition.
Please click here for the Prezi.
Jewish History in the Sixteenth Century (Essential Lectures in Jewish History)
The Jewish people experienced dramatic changes in the sixteenth century that reverberate to this day. This lecture discusses three aspects of this century in particular: 1) the demographic upheavals associated with the expulsions from Spain and Portugal as well as the Ashkenazic migration, 2) the impact of the disruptive technology of printing, and 3) the ramifications of the Safed circle.
Who was Eldad ha-Dani? Jewish Biography as History by Dr. Henry Abramson
Claiming descent from the long-lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Eldad was a ninth-century traveler with a fantastic story: beyond the “River Kush” lay an intact civilization of Jews who enjoyed political sovereignty, in preparation for their eventual return to the Land of Israel in messianic times. Surviving shipwreck, cannibals and attack from fire-worshipping pagans, Eldad’s story of the mystical river Sambatyon and the Jews who lived there captivated the Jewish mind for centuries, and had a lasting impact on the development of Christian thought as well. But was he for real?
Dr. Abramson is way better in print (and taller, too):
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- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 10: THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 11: THE CORDOBA CALIPHATE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 12: THE KINGDOMS OF ARAGON AND CASTILLE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 1: THE GREEK EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 2: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 3: THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 4: THE SASSANIAN EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 5: THE VISIGOTHIC EMPIRE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 6: THE RASHIDUN CALIPHATE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 7: THE UMAYYAD CALIPHATE
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 8: THE KINGDOM OF AXUM
- SURVIVAL CHALLENGE LEVEL 9: THE KINGDOM OF KHAZARIA
- SURVIVE JEWISH HISTORY
- Teacher Training
- Thank you!
- The Holocaust: Thirty Brief Lectures
- The Jewish People I: Biblical Jewish History
- The Jewish People II: Medieval Jewish History.
- The Jewish People: A History (Draft)
- The Jews of Italy (Spring 2019)
- The Jews of Sepharad (Fall 2017 Lectures)
- The Jews of the Danube (Fall 2018)
- The Jews of the Rhone (Summer 2019)
- The Kabbalah of Forgiveness
- The Sea of Talmud
- The Sephardic Diaspora (Spring 2018)
- Ukrainians and Jews in Revolutionary Times
- What People are Saying
- Why?
- Torah from the Years of Wrath
Who Was Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai? Jewish Biography as History Dr. Henry Abramson
Emerging from a cave after twelve years of isolated Torah study, Rabbi Shimon Yohai went on to become one of ancient Israel’s most celebrated Kabbalists and leaders of the Jewish people.
Dr. Abramson in Print (and eBooks!)
Who Was Bar Kochba? Jewish Biography as History Lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson
“Akiva, grass will grow from your cheeks,” said the talmudic Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta, “and still the messiah will not have come.” A stinging rebuke for the most prominent supporter of Bar Kochba’s would-be messianic leadership of the Jewish people in his 2nd-century rebellion against the Roman oppressors. Who was Bar Kochba, and what did his rebellion signify for Jewish history?
Dr. Abramson in print:
Who was Salome? Jewish Biography as History lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson
Briefly but notoriously mentioned in both Josephus and the Gospels, Salome was the granddaughter of King Herod who is best known for a salacious performance that resulted in the execution of John the Baptist. Who was Salome, and does her bit part play a significant role in the representation of Jews and Judaism in medieval Christian thought? Part of the Jewish Biography as History series by Dr. Henry Abramson at http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org.
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Books by Henry Abramson
The Kabbalah of Forgiveness Coming in Time for Rosh Hashanah
New for the Season of Repentance: a translation and modern commentary on Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s classic of Jewish ethics, the Date Palm of Devorah (Tomer Devorah). Learn the Thirteen Levels of Mercy and discover how to forgive others (and yourself). Please visit http://www.jewishhistorylectures.org and click on “The Kabbalah of Forgiveness” for excerpts and videos. Publication date: Rosh Hodesh Elul (August 26-27, 2014).
Jerusalem Day (This Week in Jewish History)
Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) celebrates the unification of Jerusalem in the context of the Six-Day War of June 1967. This dramatic military achievement represented a victory that was both political and symbolic, giving Jews control over the the Old City and the Temple Mount after nearly 2000 years of exile.
Henry Abramson 