Jews and Universities: A History of Resilience 

thank you Dr. Abramson for your insigthful, sobering message. If your prediction comes true, i weep for Jews and all victims of bigotry and ignorance, and, indeed, the enlightened world. May their memory be always a blessing.

Thank you very much for this video! Here is one rather interesting thing to consider. As someone who was born and raised in the USSR and who happens to be old enough to remember pre-(~)1987 anti-Israel Soviet propaganda, I can't help but observe that slogans emanating from the American left-wing academia are pretty much exact copy cat of the things I used to see and hear on the Soviet television during the Brezhnev and Andropov era.

The generations of study and teaching, punctuated by blood libels and massacres, stretch back in my family to the 1200s. My mother's cousin, Max Hanns Kohn, a university student from Nuremberg, was captured by the Nazis in August 1933 and killed by firing squad at Dachau in May 1935. He and his two student-colleagues are said by some scholars to have been the first victims of what was to come. My mother and others in the family left Germany as soon as possible. After WWII, the Germans named a street -- Max-Kohn-Straße in Nuremberg -- after him, as sort of a make-good, i guess. Yes, we have been living in "a historical bubble." I am lucky enough to have lived most of my life in it, in the USA, among the "tolerated" academics, writers, doctors, and scientists ... but i have kept my mother's watchfulness. And now it begins again.

Great teaching! Hope every one can hear this.

Thank you so much for your posts

I always enjoy your videos and your last point also hit home for me. I lived on campus at University of Maryland in the 70s and remember the hypocrisy of those students who came out to "protest" each spring. I even had an article in the campus newspaper calling this phenomenon the "Spring Follies."

As a student of history I have long been astonished how little so many others not only know about history, but even care about a clear understanding. The ease of making up their minds with barely a sound-bite level of knowledge blows my mind. And....said as an observer...is revealing about their mindset. Further....the unwillingness to acknowledge even a most basic point/truth (ex. the ones who won't condemn the murder of children, the taking of hostages, including children). It is as if they understand that if they acknowledge one thing, they have to acknowledge a whole lot more. So...they deny/evade basic truth, honesty, and decency. My conclusions on what that means...only if readers are interested and ask. The great rot at these universities is being exposed. For the institutions to tolerate threats of violence, violence, and.....outside agitators....is revealing. It has been visible for years now with the shutdown of "conservative" speakers and points of view. But...alas...."when they came for the conservatives, I didn't speak" can be said of many Jews who are now astonished to learn that they are "Jews" to their "allies". Sorry, I'm a student of political science as well, so I don't think rain will stop this. Stop the money flowing to the agitators. And to the universities which don't practice rigorous academic freedom, discussion, debate. Make each student have to debate a topic....from the other side. More to say if anyone is interested. Join in to add your thoughts.

Thank you very much for your lecture. I find it very helpful to get some historical background to current affairs.

Thank you so much!

Thank you for your clear, reasoned approach to all this. Bring on the rain! 🌧️☔️

Thank you dr Henry!! We are in a very difficult position now!!!😢😢

My Husband’s & my family history: Columbia,Brown,Syracuse,Albany,Stony Brook,Vassar,Harvard Law,NYU,Fairleigh Dickinson,FIT in NYC ❤ that’s me ( not Florida Institute of Technology) lol , A&M,SUNY Maritime College,and Brockport. Not to shabby for a few Jews who came to America 🇺🇸, with practically nothing, not speaking a word of English. They had to be sponsored, back in “ the good old days”.

Henry you are absolutely the Best!!

Thank you

Could you please do a lecture on universities in 1920s-1933 Germany and the role they played in spreading antisemitism. Niall Ferguson talked about it in "Treason of the Intellectuals." I'd like to hear more. Thank you.

Thank you very appreciated

You are genuine , rabbi. Im sorry to hear about all this antisemitism

I always admire in Jewish culture is the level of education and knowledge in all aspects of life it’s sad to see all what’s is happened now good video well explained thank you .

I've heard from several sources that during major soccer matches (such as World Cup), terror in Israel falls to near zero. Hurray for soccer!

Indeed it is said :"... and it will all pass away " of course its not a Consolation Rethoric , but a time for inner reflection. Dr. Abramson Good reflection on Jewish History . What you spoke is from a Jewish point of view. What a Muslim speaks is from a Dawah perspective. What a Christian speaks is from a Christian point of view. I was always seeking a middle path i.e Religious tolerance . You need to have a listening ear, mind you I don't mean hearing from one ear and throwing what you hear from another ear out , but listening to Others . Its a great gift that God can give you if you keep asking persistently, daily crying out to Him and begging Him for His mercies. For now I will speak enough , if by the permission of God , I'm allowed to elaborate. Thank you ...😊

It’s not the students that is of concern. It’s the faculty. A much bigger problem.

Have you done a program on the "New York Intellectuals?"

About euphemisms: my jewish grandparents ( Moscow, USSR), still say "frenchman" sometimes when referring to Jews. Example: "Is X French?"

This was very interesting. We'll see how systemic this university anti-Semitism gets in the future. For now, it seems like a few loud radicals, but that could change

These are dark times, we shall overcome

Absolutely necessary this video! Thank you!!!!

I consider Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of Blessed Memory the 'Patron Saint', so to speak, of Tertiary Education.

Thank you so much for your posts. I stand with Israel 💙💙💙

With respect, I only agree with 1.

Thank you so much for these lectures, I will say this much…I had no idea of this anti Jewish movement going about here in USA esp. in these colleges! It is disgusting to me to see how misinformed these protesters are. I do not like the “optics” either! The Jewish resilience is grand and perhaps that is what is eating up the haters! Envy!

On your speculation that the honeymoon period after 1945 where universities could be a haven for Jews... I certainly hope that it is not coming to an end. I also doubt that it can come to an end in the US for the somewhat quirky reason that the American center right (particularly the devout Christians but also their geopolitical hawks) and the center left are still very loyal to the partnership with Israel. As for our peer academics, it's clear some of our colleagues have been in quite foolish in recent months. I'm certainly not going to make apologies for them. But i would say that there's a lingering romanticism in American universities for the radical 60s. There's also the wider American political culture in which the GOP has been engaging in anti-intellectualism and cheap rhetorical attacks on academics for many years now. In my view, that's created an institutional bias where this anti-Israel left wing furore has escaped criticism. There's also the simple fact that Deans do not want to be seen doing anything that might be labelled "islamophobic.". (Why they are okay with letting antisemitism slide by in some cases is, however, beyond my comprehension.). There's been a number of incidents where deana at multiple institutions have made questionable decisions just to avoid having a confrontation with some angry student group. Many of those incidents involved muslim students. My point? As soon as the conflict in Israel calms down, the status quo will return. And then we will need to figure out how to better deal with student politics where two identity groups are put at odds.

Very good historical context and analysis of examples of antisemitism. A mass of people has formed that is hypnotized by persuasion techniques. The method is to focus the subjects' attention on one object that represents the cause of their anxiety. Thus the in-group can be led to believe in ridiculous things, in exchange for the hormone ocytocin the body generates as a result of positive social interaction. For example, the wearing of masks incurs negative side-effects, but the common signal is the price of admission.

202?

#bringthemhomenow 🤝 I would want to criticize your remarks on fascism though. I listened to a lot of stories from holocaust survivors, can be found on RU-vid, and those from the Balkans said that they would flee to parts that were occupied by the fascists/Italians, because fascists didn't murder or persecute Jews. Italy began to persecute Jews in WW2, only after Benito Mussolini was lynched, and the Germans took over Italy.

Unfortunately, we're not talking about rational people. 18:48

Fantastic video Mr Abramson!

💙💙💙💙

First, when the students shout Intifada, they mean the zionist like you don't want to accept the Palestinians as an equal partner in Palestine so the are left with no choice but to revolt (intifada). The same as Great Jewish Revolt (ha-Mered Ha-Gadol), or The Jewish War, was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire fought in Roman-controlled Judea, resulting in the destruction of Jewish towns, the displacement of its people and the appropriation of land for Roman military use (exactly what the zionist are doing in the West Bank or did in 1948 in Palestine)

You guys are your own worst enemy. ‘It’s never our fault.’

The last four minutes of the video are clear hypocrisy

You talk about this long history discrimination and exclusions of Jews but today where else but in Israel do they have exclusive roads, no civil marriages, and frankly apartheid. Jews must not be allowed to decide what criticism of them is acceptable and what is off limits. A different point of view is not ignorance. Soldiers held as prisoners of war are not hostages and must not be released until hostilities have ended. Israel had over 6000 political prisoners held in Israeli jails many without charges as of October 7. According to Al Jazeera the reason for the incursion was to capture Israeli hostages to trade for hostages in Israeli jails. I say this as a person who protested against the Vietnam war (my late wife was on the lawn at Kent State) for very similar reasons that the students are protesting against today.

Mind Begs the Question: - If policies of Starvation,Death Camps,Gassing/White Phosphorus,Pogroms,Ethnic Cleansing,etc are repeated - Does not amount to Holocaust?

Sorry Mr. Abrahamson, with respect, what is the "threat" Now posed to Jewish students or faculty, except that as you're no doubt aware there is a large scale protest at many higher institutions of learning around the US because of the mass murder being committed by the israeli regime? And what exactly is antisemitic about criticizing the despicable actions of the israeli regime who have thus far killed tens of thousands of Palestinian children? I am by no means ignorant of the history of the region. History did not begin on October 7th. You express incredulity at the actions of hamas, and impute antisemitism to the protestors, but seem to have little to say about the orders of magnitude more heinous evils being perpetrated by the Israelis. You portray yourself as a voice of reason, suggesting that protests are overly focused against Israel, yet don't even mention this ludicrous disproportion. It's not just student protestors who are saying this, it's the UN special rappoteur, the international Court of Justice - if you don't respect such voices who indeed will you respect?

Shame on you for using Jewish faith for colonial political goals