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Last viewed: 3 days ago
Uploaded: 07 Oct 2013 (13 years ago) · Shared: 01 Aug 2017
Duration: 50:42
Uploaded: 07 Oct 2013 (13 years ago) · Shared: 01 Aug 2017
Duration: 50:42
Video Description:
Who was Flavius Josephus—an opportunistic traitor or a brilliant defender of his heritage caught in the tides of Roman conquest? In this captivating lecture, scholar Henry Abramson explores
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Who is Henry Abramson?Henry Abramson (born 1963) was the former Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch. He is currently the Dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, New York. He is notable for his teachings on Jewish history and Judaism as a religion. Abramson is largely known for his scholarship in Ukrainian Jewish history and antisemitic iconography, but his interests also include the history of Orthodox Judaism, the Talmud and the Haskalah. Abramson has also been a popularizer of Jewish thought, publishing a primer of Talmud and other works on the Jewish intellectual tradition. He is known for his research on the development of five major narratives for Jewish national identity.
Who was Josephus?Titus Flavius Josephus (37-100 AD), known as 'Josephus' was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar. He was a historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem, then part of Roman Judea, to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish-Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius. Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem.
