Home  |  Academic / Lectures   | Books |  Lecture Topics Offered |  Cruise Schedule  |  Testimonials   |  Contact Us

HARRY A. EZRATTY has researched the story of Jews in the Americas for more than 40 years, visiting sites of Jewish interest throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Central America. Speaking with residents to learn the history of these communities, he can now emphasize little known personalities who have influenced American and Jewish history.

 Ezratty has lectured at universities, synagogues and to private groups through the Caribbean and the United States. He has written numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and has contributed a section on the Jewish religion that is in the Encyclopedia of Caribbean Religions, published by Canada’s York University.

 For several years, he has led Jewish heritage tours on ships cruising the Caribbean. He guides groups to old Jewish synagogues, cemeteries with tombstones written in Spanish, Portuguese and Hebrew, and to restored houses of worship. Groups also have the opportunity to meet today’s West Indian Jews, who are custodians of these interesting communities.

Harry A. Ezratty is available for lectures, to lead Caribbean Jewish Heritage and American Jewish history tours and to offer articles for publications aimed at the Jewish community.

 

 


HARRY A. EZRATTY, Esq.

Proctor in Admiralty

133 West Read Street ∙ Baltimore, MD 21201

 

EDUCATION

 

B.A. New York University 1955

J.S.D. Brooklyn Law School 1958

 

AUTHOR

 

Articles published in the following publications of Jewish interest:

    • Jewish Digest
    • Catholic Digest
    • Yeshiva University New York, School for Sephardic Studies
    • Jewish Forward
    • Language Digest
    • Aki Jerusalem (Ladino publication of Kol Israel, Israeli Radio)
    • Erensia Sephardi   (Ladino publication of Sephardic interest)
    • La Lettre Sepharad  (French publication of Sephardic interest)
    • Jewish People’s Almanac
    • Encylopedia of Caribbean Religions, chapter on Judaism, University of Illinois Press

Books of Jewish Interest:

    • The New World Haggadah
    • 500 Years in the Jewish Caribbean: Spanish & Portuguese Jews in the West Indies
    • They Led the Way: The Creators of Jewish America
    • The Builders: Jews and the Growth of America
    • The Jews of Puerto Rico (chapter in Encyclopedia of Caribbean Religions, University of Illinois Press

Publications, professional: 

    • Bronx Bar Review
    • Puerto Rico Bar Review
    • New York State Bar Journal

Books, professional: 

    • How to Get Admitted in Other Jurisdictions
    • A Seaman’s Handbook of Rights
    • Baltimore in the Civil War: The Pratt Street Riot and a City Occupied

Books, Miscellaneous: 

    • How to Collect and Protect Works of Art

COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE

    • Lecturer: Sacred Heart University, San Juan, Puerto Rico 1989, 1990
    • Lecturer: Binghamton University, Dept. of Jewish Studies, State University of New York  1996
    • Scholar in Residence:  Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise, (Holland American Line); sponsored by Dawn Shulman Institute of Jewish Education of Chicago, 2002
    • Scholar in Residence: Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise (Norwegian Cruise Lines)sponsored by Sephardic House of New York, 2003
    • Scholar in Residence:  Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise (Celebrity Cruise Lines) sponsored by Sephardic House of New York, 2004
    • Scholar in Residence: B’nai B’rith Conference, Ashville North Carolina, 2003
    • Scholar in Residence: Cong. Har Sinai, Baltimore, Maryland 2004
    • Scholar in Residence: Sinai Free Synagogue, Mt. Vernon, NY 2005
    • Scholar in Residence: Bat Tzion Learning Center, New Mexico, 2006
    • Scholar in Residence: Jewish Center of Venice, Florida, March 2008
    • Lecturer: Jewish History in America, Washington Metropolitan Oasis, 2010
    • Instructor: Jewish History in America, Howard Community College, 2009 to present
    • Instructor: Jewish History in America, OSHER Program at Johns Hopkins Univ., 2011

LECTURER

 

Lectures on Jewish history topics:

    • Sacred Heart University, San Juan, PR, 1989, 1990
    • Channel 3 TV, San Juan, Puerto Rico 1992
    • Temple Beth Shalom, San Juan, Puerto Rico, annually 1992-2003
    • Binghamton University, Dept. of Jewish Studies, State University of New York, 1998
    • Jewish Kosher Tours. 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
    • Jewish Museum of Maryland, 1999
    • Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise; (Holland American Line) sponsored by Dawn Shulman
           Institute of Jewish Education of Chicago, 2002
    • Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise, (Norwegian Cruise Lines) sponsored by Sephardic House of New
           York, 2003
    • Jewish Heritage Caribbean Cruise (Celebrity Cruise Lines) sponsor Sephardic House of New York, 2004      
    • Jewish Community Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico 2003
    • Scholar in Residence:  B’nai B’rith Seminar, Ashville, North Carolina, 2003
    • Jewish Genealogical Society, Washington D.C. 2004
    • Cong. Beth El, Baltimore, MD 2004
    • Scholar in Residence: Cong. Har Sinai, Baltimore, MD. 2004
    • Human Resources Dept., State of Maryland, City of Baltimore, 2004
    • Cong. Ner Tamid, Baltimore, MD 2005
    • Cong. B’Nai Israel, Easton, MD. 2005
    • Sons of Confederate Veterans of America, Ellicott City MD, 2005
    • Scholar in Residence: Sinai Free Synagogue, Mt. Vernon, New York, 2005
    • Office of Employment and Program Equality, City of Baltimore 2005
    • Society for Study of Crypto-Judaism, El Paso Texas, 2006
    • Scholar in Residence: Bat Tzion Learning Center, New Mexico, December 2006
    • Temple Emmanuel, San Francisco, CA, June 2007
    • Governor’s Comm. on Hispanic Affairs/Baltimore Jewish Council 2007
    • Weinberg Community Center, Baltimore MD 2007
    • Scholar in Residence: Jewish Center of Venice, Florida,  March 2008
    • Howard Community College, October 2009
    • Jewish Historical Society of Connecticut, Stamford,  December 2009
    • Kosherica Tours, January 2010, San Juan Puerto Rico
    • Lecturer, Jewish History in America, Washington Metropolitan Oasis, 2010
    • Instructor, Jewish History in America, Howard Community College 2009 to present

Lectures, professional: 

    • Maritime Law for Attorneys, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1994, 1995, 1996                      
    • The Law of Harbor Pilots, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1989, 1990, 1991

 Lectures, art::

    • WBAL-TV, Baltimore MD 1989
    • Radio WOSO, San Juan, Puerto Rico 1990
    • California Network, 1990
    • Cunard Cruise Lines, 1993, 1994

Related Activities: 

    • Consultant to the Museum of San Juan for their exhibit, “The Jews of Puerto Rico,” 2002-2003
    • Lecturer in Jewish history, Lecturer’s Bureau, Jewish Museum of Maryland, 2004-present
    • Member Board of Directors: Society for the Study of Crypto-Judaism, 2007-present